UK Piano Page Piano Forum

Hi, I acquired a piano from a house clearance and have been playing it for a week as a novice. I have a basic understanding of reading music from playing classical guitar some time ago. My 2 questions are:

1.On average what would be the recommended hours of practice a week when working towards getting a grade 1 certification for a 28 year old!

2.How many years/months on average would you set as a target for a new starter with some music reading skills to get to a grade 1 exam ready standard?

Kind regards

Piece of string question...you'll know from the guitar that you get out what you put in, so the more practice you do the faster you'll proceed. Half an hour a day isn't unreasonable (though if you say that to a kid nowadays they're straight on the blower to Childline), but really as much as you can, as little as you must!
Timeframe depends on your natural ability to a certain extent, but some people find it hard going to start with but then something clicks, others breeze along then hit a metaphorical brick wall. A good teacher will see you through it all! I'd take a year to 18 months as a very rough guide, but that's dependent on lots of regular practice, which is where a lot of people fall down. I'd forget about timeframes and just let it happen naturally!

Much appreciated, I will be as patient as possible.

I started to play piano from scratch with no musical skills at all at the age of 32. Twelve months later I am about to enter for my grade 3. I would say I practice between 30 minutes and an hour every day if I can.

I was told a grade a year is reasonable, unfortuntely I can't be bothered to wait that long.!