First you need to determine what your goal is for learning piano. For example, if you are a beginner and your goal is to become proficient at reading music and playing simple repertoire like Amazing Grace, Au Claire de la Lune, or Jingle Bells, then most piano students can get there in 4 to 12 piano lessons.

If the student is a beginner, the teacher will begin by showing the basic techniques regarding the positioning of hands, fingers and even posture when playing.

Consider learning piano as though you were learning a new language. The notes correspond to the letters of the alphabet and the chords you play correspond to the words you can make with those letters. Spend some time getting to know your keyboard because you need to know the letters before you can read the words.

Studying piano has also been shown to amazingly improve memory — particularly verbal memory — and build good habits like focus and perseverance, diligence and creativity. Children who had a few years of piano study under their belts could remember twenty percent more vocabulary words than their peers.

There are nine levels of assessment for Piano – Initial Grade and Grades 1 to 8. Select a grade using the links below to view the syllabus and supporting materials. Find out about our Performance Grades, an alternative route to a graded music exam.

The standard piano has 88 keys, as do many electric keyboards. However, some keyboards have less than 88 keys. The number of keys differs depending on the model you choose for your kid, but if you’re learning piano on a keyboard, you’ll want at least 72 keys in order to play the majority of popular piano compositions.

Piano skill levels generally are classified as beginner, early intermediate, intermediate, early advanced and advanced; or they run across a spectrum from 1 to 8. The nomenclature is misleading in that, in some sense, nearly all music is advanced.