Is Piano Hard to Learn?

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Written By Sarah Barlow

Chief Music Officer

The piano is a great instrument to learn. It exercises numerous skills that can be used in different areas of life like:

  • Hand-eye coordination
  • Flexibility
  • Great memory
  • Self-discipline

On the other hand, implementing these skills along with the piano lessons can be hard for some people. Others may find piano hard to learn because they started learning late in life. 

But is learning piano that hard? Regardless of age or affinity, what does it take to learn this instrument?

How Much Practice Does It Take To Become Good At Piano?

Becoming good at playing the piano takes a lot of work. Although, technically speaking, the learning process itself does not stop. Even accomplished concert pianists are still learning and still practicing everyday.

The Furmanczyk Academy of Music advises beginners to answer the following questions:

  • How much time can you set aside for practice everyday?

Set practice goals and form a consistent practice routine. Beginners benefit the most from consistency.

  • What do you consider “good”?

Is it being able to play by ear (oido)? Is it being able to play difficult piano pieces? Is it being able to read notes? It depends on the goal that you set for yourself and work towards that goal through persistence in practice.

The amount of practice that it takes to become good at piano depends on the person’s definition of “good”. Having a goal to base how much practice is needed will make it easier for those who want to learn how to play the piano.

How many times per week should a beginner practice Piano?

Beginners should practice everyday for faster progress. Starting at 10 to 15 minutes per practice session and progressing to longer sessions. Experienced pianists have dedicated four-hour practice sessions everyday.

Beginners, especially the younger ones, should not be expected to practice 30 minutes right away. The key is to have a consistent practice schedule, start short and ease into longer practice sessions.

Do you need to be able to read music to learn piano?

The ability to read music is not a requirement in learning to play piano. It is taught because it provides a good foundation to the process of learning piano. Without it, learning new piano pieces and other genres of music could be hard.

Several musicians posted on online forums their opinions on learning how to read music:

“Currently, I cannot read music. I do have a lot of songs that I play from memory from their initial creation, but I’ve also forgotten the vast majority of them (majority of those which I’ve thankfully saved via-recording that I have stashed). That aside, I’m very restricted in not only what I can play, but how I can even play it.”

[Source: Reddit]

“I guess you don’t NEED to, but not knowing how to read severely limits the number of pieces you can play.”

[Source: Reddit]

One music student says that note reading helps in understanding the music piece:

“It’s like learning that 3 x 11 = 33 but not understanding what 3 means or what the “x” means.

Understanding the theory and the notes you are playing, and then of course, how to read music, even at a basic level, will be so much more rewarding.”

[Source: Quora]

Another comments that it depends on the genre:

“A classical pianist has to read sheet music; the best pianists sight read amazingly well.

But for pop, blues, and jazz, reading music is optional, although it helps.

Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Art Tatum, George Shearing, and several other prominent pop and jazz musicians were or are completely blind.”

[Source: Quora]

The best way to learn piano is by learning how to read notes and how to play by ear. Learning to do both results in a versatile pianist who is able to play any music they want.

Do apps make it easier to learn the piano?

 Yes, using apps does make it easier to learn the piano. However, this does not mean that apps can take the place of a good piano teacher. 

A piano teacher will :

  • Offer feedback
  • Give advice on how to correct what is wrong
  • Teach the correct theory (note reading, fingering, dynamics, etc)

On the other hand, piano learning apps can supplement and be beneficial to the learning process. As some piano students and piano teachers can attest:

“I do have a subscription to Piano Marvel … I used it alongside my teacher to give me access to a wide range of other music to learn… do sight reading practice, and for these two things it does help … but I never use it for the main pieces I am learning with my teacher (I did try a few times, but it quickly became apparent that the flexibility in rhythm and the dynamics that was in my playing was not reflected in the rigidity that was enforced by the app)”

[Source: Quora]

“But apps are hugely beneficial! … nearly all of my students play with and excel with Simply Piano and Piano Maestro. … you need no cables and can just play with the iPad on your keyboard or piano and it listens and evaluates…I’ll also suggest NinGenius as a great drill app and Audio Ninja and The Most Addicting Sheep game as great apps for learning rhythm.”

[Source: Quora]

“As a piano teacher myself, I do not believe an app can teach you everything there is to know about the piano. But they are a great way to get started on your own schedule or to use as a compliment to in person lessons.”

[Source: Quora]

Do You Need Big Hands To Play The Piano?

No, big hands aren’t needed in order to play the piano. For the most part, piano pieces can be played with no difficulty for small hands. 

Doing flexibility and stretching exercises for the fingers can help when it comes to difficult classical pieces when fingers need to stretch between octaves or play chords with four or more notes. Of course, consistent practice will also help as pianists with small hands learn to adapt their playing according to the piece.

Most piano enthusiasts and pianists do not equate big hands with good piano playing:

“Definitely not. However, you may be more limited with some pieces. Some are intentionally difficult and require flexibility and finger length that some people simply do not have. Those pieces are few and far between and really only serve to frustrate people.”

[Source: Quora]

“ Alicia DeLarrocha, easily one of the greatest pianists of all time, was famous for having small hands. She increased the flexibility of her hands through specially developed stretching exercises”

[Source: Music Stack Exchange]

“It is generally not much of a problem if you can reach an octave with the pinkie and thumb. You can compensate somewhat for small hands and lack of reach with fingering changes, such [sic] has using the other hand for one of the notes, and occasionally leaving out a note.”

[Source: Music Stack Exchange]