It’s never too late to learn how to play the piano and anyone can do it regardless of whether you are young or old. While some people learn how to play the piano on their own, the best and easiest way to learn is through piano lessons. So, what should you expect from these piano lessons, and how soon can you start to see results? Here, we answer all of these questions and more.
Your First Piano Lesson
Your first piano lessons will be a bit different from the rest of your lessons because your instructor will likely be assessing your current musical skills. This is so they can decide where they will start you from. Your instructor may also ask you about your long-term goals and what you hope to achieve out of taking piano lessons, but don’t fret if you don’t quite know yet.
Because most beginner students have little to no experience at all, your first lesson will consist of learning the basics of playing the piano. This will include going over how your posture should be while playing, where your hand should be positioned, and even how you should be curving your fingers.
Aside from posture and learning where to put your hands on the keys, your instructor will also give you a rundown of the keyboard and perhaps even teach you a simple tune or two.
Keeping up with Your Lessons
It would be impossible for you to learn how to play the piano after just one lesson, so it’s important that you keep up with your lessons in order to continue to improve. Throughout the rest of your lessons, you can typically expect to start each one with a warm-up. How long you do this for all depends on how long your lessons are.
The more you advance in your lessons, the more difficult your warm-ups will get. The point of these exercises is to teach you muscle memory as well as coordination and music reading skills.
Learning the notes as well as music theory concepts is also something that you can expect from your piano lessons. Many teachers do this via ear training, which can teach students how to identify intervals as well as learning about major, minor, diminished, and extended chords.
Scales are another important aspect of your piano lessons and something that you can expect to learn just a few lessons in. Usually piano teachers start off by teaching their students the major scale on middle C, then moving on to the Circle of 5ths progression. As soon as you master each of these scales, your instructor will move on to teaching you more complex scales.
You will soon learn how to build major, minor, and diminished chords and will be able to understand what they are and why they are so important when it comes to music.
A skilled piano player also knows how to read music, so you can expect to learn how to do this during your lessons as well. Part of your lesson may be dedicated to learning how to sight read, which involves reading and playing material that you don’t already know.
How Long Until You Can See Results?
Many people are curious to know right off the bat how long it will take before they start reaping the benefits of their piano lessons. But the truth is that simply depends on how often you practice and how much time and dedication you’re putting into learning how to play. The more you practice, the faster you’ll see results.
This also depends on what type of results you expect to see. Typically, anyone can learn how to play a simple melody in just a few minutes. But if you’re looking to start booking your own piano concerts, you shouldn’t hold your breath as it could take years to get to this point.
If your sights aren’t set that high and you simply want to learn how to play the piano for your own personal enjoyment, you can expect to get decent results after about three years of practicing and learning. Again, how quickly you learn how to play the piano all depends on how much work you’re putting in, whether or not you have a good teacher, and your own learning pace.
If you find that it’s taking you longer to learn than you expected, it’s important not to give up or get discouraged in any way. Every person is different and not everyone will learn at the same pace. As long as you’re putting in the time to practice on a regular basis and attending all of your lessons, you’ll be able to master the piano in no time.
