There are two big problems that plague beginners. The first is the "EDM" crowd who likes to jump into everything without having any music background, and who just doodle around with some notes and then spend all their time trying to learn techy aspects like mixing. That's a pretty big waste of time, since it's the same as polishing a turd, since your "music" will be nothing but boring, repeated, simple notes. Almost 100% of those people never get anywhere. If you want to get somewhere in music, you'll have to learn the language of music - and you will inevitably have to learn it at some point, so why not do it at the beginning so that you can enjoy a smoother ride to the top? Ask yourself this: Do you want to be a mixer, or do you want to be a musician? If you want to produce the music, you shouldn't worry about mixing until much later. It's fine to do some mixing for fun, but learning the language of music should be your primary aspiration. Everything else can wait until later. You need a solid foundation to build a house on!
The second greatest problem for beginners is that people always complicate things. They think music is a black art that only "gifted" people can learn. It's not. Gifted people learn faster, but anyone can learn it. Remember: There are plenty of village idiots that still somehow managed to learn the piano. Intelligent people tend to overthink things and overestimate the amount of work required. I'll break it down for you and show why there is no reason to feel intimidated, and why there's actually much less work than you might think, and how it's actually really fun if you learn it the right way!
Music is just a language like any other, and the instruments are your typewriter. You are typing on a computer keyboard right now. If you are like most people, you are able to rapidly type without even looking. You've learned where to push to get the desired letters to appear. And the grammar of the language is how you know what letters belong together to form words. It's exactly the same with music: Learn where the letters are so that you can "type" rapidly (muscle memory), and learn which letters go together (music theory / chords / scales). It's not much more advanced than that. And sure, there's a lot of music theory out there, but unless you are aiming to make classical music and be the next Mozart, most people only need 5-10% of it all.
So yeah, the most important skill to learn is to find a good typewriter (instrument) and to learn how to use it. The most important instrument for digital production is absolutely the keyboard/piano, since every other sound can be played from that.
Some people suggest getting a private teacher. However, a private teacher is a very hit-and-miss prospect. In a huge city it might be possible to get someone truly knowledgeable, but my experience in Sweden in a medium-sized city was that the teachers are often too inefficient and inexperienced to teach at a good pace and with a good method. I've tried two tutors way in the past and paid $35-50 per hour lesson and both were so inexperienced that they barely had any idea how to teach, and I quit after a few lessons.
Sure, if you can find a great teacher, that is by far the best path (since you get live tutoring). But for most people, the best option will be to learn the piano via a MIDI keyboard and software. The software will teach you sight-reading and timing and will detect any errors you make with absolute, digital accuracy, which surpasses even the greatest teacher. Good software also includes video tutorials to teach you proper posture, fingering (finger positions) and so on.
Update with a nice tip from rod_zero: It's possible to get some benefits of live tutoring even with a "bad teacher," by first doing a little personal training via software to learn the absolute basics, and then going to a teacher and telling them that you "want help with making sure you're using the correct posture and fingering so that you can then practice on your own." This means that you'll come prepared (you'll have enough basics that the teacher doesn't have to start with stuff like "this note is called C"), and you'll be able to get the most out of their posture training. Since you're only asking about posture and fingering, it doesn't matter if the teacher doesn't have a good teaching method overall, since you're only asking for help in a small area. Posture and fingering is one of the most basic yet most important areas of all, since it affects how smoothly and quickly you can move across the keyboard, as well as preventing injuries. It's covered by various training software and DVD courses, but nothing beats live interaction to make sure you've understood everything correctly!
Update with another good tip from rod_zero: There's a short ~16 minute video by the pianist Barbara Lister-Sink, called "Freeing the Caged Bird," and it deals with proper posture and injury-avoidance. She experienced injuries herself which almost forced her to quit playing, and produced the video as a result. It is available for free on her YouTube channel: Part 1, Part 2.
Now, onto the software section...
The way I learned was through Voyetra Teach Me Piano Deluxe. It was a long time ago now so it's long-discontinued and only runs on 32-bit windows XP or lower, but it's absolutely fantastic. I looked for better alternatives and couldn't find anything, so I've recommended this "old" program to several friends, who simply made a dual-boot partition with an older Windows version to be able to run it. You can still find it on various online marketplaces and "other" places (since it's no longer officially for sale, I don't think downloading is a bad choice in this case; for instance, there is only 1 used copy available on Amazon at the moment, so it's hard to get any other way). Voyetra has a really charming video teacher named Hugh Berberich, and it takes you on a structured road all the way from baby-beginner's one-finger playing to full Mozart (chords and songs with both hands). It rates your timing and musical performance in all lessons and rewards replay to get a top score.
Another option is to go the DVD route. There's a course called "Learn & Master Piano with Will Barrow" (or as I like to read it: Wheelbarrow), which is absolute top quality. It's very expensive, though.
Along with having a tutorial program or DVD series, it's also important to have fun and not just do lessons! One of the biggest problems people have is that they go straight into deeper and deeper lessons and soon they lose the fun aspect of it all and give up. While writing this thread, I had a look into modern "music game" methods and one that really caught my eye was "Synesthesiagame" (Google it). It lets you load songs and play the notes like a shoot-em-up, at any pace you want, and it could be good for someone wanting to have some fun and not just do lessons.
Lastly, I also recommend doing some light, fun music production. Use the skills while you're acquiring them, and play melodies into your music sequencer, play around a bit with sounds and mixing, etc. This helps further break up the monotony and helps you stick with it!
So that's the core way to begin: A solid private tutor, training software or DVD course for the music theory/mechanical aspects of using your new "typewriter." A music game of some kind to let you learn while playing a game. And finally, some light production to have even more fun while learning. It all combines into a trio of awesome, and you can keep jumping between all 3 areas (theory, game and production) whenever you get a bit bored of one. Taking frequent breaks and briefly switching areas lets you avoid "information overload" and lets you have a practical use for the skills you are learning!
Either way, after you're done going through some sort of training series/program and know how to play the instrument, you should now work on your ear skill. It's good to know how to type with your musical typewriter, but it's even more important to know how to LISTEN to the language of music and to transcribe it. Because that's the skill that allows you to "listen" to your inner music and play exactly what you are hearing in your mind. For iOS there's "Better Ears" (simple but good on the go), and for Mac/Windows there is EarMaster Pro. The latter is the real deal and is the world's greatest ear-training method. You'll listen to intervals, chords, rhythms and so on, and your task is to identify them.
That's about it... My final piece of advice is to always remember to take a break if you feel like things are becoming a chore. If you allow negative emotions to become associated with music, you will ruin it for yourself. It's better to have a small break and come back refreshed.
And never rush or push yourself. Get into music for the right reasons: For relaxation and personal fulfillment and love of music. So try to make music relaxing, and you might find that it can even replace other forms of entertainment for you. For instance, it's more positive to doodle at the piano for an hour than to spend an hour in World of Warcraft or in front of the TV - and when you're making musical progress, you'll discover that it's also way more fun than any other activities!
That's all for now! Good luck, and above all, have fun!
Feel free to contribute your own experiences and tips to add to this thread.
