Before you begin your pursuit of becoming a pianist, you must have ready access to a piano that is in good working condition, and will be kept that way. Ideally, this is a piano in your home, that you can always play. The piano need not be a fancy grand piano--a simple upright piano will do fine. Electric pianos are acceptable, but not as good as the real thing, since they often do not feel and behave as an actual piano does.

The other important prerequisite is time. Becoming a pianist requires lots and lots of time, and so if you want to see real progress, you will ideally need to carve out several hours each day for practice.

While it is possible to learn to become a pianist on your own to some extent, you will never learn as much or as quickly as with a great teacher. Don't settle for a so-so or even a good teacher; once you have found a truly great teacher, you will know it, and you will see a great difference in how much you are learning, and how much you are being pushed to improve. To find a piano teacher in your area, see if anyone you know can refer you to someone. If not, look for a local classical music publication that may have a classified section, or ask for recommendations at a local music store that sells classical instruments.

Once you find a local teacher that seems to be a good fit for you, be open with him or her that you want to see how things go for at least a few weeks, before you decide whether to continue.

There are many fundamental skills to learn about playing the piano. Start with basic musical notation, which is important to learn since otherwise you will only be able to play by ear, which has many drawbacks.

Next, you should learn the notes on the keyboard, so that you can relate the notes on paper to them. With this knowledge, you can work on playing scales, which will help to lock in the location of the keys as well as build your finger strength. You can also start learning chords, which are combinations of notes played at the same time.

With these basics in hand, and a great teacher to help you to continue to develop your skills, the only thing left to do is practice. If you want to see your piano skills improve at a reasonable pace, frequent practice is essential. Start with pieces of music that are very easy, and then as you become comfortable with them, move on to more and more challenging works.

Other than raw talent, the amount of time you practice is the number one factor in terms of how good you will get as a pianist. So while you may find your motivation lacking some days, do your best to build momentum and make piano practice a daily routine.