Begining piano

[Leftover Jello]

I've been thinking about trying to play more piano. I was wondering how long it takes to become decent at jazz and rock piano, and what are the best ways to start learning.

[pIerre yVes]

"trying to play more piano"? tell everyone how long you've been playing, then mebbe they can help you out, otherwise, no one can give you any advice
or maybe they don't want to :(

[pIerre yVes]

lol i'm confused....the thread is 'beginning piano', and yet you said 'wanting to play more'....meaning more than what you play now?

[Welcometothezoo]

I think it's certainly the best thing to do to start straight on the piano. I started on the keyboard, and although it nurtured my reading and chord knowledge, you come to a time when you want real, great piano works, and suddenly you're thinking oh my god, how do i play bass notation! etc.
In answer to your question, the best way to start learning is by finding a good teacher, one that understands and pays attention to where you want to go with the piano. They will need to be able to find the peices you're after and the styles in which they fit into. You say you want to play jazz and 'rock' piano. well, i'd concentrate on the jazz part first, you'll need reliable, classic jazz pieces and books designed to progress you in difficulty. 'Rock' piano is a bit of a hazy category, i think before you go in search of this material, you'll need, as i said, recognised works, that have been used to teach for years and that your teacher will lap up and be best equipped to teach you on.
Finally, you have to actually love what you're playing. I'm at the level i'm at because i took such joy in playing classical music and developed great interest for the artists. This is an IMPERATIVE!!! i can't stress it enough, and i can tell from your question that you want to get good and FAST, well this will only happen with commitment and a real desire to play.

[SupernovaN2310]

It really depends on the person. Some people never get it, some people can do it within a year.

[Leftover Jello]

To answer some questions, I have a piano in my house, and I occasionally play it. Open up a book and try to play a song in it to the point where there are a few classical songs I can kind of play. But what I would really like would to be able to sit at a piano and play a long with a guitar or something. I'd guess most of what I want to learn is music theory and chords. Anyways thanks for the advice Zoo.

[DetectiveMikeRS]

Well, I was self taught for piano for 8 years until last March, so I've been taking lessons for half a year, and I'm good with rock and jazz, but not as good as I can be, piano takes a lot of time to learn, mainly because you have to know two clefts, read both at the same time while playing with your hands and feet for pedals. So to learn some fast, 12 bar blues simple lines are the best, especially when syncronizing your left and right hands, it's a good start.