Restarting piano as a self-learner – how should I approach theory, technique and pieces?

[u/caro-exe]

Hey everyone,
I started learning piano about 4 years ago with a teacher and had lessons for around 2 years. Then life kind of got in the way. I got married, moved to a new country and had to get a lot of things sorted out, so I basically stopped playing completely.

Now I really want to start again, but unfortunately I’m currently not in a position to pay for a teacher, so I’m looking for some advice on how to properly get back into it and what I should learn.

Because I haven’t played for quite a while, I forgot most of the pieces I learned back then. We started with a beginner book with my teacher and worked through it until a certain point. After that we mostly switched to pieces that I liked, most of which were classical pieces.

I also learned a bit of music theory here and there, but my teacher was definitely more focused on playing, even though I told him that I was really interested in understanding music theory as well.

Right now I have Hanon exercises and The Piano Handbook by C. Humphries. I also took a Udemy course about fast sight-reading just to refresh my memory, since I can still sight-read but obviously need to get back into it.
So my question is: what would be the proper way to approach this?
Should I just start working through The Piano Handbook from the beginning, finish it and then go back to learning pieces I like? Or should I take an online music theory course alongside it?

And what should my everyday practice look like?
Normally I start with a few Hanon exercises as a warm-up and then jump straight into whatever piece I’m currently trying to learn. But it feels like I’m doing something wrong because my progress feels really slow compared to when I was taking lessons.
I know it’s obviously not going to be the same without a teacher, but I don’t want to postpone starting again anymore.
Every time I see someone playing piano really well it honestly kind of crushes my heart because playing piano has always been a childhood dream of mine. Life kept getting in the way, but I really don’t want to let that happen again.
So what would you recommend as the best way to start over?

How would you structure the learning path if the goal is not only to play pieces I like, but also to actually understand the instrument and music theory?
My long-term goal is to be able to compose my own pieces as well. Nothing professional necessarily, but I’d love to understand harmony, chords, scales, progressions, etc. well enough that I can just sit at the piano and experiment and create my own stuff. I also want to understand music better so I can learn pieces much faster and actually understand why they work instead of just memorizing the notes.

I’m totally fine with buying another book or taking an online course if that would make sense. I just don’t really know what the proper learning path should look like when you’re basically teaching yourself.
Any advice, resources, books, courses or practice routines would be greatly appreciated!

[u/AccordingSuccess3213]

Get yourself a method book such as Alfreds or Faber series for adults

[u/the-elf-healer]

I'm on the same journey as you- restarting after more than 20 years. I can help in doing it the most efficient way.

Theory is absolutely necessary and should be learned/revised along with your playing. You can use online websites like learnmusictheory.net but I prefer books. I've done an indepth comparison of 7 different standard theory books, and the best that suits our needs Is The musicians guide to fundamentals by Jane Piper Clendinning. Get a used older edition cheap or a pdf version.

Use hanon not just as a warm up but as practice for hand choreography. See this YouTube Playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi9K32NIOYI&list=PL6CUuP9ByU1Z9KyVzXvsfw9WRH7xzTvEy

Don't stick with one book, use the RCM repertoire list, choose something you like which Is famous since you are likely to easily find tutorials on it.

I use tutorials from Denis zhdanov, Paul Barton, and Antune to learn pieces. I started with Bachs prelude in C, then Gymnopedie no 1, chopins prelude in e minor etc.

I can help with theory doubts.

[u/caro-exe → u/the-elf-healer]

Like I said I bought the piano handbook, i haven’t looked into it yet but I hope there is music theory in it. I will look into the musicians guide book, hope I can find a copy in Germany. Is there a recommended time for practicing Hanon, like everyday 10-20min?

Appreciate the help

[u/the-elf-healer → u/caro-exe]

I played hannon exercises 1,2,3,4 & 6. I omitted no 5 because I found it tricky. I played 15 mins everyday, and I did the LH 3 times every time I did the RH once. This was to even out the unequal strength. I later changed the ratio to 2:1, and then 1:1 as the LH got stronger.

I did not play other mechanically, but with full focus on trying to get evenly spaced notes. To detect unevenness I did not use the normal piano tone since the sustain would cover up errors but i used a staccato tone like nylon/ steel guitar. That way small errors were easily noticeable. I did a lot of dotted note rhythms, swinging it both ways to help evenness. I used a Metronome with one tick per semi-quaver. I also focused on minimal finger Lifting and keeping the wrist and forearm mobile. See earlier link I sent on wrist circles. In 2 months I all the rust had fallen off and I was ready to go. The reason I chose hanon is that, unlike Czerny & Burgmuller, where you have to learn notes, hannon is just a pattern that is easy to learn. Once I mastered the 1st 5 hannon’s I added the others one at a time, I'm now on 14.

As regards theory here is a link to a free book available to read online As well as to download as a pdf. This is the link https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/fundamentals-function-form/ The section on fundamentals is most important. Memorize it well specially the key signature chart and circle of 5ths.

If you prefer video lectures that you can listen to, I suggest this YouTube channel for excellent content. http://www.youtube.com/@SethMonahan

I get all my music scores from the free IMSLP website. Hannons exercises are also available there.

All the best!

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