When does "potentially" great turn into "actually" great ?

[m1469]

I am talking on a very large scale.  For example, when does an athelete go from a potentially great athelete to being a truly great athelete?  Won't a person always have greater potential?

So, as it relates to music, when does a person go from being a "potentially" great musician to a truly great one?  Is there a line that ever gets crossed?

It's presently confusing to me.

m1469

[tds]

I am talking on a very large scale.  For example, when does an athelete go from a potentially great athelete to being a truly great athelete?  Won't a person always have greater potential?

So, as it relates to music, when does a person go from being a "potentially" great musician to a truly great one?  Is there a line that ever gets crossed?

It's presently confusing to me.

m1469

not everyone has great potential to become great artists, athletes, et al. an enthusiast myself, i believe everyone is unique and has some kind of talent to live and develop. however, those who have great potential to be truly great artists ( or athletes, or else ) are very few, indeed.

it is usually not enough to have only one teacher/couch who tell you that you have great potential to become a truly great artist ( or whatever ). many key people will have to start seeing voluntarily or unvoluntarily when a star gets so bright. a good indication? not sure, no process to anyway is ever guaranteed. time and theory of destiny (if there is such thing) often become the crucial factors in finding precious rarities. new horowitz and baby picasso are not born everyday. those who get so lucky will become so accomplished and famous, but a few are truly great artists. there is a fine distinction. best, tds

"force it best, force it not" otd

[BoliverAllmon]

I am talking on a very large scale.  For example, when does an athelete go from a potentially great athelete to being a truly great athelete?  Won't a person always have greater potential?

So, as it relates to music, when does a person go from being a "potentially" great musician to a truly great one?  Is there a line that ever gets crossed?

It's presently confusing to me.

m1469

when scores of important people tell you that you are great.

[pianonut]

i have a different point of view on this - being that i am 'past my prime' so to speak in terms of a huge career.  i think it is how you view yourself.  many people can tell you that you should do something else.  perhaps i am stubborn.  it doesn't phase me.  in fact, it motivates me when i hear pianists/teachers way beyond where i am.

there's something innate in your desire to do something particular (ie piano) very well.  it's almost like you were born (or as someone put it, your destiny) to follow through on this talent.  even if it is a small talent and 99% perspiration.  all i know, is that after a good practice session i feel very happy and alive.  there are other hobbies, but none that make me feel the way piano does.  if you do something you like, sooner or later there's a reward.  it might not be a huge career, but for me, it may be just playing the piano better than i thought i could and maybe someone will notice and i'll make it into a smaller career to supplement other income (teaching, or accompanying).

so, don't quit!

[m1469]

Yeah, I won't quit.  No matter how much my imagination takes over, I think I can't actually quit-quit.  (By the way, I am often inspired by your posts, pianonut)

So I guess you are saying that you feel like you are fulfilling your potential by doing what you are doing no matter what people say?

I guess what it is, is that it seems like a person can have "potential" all their life.  I know Bernhard has talked about students not knowing their own potential and this sort of thing.  But, I just wonder, when does a person get out of that hamster wheel of just having "potential"?   

It is just somewhat ironic to me, I guess.  When does a person stop having just potential and start having the actual thing?  Maybe they are one in the same or something, potential is itself as well as the potential thing. 

I don't really get it.

m1469

[m1469]

Wait, wait.  So are you saying that you don't see potential as some empty future vessel that one either fulfills or not?  'Cause I guess this is how I have been viewing it, sort of.

Yeah, I am still confused.

[tds]

Wait, wait.  So are you saying that you don't see potential as some empty future vessel that one either fulfills or not?  'Cause I guess this is how I have been viewing it, sort of.

Yeah, I am still confused.

to whom are you talking, mayla?

[m1469]

he he, sorry.  To you too.  Both you tds and pianonut, I guess (and anybody else out there).  tds you talk as though somebody is born with such a thing.  As does pianonut, it seems.

[tds]

Wait, wait.  So are you saying that you don't see potential as some empty future vessel that one either fulfills or not?  'Cause I guess this is how I have been viewing it, sort of.

Yeah, I am still confused.

truly great artists receive universal claims, noted in countless books and periodicals, and are themselves a significant part of the continuous process of history making. what a responsibility! best, tds

[m1469]

hmmm, okay thanks.  I think I just realized that I am thinking too much about this 

I appreciate your responses.

[pianonut]

mayla, i get a lot out of your posts, too!  i need humor in my day, and the 'hamster wheel' made me laugh.  some of us think we were born to be great someday.  perhaps we are delusional and need to be institutionalized.  in the past, i have had practice sessions in which i played like paganini (walstein, paganini variations) and just 'lost myself' to the music.  i didn't feel like a hamster. 

then, in juries, my mind just doesn't let me relax that much, and my renditions come out ok but not as inspired.  i say to myself, someday that will be moot.  you will someday learn to let go of every single thing that makes you tense up and worry.  maybe getting older is a good thing.  after a while, you have nothing to lose (even if you mess up) so you just play for fun.  that's probably where my career will come in.  in my late 40's and 50's.  someone encouraged me by telling me another pianist actually had a great career at this age - have to look up who it was.

i am destined to play in states all across the mid-west, thrilling audiences with copeland, macdowell, all those poetic/musical numbers of schumann.  and then, when i finally make it big on the east coast - i will only play mozart.  i will be a mozart specialist.  making gentleman fans think i'm cute (only) boo hoo.  but, for aficiando's of mozart, they will shut their eyes when i play and take in the music only.  afterwards, it will be as if they 'heard a dream.'  the reviews will be ravingly about the tones of the piano and how sparkly they are (like gems).  no one will be able to match my tone (except murray perahia of whom i have repeatedly play his K467 and K595 concertos over and over without tiring of them - and thought the same).