The path to becoming a professional pianist will differ greatly depending on the type of pianist you want to be. You’ll need a fairly high level of skill in performing on your instrument to be any kind of pianist, and you may or may not need a specific educational background. In terms of education, becoming a concert pianist can be a much more difficult process, whereas becoming a pianist in popular music may be more based on pure performance ability. There are pianists who perform cover songs in small venues or work exclusively behind the scenes in the music recording industry. If you want to work in either of those fields, you’ll need a completely different set of abilities.
A serious musical education is almost certainly required to become a professional pianist who performs classical music. To become a concert pianist, you’ll almost certainly need to attend a prestigious music school. Prestigious musical colleges frequently offer scholarships to people with significant musical talent, so if you have a natural gift for the instrument, you may be able to get in without spending a lot of money. Concert pianists don’t always make a lot of money, so keep that in mind as you decide whether or not to pursue this career path.
If you want to be a professional pianist in a popular music genre like rock or country, the process is often quite different. Education isn’t required, but you’ll almost certainly need a high level of proficiency with the instrument. You’ll almost always need to surround yourself with other high-caliber performers and compose original music that grabs listeners’ attention. It’s both similar and different to becoming a significant pianist in a more demanding field like jazz. You’ll almost certainly benefit from a music education, but you’ll also need to employ the same job strategy as if you were pursuing a rock music career.
Working as a studio musician is another way to make a living as a professional pianist. You’ll need to be a very dependable performer with a high level of skill on the instrument, and you’ll need a musical education as well. You’ll need a good knowledge of popular songs and the ability to consistently perform on a nightly basis if you want to join a cover band and make money in nightclubs and other venues. In order to land either of these jobs, you’ll almost certainly need to do a lot of networking.