If you are between 18 and 100 and are looking into taking piano lessons as an absolute beginner, CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve made the first step to starting this wonderful musical journey with a magical and (literally) majestic instrument.

I am certainly biased here, being a classically trained pianist for so many years. I basically live, breathe and sleep with piano/music in my head 24/7. I love playing, teaching and writing about it/them.

I have to admit though, it was not love at the first sight, and I was no child prodigy. I just went through the early period of my “piano life” because I was told to like every other obedient child. My brothers played piano and I also played it, with it being part of our education curriculum.

All those early years I spent at the piano with a few piano teachers were not all that enjoyable or educational really – no offense, but I believe most of them didn’t know what they were doing. I have perfect pitch (which can be a blessing and a curse), and my teachers didn’t even know or take advantage of that to teach me. They just went through the books (“play louder, play correct, play faster, and then some more!”) and thought they did their jobs, one of them occasionally comparing me to my brother (who was doing much better than I then) and implying that I was a disappointment to her as my piano exam grades were not as good.

Long story short, I thought I was not good at piano. In fact, quite the contrary, and not until I met my first real Teacher, that I realized I loved playing the piano and I was actually quite good at it.

She opened my eyes, ears and mind to this whole new magical world of music. I mean, I never thought playing the piano was that fun and literally, colorful! (She made me draw a picture about the piece I was playing, and even though I was super bad at drawing and she teased me about it, it was an amazing experience to know that music had image and story and color and so much more…)

And I was 13.

Piano has taken me to many places, met many people and experienced many things I would have otherwise never had. I went to Europe for music festival before 18, spent a summer playing music in ancient castles and opera houses in Italy and sang in the Vatican Church. I got invited to France and all the amazing countries to perform in concerts. I also wrote books on piano, started a piano school and a charity organization, and did a lot of interesting fun concerts all these years.

I am writing about my experiences to show how grateful I feel to have all these opportunities, just because I play the piano.

I guess what I am saying is, I have a lot of passion for piano, not just playing it, but promoting it, writing about it, and teaching it. I spent a lot of waking (and sleepy) hours thinking about how to help students play better. I wrote articles and make videos sharing for free about how others can play and teach better. I do all these only because I love it.

So whenever someone new – whether they be 3 or 93 – is coming to take piano lessons with me, I am always feel with anticipation and excitement, thinking, “great, another opportunity to share my passion with a new student!”. And when they feel frustrated with how it goes at the beginning, I always remind them, “it’s just a start, don’t worry, it’s okay to not know how and make mistake, because that’s how we learn!”.

All these years in my piano teaching career, I have so many adult students, who start from scratch as an absolute beginner, a more advanced player or even a piano teacher. Those who are “successful” in learning how to play – meaning they have good progress and enjoy their playing and learning – are always the ones who love the challenges, who put effort into learning and practice, and who are not afraid to make mistakes and keep going.

I know I have been long winded in this post, but what I want to really say to you is, if you still are thinking about whether you should start playing the piano or not, I say “go for it”. There’s nothing to lose but time wasted in pondering upon what could happen if you’ve tried your hands at the piano – and hey, if you’ve tried it and found out you don’t like it, great, no need to pursue it. Move on to the next project!

I look forward to hearing from you. Let’s make some music together!