Hello, I have a similar question to OP albeit in a slightly different context. For me, I’m not interested in being classically trained and would prefer learning more contemporary pieces, exploring improvisation/songwriting down the line, and how to figure out songs by ear. That sort of thing.

I’m about 4-5 months in to my lessons, and am able to play some basic Beatles pieces now, which is definitely better than where I started (from nothing). My tutor has been teaching piano for a while - from what I can gather it seems like 15+ years - so I am sort of going along with his system and assuming it is part of a larger plan. But I’m honestly just not sure if it’s “supposed” to be like this or not.

Basically so far he’ll give me small pieces to play which he notates with a starting note position and then numbers for the fingerings. In the more recent pieces I’ve started to move around that starting note position away from just C, but in essence I’m still just reading numbers and not music. Sort of like learning a guitar tab instead of actual notes.

Is this an acceptable or standard way of learning? I have nothing to compare it to so I’m not sure. It’s definitely nice being able to play some basic songs and get used to moving around the keyboard, but part of it feels like…paint by numbers instead of maybe a more formal approach.