Any Highly recommended Free Online Piano lessons?

[Mistro17]

A very good friend just blessed me with an Akai MPK49 and I want to finally stop playing by finding notes and really learn how to play more fluently. I want to take lessons from a professional but I will have to save some money and set a budget for that. In the mean time I see there are some free online lessons. Anyone know one that is straight forward and highly recommended?

[Ahornberg]

After trying some online lessons (free and not free) I decided to take lessons by a real teacher and I don't regret this step.

[lzap]

http://www.billspianopages.com has a lot of good free content, the book looks very nice.

[jonheal]

If you can't afford them (lessons from a human), then you can't afford them, but this is very likely one of those situations where "you get what you pay for."

[6502]

I don't have a specific recommendation. However, if you search on youtube for a simple song that you like + piano + lesson (or + tutorial) you will probably find a video that is simple enough for a beginner to follow. I did this for guitar and had a lot of fun. The nice thing about music is that any little thing you learn can be built upon.

I wouldn't let lack of a teacher hold you back if you have an ambition to learn to play keyboard - go for it!

I'm mostly a self-taught hack on guitar and have had years of lessons on piano.

Have fun, be patient, and don't get discouraged (and don't let anyone discourage you).

[jonheal]

I guess I probably came off as discouraging. That was not good. All encouragement to you, lzap.

[Oquasec]

Learned the basics of music theory years ago. But plan on going to an actual school for the instrument playing portion of music theory since I memorize all scales and chords and can read sheet

[dtaki]

My personal recommendation is to start off not by trying to use YouTube to "learn how to play piano" (i.e. learning scales, theory, etc.) but to use YouTube to learn how to play songs that you like. You will figure out theory and chord shapes/fingerings (and develop your ear) just by the nature of playing songs, and because you are learning music that you like, there's much less risk of getting bored or not dedicating enough practice time.

In my opinion, if you do plan on eventually getting the money together for lessons, you would be better off just learning to play some songs for your enjoyment now, and once you have access to a weighted-action 88-key keyboard, take lessons from a piano teacher.

[EdGrip]

Lately I've been teaching myself to play Life On Mars (because what an iconic bit of piano that is), using instruction from http://www.hdpiano.com - it's very good.

I second what dtaki said - learning songs will give you more momentum than learning scales and hand exercises. An interest in music theory is something you should try to foster, and there are lots of great and engaging resources on that subject that I'd have loved when I was younger. But I still feel like learning theory is like learning grammar - it's good to know, but secondary to talking lots.

Get a nice weighted keyboard. A synth-action keyboard is nothing like a piano and may be frustrating.

[Mistro17]

Thanks for the replies and encouragement. In the last couple days, I learned a lot about the piano and look at it differently now. Like I learned that a piano key does not represent a note but can be several notes, etc. I think the main thing I need to keep working at is my posture and doing finger exercises and also learn how to write a song. I'm a visual artist so I'm looking at writing music the same way as mixing colors but I need to learn music language. I have no problem catching a melody, but I'm always afraid of hitting the wrong key by mistake so atm I play like I type looking at the keys and only using a few fingers. My goal is to use all my fingers with confidence.

Also I fully agree about playing songs we like. Last night I started to focus on a song I want to use for an animated video and had a lot of fun figuring out the chords and did my first recording of the melody in 2 octaves for it in Reason. I didn't play like a pro, but the melody is captured. Ultimately I will have a live teacher one day. In the mean time I'm gonna have fun.

Edit: BTW I been looking at Keynotes, and Hoffman Academy so far for online tips. I will explore those you guys posted.

[lzap]

Oh one more thing, Synthesia app (iOS, Android, PC, Mac) got me learned River Flows In You without any experience with piano (just the basics) in a month. Really good app, you buy it just once, license works everywhere (tablet, phone, PC).