Am I bad?

[alpacinator1]

OK. I am worried that I may have no piano skills.

I have been playing for approx. 8 years. I will be 14 in one week.
I can play the piano moderately well, but this is merely due to my experience. I have reason to assume that I am around the skill level of the average person who has been playing for about four years.

For example: the first movement of Bach's Italian Concerto would probably be very difficult for me to play. I haven't attempted it, but I've looked at the score and listened to it numerous times, and I don't think I could play it without a LOT of hard work and practice, and even then it would be very challenging.

It's not a particularly hard piece. Is this normal?

[chopininov]

It's relatively normal.
Do you play the piano? Or do you play the piano?
Most people that do not have a passion for an art only reach a certain level. Do you enjoy playing? Or do you do just to do it?

[counterpoint]

OK. I am worried that I may have no piano skills.

For example: the first movement of Bach's Italian Concerto would probably be very difficult for me to play. I haven't attempted it, but I've looked at the score and listened to it numerous times, and I don't think I could play it without a LOT of hard work and practice, and even then it would be very challenging.

It's not a particularly hard piece. Is this normal?

Sometimes I am worried that I have no piano skills too...   

There are some pieces, which look very easy, and when I try to play them, it sounds like I had piano lessons since about only 3 weeks. (I play piano for quite some decades)

The thing is: new pieces have to be learned and practised!

You cannot judge a piece just by looking at the score. You have to put the fingers on the piano and practically try to play it. Then the work begins. Sometimes the learning curve is very short, sometimes it can take months or even years.

Don't think, that a good pianist is able to play every piece without effort and without a decent time of practising.

[teresa_b]

I think you will be fine!  (Of course, you have to have the passion and motivation to practice, that's given  ) 

I played the Bach Italian Concerto years ago, and it is no walk in the park!  The first movement is not the most difficult thing in the literature, but it is not easy, it's long and takes much work to get it right. 

Everyone gets discouraged at times, but if you keep practicing, a miracle happens, and suddenly you realize you "got it"!

Good luck, and have fun!
Teresa

[alpacinator1]

Well, thanks for the encouragement. But is that such a difficult song?

[dnephi]

It's Bach.  Bach is usually a lot of work.

[alpacinator1]

Just watch the video. It shows a VERY young girl (about 7 years old) playing the song almost flawlessly.

[leahcim]

OK. I am worried that I may have no piano skills.

I have been playing for approx. 8 years. I will be 14 in one week.
I can play the piano moderately well, but this is merely due to my experience. I have reason to assume that I am around the skill level of the average person who has been playing for about four years.

No piano skills would equate to playing / practising for hours a day, for years with no progress at all. That's my experience to date.

If you've made progress and can play pieces, then you know you can make progress ergo you have some level of skill.

Perhaps you just need something new, a new perspective / a new piece / a new teacher or something else to help you onto the next level and get past the rut?

Clearly not making progress sucks but it'd probably be better to ask the questions [in the form of playing the piano for someone] to get their assessment of how good your playing is and how you could improve it.

But don't go with the 'do I have skills?' question. The problem is teachers can only see / hear your playing, not your pain or frustration or the length of time to get it to that stage.

So to them it's just a case of "practise" - perhaps with some guidence - whether you're playing a piece badly and that's been the case for 12 years of prior practise, or whether you're playing badly because it's the first time you've ever played the piece. Their understanding of your playing, and what is good / bad about it and their words will be the same. Specifically, if you've had a teacher for years and they haven't said something before that helps, they never will.

So you've got to find a teacher that, when you do what they say, it improves your playing - don't expect a teacher to say "8 years? You should be playing better..." you'll have to live with your own frustration if progress has been slow, teachers'll have nothing to sate that. If there's an exception to that, then there's the teacher you want, but beware because plenty will say what we want to hear.

As for the video, it's relative. It's light years ahead of what I can do, but others would play it without much difficulty. If you can figure out why that is or more importantly what, if anything, we can do about it, let us all know

I'm struggling just watching it to try and figure out how she moves her hands / arms and so on to play the piece.

[teresa_b]

I watched the video, and this girl (8 years old?) is very advanced for her age.  She is highly unusual, and the fact that she plays this is not indicative of it being easy to play.  In fact, I think she plays well and accurately, but has a lot to learn about interpretation.  It sounds rather mechanical and uninteresting.

Go for it!
Teresa

[dmc]

In fact, I think she plays well and accurately, but has a lot to learn about interpretation.  It sounds rather mechanical and uninteresting.

Obviously this little girl has it goin' on !  But as teresa says, the playing is a bit mechanical which isn't surprising considering her age.  There's another video posted of her playing this piece (and a Copland one) on a concert tour.  She's wonderful but still has plenty of room to grow.

Like we all do...

Here's the link to her live performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doup20T6ZX0&mode=related&search=

[teresa_b]

I will say, the concert video sounds a lot better.  She seems to have improved significantly since the previous video.  Still, this child is not representative of what others "should" be playing at such an age.  She is a prodigy.

Teresa