Pieces that don't sound like the key they're in

[ajspiano]

I just don't seem to see any potential, I just see myself failing to get any of the pieces to an acceptable level and moving on because I just get tired of trying. My glass seems to be always half empty when it comes to playing, something I don't experience much in "real life".

I doubt it would make you feel any better, but I'm rarely happy or satisfied with anything I play. Its one of the reasons I like jazz/blues improv, particularly live. Once its done its done, there's no looking back - its just whatever it is in that moment.

I did some recording once with a guy who had worked on some reasonable rock records (as a producer) here in australia. He wouldn't let any of the performers do any more than 3 takes, and his mantra was "if its 80% there its 100% there, shut up musician X, you're the only one in the world who cares about your mistakes"..

I guess we don't have quite that luxury in classical music, but its not entirely untrue..  ofcourse, if you're only playing for your personal enjoyment then I guess your opinion matters most ...bugger.

[outin]

I think you are more like that than you realise.

Happy and proud with bad results? Now you REALLY made me feel better

Anyway, one just has to keep on going... Maybe not the best time to be thinking about this stuff after getting only about an hour of sleep and having a long day at work AND a piano lesson this evening. I woke up at 1 am to a huge thunderstorm and just couldn't get back to sleep...

[j_menz]

if you're only playing for your personal enjoyment then I guess your opinion matters most

Surely that's true whether you're playing for yourself or for the world.

[ajspiano]

Surely that's true whether you're playing for yourself or for the world.

I mean to say that when performing, some of you're enjoyment comes from the experience of the audience.  At least I suspect that is how it is for most people.

Your own personal satisfaction is paramount, but even if you are personally unsatisfied you will at times be put at ease by the fact that people around you complement the performance quality. There is a balance of focus.

If you play exclusively for yourself then its only yourself that ever makes a judgement.

......

If I refused to play in front of anyone unless I produced a performance I was truly proud of I'd pretty much never perform.

EDIT:
Not sure if thats a reflection of my inability to perform to my own standard, or simply the fact that standards change. Probably the latter.

[j_menz]

even if you are personally unsatisfied you will at times be put at ease by the fact that people around you complement the performance quality.

Ah, the old "I got away with crap because people have no taste" defence. 

I think you can only ever trust your own judgment. That said, perfection is impossible, so anything you perform is going to fall short. You just have to live with that.

The closest to perfection I ever feel I come is where my own inadequacies are starting to be outweighed by the composer's. Sometimes that is easier than others.

[ajspiano]

Ah, the old "I got away with crap because people have no taste" defence. 

hahah.

Not that dissimilar to the pop culture "i'm going to get away with crap because I spent 250k on marketing" approach.

You're twisting my words a bit though. I'm not trying to use it as a defence for imperfection, its just you're less likely to be overly frustrated about imperfections if other people appreciate it anyway.

If its just you, then all you'll get is frustration. - obviously depends on who you are as a person though. Most people are pretty taken with what the rest of the world thinks of them though.

[j_menz]

You're twisting my words a bit though.

Me. Surely not. 

If its just you, then all you'll get is frustration.

Or used to it. Perfection is not an option, it's an aim.

Consider what happens now when you play a piece you "mastered" years ago. How much more do you now see in it?  How much more will you see when you have improved more, lived more, experienced and played more?  Even our view of what is a perfect performance is doomed to be imperfect.

[outin]

You're twisting my words a bit though. I'm not trying to use it as a defence for imperfection, its just you're less likely to be overly frustrated about imperfections if other people appreciate it anyway.

If its just you, then all you'll get is frustration. - obviously depends on who you are as a person though. Most people are pretty taken with what the rest of the world thinks of them though.

Right, that depends on the personality a lot. I think I could easily see through appreciation without foundation. Deep inside I don't really care much what other people think (except when they are the expert and I am not) and praise has always made me feel a bit uncomfortable. My mother always thinks everything I do is great. Then again she is quite tone deaf  

[outin]

At least, you are if you have the music inside you, as you obviously do.

When I wrote that I wouldn’t want to be a musician it isn’t entirely accurate. Music has always been very important (maybe the most important thing) for me. I don’t think I would have survived and maintained my sanity without it. I’m just realist enough to know that I could never be a PIANIST. When I was young I did think about trying to become a singer (which I have much more talent for than playing the piano). As a teenager I always had an instrument I was studying, first the flute (in music school) and then electric guitar (by myself without a teacher).  But at some point I realized that I did not possess the vocal qualities to sing the kind of music I wanted to, so I gave up any ideas to seriously pursue music.

[asuhayda]

So many of Rachmaninoff's pieces fit this description.  2nd movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No.2.. I have trouble picking out a distinctive key sig with that piece.

Liszt's Bagatelle Sans Tonalite is another one.. it has a key sig, but since it's atonal, you have no idea what it is by just listening to it.

[davidjosepha]

I did some recording once with a guy who had worked on some reasonable rock records (as a producer) here in australia. He wouldn't let any of the performers do any more than 3 takes, and his mantra was "if its 80% there its 100% there, shut up musician X, you're the only one in the world who cares about your mistakes"..

That's actually amazing.

praise has always made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

I can only take praise if it's from someone I admire in the field I am being praised for. For instance, I admire my math teacher, but would not trust her word on my piano playing.

If it's from someone I don't admire, I end up feeling depressed, because I don't feel like I deserve the compliments I'm being given, but I also can't insult the person by explaining how poor the performance actually was.