Nobody can predict how easy or hard it will be to learn a new skill – including playing the piano. If you are debating whether or not to learn the piano (or if you would like your child to learn the piano) and you are not sure of what to do, there are a few things that will affect how well (and how quickly) you learn piano and its complexity.
Is piano hard to learn by yourself? This depends on a few factors including how serious you are about wanting to play the piano? What is the amount of time are you willing to sacrifice to practice the piano? And, what level of professionalism do you want to achieve?
The level of difficulty of piano playing depends on your answers to the above questions. If you really want to play the piano you can, if you put your mind to it! If you are eager to learn the skill and appreciate the benefits that come with it then you will learn much faster and have fun in the process.
Regardless of whether or not you possess ‘natural talent’, learning to play the piano will be much easier if you have the desire and determination to succeed. This willingness alone will essentially cut the difficulty level in half.
The amount of time you can dedicate to practicing the piano is another key factor. If you do not have sufficient time to practice the piano then you may want to reconsider this. You must make time in your schedule to practice as your future success depends on it. The amount of time you allot for practice will reflect the level of professionalism you want to achieve. The minimum amount needed to become a professional pianist is between four and eight hours per day.
If you are interested in learning some piano skills, but not necessarily becoming a professional piano player, then one hour (or thirty minutes at the very least) a day should be fine. The trick is not to force it. If you do not feel like practicing one day, then do not do it. We are human beings and we have our ups and downs. It is better to rest on an off-day and practice twice as hard the next day.
Also, I have noticed that what you practice during the day needs to be processed by the brain overnight. The skill learned today will develop and mature the next day. Some people believe that you need to spend ten thousand hours in order to master a skill – any skill. With learning piano, however, this may not necessarily be the case as each person has a unique talent set. What you can learn in an hour, your neighbor might need four hours to learn. So try your best and do not be discouraged – it will come eventually. Remember, Rome was not built in a day!
Best Way To Learn Piano
How to learn piano the most efficient way? The best thing to do is to hire a tutor for practice sessions once or twice a week. It could be for any day of the week but keep in mind that it should not be the busiest day of your week. You do not want to be overtired or stressed on practice days. So, if you have a ballet class and private Spanish class on a particular day, for example, I would recommend you practice piano on a different day, as it will require your complete focus.
The piano tutor will probably use one of his/her proven methods to get you playing piano in no time. If you are limited financially but have a lot of time, you can try to learn without a tutor however, it is more difficult because you will have to act as both teacher and student! And therefore, you will have to be more critical of your progress.
It is best to hire a tutor unless you cannot afford one at the moment. Perhaps consider using a tutor less frequently – biweekly or once a month. If you really cannot afford professional help, there are several options on how to learn piano on a budget.
Cheapest Way To Learn Piano
If you are on a budget, there are a few ways to learn piano:
- Get a book with a piano course
- Follow a video course on YouTube
- Get an ‘app’ course for your phone
- Online course
There are books available, written by professional teachers, on how to play the piano. Some are good while others are better, you will need to do some research. Amazon is the best source for books on how to learn the piano, in my opinion.
There are many video courses also available on YouTube (for free) to follow along with. These videos will show you how to play certain pieces of music or where to find ones that will demonstrate someone playing. The problem with YouTube videos, however, is that you need to decide which ones are good and which ones are not of much value to you.
There are also ‘apps’ for your phone (Android or iPhone) which give you a glimpse of a piano course. Each app will instruct you on how to play piano without boring you with hours of practice. However, I have never met a true pianist who did not learn was without boring hours of practice! Therefore, you should still be prepared to practice even after following the phone application course.
The online course which I recommend is available at www.learnpianoin30days.com and will reveal the ‘secrets’ of learning piano. It will guide you through the art of playing the piano in no time at all!
To practice piano you need a real instrument. You can use a grand piano, an upright piano, or an electronic keyboard, which must have the full eighty-eight keys or a truncated sixty-one keys. There are some big disadvantages, however, to using a truncated keyboard.
Is 61 Keys Enough To Learn Piano?
If the only access to a keyboard you have and is not the full piano eighty-eight keys but a truncated sixty-one keys keyboard, do not worry too much. There are still enough keys to play and you will still be able to learn, especially if you are a beginner. The keys should be regular piano keyboard size, not the mini version, as found on very cheap keyboards. The majority of the beginner pieces and most of the intermediate pieces do not go over the sixty-one keys quantity.
The problem begins when you get into more advanced song pieces – then you definitely need to upgrade your piano to the full eighty-eight keys keyboard. Once you find the sixty-one keys keyboard is no longer sufficient, you should take this as a good sign. It means that you are progressing in your skill level and entering the advanced piano player stage.
I would recommend that you find the financial means to upgrade your sixty-one keys keyboard right away if you can. The reason being that the shorter keyboards do not have weighted keys. Therefore, you will not train your hand muscles enough to gain the speed and efficiency you need in the same way you would using a regular weighted keyboard.
But do not get me wrong – you should be fine in the very beginning using the truncated keyboard if that is all you have. I have included some reasonably priced recommendations for you in my keyboard buying guide, which you can access here.
Good luck in your piano-playing pursuit!
