The point of being a pianist

[pianolion]

To be a pianist…
You are the dream for other people.
But You are working so hard so your hands are tired of accompany ,  and your voice is gone because of teaching …
What is the point to be a pianist ? To catch up a dream , your own dream of being the best? You not telling anyone about it , but You are still trying to be the best in every note …maybe  until you die…
You don’t want to see the reality that you never will be Horowitz or Gould. You just making sure you are staying in working mood, in case you will be performing in Carnegie ( who knows?) one day…
You never will make a living just performing … But You still have this dream...
So many years of practicing and You are still not perfect . And You never be.
You are getting low pay jobs just to survive.  You are teaching people who might never will feel the  music idea. You have to teach children who don’t want to play , but being forced by parents.  Often , You have to accompany amateur and rude people…Often, You get criticized by people who don't understand anything in music. And this is after so many years at the piano.
Lastly, often you have to sacrifice your personal life so you can practice more.
So what is the point to be a pianist?

[awesom_o]

So what is the point to be a pianist?

Very few people are made of the right stuff to pursue piano-playing as a career.

Personally, I really enjoy accompanying and teaching... more so than playing solo on stage, although that never used to be the case!

The reality of life is that most jobs aren't all that enjoyable. Having a job related to piano playing isn't necessarily any different. Like most jobs, the better the pay is, the more pressure you have to face in the working environment.

Personally, I think the point of being a pianist to learn how to compose your own music, but not many people agree with me on that!

[m1469]

.

[ted]

Personally, I think the point of being a pianist to learn how to compose your own music, but not many people agree with me on that!

I do. Creation, in my case mostly the spontaneous variety, is nearly everything. If I couldn't create it I doubt I'd bother with music at all. I'd rather work in the garden. Fortunately I was able to make a very good living at something else so I could play and create as I pleased. My teacher always wanted me to be a professional pianist. No thanks. Aside from lack of ability and an impossible psyche the horror stories he told me about his illustrious career were enough to decide that little matter once and for all.

[bronnestam]

I play the piano because I love to play the piano. I love the music, so practicing to me is to be with someone I love very much. To work intensely with little details is very calming and comforting to my mind, almost like meditation - an exercise in the art of focusing, so to speak.

Well, there are also days when I don't feel like playing the piano. Then I don't. I make a living from other things so I play for leisure and joy, not to be famous, to get praise, to make a lot of money. So I let my passion guide me in this case.

I see no point whatsoever in forcing myself to do things I don't like to do, when the whole point in being a pianist is to enjoy myself. And if the rest of the world doesn't like my playing, then it can f*** off. No, I'm not Horowitz or Gould or Pöntinen, I'm ME.

[j_menz]

Why, here as all to often elsewhere, is the assumption (of the OP and often generally, not necessarily other posters) that being a pianist means being a professional pianist - that somehow it should be your day job in some form or another. Why can't it just be for fun/personal challenge/amusement/development?

Or for the sheer ecstasy of the occasional moment?

[hardy_practice]

Music is a mistress not a master.

[gr8ape]

Personally, I think the point of being a pianist to learn how to compose your own music, but not many people agree with me on that!

I do, learning an instrument is way to exteriorize the musical ideas in your head

[dcstudio]

being a pianist means being a professional pianist

to most around here even being a professional pianist isn't enough--only a "concert pianist" is a worthy title.

what's the point?  I don't know--and I have played for 45 years.  I have made a living at times by strictly performing--and yes--it is a job...sometimes I loved it--other times....not so much.

Is it really a choice?  I have felt the obsession to play since the first time I laid eyes on the piano--at 4 years old.  there have been times in my life where I have been consumed completely by the need to practice more and try harder.   I will never be Horowitz--but neither will anyone else.  the best I can strive for is to be the best I can be--and I have no idea yet what that is--so I keep on playing.

I have experienced such profound moments of musical joy... moments when I thought I could see heaven--yes that's cheesy but I really don't know how else to describe it.   I have also experienced anger, jealousy, hatred, paranoia --and a host of other negative emotions that were somehow connected to the piano. 

through it all I keep on playing....

After 45 years...was it worth it?   YES

[kevin69]

I am a pianist, but i am also a husband, father, cyclist, and manager. To be happy I need to balance these different roles, so I don't think in terms of dedicating my life to any one of these things.

If playing is the sole thing in your life, I doubt you'll find lasting happiness.

[pts1]

Magical umbrellas notwithstanding, I think the only reasons to do anything in life is because it(they) fall into your personal overlapping matrix of A. Things you want to do. B. Things you must do.

[flashyfingers]

Personally, I think the point of being a pianist to learn how to compose your own music, but not many people agree with me on that!

I agree!

I also think that composers, from the first one ever like Hildegard, all the way through Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, Neo classical, Atonal…

These composers developed the musical language that musicians of all genres use as their main language. This traditional tonal language dissipated and became so many sub genres of music, music instruments of variety.

These composers developed harmonic language and writing styles in music. If this generous material is studied thoroughly, the musical vocabulary and knowledge leads to endless possibilities.

There is so much that composing does for music…or rather, how composing not only creates music, but inspires further exploration and development of theory, improvement of instruments and technique…etc!!!

[amytsuda]

The point of being a doctor: patients complaining their symptoms don't go away while they do everything you told not to do. You are 24/7 on call. The point of being a manager: your employees think it's your fault that they have to do the work they don't like, and your manager thinks it's your fault that his division is not performing well.... It's all the same. As soon as we have to please audience, reviewers, managers, clients, customers, students, and our livelihood is depending on their judgement not ours, there's unhappiness, paranoia, stress.... But eventually, we all come back to grow our own garden like in Candide. At that point, being a pianist is very precious, I think.

[quantum]

[...] for the sheer ecstasy of the occasional moment?

This alone is worth the price of admission.


IMO, too often we fall into the trap expending all our energies craving over what someone else has, as opposed to recognizing what we do have and how we can develop that.

As to the point of being a pianist, I would suppose it to add at least half the value to a given note 

[ted]

IMO, too often we fall into the trap expending all our energies craving over what someone else has, as opposed to recognizing what we do have and how we can develop that.

That's so deep it's almost part of human nature, in music and out of it. There seems to exist an intrinsic belief that we somehow have a right to be musical universalists, even though, by the nature of art, such a thing doesn't exist. Its existence would embody a contradiction, as art is an expression of personal consciousness. The desire to emulate, to create in thrall to some external magisterium, appears to be a property of the mind, especially when young. It isn't entirely negative, and is useful in the learning stages, but past a certain point in life becomes irrelevant.

I was something of a laggard in this respect, only succeeding in getting completely rid of it at about fifty-five.

[quantum]

I feel there is somewhat of a distinction between obsessing over desires such as the desire itself becomes the primary focus, versus tapping into one's desires in order that the desire becomes a tool for expansion, expression, and the creation of communicable art forms.  Do we let our desires define our limitations, or do we move towards action?

[ted]

Do we let our desires define our limitations, or do we move towards action?

That is a good way of putting it. Obviously the latter, of course, it is just that the best way forward for a given person can sometimes be so individual that it requires a degree of self-confidence which only comes with age, particularly in the creative aspect.

[dima_76557]

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[eduardom]

I love this post, so many good ideas!

I agree that it is important to know how to recognize ourselves what we achieve at the piano, but at the end of the day everyone that plays the piano is an artist, and the most important thing (in my humble opinion) for an artist is to communicate things to the rest of the world, in this case (the piano) its about communicating feelings or stories to the listeners.

So I agree we must play the piano for ourselves, but for me its also important to show my music to other people. This doenst mean I want to be a professional pianist! im talking about playing to my family or friends... the applauses that i get at the end (even if didnt performed very well) just make up for all that hard work practising everyday at the piano (which i also love to do)

[garrickthegreat]

Very few people are made of the right stuff to pursue piano-playing as a career.

Haha, what is the "right stuff" anyway?  I think another issue is with the internet and cd's, professional piano playing might be a thing of the past anymore...I guess you can say that about any instrument though.

[flashyfingers]

I think another issue is with the internet and cd's, professional piano playing might be a thing of the past anymore...I guess you can say that about any instrument though.

Piano playing and live piano performance is always going to be novel, as long as people have souls.

[Petter]

To get laid of course.

[stevensk]

I think its no point beyond the fact that we love music

and it has lots of drawbacks as you mentioned