How do you know what level you are on in piano?

[Candiria99]

Hey I hear all these people talking about what level of piano there on so i have a few questions...(just curious)

How do you determine what level youre on?
What the the levels range from?
Who are some people that are/were on the highest level?

[frederic]

we can't really say exactly what level we're at since playing a very difficult piece poorly does not mean you have reached the standard of the piece or its technique.
It will then depend on what you are able play.
This 'range' will be from an absolute beginner to someone who can play the most demanding repertoire perfectly.
and who is this 'people' your talking about?
If your talking about famous pianists i really don't think you can say 'ok, argerich is a better pianist than horowitz'


But as i said before, you can't really grade a pianist because everyone has their good and bad, i think.

[amee]

Like Frederic said, you can't exactly say what 'level' you are on in piano.  However, what distinguishes a good pianist from a bad one?  Techinique is obviously one thing but also how they express themselves in the music and how they actually interpret it.  

[AvivS]

I never compare to others. Only technically. Technically it is simple - you play all the etudes properly; he plays 2 of them. Etc...
Remmember the point in playing the piano is the music.
If you enjoy the music incredibly, then you are a great pianist. If you truly enjoy, your sound will improve, and your joy comes through to the audience. If you don't, but have technique, then you are a pianist, but not a musician, and I would not have you playing anywhere.

[dinosaurtales]

This topic really gets a rise out of me.  These guy' replies are right -

From my experience, musicians are incredibly insecure people (why, I don't know).  They just LOVE establishing *levels*, especially when they are pretty sure they can place themselves on a *higher level* than you. My typical response is usually *what do mean by "level"?  I wasn't aware I had a level until you mentioned it just now*.  This usually sets them back a bit, and the topic ends right there.

My advice is to IGNORE all of the talk of levels (also when it comes to other people) and enjoy the music.  You will be a much more mature person for it in the end! - and just as good a musician!

[willcowskitz]

Uhh nobody actually came to think that maybe "level" was sort of a synonym for "grade"?

[AvivS]

Yes of course he's speaking of grades.
If so in grades, I think there are several methods of grading students, but just as I wouldn't trust the best judges in the world to rate my playing, I wouldn't trust some author for grading me.
once again there is no need comparing to other people. In addition, take no regard to the number of years you are playing compared to others etc...