Learning to play the piano at 20

Hub

How long would it take to get half decent if I get leasons

Royale with Cheese

It depends on how much musical knowledge you already have, what instruments you play already, if you already read music and generally just how much musical talent you have. Also just what do you mean by half decent? Do you just want to play classical pieces by yourself or play in a band or...?

I started piano when I was about 5 or 6 I think and am now 20. I'm quite musical so I found it came easily enough for me but i'd say it was 4 or 5 years before I was in any way half decent and another 4 or 5 before I started to develop the ability to play by ear and improvisation. Now I like playing blues, and also play piano part time in a pop/rock band (that sounds pathetic, we're not westlife or anything. More U2 kind of rock) and that isn't too hard, mainly just chords with the odd bit of decoration or every now and again a solo if I'm lucky.

fortuneg

Seven!

bounty_hunter

Hub wrote:

How long would it take to get half decent if I get leasons

That's an impossible question to answer, it depends entirely on every little aspect of your individual situation, as Dr J said. It also depends on how much effort you put into learning/how much you practice/etc.

EvilPixieOne

I've heard that it's very hard get good if you don't start young, but stick at it and prove me wrong, and then we'll see

JackKelly

I'd say the opposite. I'm 18 playing since 6 or 7 and am only really appreciating it now. So much wasted time. If you want to play now, i'd imagine you will learn quicker. I spent 10 years learning pieces and scales could i had to. Now i like them.

Royale with Cheese

Doesn't matter if you like it or not, if you practice and play pieces/scales for 12 years because you're forced to you're going to get good. I was also forced as a child to practice and now appreciate being able to play. People in their 20's will not have the staying power a child will (basically nobody will force you to practice). There is so much work involved it's kind of hard to take up piano when you're 20 knowing if you want to get really good you'll be nearing (or in) your 30's by the time it happens.

nobodythere

It's often down to initiative, theory/sightreading/music reading aside, it takes practice and being willing to play the same piece over and over slowly to get one bit that you can't get.

By initiative I also mean your desire to find more piano songs to play besides the ones you'll be doing at piano lessons. 'Muse' and 'Yann Tiersen' are a great start here. Practice one hand at a time before trying to put them together and play it as slow as hell.

I don't know about getting 'good' (because I haven't played in ages) but if I set my mind to a piece (not a long classical one) I can learn it in an average of 1-3 days.

grumpytrousers

It depends on the kind of thing you want to play as well. I've been at it since i was six or seven, and i'm in me thirties now. Had a bit of a lost weekend in my teens where i left it, strop with the teacher etc, but once i had the basics, i'd no more need for lessons anyway.

In order to do the whole pub singalong mallarkey, or play keyboards in a band, you'll really only need chords. For that, you'll just need to have a working knowledge of scales and arpeggios....pray to God that you're blessed with a good ear and you're halfway there. The occasional scout-around for chords at www.e-chords.com or www.harmonycentral.com should bolster your confidence as well...

SBob

As someone who started late as well (started playing when i was 17) i would advise against going down the grade route, I caught on pretty quickly and did grade 5 after a year and a half but i didn't feel all that comfortable with the piano, so i asked my teacher to stop the grades and just teach me chords so i could develop myself and just play piano by ear.
she taught me dont look back in anger and then i quit lessons. I must have played that song for a about a year non stop coz i didnt know anything else!

but i couldnt leave the piano alone so it ended up that although i didn;t know any songs really i got very comfortable with chords and scales and generally was able to mess around at ease, then when i started listening to songs and learning them by ear it came pretty quickly. when i was doing grades i was trying to learn scales and remember them and i struggled a bit, now i could do it with my eyes closed but the difference is im not thinking about it if that makes any sense

Anyway i would say that try to learn stuff that really interests you it makes it much easier, and if you can learn to play by ear or by chords you will be able to pick songs up with much less time and effort than if you were reading music