What "level" would the average pianist that has been playing for 3 years be at?

[outin]

if you mean reading books for information rather than entertainment, not many at all. I personally don't know a single one, but I know a lot of people who read in general.

It's kind of a pity...I have one part of a book shelf full of great books about music and much of that stuff is not yet available through internet.

Besides I enjoy reading these books so it's entertainment as well

[lostinidlewonder]

if you mean reading books for information rather than entertainment, not many at all. I personally don't know a single one, but I know a lot of people who read in general.do you mean this post? or just other posts in general?

I mean read music, practice your reading, don't think that you can approach in a way that you can think you way through it. It requires grinding of many many pieces and understanding the general fingering procedure and coordination requires in piano playing. You get this from thousands of reading experiences spread out over many years. But in 3 years one certainly could develop their reading and learning ability to a good standard. This is what most people miss, they don't realize that improving their learning tools will in the future allow them access to learning pieces in an efficient manner. But of course not everyone wants to follow this path and are satisfied to play a small collection of their favorites.

[roncesvalles]

As someone who has gone it so far without a teacher (and who is currently looking for a teacher), I agree with you, lostinidlewonder.   In three years I've developed a lot, and I can do things that felt impossible to me as a complete beginner, but I really think that I've gone about it the wrong way, in always choosing to learn pieces that I wanted to learn.   Every piece has been a sort of battle (and there have been more losses than victories).    So I'm currently hitting the reboot button, as if I've never played the piano, regardless of the fact that my skills are probably at the intermediate level, because my sight reading is so poorly developed.   

In just a few weeks of focusing my sight reading on easy pieces, I've already seen an improvement.   I have literally played more pieces to the finish in the past few weeks than in my first two and a half years of playing the piano, from baroque to contemporary music, which simply feels better than doggedly pursuing dream pieces, sacrificing many hours to the same measures.  Most are not of the sophistication of the things that truly inspire me, but I've been choosing things that will also be useful for me, technically, and now I have a more practical way to measure my progress than by scales to the accompaniment of a metronome.   Another great thing about it is that I'm realizing what my weaknesses are.   When you choose a piece that's above your current level to play, a lot of it is technically above your head, so it's not as easy to isolate what is going wrong.  In easier pieces, it's easier to diagnose these things, because they're not surrounded by other problems.

[dcstudio]

 because my sight reading is so poorly developed.   

if I had a dollar for every time I heard a pianist say this--even I make that argument sometimes...lol   

[lostinidlewonder]

As someone who has gone it so far without a teacher (and who is currently looking for a teacher), I agree with you, lostinidlewonder.   In three years I've developed a lot, and I can do things that felt impossible to me as a complete beginner, but I really think that I've gone about it the wrong way, in always choosing to learn pieces that I wanted to learn.   Every piece has been a sort of battle (and there have been more losses than victories).    So I'm currently hitting the reboot button, as if I've never played the piano, regardless of the fact that my skills are probably at the intermediate level, because my sight reading is so poorly developed.   

In just a few weeks of focusing my sight reading on easy pieces, I've already seen an improvement.   I have literally played more pieces to the finish in the past few weeks than in my first two and a half years of playing the piano, from baroque to contemporary music, which simply feels better than doggedly pursuing dream pieces, sacrificing many hours to the same measures.  Most are not of the sophistication of the things that truly inspire me, but I've been choosing things that will also be useful for me, technically, and now I have a more practical way to measure my progress than by scales to the accompaniment of a metronome.   Another great thing about it is that I'm realizing what my weaknesses are.   When you choose a piece that's above your current level to play, a lot of it is technically above your head, so it's not as easy to isolate what is going wrong.  In easier pieces, it's easier to diagnose these things, because they're not surrounded by other problems.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience roncesvalles. You have a very special understanding of yourself to be able to shift from learning "difficult" repertoire to humbling yourself and develop your learning craft. Your approach is exactly how I like to develop my students. I hope you find a good teacher that will help you with your learning efficiency!