Thank you @matticawood for reviewing my video! This is not a recent video (been learning piano for three years now), so seeing these clips again makes me a bit uneasy 😂 If any beginner reads this, I recommend watching this video as an example of how NOT to practice piano and instead try the following:
-Practice with a metronome
-Start with simple pieces and play them slowly until you are comfortable working your way up to a normal speed. (I made a mistake of learning my family’s favorite songs during my first year and approaching it with “I’ll learn them no matter how difficult the pieces are and no matter how much my hands will hurt”, and because of that it sounds like these pieces are being played by R2-D2.
-I started learning sheet music 6 months in, but I believe I would have been better off doing it earlier and actually looking at the sheet while playing instead of memorizing pieces and then putting the sheet away.
-Keep your fingers relaxed! My technique here is awful and it’s taken a long time to fix it and it’s still not great.
-Learn to play quieter with your left hand, there are exercises for that.
-I actually don’t regret not using the pedal during my first year. I tried a few times, but it only started clicking during my second year.
-Regardless of the result, deciding to learn a musical instrument is a wonderful undertaking, and I hope everyone enjoys their musical journey as much as I do!

Best piano Chanel ever. I am going to be 16 years old in the end of October 2025 and this is my 9th year on piano and next year I will get the piano degree ❤❤❤ I am so happy. I have learned many things from you thank you God bless you❤❤

I started out only learning a few songs that I like, but now I've basically started again with the methodic route.

What I would have really liked at the end is to see how she now plays one of the songs she started with, to see how she has progressed on a piece she has been playing for the majority of her learning rather than always new pieces. I think that would help demonstrate what she has learned piece by piece

I kind of tried to learn the same way and slammed into a wall pretty quick. But I was determined and I didn't give up. However, a lot was going on in my life for the past couple years and my piano was sitting with a cover on it for most of that time. Then I got a email from Piano Sessions about their Black Friday sale. I stared at it and said, "If I'm going to do this, I need some help. I can't learn what I want to learn the way I am learning it." I knew the right way to go about it and I couldn't do it myself. I have only been playing now for two months and my progress on all fronts has skyrocketed! I had a bit of a foundation - reading some music books on theory and whatnot and having tried (and failed) to play guitar in the past - but this program has really pushed me and I have improved so quickly in such a short period of time. And keep in mind, I'm fifty years old, so teaching these old bones does not come so easy! If you can't get a live piano teacher, I highly recommend some of these tutorial programs that are out there. I know there are more as I researched them pretty heavy trying to figure out my next step. Do it instead of trying to "teach yourself" because you WILL teach yourself wrong and even if you power through and keep playing, you will spend a lot of time fixing those mistakes rather than truly moving forward.

My piano arrived a few days ago, Im really excited to learn how to play.  Hopefully Ill stick to learning everyday o.o anyways, love ur videos man! they are incredibly helpful! thanks for the content :)

I was thinking no way she's only just started playing haha, i'm currently learning the piano and how to read music.. it is very different than learning and playing a few songs off youtube. Over a month in and I'm still learning my first piece "Bach prelude in C", most of the time I spend at the piano is practicing scales, chords, fingering and hand techniques plus the time I spend on the theory. I'm in no rush though and really enjoying the process also wondering how long it will take for my left hand to start functioning as intended :D

Im coming up on 1 year myself. Started learning on my little nephews toy piano on September 23rd
Bought a keyboard right before helene came through wrecking my town. Luckily my neighbor had an upright with a few piano books so I kept practicing till we finally got power back lol. You are an inspiration

I started piano self taught ish a few years ago to see if i like playing the instrument which i did in the end. So i thought i start taking proper lessons with a tutor back in september 2022.

I started from the very beginning to get familier with everything. One of my first pieces i played with 2 hands properly and sight reading in my lesson back in 2023 is old mcdonald and this old man lol. But it helped to get where i am right now, im currently learning grade 3 and 4 pieces even though ive finished grade 1 back in November. Im halfway through learning the entertainer and can play it quite well, its just a very long piece.

My tutor has done a very good job to get me where i am currently. I feel that ive come a long way. Im having fun learning new skills on the piano, its mega fun.

Keep playing the piano everyone!! If you like playing it of course

I’m about 6 weeks in. Doing more the “learn to play piano” route. Going through Alfred’s 1st method book… slow and steady.. only on page 30😂

Side note her Darth Vader mask is awesome

I started with a method book but at the half of it, got bored and got so many supplemental books in adult beginner level. Now, all i do is play songs. I think i only go around 2 pages a day on the method book and spend more time learning a new piece. I think the pieces i am using are even more advanced than the method book 😅.

This vid made me realize that i need to focus equally on the method book as much as learning songs.

I can read sheet music but struggle doing so while playing, especially at speed. Instead, what I tend to do is learn the piece by reading while going slow, then after a few passes - I'll ensure I get the dynamics correct. By the end, the sheet music is just for a reference as I increase to the intended speed.

Regarding Zhenya, I noticed the middle months were about the same level of proficiency with the natural improvement you get with more hours of practice but a noticeable improvement once she started using sheet music as the foundation for learning in the 8th month.

I LOVED this vid. I'm happy she stuck with playing, and especially finding her comment she's three years into it now. I took lessons for a couple of semesters with breaks in between and now it's been over six years since last and i sold my piano. But i wanna start again... I also loved Matt's critique, gentle yet constructive, i would have loved that for myself. I'm most intrigued with the theory and why this and that piece use these and those keys... My teachers never told me. And then hearing Matt play even a tiny bit sends little shiwers down my torso. Wow...

This person is doing what I have been doing. Playing Epiano on low volume and smashing the keys to hear it better. They should play full volume and controll strike.

Thanks for the advice, Matt! ❤ I'll be sure to practice relaxing my wrist when playing Für Elise (or any other piece or song). :D

when i started i definitely started way too greedy and jumped to very advanced piece and oh boy did i burn out quickly, so start slow always

Thank you for the review. This is exactly what I have attempted to do over the past year, but have not succeeded past Zhenya’s first month, if that. This video made me realized that I def have to seek out professional help. I appreciated how easily you pointed out areas of improvements with suggestions.

Its made that she's basically remembering all of these pieces! I have only recently started and have been trying to sight read as much as possible (might even buy your book soon!). I am currently learning Prelude in C Major and have been working through the sheet music making little notes in the staves about what notes kinda start a bar, and then trying to use that to work out the intervals etc....I am doing this mainly because there is no chance I could remember all of these pieces off the top of my head!! 😅

Love this channel btw, so much good advice in every video!

I used to say that pushing right keys in right order is not playing piano. It’s just the skill to repeating specific sequence of sounds. With all the respect to people who chose this way of dealing with piano, playing is also understanding what, how and why you play particular pieces. To be fair, I can say that I’m in the middle of axis between free and methodology play. Once a week I have classes, I also use many materials from the Internet. What I’m happy about in this video is that she started to play with sheets and hopefully her skills boosted due to that.
@matticawood what is your opinion in that matter, I’m very courious what people with much much bigger exprience than me think about it.

This is priceless. How to (re) do your first year right.
Plus, a perfect perspective on what you can achieve.
I am doing this hybrid approach, with a perfectionist point of view ))