Honestly you don't need to worry about being able to play certain star ratings. If I were at your current rank and with the current skill you have, I would just stick to 3* and 2*. Once you acquire enough skill to play maps within this star range comfortably and accurately, you'll notice that maps that you once thought were really hard start to become easier. I know that maybe sounds lame and you probably want to play like the top players and get as fast as them already but if you try to do that in your current state without having a solid bases of skill (consistently being able to stream, comfortably hitting doubles, triples, quads, and even burst streams, moving your cursor comfortably across any pattern etc.) you won't have the best results for the time you're putting into this game.
If you play very old maps, like 2007 - 2012, you will be so much better at this game than most of the people who play osu! these days. Don't only focus on old maps though, play other maps as you would like.
Also, when playing maps, you should focus on learning how to properly click each circle. Pay attention to the rhythm of each song and just follow it. If you find the set rhythm of each song the said song becomes much easier to understand.
I would not recommend jumping from 3-4.5* in one day. Take your time and play the game for progress. Try to hit difficult patterns and maybe even retry a map a few times.
The goal (for me at least) in this game, is to have a lot of fun but to also improve on the little things. For example, I used to be really bad at doubles (only a stack of 2 circles) but I started playing maps that had these doubles and then and I focused on trying to hit these without getting 100's. It eventually came to a point where I didn't have to focus on these doubles anymore and now I can hit them with consistency but not ALL the time (still improving).
Also, DO NOT worry about your rank, your rank literally does nothing to your skill. I've been around the same rank for about a year because I don't try to set top plays or pp farm. Just have fun with this game. Don't turn this game into something that feels like work or that you HAVE to do. Take a break every once in a while, learn how bpm(Beats Per Minute) works, learn how ar(Approach Rate) works, find a new pin grip that suits your needs, maybe acquire a new clicking style.
There is definitely more to it when people just say "play more" because that saying is just a bunch of summed up hoopla.
But seriously, plz enjoy game :p