For self-taught pianists: How do you grade yourself?

[twinkletoesfaery]

I'm just wondering, to all those self-taughts without a teacher to grade you, how do you grade yourself?  When would you say you've "finished" a piece?  Is it when you play you hear yourself sound like them twinkly people on CDs? 

I'm trying to teach myself piano, been playing blindly, any good song but I'm never satisfied with the end result.  I thought I finished Chopin's Minute Waltz, I can even play it by memory but at the very end when the notes are suppose to be played extremely fast, I go much slower than the CD or sometimes I get the tricky beat wrong. I don't know many pianists nor do I have a teacher so I basically consider myself "finishing" the piece and move on the another and play the song with them mistakes.  To the untrained ear, it sounds alright, seems like I can play but I myself know that it's not really up to standard.  I am not aiming to be able to play that one perfectly just yet.

I can play many easier pieces well and I never really know when I can say I'm finished with them because I don't have a teacher to say "yup well done" or "do it again".  How would I know when I finish a piece? (Sounds a bit silly I know)

xx

And she adds to the question:

How do you know which grade you are?

(For me - ABRSM 3 perhaps? I stopped after taking my Grade 2 - I must've gone up a grade or two after about 4 years of on and off playing by myself)

[shoshin]

I give myself a D-

[ted]

I wouldn't be too concerned about "grading" yourself. I haven't had any lessons of substance for almost forty years and it never occurred to me even back then to "grade" myself.

In a sense you have answered your own question. If you are acute enough to sense weak points in your playing, as you abviously are, then simply work on them until you play to your own satisfaction. If you find you are unable to improve as you would like to then find a teacher to help you. There is really no substitute for a good teacher, but "grades" do not matter.

[twinkletoesfaery]

True. I'll probably try and get a teacher but for now I shall rely on my CDs and MP3s.

@shoshin - If A* is the highest then I wouldn't really consider myself a D- (I can't even sightread a song properly)

[iratehamster]

I obsessively compare recordings of my performances to professional recordings.  I want to eventually play something well enough that nobody can tell which recording is mine.  Until I get to that point, I don't consider a piece "done."

[twinkletoesfaery]

oh my...I won't be able to ever finish a piece that way.  I do compare myself to professional recordings but not to that extent (not at the moment at least)

90% similar to them CDs - I would call it finish...*grin*

[quasimodo]

A piece maybe is never truly "finished". Anyhow, for me I consider that I can get out of the "learning" status when I can produce what I intended to render. Which presupposes I have thought in depth what I wanted to get before even starting at the piano.

[i_m_robot]

You know youve finished a piece

and that its at what you might consider and A

when you play this piece and for some reason you are actually satified with the way it sounds

self played the waltz 69-2 for over a year before reaching that point

and self was self taught up till then

[twinkletoesfaery]

Sometimes what is good through your ears is not always best with others.  I finally got a teacher today, had my first lesson about 4 hours ago - as expected, she didn't find my playing too sweet sounding due to horrible fingerings.