Culture differences between classical music forums?

[obbligato]

Anybody have some impressions on these?

I haven't been as active here as I was several years ago, but from what I've seen it still seems much "edgier" and less complacently mainstream, whether for better or worse, than the others I've encountered. It's also unfortunately a lot less active.

Talkclassical, on the other end, is boring and, in a sense, lifeless; though there are new posts almost every hour, it's almost always the same old covert racists with nothing better to do than whining about how progressives are "cancelling" Wagner", etc.. I was banned from that site because one particularly fanatic Wagnerite (a moderator) took offense at the fact that I, a non-white, had the gall to prefer Mozart over Wagner, which seems to be the ultimate crime in their view. Funny how these blatantly idiotic censors are the same people who make out "cancel culture" to  be the bane of their "Western civilization".

The comments section of Slipped Disc seems to have a similar character to Talkclassical: a constant inundation of ranting against newer trends in classical music by cultural (and political?) reactionaries who seem completely divorced from the reality of the classical music world.

I have not been in many other forums, so can't give any impressions there.

[ranjit]

I have been consistently impressed by the quality of discussion here. On certain other forums, you usually get more replies, but the opinions are so mainstream that there might as well just be a single person responding. Also, for some reason, this forum seems to attract advanced players, and very serious/unconventional beginners. I have seldom seen a true, "dumb" beginner here.

[anacrusis]

I think I found this forum through googling for a piano forum. I haven't been much on other piano forums so I can't really compare the activity level, but it's enough for me to find plenty of stuff to read and reply to at the frequency I log on. I kinda like it here, I think there is a nice level to many of the discussions and the knowledge being shared.

I haven't been as active here as I was several years ago, but from what I've seen it still seems much "edgier" and less complacently mainstream, whether for better or worse, than the others I've encountered.

In a way, I'd almost disagree with this. The atmosphere feels kinda open to many different perspectives here. Unless by mainstream you mean like close-minded and elitist like some classical music people can be. I don't find that at all here.

[quantum]

I enjoy Pianostreet more than many other classical music forums and communities.  This place feels very open, where one feels comfortable discussing the unconventional or non-mainstream, where one can actually dig deep into discussions without the din of elitist culture attempting to subvert meaningful dialogue.  A place where one can feel comfortable exploring inquiry. 

Quality over quantity, I say. 

[ted]

Quantum has more or less said it all. Music is a living, creative art, not a stagnant hierarchy of instructions and rules. Discipline and learning are certainly essential but they are only tools in approaching a much deeper understanding of our own nature. Science seeks objective truth and art subjective truth but the nature of both is eternally dynamic, never static, stasis is not in our nature.

[j_tour]

Oh, I don't have any opinions on other "classical" piano forums:  to me, this just seems like a place to talk piano, technique, and joke around.  Whether it's improvised music, or old warhorse repertoire.

There are remarkably articulate and experienced musicians here, and that's more or less why I'm here:  to learn, and on rare occasions share some observations.

The other keyboard forums I know about are much more about gear:  what's the latest, or how do I get the best sound out of this particular rig, what kind of line mixer do you use.

Which is great, but I'm just interested in the music.  And, obviously, joking around a bit.

[lostinidlewonder]

A few years ago I was a part of a closed piano pedagogy group full of serious educators from around the world, oddly enough it had to be the most unhelpful group I was ever a part of (although I did make some excellent contacts which I still keep in touch with). A number of the members were promoting their courses or compositions for sale and when I offered free music resources to the teachers who were from poorer countries I was bombarded with abuse and demands to take the information down by a pathetic handful of loud money hungry idiots.

I challenged one of the senior members (who is a known piano educator in USA) who disagreed (to my absolute astonishment) there was any such technique as the inverted 42 glissando. I defended another user and proved that it is done using a video of Richter as an example in Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso. This educators and his friends started saying Richters inverted glissando technique is a poor solution. This is coming from a group where the vast majority of the members were serious teachers but instead you had a small group of idiots who banded together promoting each others ideas even if they were wrong.

People were posting ridiculous things like pictures their students drew for them, or presents they were given, or awards that their students have won, awww how cuteee!!!! These posts would get so much response from all the members it was rather sickening. When a serious question was asked you had hardly anyone interacting. So I asked why are we getting so involved with cute things but serious questions are getting ignored by comparison? The backlash was amazing!

When one of the administators started being racist towards me in private messages I shared it with all the other admins of the group who did nothing about it, then I decided it was best to leave since it was being run by toxic individuals.

So that was my experience with a piano pedagogy group which is supposed to be a group where experts on piano education come together to synergize and help one another, but instead you had a platform for peddling goods and services and mass ego stroking! Maybe some people are impressed by big names but I am not, some people just like having their heads up others backsides I guess. Australians will know what I am on about, we don't care about celebrity and fame, we just take people for who they are.

Online there is a strong tendency for some to criticise those who stand out. Tall poppy syndrome seems to be a big thing for certain places in the world. In Australia we generally cheer people on if they stand out and do much better than ourselves. We are happy for others to do well for themselves because it doesn't mean they are any better than us, the mateship between us is so we are not jealous (I am writing in generalisation because of course there are people are jealous but it's just not so common). But in other parts of the world it is more of a "Keep up with the jones" type attitude when you observe those doing better than yourself. My relatives in Germany explain how it is so common to get something new just because your neighbour did. It seems a natural pattern that those who want to keep up but cannot keep up then go ahead and cut others down calling them arrogant, show offs, boasters, in need to become more humble etc.

[ranjit]

Australian's will know what I am on about, we don't care about celebrity and fame, we just take people for who they are.

Sounds like a good place to be!

Online there is a strong tendency for some to criticise those who stand out. Tall poppy syndrome seems to be a big thing for certain places in the world. In Australia we generally cheer people on if they stand out and do much better than ourselves. We are happy for others to do well for themselves because it doesn't mean they are any better than us, the mateship between us is so we are not jealous (I am writing in generalisation because of course there are people are jealous but it's just not so common). But in other parts of the world it is more of a "Keep up with the jones" type attitude when you observe those doing better than yourself. My relatives in Germany explain how it is so common to get something new just because your neighbour did. It seems a natural pattern that those who want to keep up but cannot keep up then go ahead and cut others down calling them arrogant, show offs, boasters, in need to become more humble etc.

I have faced this a lot on other forums, lol. I'm surprised that a place like this where people are unabashedly intellectual and tolerant still exists online. On other forums, people often just dole out common advice, and even take umbrage at relatively uncontroversial opinions, such as not practicing fast passages slow all the time. We have a really eclectic group of people here, and somehow this forum avoids falling into that kind of trap, with enough variety of opinions to keep it interesting. Maybe it's the color scheme

Btw thanks for bringing up the inverted 42 glissando. I just saw Richter's video, and I would never have come up with that idea myself -- it's a really clever solution.

[transitional]

I like pianostreet because of 1) the color scheme, 2) the active but not too active activity level, 3) the experience of people on here that makes me feel dumb, 4) argument that does not erupt into chaos, 5) last post wins!!!!!

Compare it to:

Pianoworld: too much nuts and bolts technical piano discussion
Talkclassical: pure chaotic conversation mess
Dascd: I can only handle so much collegeconfidential
Reddit: boring modern mess
Pianosociety: actually decent but absolutely no activity

[bryfarr]

Compare it to:

Pianoworld: too much nuts and bolts technical piano discussion
Talkclassical: pure chaotic conversation mess
Dascd: I can only handle so much collegeconfidential
Reddit: boring modern mess
Pianosociety: actually decent but absolutely no activity

Nice summary of other sites.  No one has mentioned the Facebook piano groups, of which there are quite a few, and they all differ.  One that is pretty good for getting questions answered and feedback on playing is "Piano Technique Discussion Group".  It has it's drawbacks, of course.  My major complaint with Pianostreet is that people submit posts with questions and seem to disappear - no follow-up.  I suppose this may be the younger students.