I always wanted to play the piano (and built a tracker to keep going)

My adult-beginner piano journey, what kept me practising through disruption, and a free Simply Piano-compatible practice tracker you can copy and use.

If you are learning piano as an adult, you already know the hardest part is not “talent”. It is staying close to the instrument long enough to let the small improvements compound.

This post is my story, but it is also a practical guide: a free tracker you can copy, plus the simple rules I used to stop “starting again” every time life got in the way.

Take my tracker with you

I built this spreadsheet because Simply Piano is excellent at teaching step-by-step, but I needed a way to see the big picture—especially during weeks when my hands felt clumsy and the app progress bar did not feel like real progress. (Simply Piano does show in-app progress; I just wanted a timeline view I could control.)

Open in Google Sheets:
Open the free piano tracker (Google Sheets)

Say thanks:
Support / send a thank you

Quick start: open the Sheet → File → Make a copy → set your start date → update once a week.

What you will get from this post

A free Simply Piano-compatible practice tracker you can copy and use.
A realistic definition of “I made it” that helps you keep going.
A way to practise through messy seasons (moves, illness, travel, life).
A small set of rules that reduce the odds of stopping for months.

My definition of “I made it”

For me, “I made it” was never about playing Liszt. It was about reaching the point where I could sit down and play—without fear, without negotiation, without needing a perfect setup.

My “I made it” definition is practical:

I can coordinate both hands without my brain catching fire.
I can keep a basic tempo and recover when I slip.
I can understand and use chords (not only notes).
I have a small set of pieces I can play any day, even when I feel rusty.
Most importantly: I have a system that makes “not stopping” more likely than stopping.

That definition matters because it gives you something to chase that is not dependent on motivation.

The story: wanting it, losing it, returning to it

Music has been around me for as long as I can remember. I played guitar, and I sang in the choir at my Catholic school in Cuenca (Spain). I also remember the envy: some people can sit at a piano and “just play”, like there is a language they were born understanding.

I tried music-reading lessons twice. I hated them.

The funny part is that I hated English too. At eleven, “auxiliary verbs” felt ridiculous—why do you need a “do” floating around a sentence?

And yet, years later, I write in English every day.

That is the lesson I keep returning to: hating the process does not mean you are incapable. It usually means you have not yet found the right entry point.

2019: I started, properly

The key moment was not a piano moment—it was a mindset moment.

When I learned English, I was 27 when I decided I did not simply “want” it; I wanted to know how to learn it, and I committed to the long game.

In 2019, I applied that same decision to piano.

The season where I stopped for months

Then life did what life does.

Cancer diagnosis and treatment. Moving homes. Periods where I did not have a piano with me at all.

And still, I dreamt about pianos constantly.

I used to fantasise about the upright I would one day own—timber, solid, mine. I also got to play on beautiful grand pianos at The Leys in Cambridge when I taught there for a couple of months in summer 2024. It reminded me that I did not want “the idea” of piano. I wanted the daily relationship.

So I solved the problem in the least romantic way possible: I bought access.

Buying access: the unglamorous solutions

First: a weighted-keys keyboard ordered online.
Then: after I met someone in England, I went back for a longer stretch and found a second-hand keyboard for £50.
Later, when I was travelling constantly, my boyfriend at the time gifted me a foldable one—about 40 cm long, around three octaves.

It was not a grand piano.

It was proof that I was serious.

And here is the sentence that saved me from the emotional weight of restarting:

No es empezar de cero, es seguir sabiendo un poquito más.

It is not starting from zero; it is continuing while knowing a little more.

How I made consistency easier than quitting

In 2025 I was so enthusiastic that I did the simplest thing possible: I built a visible record of practice days.

Not because I needed to measure myself.

Because I needed evidence.

When progress happens in tiny increments, it is easy to feel discouraged. If you have a day where nothing sounds good—where your fingers do not cooperate—you can convince yourself you are stuck.

A record gives you perspective.

The “pen and paper” tracker that started it

This is what my practice tracking looked like before the spreadsheet: a calendar where I circled practice days, and a simple progress sheet.

On days that felt awful, that page reminded me: I showed up. That matters.

The mental model that kept me calm

I picture progress like climbing a step ladder.

Some days you are between steps. You can feel the tension and effort of reaching for the next one, and it feels like you are failing.

But you are not failing.

You are in the exact place you always stand right before you improve.

And because I have been there before, I trust that I will look back from the next step and think: “It was not that hard.”

The spreadsheet tracker (what it looks like and how it works)

Here is the current version of the tracker dashboard.

What the tracker solves

It turns “I’m not progressing” into a data question.
It makes “plateaus” visible and normal.
It gives you a long-view forecast so you can plan realistically.

What you will see

Levels and time estimates (so you understand what you are committing to).
A monthly progress grid (so you can see momentum without obsessing over daily perfection).
A simple way to map “app progress” into something that feels tangible.

Note: Simply Piano itself offers options like a Trinity College London certificate after completing certain courses, which is another way some learners make progress feel more concrete. citeturn0search9

How to use it (5 steps)

Open the Google Sheet and click File → Make a copy.
Set your start date.
Once a month, update the “completed / total” numbers for the current level.
Look at the month-to-month trend (not day-to-day mood).
If you are slowing down, do not punish yourself—adjust your plan.

The only rule that matters

A good day is any day you touched the instrument.

Not a perfect day.

Not a long day.

Any day.

What people usually need most (and how this helps)

When adult beginners search for help, the underlying question is usually not “how do I play?”.

It is: how do I not stop?

You see variations of that everywhere:

“How do you keep track of your progress?”
“How do you stay motivated learning piano as an adult?”

The tracker helps because it does two things at once:

It creates a north star (“this is what I am chasing”).
It creates a proof trail (you can see you are still in the game).

FAQ

I missed a week (or a month). Should I restart?

No. Restarting is an emotional story, not a reality.

Update the tracker where you are today. Your hands remember more than your mood admits.

I practised, but it sounded terrible. Does it count?

Yes.

Those sessions are often the edge between one level and the next. They are the price of improvement.

How much should I practise?

Start with a minimum you can keep during bad weeks. For many adults, 10 minutes is a powerful minimum.

If you do more, great. If you only do the minimum, you still keep the chain.

Does this only work with Simply Piano?

The sheet is designed around Simply Piano’s structure, but you can adapt it for other methods by renaming levels and adjusting totals.

What is coming next (the bigger project)

This spreadsheet is the basic version.

Over time, I want to build a more advanced toolset around this idea:

a lightweight web app version (better dashboards, reminders, streaks without guilt)
free resources (practice plans, beginner theory shortcuts, repertoire suggestions)
optional paid features for people who want automation and deeper analytics

If you would like early access when it exists, send me a note via the contact page. I will build the next steps based on what people actually request.

Contact me about the app version

Download the tracker

Prefer a direct download?

If you need another format, let me know at admin@iknowainhoa.com and I will send it to you.