“Making it”

[ravelfan07]

What would you guys consider as “making it” for a pianist?

[lelle]

Having a relationship to the piano that brings fulfillment and/or happiness to their life.

That could mean:
- Practicing alone in their room 1/hr a week
- Practicing a couple of hours a week and performing in nursing homes once a month
- Touring the world and performing with the best orchestras
- Being able to practice 10 hours a day because that's all you want to do and are happy doing it
- Having played in the past but not playing any more because you lost your passion and have found something else you'd rather be doing

If you are touring the world and playing on the biggest stages but are stressed, miserable, unfulfilled and trapped by contracts you don't enjoy, I don't think you've made it.

[jamienc]

Something that you can do today that you couldn’t do yesterday…

[quantum]

I think the response to this question would be as individual as each person that seeks an answer to it. 

Though, I do agree with lelle.  Making it is not becoming the image of a concert pianist that travels the world playing the same concerti over and over, signing a deal with a major label, because other people or the industry says that is how to make it.  IMO that situation would only be considered making it, if that is what the person truly wanted to do, and how that person wanted to live their life. 

[ted]

Answering for myself and only for myself, if I felt I had "made it" it would be time to stop music and do something else. Simply stated, my music is a dynamic, evolving mapping of my psyche, consciousness, perception, soul or whatever you like to call it, onto abstract sound. "Making it" seems to imply some sort of arrival or stasis and that would be no fun at all for me.

[ravelfan07]

Answering for myself and only for myself, if I felt I had "made it" it would be time to stop music and do something else. Simply stated, my music is a dynamic, evolving mapping of my psyche, consciousness, perception, soul or whatever you like to call it, onto abstract sound. "Making it" seems to imply some sort of arrival or stasis and that would be no fun at all for me.

So let’s say “you made it” as a pianist, you’d move to a different instrument or a different topic overall (while maybe maintaining the previously acquired piano skills)?

[ted]

So let’s say “you made it” as a pianist, you’d move to a different instrument or a different topic overall (while maybe maintaining the previously acquired piano skills)?

Yes I suppose so, but the idea of "making it", presumably of proving, to myself or to somebody else, I could do something, is quite foreign to my world view. I am unable to conceive exactly what "making it" might mean for me or why I ought to pursue it. 

[pianistavt]

What would you guys consider as “making it” for a pianist?

How about you, RavelFan007, what does "making it" mean to you?

[ravelfan07]

How about you, RavelFan007, what does "making it" mean to you?

Feeling fulfilled with your progress with the piano
Knowing you are a virtuoso, and that (within reason) you can play pretty much any piece you want
As well as you can play all your favorite pieces flawlessly

[xdanielyj]

I think Lelle has an excellent answer.

If your question about what it means to "make it" as a pianist is referring to what other people would perceive as "making it" as a professional pianist, then, sure, "making it" would probably look like a pianist that tours the world performing all over. To a degree, I believe, this thought of what others perceive as "making it" it a bit poisonous to your growth. Music is a form of art and this mentality forces a pianist to lose his or her individuality. Long story short, Lelle's answer is probably the best answer to your question.

[pianistavt]

Answering for myself and only for myself, if I felt I had "made it" it would be time to stop music and do something else. Simply stated, my music is a dynamic, evolving mapping of my psyche, consciousness, perception, soul or whatever you like to call it, onto abstract sound. "Making it" seems to imply some sort of arrival or stasis and that would be no fun at all for me.

TED -
Sounds interesting.