Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum How Long Does it ACTUALLY Take to Learn Piano??

[quote][/quote]This is the BIGGEST question I had when I was first starting out piano. "How long is this gonna take?"

And when I'd ask teachers, they'd always just say... "it depends". And that's IT! And I HATED that answer, because it's kinda a cop out answer. It's not helpful at all, it just deflects the question instead of giving any kind of relevant information.

And I get it, because it does depend. But let's stop running away from the question and start putting some variables in for "it depends" so we have somewhat of an answer. So to do this, I suggest we break up piano into three categories:

1. Developing Solid Technique
2. Learning to Play by Ear
3. Learning Actual Songs

First we have to define what "good" means. As quantitatively as we can.

Then we'll break each down into a single statement of "IF you practice X minutes a day using Y practice routine you'll get good in Z weeks".

By the way, I'm getting this data from students who've followed the plan. So it isn't just random data or guesswork. If some of these numbers seem "too good to be true", I'll address that at the end of the article.

1. How Long Does it Take to Develop Solid Technique?

Ok, let's define this first. I'd consider SOLID technique as the ability to play all 12 major scales at 90 bpm, sixteenth notes.

Does that mean you've mastered technique and can play any song? Of course not. But I'd say at that level you definitely have solid technique.

On average, it takes about 12 weeks for a beginner to get to this level IF:

1. You practice 10 minutes a day, 5 to 6 days a week
2. You use Accelerated Techniques (like the Rhythms Strategy and Metronome Ramp Up)

By the way... skipping 5 days and then practicing 50 minutes on the 6th day is NOT the same as practicing 10 minutes a day for 5 days. It has to be 10 minutes every single day.

2. How Long Does it Take to Learn to Play By Ear?

Ok so for this, we have to define GOOD at playing by ear. I'd define it as the ability to learn a pop song by ear in about 10 minutes.

Again, this does not mean you've MASTERED playing by ear, but most people would be very happy to get to that level. So how long does it take?

IF you can already play songs hands together, it'll take you about 4 months to train your ear to this level. If you're a complete beginner, it'll take 6 months as you'll have to learn other skills like hands together coordination.

Again, the caveats are:

1. You have to practice 10 minutes a day, 5 to 6 days a week
2. You have to use Play by Ear Exercises that systematically train your ear

In other words, not "just listening to songs over and over, I learned that one the hard way. Tried it for months and didn't make much progress. Then I had my "Aural Skills" class in college and learned it in a semester.

3. How Long Does it Take to Get Good at Playing Actual Songs?

Ok, so this one's a little trickier to define. Because it REALLY depends on how hard the songs are. Mary had a little lamb is obviously a lot easier to learn than a Chopin Etude. And I know there are "rating numbers" for classical pieces, but lets be honest even within those there's a wide range of difficulty. And it doesn't include any other genres like Jazz or pop or blues. So here's my definition:

If a random person saw you playing piano, they would think "Wow, that guy/girl's GOOD at piano".

Not "Holy crap that's amazing can I get your autograph!!!". But they'd think you're good.

I know it's pretty qualitative, but it's the best I got. So how long does it take?

It takes about 6 months to get to this level at piano IF:

1. You practice 20 minutes a day, 5 to 6 days a week
2. You FOCUS on the "tricky" sections that need work instead of playing through the easy parts of the song

For those who say "It's too good to be true"...

Alright, this is my way of anticipating getting raked over the coals in the comments... because I know people are going to say "12 weeks to get good technique, this guy's a charlatan!" or some other BS.

Look, I've seen these results time and time again from students. The reason that a lot don't make it is they don't ACTUALLY follow all the little details. For example:

A lot of students will say "yea, I practiced every day this week". But when you ask them "ok, did you practice Monday? Did you practice Tuesday?... " ext, you'll find out they actually missed a lot of days.

Another big one is the time. Students will do 10 minutes "in their head" instead of starting an actual stopwatch to time their 10 minutes. I can tell you from experience after a couple weeks, that "10 minutes" starts slippin down to 7 minutes, 5 minutes, and even lower.

But if you follow the details, you can absolutely get there.

For those who say "yea, but everybody's different"...

It's true, we're all different, but we're not THAT different. And as long as you follow the plan, you'll get CLOSE to the expected results. For example, lets say there are two students, Amy and Jim. For Amy, Technique comes naturally to her and it only takes her 11 weeks to learn instead of 12. For Jim, Technique doesn't come naturally. But if he FOLLOWS the SYSTEM and the DETAILS, he'll still learn in 13 to 14 weeks. But it's NOT going to take him 24 weeks!

In other words, nobody's at a huge advantage or disadvantage. Even Mozart, who everybody proclaims as the "child genius" was actually that way because his dad mad him practice for 10 hours a day (look it up) not because he had some "magical gift from the heavens".

Anyway, let me know your thoughts.


Let me know what y'all think,

-Zach Evans

I only read statement number one, and found it to be lacking. Do you really consider developing good technique as only being able to play scales? This seems shortsighted, as it should be more than just scales but ‘playing the right note, at the right time musically . Wouldnt telling a beginning student that they will have good technique as long as they can play scales do them a disservice, and consequently they will have a good technique in six months? Bah. Very much too simplified.

If I were a beginning student, I would do exactly what you suggested and expect to have good technique at the end of the six months, and be very disillusioned when technique was lacking

Are you selling something?

It takes as long as it takes...

Sam

A lifetime.

+1

What Colin said! There is no formula.

The link has been removed.

Please note that advertising in posts is not permitted. Read the rules.

If you are interested in advertising your business there are several options available - please check them out.