There’s nothing worth learning well that’s particularly easy to do, whether on your own or with a teacher.

What you can be certain of, is that you will get out of it what you put into it.

The more effort and time you can devote, the more you will learn, and more quickly.

Find what works for you and then stick to it.

Do something every single day, even if it’s just 10 minutes at the keyboard.

Not everyone learns the same way, so a book that works well for someone else may not be exactly right for you.

There will be some trial and error in finding the best books for you to learn from.

There are so many great books that are different in approach and content, so if you find one book to be less than helpful, you can just move along to the next one.

Just buy what looks most interesting to you, and pay attention to the reviews if they exist.

Here are some things to consider as you begin your search for the right piano book(s):

• Why do you want to learn? Will this be a hobby or your career?
• What kind of piano music do you want to learn? Pop songs, classical music, experimental, etc.?
• How do you learn best? By book, video, or with a teacher?
• Do you want to learn how to read sheet music?

Once you start googling and talking to teachers about the books, you might notice that many would recommend the same books. There’s a reason for that.

Here are some of the tried-and-true method books you can turn to for learning to play piano on your own…

You’ll find that nearly everyone recommends this. Alfred’s piano method books have been around for about a century, and countless students have used their books. Their books are concise, well-written and clearly organized, with detailed descriptions and pictures of what to do broken down into short, easy-to-master steps.

Alfred’s also offers more complete versions of piano methods for adult beginners, such as Alfred’s All In One Adult Piano Course, Alfred’s Self Teaching Adult Piano Course, and Alfred’s Teach Yourself To Play Piano.

You could even pick up one of their books for kids, as they have simple piano performance pieces and easy-to-understand text, along with illustrations to make learning fun. An example is the Alfred’s Basic Piano Library which is a series of books covering playing techniques, exercises, basic music theory, and offering recital pieces as well. These books are leveled, so for quick learners there is always a next book to learn from as they improve.

Here’s a thorough explanation from Piano Lessons On The Web about what’s inside the Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course Level 1 book, and how you can use it to teach yourself piano:

Starting with Book 1, the Faber method is an all-in-one course on learning piano that includes music theory, basic reading, performance pieces, and offers access to online instructional videos to help you get through it all.

There is also a standard Faber Piano Adventures book with additional pieces to play.

Piano Roadmap offers a side-by-side comparison of two of the top piano method books, Alfred’s All In One Adult Piano Course and Faber Adult Piano Adventures (watch below).

The Bastien series of books also come in levels. Level 1 is the starting place for the complete beginner, and although it’s a relatively short method book, you can learn a lot from it. Similar to the Alfred’s method books, each level is broken out into four areas: Performance, Theory, Technique, and Piano Pieces. This means you should probably buy the first four books as a set.

Bastien also has the book Piano for the Young Beginner for kids age 5 and up. Anyone can learn from books designed for kids. You don’t need to be a kid, to have fun with learning piano! Bastien offers many other piano method books also worth a look for adult beginners.

It’s hard to go wrong with any of these method books, since they’ve been used and enjoyed by many thousands of kids and adult learners through the years.

While it’s not possible to offer a fully inclusive list of great books to learn from on your own, here are a handful of other books recommended by top piano teachers you might look at…

Used in many college and university keyboard classes for non-piano players. There is also a Book 2 available.

The Lang Lang Academy method is great for beginner piano students with lots of clear explanations and illustrations, including cartoon characters.

There are five levels with each one progressively more challenging. It’s a fun and creative method by Lang Lang, a world-renowned Concert Pianist and Teacher.

This book and streaming video course by Damon Ferrante is recommended by Rolling Stone Magazine as the best beginner piano book.

Easy to follow, interactive, and fun, it offers a step-by-step method to learning classic songs such as House of the Rising Sun, Danny Boy, Amazing Grace, and others, with no music reading required.

This book is specifically written for absolute beginners interested in self-teaching, and allows you to build on your new knowledge as you progress through the book.

Hal Leonard is one of the largest publishers of music education books in the world and has a wide variety of titles to choose from.

This book of easy songs has some of the best-known traditional, popular, and modern tunes to help build your repertoire.

Also from Hal Leonard, this book has large print and illustrations which makes it easier to read while figuring out what to do with your fingers.