woman pianist play classic Piano

How Long Does it Take to Learn Piano? (2024)

Updated on

Learning the piano might seem like a daunting task at first, however, it takes about a month of practice to learn the basics, play certain songs, and develop your skills. So is piano hard? It all comes down to how much time you invest in it, your sense of rhythm, and your multitasking skills. If you want to learn the piano, discover how much it takes to reach a certain level, then we’ve got you covered as we will talk about each step in this article.

How long does it take to learn piano?

How long it takes to learn the piano depends on your goals, where you want to get at, and if you have a good sense of rhythm and multitasking skills since you will play with one hand a thing, and the other, something else. You can teach yourself to play piano or get a teacher, however, studying by yourself you might need to relearn the piano later, at the higher piano levels.

So, how long to learn piano? If you are good at multitasking, have a good sense of rhythm, then it would take you one month or even less, to learn the piano, get accustomed to the keys and play some basic songs. If you lack those skills, it might take you up to six months to learn the piano, however, if you put enough time into it, like around 5 to 6 hours a day, you will also learn piano from scratch in one month.

You will develop your sense of rhythm, and multitasking skills. Don’t think about multitasking as an alien thing, as all people can learn to do it. Think about driving the car. It also involves multitasking, and so many people learn to do it and drive. With practice and patience everything is possible, and you can learn piano easily. However, let’s see how long does it take play to piano on different levels.

Beginner piano player

A beginner playing the piano should have a good sense of rhythm, knows all the keys of the piano, and basic music theory. It takes about one month to reach the beginner level, to learn piano basics and get accustomed to it, multitasking, and learn basic music theory, like the values of notes. It can also take you up to six months if you don’t practice that often and if you don’t have rhythm and good motor coordination.

During this stage, you will also learn basic concepts, like the right posture of your body, hands, and how to move your fingers correctly, and at a low tempo, you should be able to use both hands to play, and learn songs on piano. A beginner piano player should also be able to play easy songs, like this one for example:

Intermediate piano player

An intermediate piano player is similar to a beginner, however, he or she should be able to play at a faster tempo, with both hands, and has begun to use piano pedals. These pedals include effects such as sustain, or pianissimo, which alter the songs. A player of this level should be able to learn a song of a bigger length than a beginner.

Naturally, an intermediate piano player should have greater rhythm and motor skills coordination, since now, not just the hands are involved in singing, but the legs as well, the playing is faster, and he or she can sing easy songs without a partiture. The player can also identify by now, only by hearing, major chords, and minor chords, and focus on fast piano lessons.

It takes between two to three months to reach the intermediate level for a regular piano player, as he sharpens his speed, coordination, and learns other basic music theory concepts. An intermediate player should be able to play songs, like this one, for example:

Advanced piano player

When it comes to an advanced piano player, he or she should be able to sing even faster, dealing with tempo variations, knows music theory at a higher level, and is excellent at multitasking.

To reach this level, it takes between two to three years, and it is the sweet spot for most people, as they can perform in bands and orchestras flawlessly. Going even higher than this level won’t be the case for most people unless they want to become virtuosos.

It takes years since advanced players practice songs at higher tempos, play without music sheets, develop their hearing, and the hardest part is developing their rhythm skills, for example, playing with one hand a rhythmic formula, and with the other, a different one. Here is a beautiful, yet advanced song that an advanced piano player should perform easily:

Expert piano player

Expert piano players can perform in piano concerts and orchestras, as they have mastered the piano skills and learned music theory at the highest levels. They have great coordination skills, rhythm, and they can dissect any song just by listening to it, and deduce the techniques involved in the singing process, the notes, chords, tempo, anything basically.

It takes about ten years of playing the piano to reach the expert level since the player can memorize a repertoire of an hour, and can play continuously for 40 minutes without a break or so. Thus, endurance, speed, muscle memory, and coordination are continuously perfected. Here is an example of an expert level piano player song:

Professional piano player

Professional piano players are the creme de la crem, mastering all the piano skills, music theory, and have insane coordination, muscle memory, speed, agility, and everything else related.

You need around 15 years of experience to reach the professional level of playing the piano. It takes so much since you train your resistance, playing for longer periods of time, your brain is trained to be able to remember 2 hours of concert material, and you can play continuously for so long. Professional players should be able to play anything, from any genre, flawlessly. Here is an example:

Also read: Music Streaming Statistics (US & Global Data)

How long does it take to master a song?

If you want to learn a song on piano, how long it takes to master it depends on what level you are, how often you practice it, and of course, the difficulty of the song, and its length. For example, if you wish to learn Fur Elise as a beginner, it would take you around 3 to 4 months to learn it, and several other months to master it, with a couple of hours, practiced almost every day. If you are an expert, it would take you just a couple of weeks. This is because beginners will struggle with hand coordination.

If you want to learn and master something more familiar, like for example, Requiem for a Dream, it would take you around 2 years to master it as a beginner, and a couple of weeks for an expert. When you hear it, it might seem that playing this song on piano is easy, however, it is relatively fast on certain parts, and the hand coordination and rhythm must be well developed.

Now when it comes to harder songs, like Fantaisie Impromptu by Chopin, it could take between 8 to 13 years for a beginner to master it. Of course, depending on what level you are at, it takes less, but this is strictly from a beginner’s perspective. The reason why this piece is so hard to master is that it’s relatively long, requires excellent, flawless coordination and multitasking skills, great endurance, speed, and muscle memory.

How long does it take to be good at piano?

To play piano well takes between 4 to 6 years of practice to be considered a good piano player, somewhere between the level of beginner and expert, more specifically, the advanced level. Anything above the advanced level is considered a virtuoso, however, this takes several more years, and insane playing skills.

The advanced level, on the other hand, is the perfect spot to be in if you want to play in bands with a keyboard, or in some orchestras. It takes between 2 to 3 years to reach the advanced level, however, an additional one to three years more is required if you want to be considered a good piano player. 

A good piano player should be able to play a song without a music sheet, identify major and minor chords by only hearing them, play songs at different tempos, have good coordination skills, rhythm, and even being good at improvisation. Here is an example of a good piano player:

How long does it take to master piano?

Any piano player above or at the expert level can be considered to have mastered the piano. It takes at least 10 years of continuous practice to be considered a master piano player.

Someone who has mastered the piano should be able to play any song on the piano, at varying tempos, have insane coordination, and multitasking skills. 

He or she can deduce any chord, technique, just by hearing a song. A true piano master can play the piano for at least an hour without pause, having incredible resistance, and can memorize entire concerts effortlessly. Here is an example of a piano master and his capabilities:

How hard is it to learn piano?

Is piano easy to learn? Well, it is probably the hardest instrument to master. This is because it requires you to have great coordination and multitasking skills. You have to sing with one hand a rhythmic formula, and with the other, a different one. Its almost as if you need to write with both hands different things.

Mastering this rhythmic coordination, together with the needed muscle memory, agility, and playing at various speeds requires you to invest a couple of years of your life. More than ten years is required to master the piano, compared to other instruments. 

However, it all depends on what level you want to get at, and when it comes to the piano, the first levels are generally easy to master, so actually, it is easy to learn piano in the first stages. Everything gets much more complicated from the advanced stage onwards.

How hard is it to teach yourself piano?

You can easily get to the intermediate level of playing the piano by yourself, or even at the advanced level. However, if you wish to go any further you will definitely need to do a lot of research, gather information, and guidance is necessary, since going beyond the advanced level, youtube videos and the internet won’t be enough.

These things can be learned only through books and with a professional by your side. It’s not so hard to teach yourself piano up till this stage, since most of what you need can be found online. It is very important to develop a habit and to practice piano daily to see improvements, practice scales, get accustomed to basic music theory, and start learning easy songs, and progress as you see fit. 

How long does it take to learn an instrument?

If you want to learn to play an instrument, any instrument, you can do so in about half a year or less, depending on your abilities. However, this timeframe represents only the basic stuff, and simple songs.

If you wish to progress further, to the advanced stage of any instrument, it should take you between two to four years, but it depends on many factors, such as what instrument you wish to learn, your inborn skills, and how much time and effort you put into it.

For example, if you wish to learn to play the cello, it would take you half a year, but you have to practice regularly. When it comes to the violin, it’s the same timeframe. When it comes to guitar, you can learn the basics in 6 months, or even less. 

FAQ

How long does it take to learn a song on piano?

Learning basic songs on the piano can take you less than a week, for songs such as Jinggle Bells. When it comes to more complicated songs, it takes several months.

How long does it take to learn piano for adults?

Adults learn harder than children, however, we never stop learning throughout our life. Learning piano as an adult can take less than 6 months nonetheless.

How long does it take to learn piano by yourself?

If you want to learn to play piano by yourself it can take less than half a year if you practice regularly and develop a habit out of it. You can teach yourself piano up to a certain point.

How long does it take to get good at piano?

To get good at piano you should never stop playing, and keep practicing for at least 2 to 3 years, and be sure to learn music theory as well.

How long does it take to learn music theory?

Basic music theory can be mastered in less than half a year. When it comes to more advanced music theory, it should take between one and two years.

How long does it take to learn to read music?

You can learn to read music in just one day, however, it will most likely be mechanical. At least one week is required to master music reading.

Can you teach yourself to play piano?

You can teach yourself to play the piano up to a certain level by following youtube videos, reading, researching, however, up to a certain level you will need a professional to guide you.

Can anyone learn piano?

Anyone can learn to play the piano if they invest enough time and effort into it. Be sure to get a good teacher that will motivate you to learn it rather than despise it.

Similar Posts