Yes and No.

Is it hard to become an expert at playing the piano?

Why yes, of course!

Is it hard to learn a few of your favorite, short pieces for the piano?

Probably not.

If the latter mostly pertains to you, learning to play the piano is not supposed to be hard. With a little perseverance and will-power, almost anyone can learn the piano fairly quickly.

Again, everyone’s situation may be different.

Some may have a musical background, have played another instrument in the past, or have some form of experience with music. Maybe some if you are new to the idea of playing a musical instrument and are intrigued by it.

The piano is one of the most popular instruments on the planet and, like with all instruments, it does come with a learning curve.

In this post, we are going to break this question down and see if it is truly hard to learn the piano.

What are some of your goals for the piano?

Are you interested in making this a career where you’re performing in front of a huge audience, professionally?

Or you’re just sitting down one day at the piano in your home and decided to pull up a Mozart or Beethoven piece from memory that you’ve been obsessing over the longest time.

If your goal is to play the piano to hear beautiful music in your home or wherever you go, don’t set the bar too high.

That is the beauty of playing the piano. You can learn to play the piano at your own pace and style where it doesn’t become overwhelming and discouraging. With the correct steps and the right attitude, anyone can succeed with the piano.

Of course, the art of playing the piano is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take some work on your end.

Quick Summary:

At first, it may seem perplexing to learn this beautiful instrument, but once you have achieved the optimal goals, you are going to be rewarded with pleasing musical sound.

Which is harder: learn from a teacher or learn on my own?

If you’re a DIY-type person and excel at doing things on your own, then learning the piano on your own is not such a bad idea.

Maybe you’re someone who needs some guidance or some form of structure that goes with piano lessons or meeting a piano instructor on a weekly basis.


Investing your time and money into a skilled teacher should make it easier for you to learn the piano.

Their experience will help you learn:

  • proper technique
  • form
  • give you moral support along the way

However, you’ll find it easier that teaching yourself a new hobby is the way to go.

If you fall into this camp, the Internet is a treasure trove when it comes to information and resources on just about anything, including how to play the piano.

With YouTube and so many other different apps, learning the piano on your own has never been easier than before!

Plus you’ll save on gas if that is something you’re concerned with!


Quick Summary:

Everything comes down to what is convenient for you and what suits your personality.

Do you have good hand-eye coordination?

Learning to play the piano requires good hand-eye coordination.

Can you perform some simple tasks without looking at your hands? If you can, you will soon realize that playing the piano is not that different.

The basic function of playing the piano is looking at sheet music while your fingers press the keys on the piano.

This will require you to constantly look up and read the notes on the page in front of you.

In the early stages of piano playing, you will not step in and start reading notes from a sheet of music.

You’re going to start with simple techniques like hand position over the keys, proper posture when sitting on the piano bench, and so forth…

Once you learn and develop these techniques, the next step in your development is to interpret notes and convert them into musical sounds with the fingers of your hands.

Over time, your hand-eye coordination improves, and both the dominant and non-dominant hand work together in synchronization to produce musical sound.

Quick Summary:

If your hand-eye coordination is superb, learning to play the piano just gets easier. Don’t worry! Almost anyone can develop and improve their hand-eye coordination through practice.

Full Summary

1) In the beginning it is crucial to establish achievable goals when it comes to learning the piano. Without laying a solid foundation first, a house built on that foundation will eventually collapse.

  • Before you know it, the road to playing the piano has simply become harder than it should be.
  • We don’t want that happening! Collect your thoughts and write down a few goals that you have in mind before you attempt to learn the piano for the first time.

2) Secondly, everyone is unique when it comes to learning new hobbies. Some excel at teaching themselves, while others need a bit of guidance along the way.

  • If you fall into the first camp, there are plenty of resources on the web. Take advantage of them!
  • If you would rather have a teacher, invest some time in finding reliable teachers in your area and contact them for the first meeting.

3) And finally, good hand-eye coordination is a must! There are many moving parts when it comes to playing the piano.

  • With time and practice, it becomes easier and easier to develop this skill.

Recent Content