Why can I type well, but struggle when I learn to play the piano?

Just because your piano has a key board, doesn’t mean that it is one.

Because you don’t use a rhythmic guide when typing. On top of that, aside from keyboard shortcuts and capitalizing letters, rarely are you asked to use two keys in conjunction.

Being able to press keys on a computer keyboard does not mean you are able to keep tempo on a piano, nor does it mean that you are instantly able to coordinate complex left/right hand patterns, appregios, chord structures, etc.

Start basic, melody first, add in bass. That’s all.

One is a mechanical task, the other is a partly mechanical, partly intellectual task which requires musical taste and talent.

wouldn’t that kind of be like asking; “Why can’t I shoot a real gun as well as I can a toy gun?”
but seriously… if you want to get better you just need to practice :)

A computer keyboard doesn’t require rythme and a piano does. You can type at whatever speed you want on a computer but songs are set in stone

I think the hardest thing about playing the piano (or any instrument) is not mastering the technical aspects of making your fingers move the right way—it’s learning to listen while you play. That’s something you don’t have to do when you’re on the computer.

What interferes with listening while playing? Lots of things: thoughts about how it ought to sound (memories of having heard the tune before, etc.), thoughts about what others will think of your playing, thoughts about whether or not you’re doing it right, thoughts about mistakes you just made, thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts.

Thinking is the enemy of playing, just like it’s the enemy of golf or any other interactive performance activity. To be able to let those thoughts go and just play is a challenge that never goes away, regardless of your level of technical skill. I’ve been playing for > 35 years and sometimes I still have too much mental noise to actually hear myself.

Thanks HasntBeen. That’s probably part of it for me. Unlike most regular players and singers. I actually can’t read music. I can understand the flow and the instructions when I look at a piece of music. But otherwise I do everything by ear. It makes me wonder if its good or bad. When I hear a piece of piano music. I can hear all the notes. I can dissect the chords and play them. I just have trouble coordinating the sound from my head and memory into my hands.

But I think that has a lot to do more with my lack a familiarity with the instrument. It almost struck me oddly that pianists often had sheet music in front of them. I always thought by the time the performance has come around they would have completely internalized it.

But in the end all it really comes down to is practice. And somehow not killing my hands trying to stretch out my fingers.

Well of course technical issues are all about practice—the mechanics of it. I can’t say anything terribly interesting about that probably, you know it’s a lot of work and time.

But listening isn’t about that at all. There’s a book I have in which a budding concert pianist talked about her adventures with a teacher. She was already adept enough to give recitals, but this teacher would just have her play the first 2 bars of a piece, and then interrupt her and say “no, that’s not it”. And she’d start over. This went on for months, it would bring her to tears of frustration to practice with him. But he had a reputation for turning out great concert pianists, so she stuck with it.

One day it started to shift… he didn’t say “stop”... and she hesitantly kept on going, then with more confidence. Something had shifted, she had learned to hear the music without having her attention divided between that and something else.

When I get “clogged up” like that, I just sit there and relax, and play something very simple… just a short progression of slow notes. I want to hear each and every note as if it were the first time. No technical challenge, no real melody even, just the sound of the string vibrating (or the electronics oscillating!), the feel of the key, the vibration of the instrument… you should be able to relax and just be at peace with that sound and not feel the need to accomplish anything or do anything special.

Ultimately, it’s the instrument that plays. You’re just decoration :)

It may be because you are using two different parts of your brain. When typing you are using the words and language part of your brain. Playing the piano is the music part of your brain. Keep practicing and good luck to you!

Practice. It’s far more important to practice every day then it is to practice long periods of time. Not only is it proof of your dedication to learning this skill.. but it creates muscle memory. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve forgotten how to play a part of a song.. but if I just start playing it… my fingers know what to do. Practice practice practice! Every day!

Like @NaturalMineralWater said, practicing everyday is very important. If you don’t want to play the piano everyday, then maybe you should switch instruments or wait a period of time. When I first started playing guitar, I was round 7 and had no interest. When I picked it up at around 15, I absolutely 100% loved it. It’s all about your personality and temperment at the time.

Mainly, its focusing. typing requires just one mode of focus. idea to brain, brain to fingers, and fingers to keyboard.

Playing a piano is another story altogether. yes, you have to focus, but just one small part. if you read music, this is number one. you must know the different keys and how these keys apply to the song. you must be able to keep a beat with the music.

It appears its a one to three ratio.

I play the piano, and when I was first learning, I just had to practice a few keys at a time, remember where they were, where to start for a song, etc. The piano is really only 12 keys repeated over and over. I’m a fast typer, but that’s probably because I’ve played piano so long. Practice is important, and I know that is said all the time, but it’s true. I wouldn’t be getting anywhere with my Debussy stuff if I didn’t practice it. ...a lot. And with a typing keyboard, your fingers are a lot more scrunched together than when playing the piano. You have to stretch the muscles in your fingers to help, but that might just come naturally.

Zone36, I think there is already some very good advice on here to your Q:
You practise daily on your computer, yet playing music requires a much greater intensity of personal training than merely visually finding keys at will and striking them when you are ready – as in computer skills.
Music includes Audio… in fact, music mainly IS AUDIO.
And that is certainly the case for you if you are not able to read to play. It means, you will have to practise so often that you are able to aurally detect and then physically apply [within the rhythm and tempo of the music] the difference between a tonal drop in note and a tone-and-a-half drop, or the difference betw’n one tone down and two: then you have to play changes in the accompaniment simultaneously, and any other variations that begin to make for true “music”.

All of this requires much, much more practice than for the mere typing of a few close keys on a keyboard.

I agree with @LindaRuth. I had a cousin who had a speech challenge when he spoke (words and language). However, when he sang, he had no problem with the lyrics, melody, or harmony (music).

Typing is consistent, piano is fluctuating. The keys on any keyboard don’t change. The letters for those keys don’t change. Therefore, typing is consistent. However, piano does change, or fluctuate. Even the simplest pieces, have hundreds of changes within the piece you are playing. It doesn’t matter if you are playing by ear or by reading the music. You have the keys, the notes, the chords, the foot pedal work, the measures and on and on that change. Others have already said it. Even when you take lessons, you are the one that teaches yourself basically. Once you learn the keys and the notes your teacher only tweaks your pieces. You have to go home and practice, practice, practice to learn the piece. It is very enjoyable when you learn a new piece. But, it is quite intensive and you either love it and want to do it or you don’t. Much like playing golf. Some people love it and some people don’t. I am also a golfer.

I have played piano, organ and accordion for over 50 years. I have also typed consistently for about the same amount of time. I can put the answer to the Q in two words:

Muscle Memory

Although we use the same muscles in typing and keyboard playing, they are used in a completely different manner.

It’s like a football player learning ballet. Both activities require similar qualities, e.g., strength, balance, physical dexterity, but they are very different activities.