Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum I am normal, I think

So I'm no prodigy or anything and I'm not trying to show off. I started piano from scratch about 1 yr and 3 months ago. Since then, I've been practicing about 4-5 hrs a day seven days a week. Sometimes I play all day on weekends. I'm working on Chopin nocturnes, Mozart sonatas, and Debussy right now. My teacher says I'm doing darn well and that sometimes he forgets I've only been doing piano for a year.

Yesterday during my lesson, he played for me Rachmaninoff's concerto no. 2, second movement....and I was blown away with how BEAUTIFUL it was!! And now I am completely psyched when he says that he thinks I can tackle it! I looked at the score and it didn't seem too bad.

Should I feel overwhelmed? Because I'm not...I'm actually excited! But I feel embarrassed when people ask what I'm working on because I think that people have certain expectations of where I should be and I'm not.

I just feel like I'm not normal... well, maybe just looking for some reassurance that I'm ok!

YOu sound Ok to me- let's see how things develop from here. I would love to be able to play more than a hour a day- how do you manage it? What hours do you practice? Is there anyone else in your household who is driven crazy by your constant practice at the piano?

Well- I am off to shower after exercise then get my hour in before I go to work my 8-hour shift.- I AM SO GREEN with ENVY. Tell me how you do it!!!

Of course you're OK! Maybe a bit of a piano geek now, but you're still OK. Have a great time with your new Rachmaninoff adventure.

Hello Argerich5405

If "normal" exists, I’ve never been it!

Well, you should be embarrassed - anyone who has been playing for a whole year and a third and is just now getting around to the Rachmaninoff Concerto (a entry-level work easily mastered by even the most mediocre of 3-5 year old students) obviously is not only not a prodigy, but is clearly and totally lacking in any appreciable artistic talent and should hang his/her head in shame.

I would assume so. I started playing in May (albeit after having some lessons about ten years ago), and I have been told to start with Grade 8 pieces.

Big deal. I was playing La Campanella after 11 months.

How did you do that???
Please share your training secret here....

Oh, la campanella seems difficult! I haven't gotten to any Liszt yet but he wrote some hard stuff. Thanks everyone for saying I'm normal . I feel better. By the way, having a great teacher is the secret to success. Mine's a fantastic pianist with over a thousand students' worth of experience. Seriously, he keeps photo albums of every single student he's ever had, I've seen them! I'm gushing with praise...but it's because a fantastic teacher is so important. And he inspires me to become a better pianist too.

Well I come home from work around 5-6pm and I start playing until midnight or 1am, with a few breaks in between for dinner and stuff. Nope, no kids to worry about, only me and my music.

Sight reading it I would say.

I don't think if I was able to practice four or five hours a day I'd be able to tackle Rach 2 any time soon ... I'll just plan on listening to it instead.

The Rach 2 after one year of playing? No... you are not normal.

I was the same, 4-5 hours a day, all day weekend. Ate, drank, slept piano every hour of the day outside of work. I have 3 months more experience than you. Recently did a free public recital at a university library of 2 Chopin Nocturnes, 2 Waltzes, Debussy's Claire de lune and some shorter, new age pieces.

I've cut down my practice times the last month as burning out is kicking in and decided to take half of my practice time away from classical studies and focus on improvisation/composition study. Now when I get home from work, I actually have time to enjoy a meal and maybe take a nap. It's also great to look at a music score and slowly unravel why it sounds the way it sounds, if you ever get tired of classical study, this could help you away from the piano as well.

Also, recent live streams of Chopin piano competition took a bit of time away from practice as well. But I must say, watching the extremely talented, dedicated young pianist takes my breath away as well as provokes an inner question I pose to myself, "Will I ever be able to play at that level, despite my age, what am I doing right/wrong, what can I do to improve more." This mentality has caused my progress to slow down a bit as I spend too much time questioning myself rather than enjoying the music. So rather than just strictly studying classical, I've decided to place some time on improvisation and composition.

Regarding Rach 2, I personally have not tried it or plan to for the next 5 years at least, but from listening and following the piano score, the second movement (of the 3) seems doable but to tell you the truth, Rach concerto's place a lot of emphasis on dialogues and voicing between orchestra and piano. A lot of its beauty is gone if only the piano part is played. If you do decide to endeavor on this, should get the orchestra accompaniment CD, I think it will help a lot. (Music minus one seems to pop into my head).

I think you will definitely get better and/or as good as or nearly the level of those "talented" young players. The more years, pieces, proper instruction, practice, etc. that you have under your belt, the more your playing matures. I also think that even the pieces in your current repertoire get better as well - again with more experience.. Hang in there and be patient! I've got 5 years more experience than you and you don't hear me complaining.

PS-since you're taking a break from classical, you should try ragtime! I'm nearly done with my 1st Chopin piece, by the way....I'm putting the finishing touches on it, and will soon have one of my buddies critique it.

Thanks Rui for sharing your journey! You and I seem so similar, on the same piano journey of composers. I'm reassured that I am normal...because i'm not alone it seems!!

I still play when I'm burned out but I play (sight read) easier pieces. It's less "thinking" involved and doesn't seem to require so much of what little energy I have left during those times. So regardless, I play all the time! I just want to play everything that inspires me to grow as a pianist.

Weird, but I see young pianists perform with great talent and I don't get bummed out..instead, I think "If they can do that, I know I can". I actually see them as very inspiring!

BTW, your analysis of the Rach 2, second movement, is exactly why I chose that particular section. The score didn't seem thaaat bad (relative of course). But I'm so psyched by pieces like that that my energy level has skyrocketed even more (maybe I won't sleep anymore and practice 12 hrs a day cause I'm too excited!).

Thanks for the rec to get a CD recording of the orchestra portion! Do you recommend a place?

A few months ago I was full of energy as well. I guess this kind of thing fluctuates for me. Sometimes I have a lot of energy, other times not. I'm currently without a teacher, I think that is why. I need to find one soon....

Also, it's possible also that I'm currently learning new pieces and the beginning is always so slow. It should be better next week hopefully.

Ceb: Thanks for the encouragement. I saw your post about lacking motivation as well but I couldn't think of anything inspiring to say because I felt the same haha.

Argerich5405: Notice I never mentioned about being normal. I don't think it matters, as long as you are enjoying yourself. Though, for the past year and half, I have not done many social activities a normal, healthy, person does. But it's my choice and I don't regret a single minute of it. When you can, attend a lot of piano recitals, big or small. Another activity I found thats beneficial that doesn't involve actual piano practice is visiting art galleries. For some reason I feel a peace at mind while my senses are replenished when I'm surrounded by art oriented environments.

I sincerly wish all of you super-achievers the best but I'm SO glad my only "goal" is to just have fun. The last thing I want in my relaxation activity is all kinds of stress and work hanging over my head.

5 hours a day....that's nutz!

Now don't get me wrong, I thoroughly respect hard work and dedication and am a firm believer that you get out of something what you put into it but I also worry about being burnt out once the honeymoon period is over.

Passion is a cool thing however and doesn't come around all that often so if the flame is still lit.....go for it.

The needle on my BS meter is hovering around the far right end "max point" - your post is just the latest in a long string of similar posts, most of which have quickly proven to be phoney.

If on the small chance that you're actually for real it's hard to tell whether you're bragging or complaining - and it would appear to some cynics that you really were "trying to show off" and that the only thing you're looking for is compliments.

But, why am I smelling the distinct and pungent aroma of a troll?

JF

I doubt she's a troll.

You have the right to be proud. It's very hard to keep focus and practicing 4-5 hours a day. Good job.. and enjoy the music.

I would go with the hybrid of...I want to brag but, I will couch it a way that might have some believe me to be really worried about being too good too soon!