How far behind am I?

[davidjosepha]

I am currently learning Brahms' Rhapsody in G minor and have been playing piano for almost 10 years (I'm a junior in high school and have been playing since 2nd grade). For most of that time, I practiced around an hour a week and made little progress, and now that I've started to care more about piano (and am putting in 10+ hours a week) I have been regretting not practicing more earlier. I know someone who played the first movement of Tschaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto a while ago. He is a year older than me. I really just want to know how far I am behind him in ability. Obviously, this is going to be a very rough estimate because you haven't heard me or him play those pieces, but a general estimate would be nice.

Is he a year ahead of me, two years ahead of me, 5 years...more...?

This isn't about me wanting to play the concerto, because I'm sure if I spent a year (or less) just learning the piece, I would be able to do it. It's more about general skill level. And I know there'll always be someone better than you, I just want to know how far behind I've gotten from my lack of practicing.

Thanks!

[stevebob]

You've only mentioned one piece you're learning (and nothing else that you play), so that's not much basis for judging your present skill level.

Still, your question isn't really clear (to me, anyway):  "how far behind" ... relative to what?  What sort of goal or purpose?  If you're thinking of a career in performance and/or will be applying to conservatories, you could be at a disadvantage  (But if that was your plan all along, you would surely have known you needed to practice more than an hour per week.  )

In any case, there's no reason you can't take advantage of your newfound enthusiasm to "catch up" by continuing to build your repertoire and your technical skills.  Even if you don't end up earning a living in a piano-related occupation, you'll have (at the very least) a satisfying avocation throughout your life.

So what are your plans?

[davidjosepha]

Sorry for being unclear. I do not plan on pursuing a career in music, but I do plan on continuing to play for quite a while. I'm asking how far out of my reach a piece like Tschaikovsky's Piano Concerto no 1 is. Do you think it'll take me a year to get to the level where I could play it, two years, five years, etc.?

As for other pieces, immediately before starting Rhapsody in G minor, I learned Khatchaturian's Toccata, and I believe my teacher was impressed with how well I played it and how quickly I learned it. He commented that he could tell I had been practicing more and could move on to more difficult things.

Thanks for the response.

[stevebob]

There's no way to know (or even predict) how long it would take you to reach that specific destination.  I don't even know what would be the most efficient path of technical training and repertoire to prepare yourself—but your teacher should.  If you haven't done so already, I recommend that you discuss your concerns about your technical advancement with him or her..

Also, attempting to learn pieces that are definitely beyond your present level should give you some idea of your limitations; it can help you understand how important a solid foundation is for progress, too.  Unfortunately, to my knowledge there's no magic formula to fast-forward yourself or skip over the steps between where you are and where you want to be.

Try to remember that it's pointless to compare yourself to others.  There's tons of great music out there at your level and beyond, so enjoy the journey!  (And I hope my advice doesn't come across as glib or generic; for what it's worth, my own situation was similar to yours back when I was your age.)