Set Your New Year’s Piano Goals
As we’re embarking on a brand new calendar year, this is a great time to set some goals and intentions specific to your piano playing.
Whether you’re just getting started at the piano, or if you’ve been playing for years, it’s always a good idea to make a plan for what you would like to accomplish in the coming year.
Remember to set S.M.A.R.T. goals for yourself. S.M.A.R.T goals are:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant
T – Time-based
When setting realistic goals at the piano, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Learning to play the piano is a long game. You can’t learn how to play the piano overnight; most people spend many years learning basic skills, then devote the rest of their lives to mastering the instrument. You’re never really finished learning.
- Piano progress doesn’t move in a straight line. There are a lot of ups and downs to learning the piano. There will be a lot of time when it feels like you aren’t making any progress, despite putting in a lot of practice time.
- Music can take a lot of time to settle in. If you put timelines on your goals, be prepared to adjust them along the way.
In this post, we’ll explore some realistic goals that pianists of every level could set this year.
Brand New Pianists
If you’re hoping to get started playing the piano this year, congratulations! You’ve made a great decision to start a new hobby that will give you hours of satisfaction.
I highly recommend finding a local or online piano teacher to help your set and reach your goals.
If you’re planning to take a simpler approach, check out my online piano course: Beginning Piano For Adults.
This course includes 8 weeks of piano lessons designed for adults who want to learn piano as a hobby. It assumes you know nothing about the piano, but it sets you up to find your way around the piano keys, read music, build chords and understand music theory. It’s a fun, non-traditional approach to learning the piano.
Musicnotes readers can save $30 and access the course for just $27 using the code MUSICNOTES. Click here to get started.
If you’re just getting started with the piano, here are some SMART goals that you could set this year:
- I will complete the Beginning Piano For Adults course by _______ date.
- I will enroll in piano lessons and take X piano lessons this year.
- I will spend 30 minutes, 5 days a week watching piano tutorials and learning piano songs.
- I will learn how to read music and play X songs on the piano this year.
Beginning Pianists
If you’ve been playing the piano for a year or two already, you might be ready to take your piano playing to the next level.
You probably have a good understanding of how things work at the piano, but maybe you don’t feel confident playing, or maybe your note reading feels sluggish.
At this stage of learning the piano, it’s really a matter of putting in the practice time. It takes a lot of repetition to make music feel fluid and secure. It’s normal for reading music to take several years before it feels natural and fluent.
These are some good goals for beginning pianists:
- I will practice the piano X minutes/day. (Or, maybe think in larger blocks of time. Set a number of minutes to aim for within a week or a month.)
- I will learn how to play songs in X other keys outside of the key of C.
- I will learn how to play X piano scales.
- I will memorize X songs each month, this year, etc.
- I will pick a realistic goal piece to learn by the end of the year.
Intermediate Pianists
If you are playing at an intermediate level, you have probably already experienced a lot of the ups and downs of learning the piano. You probably have a good understanding of what it takes to succeed and move forward at the piano.
However, at this level, it’s so important to take the time to practice good technique and to work on music that is achievable at your current level. Many intermediate pianists are tempted to jump ahead to more difficult music without putting in the time at their current level.
This results in sloppy playing and gaps in musical knowledge and understanding.
There is definitely no shortage of intermediate piano music to learn, so find music that is interesting and satisfying to you and take the time to learn it well.
Here are some realistic intermediate piano goals:
- I will master all major and minor scales.
- I will study music theory along with my piano pieces.
- I will learn and memorize X pieces this year (or each month).
- I will learn a piano duet to play with a teacher or friend.
- I will learn a new style of music.
- I will learn a piece I’ve always wanted to play.
- I will practice X minutes/hours per day/week/month.
Advanced Pianists
As an advanced pianist, there’s no doubt that you know what realistic piano goals look like. But, maybe this year is a good time to try something new, reset your intentions at the piano or take on a big piano project.
You likely have an ongoing list of goals, but here are some ideas:
- I will learn a new genre of music.
- I will compose a piece of music.
- I will fill in some gaps in my intermediate repertoire.
- I will teach someone to play the piano.
- I will prepare for an audition.
- I will polish old repertoire.
No matter your level or ability at the piano, let’s make this year a productive, gratifying and enjoyable one!
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