Am I being too ambitious? Can I achieve this?

[danny_pianist]

Hello pianists of the world!     

My name is Daniel and I am 17 years old, and I want to hear your opinions about my situation.

There is a national piano competition in six months and I want to play Chopin's Heroic Polonaise Op.53 and his Nocturne Op.48 #1

Also, in 6 months I have to decide between being a professional pianist, or to study so I can be an engineer. So I if i learn those pieces i will dedicate my life to classical music 

Right now I have a new schedule so I can pratice piano 50 hours a week until the competition.

And the reason that i chose those pieces and not easier ones is because I love them so much and I would only have the willpower to spend 1000+ hours practicing with those pieces.

The problem is that I dont know if am too ambitious and fail to play them decently, you see, here is my repertoire:

-Bach Inventions (1 to 8, moderate tempo)
-Mozart Sonatas 5 and 7
-Chopin Waltz op. 64 #1
-Haydn Sonata 52 (only 1st mov)
-Flight of the Bumblebee (Rach. arr. at 144 bpm)

I plan to practice the Polonaise 3 hrs/day , the Nocturne 3hrs/day , and 1 hour a day of scales and arpeggios.

So do you think I can manage to learn them? (I know they are hard as hell, and that I may not be technically prepared, but nothing beats will power  ) Am I being too ambitious? Have you been in a similar situation? What tips can you give me?

Also, I am going to use Bernhard's method and his advice that i found in this forum 

(sorry for bad english) Thank You !!

[bronnestam]

As I am working with the polonaise myself right now, I must strongly advise you against practicing it 3 hours a day, 7 days a week for the upcoming 6 months.
That is not smart at all, it is insanity. 1. The piece is so physically demanding, especially when you find it technically difficult, that you will most likely risk injuries. 2. You will also get mentally exhausted and damage the musical interpretation.
So I recommend that you spend far less time learning this piece. I doubt that your progress will be slower this way, on the contrary.


If you really like practicing 8 hours a day, then by all means, do so and be happy (but please listen to your body as well - you MUST NOT play if you feel pain and/fatigue because that could get you in big trouble). But spend these hours with a lot of different pieces and exercises. That will make you a much better pianist and you will eventually learn faster.

Personally I think competitions are just crap from an artistical and musical point of view, just as stupid as beauty contests. Either you want to be an artist, or you want to win competitions. Of course you can do both - I know many who do - but really, make up your mind on what is your FIRST priority. Yes, go for the competition if that amuses you, but ... the key word here is that it should be FUN.
Really. If playing is not fun, there is no point in it. You say that willpower is the strongest thing and I say you are wrong. It is nothing. I would not even recommend such a rigorous schedule as you suggest, because development is not about working through so and so many hours. I know what tradition says. It says that no pain, no gain, and if you want to be successful you must STRUGGLE, use a lot of SELF-DISCIPLINE and WILLPOWER. That is the only way to go, right? No, I am bold enough to claim that this is wrong. Listen, you are not Evgeny Kissin, and you are not Arthur Rubinstein. You are Daniel. You have to develop Daniel, this is the pianist you are meant to be. And how do you do that? Well, it is rather easy: just follow your own desire, focus on having fun. One day you want to play for 9 hours, one day you don't want to play at all. One day you want to play this, then something else, then you want to just listen to someone else or whatever. DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. To become YOU, you should not have to push yourself at all.

You might think that this attitude is highly irresponsible and that everybody who follows it will become slackers and non-achievers. In fact, this is not true at all. Most of us want to do things, good things. If we do things we really love to do, we can work very diligently. Nobody works harder than a person who is in the flow!
I am also convinced that the world would see many more great pianists if more piano students followed their heart instead of traditional patterns. I have seen many pianists who play technically brilliantly, but they are painful to watch because they look like they are suffering, like they are not enjoying what they are doing. And of course they are not, because they are nervous. They are too busy performing so they forget to PLAY. It is fun that the English word "play" means two things, right? Or ... does it? We have also seen musicians, great musicians, who are so in love with their music and their piano that they shine. Not only do they produce wonderful music, they also gain a lot of fans because it is such a pleasure to attend their concerts and share the moment with them.

Well, so how do you win a competition, then? Don't ask me, because I don't know. But I know that the happy pianists are the most successful in long terms. Some of them participate and win contests, some of them ... never do. So what I try to say here is simply that you should not ignore your feelings when you practice. Starting with a schedule is ... well, that is a good start, but never push yourself if it starts to feel uncomfortable. Let your instincts, that is, your feelings, guide you and you will become the best pianist that Daniel can possibly be. Again, I think your plans for the polonaise are far too hard. You don't want to end up hating this brilliant piece of music, do you ... 

[indianajo]

If you intend to make a living out of performing music, you had best get out of the classical music piano genre.  If you look amazing, are of a popular ethnic group,  have a charming smile and good dance moves, you can take up making rude noises with a guitar or synthesizer (at the moment) and chant fast bad poetry about body parts.  Or you can learn to sing about beer, fast women that left you, and tell funny stories to a guitar strum (country music). Or you need to be good at predicting the future and learn a skill that nobody else knows about but will be popular in five years.  I predict that certain moves, smiles, and ethnic types will always be popular, but I could be wrong.  However, visual appearance is important to success in the arts even more now in the video age than it was before. 
I took the other path.  I studied and became an engineer, and put the music on the back burner as a hobby.  I didn't ignore music, I just treated it as an art, not a profession. I consumed a lot of recorded music when I didn't have time to practice enough to amaze myself with my peformances. 
While other engineers spent their money on wine, women (children) fast cars or boats, I socked it away in real estate and the stock market. My unpopular appearance (I'm interracial, and the "wrong" two races), my lack of sparkling conversation kept me from having children. The back side of that is I quit working at 58 (in the depth of the economic crash)  and can concentrate full time on music, with some time out for the real estate and the investments.   
I'm hoping, with proper management of some glandular diseases, to stretch my affair with music out for 40 years or more.  With bad management of these diseases, one grandfather made 95 and a grandmother made 88.  Every day I climb the mountain of impossibility, striving for perfection in classical and popular music.
Enjoy your days.  Practice is fun but there are other parts of life you shouldn't neglect. 

[mjames]

Getting the notes down are easy, but it's not enough. You'd end spending a lot more time stressing over polishing rather than just learning it. I doubt that you'll be able to give these too monster compositions a decent performance, instead I'd keep the nocturne and if you really insist on a polonaise go for the earlier ones such as; Op. 26, and Op. 40. Though these ones are pretty dark and I'd suggest a "brighter" piece to pair with the Nocturne, so how about idk, play both Nocturne from the Op 48 set? I think they work well together.

[danny_pianist]

Thanks a lot for your opinions!!  Your comments showed me a different pont of view 

I will take your advice and leave the Heroic Polonaise for later,

I also read your suggestions about replacing it, I'll go with these:

-Chopin - Nocturne Op. 48 #1
-Liszt - La Leggierezza (I think that for me this is far more accesible than the Heroic)

-And a Chopin Etude (also my 1st Chopin Etude) I have to decide between Op.25 #1 "Harp" or #12 "Ocean"

Again, thanks for your feedback! Its really helpful 

[mjames]

The Liszt is also incredibly difficult...

Keep the nocturne and and choose 2 other pieces that are far more accessible. I mean, with the nocturne you already have you hands full. Take a step back, and breathe. There's no need to rush your progress.