Self-doubt and low self-esteem

[throwawaynotreally]

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[pianoplunker]

Thanks for your reply. Honestly, I would feel better if I did get through and come last. Getting through would be better than not getting through. I wasn't expecting to win it anyways.

Certainly it would be an experience to make it thru whether you win or not. But I dont think you would feel better about not winning, if you cant feel better about the fact you are accomplished enough to even consider applying.  I am not trying to give all kinds of advice here since I dont know you but any time you are in a competetion you should strive to win, take no prisoners. It is normal to feel bad about not making the grade, but dont continue to beat yourself . It is not healthy.

[pytheamateur]

It's never too early to think about career choices.

There are winners of major competitions languishing in obscurity, and there are famous pianists, like Lang Lang, who have never won a major competition.

To be a famous pianist, you need a lot more than having pianistic skills.  Have you got good looks?  Are you charming like a Hollywood actor?  Are you confident with people?  Are you good at promoting yourself?

If you can't make it as a famous pianist despite your pianistic skills, if you are good enough, you might still end up having a stable job teaching at a conservatoire.  This is by no means easy either.  Again you need good networking skills.  You need to have studied with a famous and influential teacher and be in his/her good books.  If you are lucky, he/she might help you get a job at his/her conservatoirehttp://www.russian-hk.org/contact.html when one becomes available at the right time.

Then you can teach privately as a piano teacher.  If you have good business acumen you can earn quite a decent living, better then some struggling concert pianists.

Or after studies at the conservatoire you can decide to leave music as a profession and retrain as a lawyer/doctor.  If you manage to get into a famous conservatoire, even if you cannot make a career as a musician, you are already a lot more intelligent than many people.  Besides, being a lawyer/doctor you will be able to make enough money to buy yourself a nice piano and play pieces that you actually like.

[throwawaynotreally]

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[throwawaynotreally]

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[pianoplunker]

I don't see how thinking about entering a competition is an accomplishment.

Yes, thinking is an accomplishment. There are people in this world who never even think about entering an international piano competetion. Or even think at all.

[gregh]

Yes, I think anonymous people on the internet can help him which is why he posted here.  The internet has a much larger group of random people than real life so the chances of finding people who understand is just that much greater.  Hopefully we're helpful. If not, at least we understand.

Well, maybe! First, there are piano students here, it's possible that they can relate to a piano student's problems. And second, the anonymity and facelessness might be a good thing.