hi guys, new to 8notes.
ive been playing piano for a number of years now. im completely self taught. never really been serious about it until recently. its always been just me picking up sheet music for a song that had some type of sentimental value to me, and completely committing it to memory. i can only play a few songs, but they took me a long time to learn and i do play them regularly. i can play fur elise (the advanced version), warmness on the soul, and i wont see you tonight part 1. never having had any formal instruction with the piano, i just learned the techniques that i needed in order to play these three songs, and tailored them to my comfort. i now would like to start actually teaching myself, still independently but more formally. do you have any recommendations on practice books i should purchase, or exercises i should be doing? anything i should be studying?

Do you read music? It sounds like you might...but if that skill is weak you should work on it. And then get a good book of scale/arpeggio exercises. That would be a good place to start IMO.

And then start playing a few other tunes that you find interesting. There's got to be more than 3!

Good luck!

thanks :]
and yes, i can read music. ive had formal instruction with the alto and baritone sax for seven years, and i also play guitar and drums. so the music theory part is taken care of. :P

Hmm... how about playing Hanon? It's a good book to exercise your finger flexibility.

thanks, will check it out :]

Then you should be in decent shape!

Hello,
I suggest playing easy pieces that you
are familiar with, that way you don't
have to learn the song and try to play it
also. example if someone tries to play a
song they have never heard before, you don't know
how it is supposed to sound and it is harder to learn.
Check out my website: Helpful Linux Links and Piano Links
http://jmjlinux.110mb.com
for FREE links to lessons.
There are a lot of good links on there for beginners.