Self Teaching Piano

I've been trying to, by taking some book I found, teach myself piano. So far, however, its not working at all. So, as a question, is their a way to do this?

There is, but I wouldn't recommend. You'll teach yourself all kinds of bad habbits that your teacher would be able to spot and correct you of. Learning with a teacher, whenever possible, is MUCH better.

Yea.
I was basically self taught (apart from a small stint when i was alot younger) until late last year, and I've improved a massive amount.
Personally I think you'd be very lucky to teach yourself correctly.
Did Alfred Brendel do something like that?
Anyway, it's much better to have a teacher. I've only just started to get a reasonable tone and sense of touch on the piano.

I personally only took lessons for around 4-5 years. I kind of hated the piano, but now I've realized how awesome it is.

So I've been teaching myself for the past two years, learning harder and harder songs, and getting my sister (who took lessons until she graduated high school) to see if I'm getting my stuff right.

It should probably be better if you get a teacher, but there are many famous musicians who taught themselves their instruments. I'm particularly fond of some of the jazz pianists out their who taught themselves. I'm sure they might've taken lessons later in life, however. Don't quote me on that.

Well, I would get lessons, but I really dont have time I'm willing to spare to take a specific lesson time is all. Suppose I should wait till summer.

I personally only took lessons for around 4-5 years. I kind of hated the piano, but now I've realized how awesome it is.

So I've been teaching myself for the past two years, learning harder and harder songs, and getting my sister (who took lessons until she graduated high school) to see if I'm getting my stuff right.

It should probably be better if you get a teacher, but there are many famous musicians who taught themselves their instruments. I'm particularly fond of some of the jazz pianists out their who taught themselves. I'm sure they might've taken lessons later in life, however. Don't quote me on that.

Those famous musicians are the exception, not the rule; there are many more famous musicians who in fact took lessons on their instrument before they became famous.

^I never said it was the rule, did I? In fact, I even said it should be better to get a teacher. I'm haven't 100% taught myself, right? Nor did I say ALl famous pianists taught themselves. I just said some of my favorite musicians have. Not ALL. Right? NOT ALL.

I couldn't give you a really definite answer to this question.
I self-taught myself on the piano, just fiddling around, and having nothing but the knowledge of how to read music at first. For two years I played this way, and just in the middle of last year did I get a teacher.

I'm now playing music like Claire De Lune and Fantasy in D Minor by Mozart, and just recently started playing Fantasie-Impromptu in C# Minor by Chopin. I don't know whether it was my two years of occasional self-teaching or the 6 months of formal piano teaching that got me this far...

So really, I believe that you could teach yourself piano if you did indeed apply yourself.

Are you a complete beginner? If so, get a teacher because you will just be confused and you may mess up the notes or not read the notation correctly.

If you are not a beginner, and know the notes, and notation, then:

Teachers are ok, but they can restrict student. They assign boring work, and the student usually never practices the desired amount of time anyway. Unless of course you get an expensive piano lesson, but even then, it is up to the performer to do all the work. The point is, if you have a good ear and a high passion, you don't need a teacher because you can hear and correct all of your mistakes yourself. Most people can't do this, but it is possible with the above requirements.

Also, another way to help motivate yourself is to play music you really enjoy. Make sure you know what it sounds like, this is important. Even if it is beyond your level, give it a shot. If there is no hope, try playing easier pieces, but memorize them. See if you can memorize the music. If you can't, that means you are playing music you don't enjoy, or you are most likely not practicing the piano correctly, teacher, or no teacher.

I am a piano player of 15 yrs., and I've self taught myself from day 1 until last year. I must say that I was able to successfully learn some famous works, such as Clair de Lune (Debussy), Liebestraum (Liszt), To Spring (Grieg), 6 Poems after Heine (MacDowell), Moonlight Sonata and Sonata Pathetique (Beethoven), and more by the age of 12 (that's 7 years of playing.) Comparatively, a friend of mine took beginning piano lessons for a year and learned Clair de Lune, playing it much better than I initially did (technically speaking.) However, he could not perform it as musically as I could.

To learn something most efficiently, I recommend lessons, as the teacher can guide your technical skills best. I decided to get lessons when I was 19 (last year), and I drammatically improved in my abilities to read and perform pieces which were deemed impossible by my technical experience to play. (In example, I mastered Chopin's Revolutionary Etude in two months, whereas the most difficult piece I could play decently before that was Grieg's To Spring.)

After taking lessons, my technique became refined and my site reading skills dramatically improved. AND: my musical horizons were expanded. I learned several new artists, composers, and styles that I was previously unaquainted with (ie. Rachmaninoff, Barber, Vladmir Horowitz, Jazz).

However, self-teaching taught me something valuable: memorization and playing by ear. I've developed an uncanny ability to memorize a piece, whatever length, in a maximum of three days. Within a week I would have sufficiently mastered it, and within two weeks, improved it enough to perform. What is more, I will never forget what I've learned. Unfortunately, as a teacher, I have no idea how to teach my students how to memorize. I personally don't know how I do it, therefore can't teach them.

The other benefit is playing by ear. I find it very easy to pick up a piece from the radio and play it fairly close to what it sounds like. I don't know whether teachers can teach that to students, for my instructor doesn't need to teach me that.

To answer your original question: "Is there another way to do this?" Yes. Play the piano as much as you can. Pick up new music all the time. Read as much as you can, and, more importantly, listen to as much music from that genre as you can. That is my answer.

If you do decide on piano lessons, make sure you learn by intervalic teaching style, as opposed to middle C and the third style (whatever it is.) It is the easiest, most practical, and most efficient, as what you play after learning the basics is entirely based off that technique.

I hope this has been helpful!