How do I know how good I am?

[Subliminal]

I am on my 5th year of piano lessons and I dont really know how good or bad I am. I dont know if Im better than most people with the same number of years experience or worse. I have noone to compare myself to. Can someone please help me have some idea of where I am?

[Glissando]

uuuhhh...
How about you list some of the music you're working on right now?

[dreamaurora]

Firstly what you are asking is highly subjective. The amount of progress vary widely from person to person due to a lot of external factors such as frequency of piano lessons, duration and effectiveness of practice, performing experience, etc. But anyway, there are many many factors that make up a good all-rounded pianists. Please do not make the mistake of judging your progress from the difficulty of the pieces you are playing, but rather from how well you play them. And also learning piano is much more than just keyboard skill, there are many other things such as music theory and appreciation, musicology ( music history ), scales, sight reading, aural, accompaniment skills, concert experience, etc. In my opinion, a pianist should be proficient in all these skills, a pianist that only know how to play the piano is missing out on a lot of developments and to some extent can be considered as a dabbler.

A few suggestions to check your progress:
- Ask your teacher to measure whether your progress is acceptable taking into account the efforts you have put in.
- Go to other student recitals or join amateur competitions and check out people with similar learning backgrounds as you.
- Take graded music exams. Yeah, I know you have to do a lot of things like scales and aural. But to be a proficient pianist, there's no excuse not to do the, in fact, you should love doing them.

I wish you could drop this question. This question will just spark another endless debate.

[Inscape]

You're probably no better or worse than most other people with your level of playing ability.

[ted]

I wouldn't worry about this question too much. Comparisons can lead to either complacency or discouragement, both of which hinder real musical development. Just enjoy your music and be open to all positive influences which come your way.

[jazzyprof]

To echo Ted's comment, a quote from Desiderata:

"If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. "

[Subliminal]

Im working on All Blues by Miles Davis right now as well as Hannon The Virtuoso Pianist right now. I have memorized all the major scales and i can play them in two octaves with both hands. Im also trying to play Blue Monk by Thelonious Monk but im not making a whole lot of progress on it.

[galonia]

I have to support the replies which advise you to not compare.  You can always find someone who is better and you will always think, I wish I could play like that, and I must be untalented/stupid/lazy because I can't.

When I was 6, I played in my first students' concert and I was the youngest student there, and afterwards, all I wanted to do was play just like the "big" students.

Then I became one of the "big" students, and all I wanted to do was play like the diploma students who had their own recitals, and the conservatory students.

Now I'm at that level, and all I want to do is play like professional concert pianists.... I'm sure if I achieve that, I'll still be aiming to play better.

[johnnypiano]

No comparisons necessary.  Just enjoy your self. 

[gyzzzmo]

Maybe you should ask a different question.
'How do i know how good other people think i am'? 

gyzzzmo

[ehpianist]

The solution to everything: Record yourself!  I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[timothy42b]

The solution to everything: Record yourself!  I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out.

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

Not the solution, but an important step.  I'm thinking maybe the second step.

Have you defined your goals?  Why are you playing piano?  This is not the same for everybody, and how good you are depends on it.

For example, it is not necessary for a classical recital type pianist to be able to do jazz improvisation.  Maybe add some ornamentation to baroque works, but not much more than that.  So are you good if you can play the Rach at double the tempo?  Well, nope, not if your goal is to play rhythm in a jazz combo.  And vice versa. 

E.g., my goal is to be able to play church hymns fluently when required.  I can't do it, therefore I suck, no matter how well I may play lesson material.  And when I get there, I'll be very good, no matter how badly I play Chopin.  And I can record myself, and measure it:  how many mistakes, what tempo, etc. 

Contrary to other opinions, I think "good" is very easy to determine.  But it can ONLY be determined in relation to your specific goal, there is no meaningful absolute. 

[ehpianist]

Not the solution, but an important step. I'm thinking maybe the second step.

My goodness, so serious.  I was being facetious (sort of).

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[ted]

The trouble with recording myself is that it's inclined to give me falsely negative indications of how I am playing. Immediately after recording I'm hypersensitive to every little crook thing I do, or think I do, both in playing pieces and in improvisation.

"This is absolutely terrible", I always think. But then later on, when I casually listen to myself, I often compare pretty well, and I hear all sorts of good ideas in the improvisation which I missed before.

Aside from that strange effect, yes, I agree recording is an excellent self-assessment.

[timothy42b]

The trouble with recording myself is that it's inclined to give me falsely negative indications of how I am playing. Immediately after recording I'm hypersensitive to every little crook thing I do, or think I do, both in playing pieces and in improvisation.

Yes, it is easy to fall into the trap of either noticing only the bad parts, or only the good parts.  It takes a little effort to avoid that. 

Another thing I've noticed is that with nothing to compare to, it can be hard to listen critically.  I've recroded myself on tromboe and thought I sounded pretty good.  Then I've played the same piece along with the recording of one of the real professionals, and discovered defects in every note.  Not large ones, but noticable when you compare with a perfect execution. 

Duets could be a way to compare yourself to another player, and fun if you keep it noncompetitive. 

[ehpianist]

The trouble with recording myself is that it's inclined to give me falsely negative indications of how I am playing. Immediately after recording I'm hypersensitive

"Doctor, my neck hurts when I turn my head"

"Then don't turn your head"

If you know you are going to be overly critical immediately after you record yourself then wait a day or two before you play it back.  Obviously you think you ain't too bad when you wait!

Elena
https://www.pianofourhands.com

[pianowelsh]

Don't worry too much about how good you ARE focuss on whats ahead and how good you are going to be and that way your progress will be swifter. For this very reason I never had more that 3 or 4 days off after I did an exam before my teacher would ring with new repertoire . Its ok to take a rest and enjoy your success. But don't let that become your only motivator because it isn't one that's really sustainable. Keep interested in what your doing and let that be the mark of your attainment. Having been through college I know it is only destructive to keep asking ' how good am I' because it invites comparison. This is not always helpfull . My advice is ENJOY and don't let peoples opinions of how good you are influence you too much.