I started piano lessons two and a half years ago, essentially a beginner, at the age of 38, and have been keeping them up. I love it and expect this to be a lif

I started piano lessons two and a half years ago, essentially a beginner, at the age of 38, and have been keeping them up. I love it and expect this to be a lifelong hobby. I'm mostly going to echo the advice given by several others. First of all, find a good teacher. If you intend to take this seriously, I'd strongly recommend that you learn how to read music. Software might be fun and useful -- but I'd recommend it as an aid, rather than a substitute, for learning traditional music-reading. Buy a good piano. An acoustic is ideal, but there are also good digital piano options in the $1,000-2,000 range. Don't practice on a low-end $200 keyboard if you're in this for the long haul: it won't have properly weighted keys, and you'll develop bad habits. Finally, the advice that my own teachers have given me: the way to be efficient in the long term is to be anal-retentive and slow in the short term. Practice scales regularly. Practice new pieces very slowly at first, one hand at a time, and build up from that only once you're not making mistakes. I confess to sometimes ignoring this advice, but with the knowledge that the times when I do follow it are the times that I'm learning the most. And, finally, I wouldn't expect things to be very simple or efficient at all. There is no shortcut to hours and hours and hours of practice. Totally worth it, if you ask me :)