How Long Does It Take To Learn The Piano?

It’s a question that every aspiring pianist asks - how long does it take to learn the piano? In a way, this is a loaded question - do you want to simply read notes, play by ear, improvise, or all of the above? At what point can you say that you have learned the piano? It’s not an easy question to answer, but we will do our best in the blog below. If you need guidance on you piano journey, contact Dave Long about piano lessons in Westchester County, NY today - you can always start with a trial lesson.

How Long Does It Take To Learn The Piano?

You can expect 2-3 years of practice before you feel like you have “learned” the piano to a certain extent - and that would be at a decent pace. Truthfully, the piano is a life-long journey, and you’ll only just be getting started in your third year.

By the end of your first year, you should know all of the notes, how to read them on the staff, and be able to play simple music by reading it. You should also be able to recognize some chords and maybe improvise a little bit.

In year two, you will be deepening your understanding of music theory, reading slightly more difficult music, and learning the equivalent of Level 3 repertoire, if you’ve been practicing since day one.

You should really think about learning the piano like learning a language -- it takes a prolonged period of immersion for you to be “fluent.” Even if you can read the notes and pick them out of a keyboard, you will need more time to use them practically.

That said, since we have the language metaphor going, some pianists always seem to fast-track the learning process. Some people simply have more aptitude, but you can speed up the process by practicing every day, studying your notes and scales, and above all, following your teacher’s instructions carefully. Thirty minutes at the keyboard won’t necessarily make you better - you need to practice intelligently.

How Do You Speed Up The Piano Learning Process?

Start By Learning The Notes Right Away

If you are taking piano lessons, you may be assigned one, two, or three notes per week. But there’s no reason to stop there! If you are a motivated student, make the commitment to learn more than you are required each week. For instance, in your first week, try to learn C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C - and be able to identify them on the staff and the keyboard. You’ll be far ahead of the game.

And each day, practice reading easy excerpts of music - just like when you were learning to read books, fluency only comes from doing it every day. Learning the piano takes daily application.

Don’t Ignore Your Scales & Arpeggios

Your teacher will undoubtedly assign you some scales, and it’s in your best interest to practice them with both hands -- and with the proper fingering. It will always be tempting to cheat on your fingering, but don’t give in. The same applies to arpeggios - these broken chords are found in many pieces of music, so if you learn them early on, you will be in a great position for success.

Seriously: Practice Every Day

Your teacher will be able to help you establish a good roadmap for learning, but you really can’t know how long it will take until you just get started and practice. Not even your teacher will know the time frame until he or she starts to work with you.

As you learn your notes, practice your scales, and dedicate time to the piano every day, you will start to see progress. Based on that progress, you’ll be motivated to practice a little bit more, and at this point, you are officially ahead of the curve - believe it or not, most students do not practice regularly.

Your Road Map For Learning The Piano

By the end of year one, you’ll have a handful of simple pieces under your belt - a melody in the right hand with a simple left hand accompaniment should be par for the course.

In your second year, you should be playing scales in multiple keys with correct fingering, and you will be learning a new piece every few weeks or so. You will also be sight reading easy music fluently.

If you’re a motivated adult, your fourth year should include music like Beethoven’s Sonatina in F - some students make the mistake of tackling these advanced pieces early on, but this is at the risk of your future development. But simply learning the notes of a hard piece by rote for months on end, you won’t get better at the other aspects of piano playing. You are better off playing level-appropriate repertoire and scaling difficulty as you improve -- much like you wouldn’t hand a kindergarten student a copy of War and Peace (why make them sound out words for months on end), you don’t want young pianists spending months of time fighting through a too-hard piece of music.

The Difference Between Adults and Children Learning The Piano

Young children who start at the piano will likely view it as part of their daily routine, and they probably won’t be motivated to speed up the process, per se. But as an adult, you have control over how much you improve -- if you commit yourself to learning, you can be playing at least intermediate repertoire within a couple of years.

Good luck on your piano journey, and if you ever need help with piano lessons in White Plains, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!