Is it possible?

[jorley]

Hi everyone! I wonder what you guys think; is it possible for someone who quit playing the piano at age 15-16 to become a professional pianist at the age of 23 or so if he starts again at the age of 19? In other words, he has had a break for three years... When he was 16 he was one of the best pianists in his country for his age so he has the talent and ability... But what I wonder is, do you stop developing when you reach a certain age or is it possible to make up for lost time by training more or just to develop your skills at a more advanced age? What do you guys think, if he practices for lets say 6 hours a day from now, will it still be possible for him to become a professional pianist by the age of 22-23 or is it too late?

[jorley]

And by professional I mean concert pianist, maybe not at the level of Horowitz, but still so that he can pretty much make it on playing concerts

[awesom_o]

Yeah for sure! Just practice hard, and get a good teacher.

If you can play a couple of concertos really well, maybe not at the level of Horowitz, but still really well, I'm sure all of the world's top orchestras will invite you to play with them for huge fees!

Don't waste any more time on the forums though, you've got a lot of catching up to do! Six hours a day! Go now! 

[pianoplunker]

Hi everyone! I wonder what you guys think; is it possible for someone who quit playing the piano at age 15-16 to become a professional pianist at the age of 23 or so if he starts again at the age of 19? In other words, he has had a break for three years... When he was 16 he was one of the best pianists in his country for his age so he has the talent and ability... But what I wonder is, do you stop developing when you reach a certain age or is it possible to make up for lost time by training more or just to develop your skills at a more advanced age? What do you guys think, if he practices for lets say 6 hours a day from now, will it still be possible for him to become a professional pianist by the age of 22-23 or is it too late?

I once had a teacher who was a professional Russian concert pianist . He lived in German occupied territory in WWII and was unable to touch a piano for 5 years. The piano he would have had access to was in a building guarded by Germans, and they would not let him in. He told me that because he was showing me it is not about "years", but about the quality of each practice session whether it was one hour or several hours. At the time I was practicing 4 hours a day but really only accomplishing equal to one hour when seeing the results. So he actually wanted me to try limiting myself to one GOOD hour . All that said I think yes it is possible, but I dont think trying to push a deadline of age 22 or 23 is going to work. I remember when I was 19 I thought age 25 was an old man and I told myself if I wasnt pro by the time I was 25 I would quit. But there is no need to make a deadline

[nocturnetr]

Well, frankly these days, someone who is one of the best of his/her country at the age 16, you don't have a lot to learn technically, unless you live in Republic of The Congo. So for your imaginary pianist, I don't believe it would be difficult to recover. But for someone who could play pieces like Turkish March or a random Nocturne before he/she quit, it would be like starting over again.

[awesom_o]

I was thinking maybe if the original poster was able to master both jazz AND classical in those few short years.... then he might stand a chance of becoming an internationally respected keyboard artist. 

That's a pretty tall order, though.