Grade 1 Adult Learner Timeframe?

Snake · Post by **Snake** » 01 Feb 2007, 14:38

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

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 01 Feb 2007, 18:10

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!

Snake · Post by **Snake** » 04 Feb 2007, 19:27

Much appreciated, I will be as patient as possible.

phil32 · Post by **phil32** » 03 Mar 2007, 12:07

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.!