How adults learn piano

You bring superpowers to the bench

You choose your own music, so you practise pieces you actually want to play. You can read instructions, plan a week and notice your own mistakes. And you already know hundreds of tunes, which makes learning one on the keyboard much faster.

The one thing a busy adult rarely has is long stretches of time. Good news: you do not need them.

What the studies found

Researchers have taught piano to adults who had never played. In a randomised trial published in 2007, Bugos and colleagues gave 31 adults aged 60 to 85, none with musical training, either six months of individual piano lessons or no lessons. The piano group improved on two tests of thinking skills compared with the others.

In a 2013 study, Seinfeld and colleagues followed 13 older adults through four months of piano lessons and daily practice, alongside 16 who kept up other hobbies. The piano group improved on a test of focus and self-control, and reported less depression and a better quality of life.

Both studies are small, so read them as encouragement rather than a promise. What they do show clearly is that adults with no musical background can sit down and learn the piano.

A plan for a grown-up week

• Short sessions, most days. Fifteen to twenty focused minutes is plenty.
• One goal per session: two new bars, one tricky passage, or one full play-through.
• Hands separately first, then together, then faster.
• End every session by playing something you can already play, just for fun.

For more on making practice count, read how to practise piano.

Pick the right level

Every piece on this site has a level, from the easiest up. Start lower than you think you need: finishing pieces is what keeps you going. Many of the most popular pieces also come with a how-to-play guide on their page, listing the tricky bars and a practice plan.

If reading is the hurdle, how to read piano notes and the How to read page will get you over it.