Mastering the Piano: How Long Does it Take?

By Paul Kwo

There is a saying that it takes 10,000 hours to be the master of anything.

Granted most people coming to piano lessons are not trying to become grandmasters of the instrument. They just want to be able to play the piano and play it well enough to entertain themselves. So how many hours does it really take to learn the piano?

Piano is probably one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult instrument to learn. Granted that every instrument has its own challenges, but the piano presents one of the toughest simply for the fact that aside from vocal music, there's more music written for piano than anything else. There are so much variety of music that one can learn, it's simply mind boggling.

I'll break it down for you.

A typical student (between age 8 to 12 taking an average of 30 to 45 minutes of lesson the first year) in a year can learn to play a simple song consist primarily of one note at a time between the two hands, with an occasional chord. Basically by the end of the year, a student should be able to play a relatively simple version of Happy Birthday to you where both hands may occasionally play one one in each hand simultaneously.

Then during the second year, most student should move to 45 minutes to 1 hour private lesson. By the end of the year, they should be able to play something a little more challenging where the two hands may have different things going on at the same time. An easy folk song or a simplified rendition of a pop song with easy accompaniment should be accomplishable.

Then on the third year, a student whose been taking 1 hour lesson should be able to play simple Bach pieces and do some basic fake book music with chords going on in one hand and melody in the other.

By the forth year, a student then should be able to play an easy Beethoven Sonatina or other pieces in that level of difficulty, and read medium difficulty pop music.

So at the very least, a student really needs 4 years to be able to play basic Classical pieces and do a descent job faking a pop song or reading a simpler version of one. But of course some students practice more and some are just more naturally gifted in playing the piano. But for most people after 4 years of piano, you should have enough basic skills to keep you entertained as long as you keep on doing it. But if you stop playing, chances are you will slowly forget most of what you have learned unless if you have taken over 10 years of piano. Then you can afford a few years of non-practice.

Paul Kwo teaches piano as well as voice and runs PopRock Academy in Alhambra, CA, near San Marino and South Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley.