Beginner: Please Rate me...

[Jojodi]

I've been playing for 3 years self-taught ( 15 years old now) no intentions of going professional.. I simply enjoy playing the piano and violin. Please tell me if this shows good progress so far for my intentions and time i've put in.

I'm in a local orcheastra comprising about 50 people (http://www.gcyo.com). The doctor/conducter enjoys my playing during every practice and believes I should try to manifest a career out of this. What do you think?



I've only "mastered" a very few things though.. What I have is sporadic (I know lol) but here it is:

[Bach] ------------------------------------------
Goldberg: Aria + 5 variations

Partita #1: Gigue         My favorite speed-test piece

Some fugues and the cadenza section near the end of the first piano concerto (wow its fun ^_^)


[Kabalevsky]------------------------------------------
All of "Pieces for Children"

[Beethoven]------------------------------------------
Cadenzas 1 + 2 from Piano Concerto #4

Fur Elise (Don't like this one anymore-- played by too many people too badly

[Rachmaninoff]------------------------------------------
Prelude #2 in C# Minor (Hardest piece that I've learned so far)

------------------------------------------------------------------------  
[A gazillion other simple pieces: mostly sonatas and assorted dances by mozart and beethoven] <--I haven't worked enough heart into these pieces to really feel proud of them.

[Rach3]

We can't judge you, only the pieces you are playing. Of course there is no point in "comparing" yourself competitively anyway, it's pointless and will stress you out (e.g., Richter learned the complete Chopin concerti at age eight!!! And I didn't!!!). Just practice and enjoy what you do.

[eddie92099]

(e.g., Richter learned the complete Chopin concerti at age eight!!!)

You mean all two of them?! This reminds me of Andras Schiff's recent Mendelssohn concerto "series" at the RFH,
Ed

[Rach3]

Or the "complete Brahms".

Actually, I'm not sure if it was Richter. Might have been Kissin. It was mentioned in a recent post somewhere.

[eddie92099]

It was Kissin and he was twelve,
Ed

[Rach3]

But he STARTED learning them at the age of three!

[eddie92099]

It's ridiculous. Lazar Berman started when he was two,
Ed

[Rach3]

Started what? And what is ridiculous? Have you found the original thread?

Epiphany at 2AM: Berman NOT EQUAL TO Brendel.

Going to bed now... good night all!

[eddie92099]

Started what?

To play the piano.

And what is ridiculous?

Starting that early,
Ed

[chopinetta]

is it ridiculous to start at a very early age? I think it's cute. who are kissin and richter? prodigies?

[eddie92099]

who are kissin and richter?

Excuse me?
Ed

[dreamaurora]

Well, I have been playing for 3 years too now and I would say that there is no point comparing the size of your repertoire or what you can play. Sure , you can say you can play this and you can play that, but it does not really matter, it is how you play those pieces, and making those pieces sound beautiful even to the most trained ears is a very big challenge that even long time pianists fail to conquer. I could force myself to learn extremely difficult pieces such as Ligeti etudes or anything by Alkan or Busoni if I want to, but there is no point if I don't play them remotely well.

Playing the piano is just much more than mastering the notes, it is about understanding the musicality of the pieces, and many pianists nowadays don't even bother to make music out of the pieces they are playing, most of them are just bothered with learning more difficult pieces but can't even play 'simple pieces' such as Chopin's nocturnes or Mozart's simpler sonatas well enough that they don't sound like an assault to your ears.

Since you're learning the piano by yourself, it is very hard to judge your own playing. You may think you 'mastered' a piece, but in fact you are just touching the surface of the music. Learning piano pieces take long time of dedication to work out the music. I used to be like you and stubbornly try to learn as much difficult repertoire as I can, but I realised there is no point in that, it is much more rewarding to learn simple pieces well than playing difficult pieces trash.

[eddie92099]

Well said  ,
Ed

[cziffra]

is it ridiculous to start at a very early age?  I think it's cute. who are kissin and richter? prodigies?

well, richter invented the richter scale, and kissin is known for kissing a woman in each of his concerts, and he adopted his hip name in attempt to be as cool as maksim.  that's so adorable, i think.

[Jojodi]

Thank you dreamaurora
Very informative and helpful ^_^

[liszmaninopin]

Some good points have been brought up here.  Don't worry yourself too much by comparing oneself to prodigies.  It just causes stress and turns piano into a chore.  I have beat myself up in the past quite a few times for not playing everything ever written perfectly by the time I am 15, but that just wasn't possible for me, I started at 12.  Try to gain an understanding of those pieces you play well technically, and show that understanding through your playing.  Sure, fast notes are impressive, but they don't touch the listener.  Piano is not a circus, and instead of treating it as such, we should show a little something new with the pieces we play.  That is what makes a performance unique, not how fast you can hit the notes, or how many pieces you can play.

[leemay001]

Lalalalaaa. Weeeeee!  
  ~Lee~

[steveolongfingers]

'simple pieces' such as Chopin's nocturnes

Anyone out there play all the nocturns? Some of them are doozies!  And most of them are in brutal key signatures.  Mini cadanza's and stuff, makes them harder than they sound.  PLUS the nocturns have to be played with steady tempo in the left hand.  As I quote "in keeping time Chopin was inflexible, and many will be surprised to learn that the metrodome never left his piano"- Carl Mikuli, a student of Chopin.  Chopins Nocturns excersize prefection.  Chopins Nocturns are not simple.


Back to the original topic, Prelude in C# minor, by Rach? 3 years you've been playing the piano.  Thats pretty good.  I am begging to deteste it though because my younger brother just started playing it and he bangs really loud on the really quite part, WRONG! He' s been playing piano for about 6 years...So i think your good for starting so late!


 

[Jojodi]

Interesting philosophical points have been brought up... I played those pieces for enjoyment.. not to impress. But you have to admit, its fun to see how far and fast you can go ^_^

[comme_le_vent]

it is VERY fun to blaze away at the keyboard, the looks on peoples faces..... the benchmark for a 'good' octave technique by the way is 6 octaves per second, and i would say single notes - 12 per second, if you can do those you can impress any non professional, hit the 16 mark then ur blazin with the best of em
gotta love blazin infernos on the ol' ebs and ives.
be careful not to set the piano alight!