How to begin learning piano

The First Step

The first thing that I'd teach an absolute beginner
is to identify (pick out, visually - and also touch)
the sets of 3 ,
as well as pairs (2) of
black keys on the piano keyboard.
That's the first step.

Hand position

To a new keyboard/piano student, I explain
fingering position technique and hand position.
Pointers to keep in mind: 

My approach/method : 

The student should first play one pitch/note at a time -- then combine notes, simultaneously.

hands seperately ; then combined together.

I introduce -- and the student becomes familiar with -- small components, figures, and ideas ;
and with practice, the student gains fluency and confidence.
These small bits/components / ideas are combined and
the tempo gradually increases with repetation as this develops.
Ideas are introduced and then built, incrementally.
If I am with the student in-person, I will be able to easily and quickly know how much the student can absorb and adjust my teaching to whatever is appropriate and best for the student.

The Next Step

Place the right hand thumb (or, left hand's pinky)  on the lowest of 5 white keys (notes) on the keyboard. 
Play that, as well as the four white keys that are above that. 
That makes for the first 5 degrees of a scale.  
This scale could be , either, C Major, or a minor. (or 'd' dorian mode).
the four white keys that are above that. 

This is the simplest way for an absolute beginner to the piano keyboard to start to gain  facility. 
This involves a simple association/mapping of one finger to one key, each. 
There is no lateral re-positioning of the hand to be concerned with. In other words, the hand does not change position (left-to-right).



Shortcut to ____ 

One mini-lesson that will give the student a short-cut to sounding good is 
Sound harmonically-sophisticated in less than 5 minutes! -- a shortcut for beginners. 

In relation to the group of 3 black keys,
Identify the white key that is to the immediate left of the 3 black keys
 ( I'll later teach the letter names of the white keys -- later ;
but first :  )
---------- >
You can watch this video that I made, which walks a student through, step-by-step
http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=VmjXDY0OReQ
It's easy to learn how to quickly sound good on the piano keyboard.
Start this way : Notice how the black (blue) keys on the piano keyboard ...

Tonality and Modal harmony

For a beginner, if you are convinced that teaching tonality (I , IV, V ) is best,
I can introduce that in parallel, alongside with basic modal harmony.
Perhaps a good approach to getting started with music is to introduce some simple modal things
along-side simple tonality ("Mary Had a Little Lamb" "Lightly Row" "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" ) ? (See Suzuki book, Volume 1.)
The idea is to be able to achieve a lot, musically -- with relatively little. Something that is greater than the sum of its parts (components) can come from simple and limited means.

For one thing, I am used to doing things with limited funds/budget. There is no need for expensive musical equipment, for example. In fact, there is a lot of expensive musical equipment that doesn't help achieve music that stirs my soul and moves me and is meaningful to me, emotionally.

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