What seperates a good pianist from a great one.

[lisztisforkids]

The pianist (or other musician) that succeds in becoming a great pianist is one that captures the audience, that moves the audience, makes the audience wonder, interesting to watch, it dosent matter wether you have the technique of michelangli, or rubinstien. So please, Dont be boring when you play. What do you think??

[pianistimo]

willingness to expose themselves.  ie their feelings, their inner thoughts, to be moved by what they are playing and not just repeat notes.

[stevie]

speed

[lisztisforkids]

speed

Speed is not everything. There are a lot of pianist that can play accurately and fast, but they dont go half as far as those with a worse technique in many cases.

[stevie]

Speed is not everything. There are a lot of pianist that can play accurately and fast, but they dont go half as far as those with a worse technique in many cases.

they dont go half as far because they go twice as far, in the same amount of time 

[pianistimo]

evenness.  phrasing.  not being obvious about technique - just letting it happen.  connecting with the audience before, during, and after you play.  not assuming anything (being responsible for the whole show) including that your cell phone is turned off (i liked that one - as it could be a little distracting). 

if the worst happens, to make it a good experience and not just leave the audience in frustration.  maybe the best performers have experienced everything good/bad/inbetween and are not scared anymore of 'failing.'  therefore, maybe they take more chances?  just sort of rambling.

[lisztisforkids]

they dont go half as far because they go twice as far, in the same amount of time

Good technique is only one half Virtuosity, and anbody can learn that with time and dedication.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

good technique, great music, and most of all sincerity!

[steve jones]

speed

Dont be silly, everyone knows its hand size.

Actually, this is question will a million possible answers, as it depends to an extent on what you yourself find impressive. I would guess that a great pianist has the ability to impress the largest volume of people. Whether that means he is technically or musically phenomenal, or just lucky to exposure he needs.

Or maybe Im confusing 'great' with 'success'.

For me, I like to feel some personality in a performance. I like to hear the artist 'stamp' his authority on a piece and make it something unique.

[rob47]

marketing

[perfect_pitch]

An amateur practices until he can get it right... A Professional practices until he can't get it wrong.

The very words I live by.

[crazy for ivan moravec]

i agree with steve jones- personality. just like horowitz- every note that he made got them all.

[lostinidlewonder]

Its like a book I always think. A good book entertains you, a great one changes you. A good pianist entertains you a great one changes how you see the piano.

[practicingnow]

they dont go half as far because they go twice as far, in the same amount of time 

lol  that's good

[practicingnow]

marketing

very interesting...
there's some truth to that, in a way...

[arensky]

willingness to expose themselves. 

                                                             

[arensky]

It's a difficult thing to explain; many people play the piano (and other instruments and sing) very very well BUT then there are those people who go one step further, and go "beyond"...

Go beyond the threshold of what most of us would consider to be music making; these are the people who are able to immerse themselves in and so fully identify with what they are doing that it, well, goes beyond mere music making, and becomes for the listener a spiritual experience. And it doesn't have to be fast, or ultrasensitive, or any of those adjectives; it defies words. If we could say it, we wouldn't need the words. And it isn't just feeling and emotion, to be able to reach this truly "transcendental" level of music making requires a firm self-discipline and a COMPLETE control over the instrument (musical AND technical) and what it can do. Because we can only let go of the control when we have it; an annoying zen paradox, but true nonetheless.

Hope these semi- random thoughts help...
 

[BoliverAllmon]

making every note count.

boliver

[seamonkey]

Good pianists shake the stage.  Great pianists shake the earth! 

- My first ever post.

[rc]

Its like a book I always think. A good book entertains you, a great one changes you. A good pianist entertains you a great one changes how you see the piano.

I like this one.

Along the same line, is when you hear someone perform and it makes you want to drop what you're doing and learn to do the same, a performance that's inspiring. This goes for any instrument... A fat, bald, accountant-looking fellow once made me want to quit everything and learn to rip up the accordian as he did .

[dolcejen]

Seems like good pianists think they've attained total success on the instrument they play, whereas great pianists are always looking for ways to change and improve. The best pianist I ever heard (a virtuoso Russian) was still taking lessons and said she was still learning. Blew my mind away.

[stevie]

Seems like good pianists think they've attained total success on the instrument they play, whereas great pianists are always looking for ways to change and improve. The best pianist I ever heard (a virtuoso Russian) was still taking lessons and said she was still learning. Blew my mind away.

very true, contentment is dangerous for an artist.

[zheer]

Power of consertration, to remain focused for over one hour is difficult.
I think playing the piano needs that ability, i say that because i have a slight head acke from playing the piano. I can imagin that a top painist is similar to a world class chess player in terms of mental power. Good news for piano players i gess.

[Dazzer]

the ability to network with the right people at the right time for the right purpose to acheive the right result with the right amount of luck

[BoliverAllmon]

Power of consertration, to remain focused for over one hour is difficult.
I think playing the piano needs that ability, i say that because i have a slight head acke from playing the piano. I can imagin that a top painist is similar to a world class chess player in terms of mental power. Good news for piano players i gess.

I can see that.

[applelover]

kungfu - gongfu - hard work and effort

[thalbergmad]

With a great pianist, you know something special is going to happen before they touch the keys.

[rc]

very true, contentment is dangerous for an artist.

Dangerous for anyone. Once you've decided you've got it all figured out, there's no more progress, pack your bags you're done for.

[paris]

musicality

[stevie]

musicality

and technique 

[m1469]

In my response to this topic I am going to slightly rephrase the question :  What *makes* a pianist great vs. just good ?

It is tempting to take things like articulation, phrasing, speed etc. and treat them as causes of greatness, or greatness itself.  Then these things that we consider positive get pooled up together.  It is tempting to think along these lines : In the "good" pool, there are a certain amount of these positive things, and a certain amount of negative, and a certain level of execution.  In the "great" pool, there are a certain amount and mixture of these positive things and a certain amount of negative, and a certain level of execution. 

We act as though people subscribe first to the pool of being "good", and that there are a certain amount of pianists swimming within that.   They all contain very similar traits because they are swimming in that pool of traits which they have subscribed to.  But there are a number of swimmers who are only there because they see it as closer to the "great" pool and secretly enter the lottery to win a lifetime subscription to the pool of "great".  If they are lucky, they think, they will win and at some point they will simply jump like a fish from one pool to the other.  Once in that pool, they will swim in all the qualities of greatness. 

Trying to pool together qualities of performance/musicianship as descriptions of greatness and what makes greatness, I think is a misguided approach at becoming and discerning greatness.  Phrasing, speed, articulation, etc. are not what makes a person good or great.  They are not a cause but a result.  Like fire.  Fire is not a cause, but a result of a balanced mixture of elements.  And the interesting thing about fire is, depending on how it is built and attended to, it can get hotter and hotter.   What makes it hot though is not simply the heat, but the way it got there.

With pianists/musicians, when we are talking about the difference between "good" and "great", we are not just talking about how hot their fires burn, but how their fires get to be burning so hot.   And that is completely individual in terms of how one deals with the challenge of that endeavor (you can't build a fire inside of a pool  ).

I don't think there is a lottery, I don't believe there are any pools, and I don't believe there is any such thing as a lifetime subscription to the pool of greatness.  In the end, there is just the individual, the instrument, and a lifetime of moments spent building fires.


m1469


ps-  don't burn your instrument (no matter how tempting it may be) 

[paris]

and technique 

well indeed i agree 100%.
but musicality slightly winns this round for me. i think pianist without musicality is nothing. who wants to listen bunch of techically perfect notes like typing machine...i don't.

but in response to this topic-yeah-musicality...and ability to express it through notes no matter wheter notes are hard or piece of cake

[comesta]

passion

[m1469]

What seperates a good pianist from a great one.

Great teachers  

[chromatickler]

they dont go half as far because they go twice as far, in the same amount of time 

unpredicktably inzpired

[pianistimo]

nowdays we have access to computerized analysis of thousands of recordings of the greats.  horowitz's playing, for example, shows a combination of slowing down as he crescendos.  maybe his curves (the musical shorthand alphabet of sound waves) are smooth instead of jagged and abruptly disturbing.  of course, it probably depends upon what music you choose to play and how people interpret a 'great' recording of it.

i subscribe to the idea that not all musicians are great at every type of music (except maybe a very few).  the notion of specializing in one or two composers probably isn't a terrible idea if one is repeatedly told they play a certain composer well or identify with a composer. 

also, i think arensky is right (and mayla, too, about trying to be a 'great') about attaining control before you try to let go of it.  i mean, if you haven't any control to start with - your not going to exude that 'feeling' that you intend to without a lot of wrong notes and blustery misintention. 

so, according to mayla's idea - do not enter lotteries dealing with 'competitions' soley to become great.   just have fun and if you are great you will rise to the top.  and, if you are dilligent - you'll give others a run for their money at least.  there has to be someone that challenges the greats (steals benches, turns one or two tuning pins sideways, puts a little crisco on the keys).

[lisztisforkids]

 there has to be someone that challenges the greats (steals benches, turns one or two tuning pins sideways, puts a little crisco on the keys).

]

[vovo]

It's all depends on how dedicated you are and if you play your pieces with heart and enthusiasm. A great pianist plays music that has meaning and is not worried what others say, but a good one plays anything that makes them look good in what their doing

[sissco]

But do you think that...if you want to be a great pianist...is that practising practising practising....or is it just talent? (natural ability in englisch?  )

[ibbar]

A great pianist has the power of "connection"

They connect with the composer
They connect with the music
They connect with the instrument
They connect with the audience

They connect with themselves

If any of these elements are lacking, they may be a "good" pianist, but they won't be "great"

[m1469]

My latest decision is that it has mostly to do with "tansparency". 

I am questioning whether there are any truly great performers per se... and I say that with the utmost respect.  I just wonder, perhaps there is more just great music.  And, the more transparent a performer can be, and the more one lets the great music speak, the better a performer they are.   But really, it's not about the performer, but the music.



My latest goal :


My goal is not to be known as a great performer, or a great teacher of music.  My goal is to let great music and great musicianship be known in the world.  I wish to be transparent, like a child.





m1469

[m]

What seperates a good pianist from a great one.

The difference is very little, but still enough to perceive it.

[rimv2]

The pianist (or other musician) that succeds in becoming a great pianist is one that captures the audience, that moves the audience, makes the audience wonder, interesting to watch, it dosent matter wether you have the technique of michelangli, or rubinstien. So please, Dont be boring when you play. What do you think??

A great pianist is simply a well known good pianist.