Growing up, I did not have the patience to read sheet music to learn piano songs.
I knew it was the tried and true established way to play music, but something inside of me wanted to figure it all out on my own.
After a decade of self-teaching, I have boiled down my approach to 4 key steps to learn piano songs on my own.
Check 'em out! 1) LISTEN.
The most obvious step.
ALWAYS be listening to music, especially the music that really catches your mind and "calls to you" to learn to play it.
Get the sound of it ingrained in your head, and figure out what makes the magic moments of the song so good.
Determine the CHARACTER of the song.
Is it bouncy, melancholy, etc.
2) GIVE IT A WHACK.
Spend some time with the recording and a keyboard, seeing what you can figure out on your own.
Having a keyboard near a computer with the song on it helps greatly with learning piano songs.
3) SEEK SOME GUIDANCE.
Here's the fun part.
Cruise YouTube; find people playing the song on the piano.
My personal favorite way to learn piano songs is to use Guitar Pro (believe it or not).
This is a free piece of software for which people make midi-fied versions of songs, INCLUDING the piano/keys sections of these songs.
You can watch a full length keyboard play the song, and go note by note, measure by measure, until you've got it.
I believe there is a free demo on their page.
4) PRACTICE, PLAY WITH OTHERS! Know anyone else who knows the song? After some good practice sessions, see if you can play the song with a friend playing another instrument (bass, guitar, drums, etc.
), Being able to play the song with others will teach you all the right things about music, while making the learning process fun and a team effort.