RSMCGUITAR
Does anyone know a good online resource for learning piano. I've been playing guitar for many years. Now that I'm working with midi more often it would be nice to improve my knowledge on the keyboard. I'm looking to avoid learning stuff like Old McDonald and other kid songs so that I stay motivated to learn. Mostly I just want the basics for hashing out ideas. thanks

the very best answer i can think of,
is to avoid on line,
and find a good local teacher, and take some lessons.
 
this will take you further than any other approach.
 

batsbrew

RSMCGUITAR
Does anyone know a good online resource for learning piano. I've been playing guitar for many years. Now that I'm working with midi more often it would be nice to improve my knowledge on the keyboard. I'm looking to avoid learning stuff like Old McDonald and other kid songs so that I stay motivated to learn. Mostly I just want the basics for hashing out ideas. thanks

the very best answer i can think of,
is to avoid on line,
and find a good local teacher, and take some lessons.
 
this will take you further than any other approach.
 

True of every instrument for total beginners. Doesn't matter how much theory knowledge/experience one has. Each instrument has their own physical technique so getting trained by a pro in HOW to physically attack the instrument, even just the basics, is so incredibly crucial.
 
I am mostly self taught on guitar but I took about a year of lessons from an accredited teacher when I first started out (at the ripe old age of 12). I learn absolutely jackwad nothingballs as far as anything useful theory-wise (he was using the lame 20 year method) but just getting the instruction on how fret notes properly, hold the guitar, use the pick, etc likely helped me get a leg up for my own spazzo studies over the years.
 
I played in a band with girl who took harcore classical piano lesson lessons as a kid. She showed me the proper way to practice piano scales and really it's the type of very specific physical training you'd never figure out on your own. That was the ONLY thing she showed me though and I can only imagine there are tons of specific tricks to tickling the keys efficiently.
 
Biggest problem for me I think would be "un-glueing" my left and right hands. 25 years of having your right hand smack out what the left hand is setting up makes it sooo difficult to get that nice, individual free movement. Tripped me up pretty bad on drums too when I was playing those but I managed to break the glue a little bit after a while on my own. Totally different animal though and I still struggled with stuff (I could NEVER figure out the whole hi hat foot control thing... that all just seems wrong and backwards, lol).
 
It's so much easier to get affordable lessons these days since music shops have started theor little clinics so yeah... definitely look into that. I intend to if I ever have the cash/time.

Thanks for all the feedback on this guys! Some great suggestions here.

LOL! Even mine 

Finding a good teacher is always going to help you improve faster. I would look for teachers who have been trained in piano performance either at a conservatory or at the undergraduate/masters level. If you live near a big city, it shouldn't be impossible to find one. My piano teacher was trained at a conservatory back in the days of the USSR and she's just awesome.
 
TheMaartian has the right idea if you want to go the autodidact route. Those books are great. The Bastien series is also good:
http://www.amazon.com/KP1B-Bastien-Beginning-Lessons-Technic/dp/0849773024
http://www.amazon.com/Bastein-Piano-Adults-Book-Beginning/dp/0849773067/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1V56DV28FWRK99ZEA182
 
If you dedicate time to those books, you can definitely become a better musician. Of course, there are always going to be some challenges going the autodidact route but if you establish your goals clearly, you can make quite a bit of progress.

TheMaartian
Back in 1964, I could play Mozart piano concertos, transcribing on the fly. Today, I look at my hands and wonder what the hell happened. 

That's awesome and I'm jealous... If only I could handle a Mozart sonata.

Amine Belkhouche

TheMaartian
Back in 1964, I could play Mozart piano concertos, transcribing on the fly. Today, I look at my hands and wonder what the hell happened. 

That's awesome and I'm jealous... If only I could handle a Mozart sonata.

Here are two videos of my second (and BEST) piano teacher. She's about 80 in the videos. She had a stroke when she was 62, and had only been able to play left-handed ever since. When I studied under in from '61-'64, she was the soloist for the St. Louis Philharmonic.
 
Chopin-Godowsky Etude Op. 25 #1 for Left Hand Alone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY-Yf-l97Fk
 
Moszkowski Etude No. 12 for Left Hand Alone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYdv8GNdww
 
My Saturday morning lessons included one hour of sitting at her kitchen table transcribing the work of the day up or down, say, a minor 3rd, you know, just for fun! What EVERY 10 year old wants to be doing on Saturday morning! 

She's absolutely amazing. I tried my hand at the Scriabin etudes, needless to say, there were balance issues all over the place. They're a great learning tool nonetheless.
 

TheMaartian
My Saturday morning lessons included one hour of sitting at her kitchen table transcribing the work of the day up or down, say, a minor 3rd, you know, just for fun! What EVERY 10 year old wants to be doing on Saturday morning! 

Transcriptions are like eating vegetables, not many 10 year olds want to do it, but you can be damn sure they're really good for you.

Find middle C and then move to the note next to it and learn it's name.     ~LEARN IT~
Do this on both sides till you reach C again   ~DO IT~

RSMCGUITAR, there is an added benefit of learning from a teacher or, at the very least, a good piano book. They structure the lessons for you and they present the information in a useful and gradual manner. This gives the beginner student less things to think about, which is very helpful. Again, if you can, get a teacher. However, if you feel like you're a good self-learner (that's a skill in itself), then look at some of the books that were provided and commit to learning them.