Any Piano/Keyboard Players out there?

I was thinking of getting a keyboard recently, I would love to be-able to play one. Is it a difficult instrument to learn?

Nah, not really. It depends really on your dedication to learning. The hardest part is separating your hands to doing completely different movements if you ask me, that and quickly reading where you should place your fingers next. But it all comes with training, just like with any instrument. My suggestion is that you find a few songs you want to play

I tried to play piano once and I quickly realized that my left hand is kind of a dick and doesn't like to do the things I tell it to. I'm sure if you practiced a decent amount it wouldn't be that hard, but the whole 'Both hands doing different things in different places' thing makes my head explode a bit.

It's pretty easy to learn yes. You can't play wrong notes like with the violin for instance, so it's pretty straightforward in that sense.

Difficult to master though, like any instrument I guess.

I bought an 88 keys digital piano last summer. I made it through the piano lesson book and then stopped for school. I should probably get back to practicing. 

Just like with any instrument play every day, even if it is just 20 minutes, do it every day. Stick to it and you`ll be fine.  
Before you buy an instrument try to learn a bit about it first so you dont end up regretting your choice later.

I tried to play piano once and I quickly realized that my left hand is kind of a dick and doesn't like to do the things I tell it to. I'm sure if you practiced a decent amount it wouldn't be that hard, but the whole 'Both hands doing different things in different places' thing makes my head explode a bit.

I played Piano and keyboard in highschool.  Haven't really played much recently.
practice first on a keyboard to get the fundamentals then move to piano when you are ready.
Get yourself a cheap keyboard and a beginners keyboard book. 
Also try practicing scales to get your fingers used to moving before trying to learn a song.
If you don't know how already, learn to read music.

I've been playing for a little over a year. Bought a Yamaha E423 66 key keyboard because I wanted to learn game music.

I have a Korg M50 and I fucking love it. I'm not a great a player but it's extremely helpful when I'm writing music.

I used to have lessons when i was younger, but i gave up on it. I was learning how to play like game music e.g Final Fantasy songs a while ago, i can play a couple of songs but thats about it. I dont even know the basics of sheet reading anymore, i used to know :/, shame though.

@supermike6 said: 

I tried to play piano once and I quickly realized that my left hand is kind of a dick and doesn't like to do the things I tell it to. I'm sure if you practiced a decent amount it wouldn't be that hard, but the whole 'Both hands doing different things in different places' thing makes my head explode a bit.

Is it much different than using a keyboard? I mean, I'm great at typing on keyboard but as much as I would love to learn piano, its layout somewhat scares me.

I played the piano for roughly ten years (I was young and it was my mom's idea) before discovering percussion and never really touching them again.  
 
Is it a difficult instrument to learn? It's about as difficult as any other interments really. If you have a natural inclination for it, thing will come easier, but if not you will have to work at it. Unless you discover that the piano is your soul instrument, your best off getting a cheap electronic one and using it to learn the musical fundamentals (reading music, chord progressions) and then taking that knowledge to an instrument you prefer. Unless you love it, piano is a good starting instrument that can make future instruments much easier to learn. 

What goals are you looking to accomplish by learning to play? Do you want to play popular music and maybe impress your friends? Do you want to play classical? Make your own music? With a couple of years of practice, you can play almost any popular piece of piano music, minus maybe Tori Amos or Ben Folds type stuff. Some classical stuff, like Fur Elise, is pretty easy to learn, too. You may need actual lessons if you want to play anything harde. If you want to make your own unique music, though, just learn about scales and then go to it. It should take all of a couple of hours to really learn what a scale is, and a couple of weeks to learn to play the major scales. After that, you should be all set.

By the way, I played and took lessons from 1st grade through my senior year of high school. I have a piano in my basement collecting dust now, though.

yeah, i learned how to play from school. it was basic stuff. look on youtube, there are some piano stuff there.

@Burzmali: Yeah when I started I just wanted to learn video game music.

Been teaching it to myself rather effectively. So far I have a strong grasp on utilizing both hands simultaneously. My issue right now is spreading out for appregios to make it sound natural. Advice?

I'd say go for it. I learned a little bit in High School, then went for about 10 years without ever playing until I decided I wanted to get back into making music. I bought myself an alright $500 Casio a little over a year ago, and it's the most rewarding purchase I've ever made.

@BulletproofMonk: Yeah, the M50 is pretty baller, but I wouldn't recommend it to the OP unless he's either pretty sure he's gonna stick with it for a while, or if he can throw away the money on something like that.

Back to the question, I've been playing for 16 years, and I really like just being able to sit down and bang out my favorite songs with my own dynamics. It's also cool to bust out on those rare occasions where there's a piano there and a bunch of people who don't play. You'd be surprised how easy it is to impress.

i envy people that sing and play piano with both hands at the same time....  i need to start playing John Legend songs again

@allworkandlowpay said:

@Burzmali: Yeah when I started I just wanted to learn video game music.

Been teaching it to myself rather effectively. So far I have a strong grasp on utilizing both hands simultaneously. My issue right now is spreading out for appregios to make it sound natural. Advice?

What do you mean your issue is spreading out for arpeggios? Are you having trouble putting your fingers on the right keys or simply opening your hand wide enough? The answer for all of them is practice, but you can do different things for each. For the first issue, I always played with my fingers near the black keys so that I could get a feel for where they were on the keyboard. That issue is really something that just comes with repetition, though. Practice going from closed (thumb on C, pinkie on G, and each other finger on the white keys between), and playing CEG, then something more open, like thumb on C, middle finger on F, and pinkie on A, play that arpeggio. Then go to thumb on C, index on E, middle on G, and ring on B, and pinkie on the next C. Repeat that for various scales for a few minutes each day and you'll start to get it. For the second, just have to stretch your hand through practice. Similar to the previous solution, but just focus on getting your thumb and pinkie as far apart as possible.

I can play chop sticks, house of the rising sun, and some sort of foreign song named Ka Ding Quing Ge or something like that on the keyboard.

Piano is the easiest instrument, but that just means that you can take it farther then any other.

I really wish I had more room to set up my shitty keyboard that I got for free, so I can seriously start learning all this stuff.

Last December I bought a used performance keyboard for $999 and I wish I knew how to get started learning it. I teach myself in surely all the wrong ways.

But it was worth the money. God bless Kurzweil.