Is Piano Hard to Learn? Tips for Beginners

Let’s jump straight into one of the hardest things for beginners to learn: playing with both hands at the same time. This is a skill that takes time and experience to develop. At first, it’ll feel like you know what to do, but your hands just won’t listen! It’s like rubbing your belly and tapping your head at the same time. It’s a weird, alien feeling that takes getting used to. You may also feel that your non-dominant hand lags behind.

Many people struggle with reading sheet music. It’s like learning another language. Piano players, especially, have the added challenge of needing to learn both treble and bass clef. And while you can absolutely play at a high level without ever learning how to read sheet music, knowing how to read standard notation opens up opportunities.

Pianists are lucky in that theory is easily explained using a piano keyboard. The keyboard interface makes a lot of sense: notes are laid out in a row from low pitch to high. But while other instruments often play just one line of music (the melody), the piano is special because we can play melody and harmony at the same time. This is a beautiful thing and what makes the piano so special. But it also requires us to know a lot about chords and chord theory, which can be tricky.

Let’s face it: pianos are expensive. It’s important to learn piano on an instrument that has a full-size, 88-key keyboard and weighted keys. But this might not be accessible to everyone. Pianos are also big and heavy: you can’t practice on the go and when you perform, it’s often on a piano that feels completely different from your own. Not everyone needs a grand piano, though; today’s keyboards are very sophisticated instruments. A high-quality digital piano is perfectly acceptable to learn on!

Finally, one of the hardest things is practice! There’s no way around it: to get good at piano, you have to practice. And it takes time: when we surveyed pianists, we learned that it takes four to five years of consistent practice to become an intermediate pianist. Practice can be frustrating, time-consuming, and tedious, but persistence is key. If you practice smart and put in your hours, you will get better!

Don’t waste time playing classical music if you don’t like classical music. If you love Elton John, focus on the skills that will help you master Elton John’s music. This might look like focusing on learning chord symbols and how to sing and play at the same time, rather than reading complex sheet music or memorizing Italian terms. What makes the piano so awesome is its versatility: you can play nearly any genre under the sun!

The piano is one of the most popular instruments, so naturally, there are tons of teachers, programs, books, and YouTube tutorials available. All these options can feel overwhelming. But we all learn in different ways, so it’s reasonable to try a few methods to see which works best for you. Pro pianist Sangah Noona advises students to stick to a single method for a while (three months is a good amount of time) before moving on. You can also mix and match methods: for example, you can sign up for an online learning program but check in with an in-person teacher once a month, or supplement your program with books.

Try your best to learn on a piano with weighted keys. This means that when you press lightly, the piano will sound soft and if you press harder, the piano will sound louder. The good news is you don’t need to spend a fortune on an acoustic piano for this feature; today’s digital pianos have sophisticated, realistic weighted action and are quite affordable. Learning on an instrument with weighted keys will go a long way in developing correct technique from the start.

Knowing that “why” helps you connect the piano to your passion, and acts as an anchor that you can hold on to when trying to figure out how to stay motivated at the piano.

Lisa Witt