Is it possible to become a good Pianist if you're starting late?

[macycrystal]

Ok first thing i want to clarify is that by "good" i do NOT mean as good as in concert pianist good before anyone says it. By "good" i simply mean being proficient enough to be classed way above average. To be able to play fast and complex pieces and also being able to improvise decent sounding pieces with relatively little effort. I'm 19 nearly 20 and i'm just worried that that i may be starting too late. I'm willing to put in the hours and effort needed but i'm just not sure if i am too old or not.

[m1469]

Ok first thing i want to clarify is that by "good" i do NOT mean as good as in concert pianist good before anyone says it.  By "good" i simply mean being proficient enough to be classed way above average. To be able to play fast and complex pieces and also being able to improvise decent sounding pieces with relatively little effort.

bwaaahhaahaaaaa haaa ... I'm sorry, but that reads very funny to me.


Yes              No            Those are my answers, you choose your preference and check the box.
◘        ◘

[macycrystal]

bwaaahhaahaaaaa haaa ... I'm sorry, but that reads very funny to me.

I don't get it?

[m1469]

I don't get it?

Oh, sorry about that.  Why didn't you check a box?

[rangerx]

yes check out volodos

[macycrystal]

@rangerx

Sorry, what are you trying to tell me?

[rangerx]

he started late and music has no age time line , look at brubeck, if you have the passion use it

[thorin]

I'm 20 myself and started playing the piano not so long ago, I  started getting lessons since september 2010. And have made allot of progress, im currently learning Rachmaninoff Etude Tableaux op 33 no 8, and before that the C sharp prelude from rachmaninoff. I do think that I Started late but also notice that allot is still possible. Im not planning on becomming a concert pianist but becoming good and above average, that seems very possible  .

Going to see Volodos play tonight btw. 

[jayeckz]

Is it possible to become a good Pianist if you're starting late?

Absolutely.  Is this what you wanted to hear?

Ok first thing i want to clarify is that by "good" i do NOT mean as good as in concert pianist good before anyone says it...To be able to play fast and complex pieces...with relatively little effort.

When you say "to be able to play fast and complex pieces" and if you mean actually play, you're probably playing as well as a concert pianist.

Complex is also extremely subjective.

I'm willing to put in the hours and effort needed but i'm just not sure if i am too old or not.

In all seriousness, I believe that anyone that isn't physically/mentally handicapped can obtain proficiency at piano playing, granted they have motivation.  The question is, are you really willing to put up the hours and effort needed?  I'd bet that the majority of people quit by the time they reach a level where they can actually assess the amount of work and effort needed to really play complex pieces.


Here's my advice:
If you really want to improve, focus on improving.  A question like "Is it possible to become a good Pianist if you're starting late?" is debatable and a waste of your time.

I can relate to you.  I wasted years after getting a professional's (winner and runner up in a few international competitions) opinion that it was impossible for me to play well since I started too late so I quit and rarely touched the piano (this was my junior year of high school).  About a year ago I started practicing the piano and made significant improvement (granted, the of amount I time I spend at the piano is sometimes ridiculous). I recently played for another professional (again, an international competition winner) and jokingly said I had aspirations to be a concert pianist, and he seemed to genuinely think I should go for it even after I revealed the lack of a repertoire (perhaps this was flattery?). I'm actually a very slow, undisciplined learner with terrible sight reading skills with my only redeeming musical ability being that I can play the sh*t out of small segments of a few "complex" pieces.

So, don't waste your time asking and contemplating useless questions like the title of this thread.  Instead, ask questions like:
How can I do those leaps between those chords in 16ths in Petrushka 3rd movement?  Do I need to slow my starting tempo to accommodate this portion of the piece?

Are my hands too small to even attempt this piece?  If I roll these chords, will it make musical sense?

Is the way I'm practicing going to encourage the sound I want?

[jayeckz]

@rangerx

Sorry, what are you trying to tell me?

He/she is giving you an example of someone who started piano late.  Volodos allegedly started playing piano seriously in his late teens.

[pts1]

Ok first thing i want to clarify is that by "good" i do NOT mean as good as in concert pianist good before anyone says it. By "good" i simply mean being proficient enough to be classed way above average. To be able to play fast and complex pieces and also being able to improvise decent sounding pieces with relatively little effort

I thought this was pretty funny myself.

What if I wrote:

OK first thing I want to clarify is that by "good" I do NOT mean as good as in "brain surgeon" good before anyone says it. By "good" I simply mean being proficient enough to be classed way above average. To be able to perform emergency appendectomys, bowel resections and liver transplants and also be able to improvise new surgical techniques with relatively little effort.

My opinion is based purely on my own experience and observation, but I would guess that playing the piano at or near a professional level is MUCH MORE technically difficult than many surgical procedures.

But putting that aside, if you really like/love it, then what does it matter if you're "old" compared to the kids who start when they're four?

Like the other poster said, you'll likely have to put a good deal of time into learnings the piano BEFORE you can even realistically assess "what its going to take" given your ability and goals.

[j_menz]

I'm 19 nearly 20 and i'm just worried that that i may be starting too late.

To late to be a child prodigy. Fine for anything else.

[pianoplunker]

I thought this was pretty funny myself.

What if I wrote:

OK first thing I want to clarify is that by "good" I do NOT mean as good as in "brain surgeon" good before anyone says it. By "good" I simply mean being proficient enough to be classed way above average. To be able to perform emergency appendectomys, bowel resections and liver transplants and also be able to improvise new surgical techniques with relatively little effort.

Well if you wrote that, I'd have to ask , how much do you charge for the bowel resections ? Do you take HMO?

[db05]

Macy, if it's impossible for you, it's impossible for me too!  Please don't harbor such depressing thoughts!

The sea of YES and NO is a dangerous one to swim in. There are sharks... Just don't jump in!
Same with the mountain of GOOD and BAD. There are bears. Don't feed the bears.

That is my advice. Otherwise just do your own thing. The whole possible/ impossible debate would be settled much, much later. You don't want to wait that long, do you?

Oh, sorry about that.  Why didn't you check a box?

The checkboxes aren't working. Maybe that's why. Try a lizst box instead?