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¿Llevas muchos años componiendo al piano?

¿Llevas muchos años componiendo al piano?
Have you been composing at the piano for many years?
From Lesson 208:Ongoing duration (llevar)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿Llevas muchos años componiendo al piano?

Why does this sentence use the present tense llevas to mean "have you been"?
When an action started in the past and is still happening, Spanish uses the present tense of llevar followed by the time and a gerund (like componiendo). English uses the present perfect continuous ("have been doing"), but Spanish uses the present tense because the action is currently ongoing.
Why is it al piano instead of en el piano?
When you are sitting down to play an instrument or operate something, Spanish uses al (a + el). It translates well to the English "at the piano". If you used en el piano, it would sound like you are physically sitting or standing on top of the piano!
Is the word order strict? Could I say ¿Llevas componiendo muchos años?
You can absolutely change the order. Both ¿Llevas muchos años componiendo? and ¿Llevas componiendo muchos años? are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing. Putting the time directly after llevar is just a very natural habit for native speakers.
How would I say that I haven't been composing for a long time using this structure?
To say you haven't done something for a period of time, Spanish uses llevar + time + sin + infinitive. So, "I haven't composed for many years" would be Llevo muchos años sin componer. If you just said No llevo muchos años componiendo, it would mean you are currently composing, just not for that long.

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