Pianist Carrer - Please Help!

[grelhado]

Hello,
I am 16 years old, and started to play piano at 6 years old.
I studied about 1 hour each day, but this year I started to practice 15/20 hours per week. In holidays I practise about 6 hours per day.
Just to have an idea, I am studying Liszt, Liebestraum nr. 3, Chopin Revolutionary Etude and Beethoven 18th Sonata.

My teacher says me that I have talent, musicality, passion and emotion, the problem is a little lacking in sense of rhythm and technique.

My big dream is to becoming a concert pianist, but when I think that are THOUSANDS of people that are good pianists too, I think that I will never be a concert pianist. Is it possible to be, or is better to give up??

if it is, could you give me some advices to get better, and to be more known in the music world, and also to improve my finger techinque?

thanks a lot

ps: sorry if I have some grammar mistakes, I am not perfect talking english

[bioandy]

Hi grelhado,

While I have not been playing as long as you, I may have a couple suggestions that could help.

As far as rythem goes, start to count the beats not only while playing, but also in general activities throughout the day.

For example, if your in the car and listening to classical, country, pop, rap whatever type of music. Start to count and tap along with the rythem. Once you have that down, start adding beats inside of beats, changing them up to break beats for instance.

Also, think about it more. If your making a peanut butter & jelly sandwhich for instance, count beats while your doing it. I know, and odd example. Just trying to get across that a great way to get better at something is including the practice / activity in your everyday, day to day things. After awhile, it will just become second nature, although people may start to look at you weird wondering why your whispering to yourself

As far as technique goes, just practice slow. Try to stay away from bad habits that im sure your teacher tells you about. It will mature over time, and eventually when your in the middle of a piece you wont need to be thinking about it anymore, it will just happen naturally.

I had a hard time slowing down, but when I suffer from a problem that is due to technique, slowing down always fixes it!

As far as a concert pianists, I personally think the only person that can say you could be, or could not be is yourself. Just depends on how much you really want it. The more you want it, the harder you work, the harder you work at it the more of a chance of it happening.

Oh yea,
Another good idea for rythem. Start playing with other people. Like ask you teacher to do some 4 hand piano with you. This will help force you to keep rythem. There is also the metronome as well, but personally I despise it:)

Hope some of these ideas help.

[iansinclair]

The single most important thing in preparing for a professional career in any of the performing arts -- it doesn't matter which one -- is absolute single minded dedication to the goal.  I am more familiar, oddly, with the world of ballet, but the same lessons apply to any of the performing arts.  Yes, you do have to have the requisite technical and in some cases physical chops, and you have to keep working on and perfecting those.  But without that dedication?  It's not going to happen.

As to actually getting into the field as a performer -- I'm afraid to say that there is a substantial element of sheer luck.  You have to be in the right place at the right time.  While there is a good deal one can do to help along these lines, there are no guarantees. 

[grelhado]

Thanks for answer!

bioandy , thanks for the rythm advices, I think it will helps a lot.
I really like to play, and I just can't practise more , because I have the school too, that  takes several hours of my day.

Iansinclair,

As to actually getting into the field as a performer -- I'm afraid to say that there is a substantial element of sheer luck.  You have to be in the right place at the right time.  While there is a good deal one can do to help along these lines, there are no guarantees. 

I understand completely your words. But I have a question: what Horowitz, Richter, Brendel... did to be recognized? won competitions? studied in good music schools?
Another example, Jan Lisiecki, and George Li, are both young pianist, with 17 years old, and they already make concerts, and Lisiecki have already a CD in Deutschegrammophon editions. And the question is the same: what they did to be recognized?
Thanks.

[starstruck5]

It certainly helps if you can win a major piano competition, such as the Leeds or the Van Cliburn -beyond that you could specialise and be so outstanding at interpreting the music of a single composer, that no one can ignore you. Think of Glenn Gould and Bach, or Paul Lewis and Schubert -This is assuming you want and are good enough to get to the very top.