I want some clarification on some of my thoughts. I've been self teaching (or trying to) myself how to play the piano for about 2 years now. I keep thinking about getting a teacher, but I really don't have the time or money for lessons let alone my own self lessons. I've actually got a history in music. I spent a year playing the viola back when I was younger and a little over 3 years in my high school band. I also studied music theory at one point so I'm not entirely a novice but I'm not exactly skilled either. So here are the thoughts/questions I had about the piano and piano playing. Thanks for any comments.

1. When I play the piano, my hands feel the need to be "structured" and follow exactly on certain notes. Is this normal for amateur types like me? This has made it hard for me to get my hands to differentiate speeds. If I'm playing 8ths and 16ths on my left, my right which has 4ths wants to follow just as fast making it hard to play. Even after I slowly practice and then try to get up to speed, I seem to be unable to keep my hands moving freely of eachother. How can I learn to maybe "multitask" my hands?

2. Sightreading music is rather fun to me. I have actually sightread a few easier pieces but as I go up in the difficulty of a song, I start to try improvise the chords (albeit kinda badly). Is this a bad thing? If so what can I do to improve on my sightreading skills?

3. When I practice a song, I sometimes listen to the original and try to match it up; however, I can never seem to make it sound exactly like the original (even with the correct sheets). Maybe it's my ear? I'm not the greatest at recognizing notes and chords, but I have been able to pick through some songs with my ear only. Unfortunately, because what I play doesn't sound similar enough to the original for me, I tend to lose my want to practice it.

That's it for my thoughts and questions, thanks to any and all comments.