how long should it take me to reach grade 1 on piano?

i've just had my first lesson last week and is curious. i have no musically background but im practicising at least half-hour every day with a lesson 30 minutes a week

for that matter, what level can i get up to in a year? I'm 20, if that makes any difference?

Reply 1

wellison999

Well it took me a year, but then again I was 8 and I don't think I practised much if at all. With 30 minutes a day it shouldn't take long.

Reply 2

jintea

5

30 mins a week will make learning pieces harder.
but then again, i guess it depends how fast you learn, im a slow learner so i spend lots of time practising. = hours and hours, until i can play the piece by heart, thats the the point you know you have the piece secure to play whenever.

what sort of pieces have you started playing?
are they like the "piano times books?" - boosey and hawkes.

thats what i started with, they're alright.

depends if you're commited!

Reply 3

Doublereedfreak

2

Well piano is a lot harder instrument to fly through grades.
Particularly with you having no experience, but I don't see why you can't get to grade 1 by a year. Especially if you are practising every day.
When I started my first instrument (oboe) I didn't practice that much and got to grade 2 in a year. But it's a lot easier, of course than piano.

Reply 4

Rosemary7391

8

Piano is probably one of the hardest instruments to start on; but if you keep up the half an hours practice every day you'll go far!!

Reply 5

SiaSiaSia

16

hahahahaa I played piano for 5 years and still after that she said I wasn't ready for grade one. I was appalling

Reply 6

jintea

5

SiaSiaSia

hahahahaa I played piano for 5 years and still after that she said I wasn't ready for grade one. I was appalling

blame it on the teacher

Reply 7

SiaSiaSia

16

jintea

blame it on the teacher

ahhaa no she was a brilliant teacher :P
i just was an appalling student.
i'm gonna start again and prove her wrong though :biggrin:

Reply 8

DJNed

Don't be put off by everyone saying how hard it is to play the piano, it took me about 6 months until I did my Grade 2 (skipped Grade 1), which I passed with distinction at the age of 7. Though of course, the point that it's a tricky instrument to start on is perfectly valid and true. However, I still have to say that the organ (pipe-organ, I mean) is trickier, or rather, more complicated to play. Even though I love playing the organ, the piano is top in my books :smile:

The way I see playing the piano is that initially, it can be very difficult if one is not particularly "musical" (what does that even mean anyway?), or if a comfortable amount of practice-time is not put in every week. After Grade 3 or so (give or take), you'll reach a point where you can read, understand, and maybe even play most pieces of piano music; a whole world is opened up to you. However, I'm not saying that one would be able to play those pieces well. There is a big difference between playing a piece technically correctly, and playing a piece with emotion and character. Any idiot can play Liszt's 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody given enough time, but it takes someone with calibre to play it well.

Reply 9

Astudentinneed

OP

2

jintea

what sort of pieces have you started playing?
are they like the "piano times books?" - boosey and hawkes.

thats what i started with, they're alright.

depends if you're commited!

well i only had one lesson, which was mainly telling me what notes is what and trying to read the notes and play it

it's awfully boring playing 4 simple tunes. im thinking of getting a piano easy book and play tunes from that to supplant my lessons

Reply 10

Pillar of Autumn

15

Astudentinneed

i've just had my first lesson last week and is curious. i have no musically background but im practicising at least half-hour every day with a lesson 30 minutes a week

for that matter, what level can i get up to in a year? I'm 20, if that makes any difference?

I achieved a merit in grade 6 piano at the age of 13, having played since the age of 9. So to reach grade 1 standard, a matter of months regardless of age. Perhaps 3 months or more.

Reply 11

Fizzee

I think the length depends on whether or not you already play an instrument, because i am a violonist originally but took me 2 weeks to get to grade 1 piano standard

Reply 12

jintea

5

Astudentinneed

well i only had one lesson, which was mainly telling me what notes is what and trying to read the notes and play it

it's awfully boring playing 4 simple tunes. im thinking of getting a piano easy book and play tunes from that to supplant my lessons

cool, let us know how you get on!

Reply 13

Poshtotty

8

I started taking piano lessons in May this year. I am currently preparing for my grade 1 exam.I have only been taking lessons for 5 months.

I will be taking the exam in March 2009. Providing that I pass, it would mean that I would have achieved grade 1 piano in 10 months.

Reply 14

Roobagnall

13

I think you could easily do it within a year.

Just dont rush as it would be better to spend 5 years getting to a certain level and getting it all completly correct and confident rather than rush it in 6 months and be sloppy forever...

Reply 15

rdu11

4

I've just started to propberly learn the piano and on my first lesson i was starting grade one pieces.. but i do have a musical background and already new where the notes where etc.
But if you are gererally a fast learner and find the whole two hands at once thing alright then i would say a year, or maybe less. 30mins a day sounds good, but don't overdo it!
have fun!

Reply 16

JJF

I reckon it should take you about a year. maybe less if you practice alot, or more if you never practice. But if you can read music, try looking at grades above grade 1. And make sure you always start your practise by doing some kind of starter like scales, arpeggios, that kind of thing. For Grade 1, everything is in C, G or F major, if I remember rightly, so try playing scales through those keys, maybe progressing to D major or Bb major when you get more comfortable. You could also look at the relative minor keys of these keys. Which is where you count down 3 keys. so for C-major, it is A-minor. D-minor for F mjor, and Eminor for Gmajor. These should help you. The key is to PRACTICE!! So keep oing with it, learn as much as possible, and you'll be fine. Once you have got your grade 1, everything else past it seems alot easier, it's just the basics of fingering and remembering that will make it hard. Try to do about an hour every few days. Hope this is some help!!

Reply 17

Astudentinneed

OP

2

it is damn hard, playing with two hands and looking at 2 different lines at the same time is hard.

im just trying to play two tunes, but i cant tell the difference between me actually improving or me just memorizing the notes

and how do you know where to put your hands? the book im using tell me what number finger im should be using but how would you know without it?

Reply 18

jintea

5

Astudentinneed

it is damn hard, playing with two hands and looking at 2 different lines at the same time is hard.

im just trying to play two tunes, but i cant tell the difference between me actually improving or me just memorizing the notes

and how do you know where to put your hands? the book im using tell me what number finger im should be using but how would you know without it?

memorising plays a big part in improving you knowledge of the whereabouts of each key, even without looking down to the notes, you have a rough idea.

but start with pieces with simple left and right hand melodies, chords in either hand can be tricky to start off with, so leave them for later.