If you can already play songs hands together it'll take you about 4 months to get good at playing piano by ear. If you're a complete beginner and you've never played a song hands together before, it'll take you about 6 months because you'll need to learn some other skills first. Of course, there are some caveats.
How long does it really take to get good at piano? I’m going to answer that question today and break piano up into three categories: Technique, Play by Ear, and Learning Songs.
I’m going to be very specific in answering this question and explain how if you practice for a certain amount of time, using specific routines, for a specified number of weeks, you’ll get a particular result.
At the end of this blog post I’ll give you a specific step-by-step game plan to learn all of these different aspects of piano in a certain amount of time.
How Long to Learn Piano Technique?
How long does it take to get solid technique on piano? First, we have to define what this means using a specific qualification. I define solid technique as being able to play all 12 Major Scales at 90 bpm, Sixteenth Notes.
Does this mean you’ve mastered technique? Of course not, but you do have SOLID technique. You have the finger strength, dexterity, and coordination to play most songs.
How long does it take to get there? About 12 weeks, IF, you practice 10 minutes a day for 5 to 6 days per week. This doesn’t mean you can skip 5 days and practice an hour on the last day. Anybody who has played piano knows that doesn’t count.
Also, you’ll need to practice using “Accelerated Learning Techniques” if you want to have rock solid technique in 12 weeks. Just playing scales over and over won’t get you as fast of results. I have four lessons on accelerated learning for piano in my free course, Become a Piano Superhuman.
Can you really get solid technique in only 12 weeks? Yes, yes you can. I’ll address exactly why a bit later in this blog post.
How Long to Learn How to Play Piano by Ear?
How long does it take to become good at playing piano by ear? When I say “good” what I don’t mean is that you’re a master at playing by ear, but what I do mean is that you can learn a pop song in about 10 minutes by ear.
To get to that level there are basically two time-frames. If you can already play songs hands together it’ll take you about 4 months to get good at playing piano by ear. If you’re a complete beginner and you’ve never played a song hands together before, it’ll take you about 6 months because you’ll need to learn some other skills first.
Of course, there are some caveats.
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First, just like with technique, you have to practice 10 minutes a day, 5 to 6 days per week.
Second, and I learned this the hard way, you have to use systematic exercises and drills, you can’t just wing it.
I also have some play by ear drills in the free course. In college, I took a class that used some of these drills and I learned so much faster. Within the semester I was playing songs by ear.
How Long to Learn Songs on Piano?
How long does it take to become good at learning songs on piano? This is a tricky one to define because it depends on how difficult the songs are you’re trying to play.
There’s no real quantitative way to define this, so I came up with something that works well. You’re “good” at playing songs if when some random person heard you playing they would say “You’re good at piano.”
How long does this take? About 6 months. This time, you’d need to practice about 20 minutes a day, 5 to 6 days per week. You’ll need very specific practice for this as well, breaking your songs into sections and really focusing on the sections that need work and will push you. Don’t spend half your practice sessions playing the easy parts you already know – this won’t get you the results you want in 6 months.
Before I move on and show you a specific game plan for learning piano I have to address those who think it’s “too good to be true” to learn piano this fast. After working with so many students, I know the amazing results that can be achieved with focused, consistent practice. However, the biggest mistake people make is they don’t follow the little details!
So many students come into my lesson, show me their scales, and they’re not where they’re supposed to be. They say they’ve practiced 20 minutes per day, 6 days per week, but when I dig deeper, I always find something out. You know what that is? That they didn’t follow the details. They really practiced 3 days instead of 6 days and didn’t realize how many days they had skipped.
Another thing that happens a lot is that people don’t actually use a stopwatch to time their practice sessions. I used to do the same thing and over time those 10 minute practice sessions shrunk to 6 or 7 minutes. It’s not the same.
If you stay consistent and really time it out, you’ll get the results I’ve been sharing with you in this blog post.
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Something else people say is that “everybody’s different.” Yes, that’s true, but they aren’t that different. Even if someone is a bit slower to pick up different aspects of learning piano they still won’t be that far behind over time if they’re practicing consistently, focusing on the parts they don’t already know. Maybe they’ll be a month or two behind, but it won’t take them twice as long to learn.
For you, it might take a little longer or shorter, but it’ll be about the same amount of time as I’ve mentioned.
The Step-By-Step Training Plan
If you took 6 months to learn piano, spent 10 minutes a day on scales, 10 minutes a day on play by ear drills, and 20 minutes a day on songs, you would:
Have solid technique
Be able to play by ear
Be able to play songs where people would say, “Wow, you’re really good at piano”
A total of 40 minutes a day for 6 months. That’s all it takes.
Don’t have 40 minutes a day? Let’s say you only have 20 minutes. Maybe you spend 3 months just focused on technique and play by ear. Another three months you may focus on playing songs. Then, you’ll cycle through both again and in about a year you’ll be good at all 3.
Remember, it’s all about the details, using the right techniques, drills, and strategies to accelerate your practice. To learn more of these, check out my free course, Become a Piano Superhuman.
For the sheet music to play your favorite songs, go to Jellynote for easy songs to learn on piano.
Piano Guidance
Photo: Charles Parker
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