Conflicting advice?

[oystersauce]

So I was playing at a piano competition a couple days ago, and overall I think I did fine. But when the adjudicator told me what I did wrong I had kind of a "huh?" moment. She told me to play the piece with a lot more forte and a larger dynamic range, but my piano teacher suggested that the overall piece should be quiet (what I did). So who exactly am I supposed to listen to?

[richard black]

Welcome to the wonderful world of subjective judgement! Simple answer really is that you have to learn to trust your instincts, which in turn will come when you've played (and listened to, importantly) a wide range of music and understood where it's coming from.

[soitainly]

 At some point, you have to make these decisions on your own, and live with the results. If your decisions are unpopular, you may feel inclined to try and please your audience. You can also be stubborn and never listen to anyones advice. The answer is probably somewhere in between. You should seek advice from trusted and reliable critics/teachers, but use your own judgement as which advice is best.

 Undoubtedly, if you had played the piece louder, then someone would have said play it quieter.

[mcdiddy1]

Maybe the judge feels you need to play stronger for your sound to carry in that particular room. Or maybe the judge feels you should have more contrast within a piano context.

Ultimately dynamics can very subjective and if all they are can pick on is that, you probably did very well.

[lostinidlewonder]

If a judge doesn't go into specifics then you are always merely left to guess what they are talking about. Sometimes too many competitors or students to examine on the day so their comments become very general (which is certainly not good). You may also realize that when you play for your teacher the room you in was a lot smaller than when you played for competition. Projecting yourself in larger rooms can effect your playing a great deal, if you play like you are in a small room when you perform in a big, you will sound small.

[faa2010]

Richard Black has a good point. In spite of the fact that musical pieces should be played as the sheets point out, music, as every artistical subject like painting, literature or poetry, gets a personal opinion or critic (either constructive or destructive) in the end, which is also based on one's own personality and personal experiences.

In conclusion, play in your own way no matter what the others will think or say.

BTW, which pieces did you play?