Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Need some advice - how far can I go?

Liberace was bestowed with many awards during his lifetime including: Instrumentalist of the Year, Best Dressed Entertainer, Entertainer of the Year, two Emmy Awards, six gold albums, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In The Guinness Book of World Records, he has been listed as the world's highest paid musician and pianist. Liberace was an extremely talented and versatile man. He not only played the piano, but sang, danced and joked during his performances. In fact, one of Liberace's biggest accomplishments was his ability to turn a recital into a show full of music, glitter and personality.

Was liberace trained in classical? Did he play classical? That seems the way only true way to go if you want to be considered a great pianist, no?

Liberace didn't only play by ear. He was classically trained since childhood.

Liberace was a child prodigy, playing by ear when he was 4 years old. His family enrolled him in piano lessons since he was 5.

By the age of 7, Liberace was studying under Ms. Florence Bettray-Kelly, who was a top classical pianist.

Ms. Bettray-Kelly was herself a pupil of the legendary Moriz Rosenthal, who studied directly under Franz Liszt, and friend of Johannes Brahms, Anton Rubenstein, Johann Strauss, etc.

So Liberace's training lineage can be traced directly to Liszt. Liberace studied with Ms. Bettray-Kelly for 10 years, until he was 17. He then entered classical piano competitions and (fittingly) played the Liszt 2nd Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In his early-20s, Liberace started to play more pop music, but all of his early training was classical.

That figures. There's my answer. Man I wish I started that young.

Thanks for that guidance, really helpful. I'm almost in a position to practice that much every week and will give it a shot with the teacher to see what he/she thinks. I'll let you all know the outcome.

Hope it is a positive outcome

Find a good teacher. You play some hard pieces but concert level is also about many other things: how well does it sound (rather than how fast you can play it), how you present yourself, how quick you are in mastering new pieces, how you perform under stress, how do you cope with inevetable mistakes during a performance, etc

And getting asked for concerts probably is even harder, I suppose you need the right connections on top of all above. I guess you can't really 'buy' this. Current economy and low interest in classical music make your chances even slimmer.

Who are the people that make those comments?

If they are not musicians, and are not specifically knowledgeable about Classical piano music, they may think you are gifted simply because you are playing the piano, when if fact you are not playing those pieces as they should be played.

The harsh reality is that people unfamiliar with piano music often think that playing just about anything, at any level of competency, is "good".

I have had people say I am a "magician" because to them playing the piano is mysterious and unreachable. The occasion where that was said was in a church, and I was playing simple old-fashioned Christian hymns.

Like others have said, play in front of a piano teacher, and I would add play for one who teaches at or near that level of music, not the little old lady down the street.

Perhaps you are a gifted musician...but let an expert in the music make that call, not the Hoi polloi.

ps...I wish you the best in your musical endeavor.

This is the biggest red flag for me.

Find a teacher. Play some auditions. See what happens.

See a guidance counselor. See a psychologist. Speak to someone of your faith tradition.

Get a massage. Give something away.
Have something delicious to eat. Get some exercise and sleep well.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

You're alive; the possibilities are endless.

Oh no. We don't need two btbs on this forum.

Don't worry.
I was only momentarily zen-ish.

My respect for you went off the charts... momentarily.

You can go just as far as anybody. The only person holding you back, is you.

I would suggest you look for a Teacher who has been a Concert Pianist. Or one who has experience teaching Concert Pianists.

I heard Helene Grimaud give a video interview and someone asked her what they should do about their little boy who is learning piano. She said, it is wonderful that he is being introduced to music and whatever form it takes is all good.

You're quite a fan of Helene Grimaud, huh?

Once in a while these questions come up. I remember reading another thread here with another person asking the same question and someone responded that he is a professional musician who start late in his 20's, and he remains a professional playing in an orchestra, but he warns of the difficulties of starting late. Yes, it is possible, 21 is still young enough, but as many point out, it is a competitive world and competing with everyone else in the business who has been playing since they were 5-years-old is not a trivial point to gloss over.

Obviously someone who could play La Campanella by ear is talented. It doesn't matter how badly it is played. Many of us have tried to play some big piece like a Beethoven sonata to impress our teachers only to find out that our teachers were not at all impressed. The fact is, few could transfer what they hear into an instrument without training, and the ability alone is a significant talent even if the result is "not the way I would play it" as a former teacher of mine would say. Talent is important as no one could succeed by hard work alone.

There are so many people going through life counting the minutes to get off work, so they could do something else, something they truly love. 21 is still such a young age, and if the OP is willing to put in the extraordinary effort, then doing something one loves is the best choice. Obviously, the chance of being at Helene Grimaud or Gabriela Montero's level is practically zero, but really odds are of the thousands of 6-year-olds who says they want to become a concert pianist by 12, how many really become Martha Argerich? A musical career isn't just about that. If it is, then it is surely too late for the OP because most professional competitions have upper age limit of 35 and it is necessary to win or place near the top at one of those in order to have a good chance of become a world class concert pianist. Of course, I won't ignore the fact that a good friend who performed at Carnegie Hall last year is still selling Steinways as his day job, not easy being a musician. It's OK to dream a little, and work crazy hard for what you really love.

I have had my piano lesson tonight and was talking to my teacher about self taught pianists. She said you cannot teach yourself properly because you don't know what you are doing and need the help and guiance of a professional. You may hit the right notes but phrasng and hand position is all important. I taught myself a piece from scratch, and played it to my teacher and she said it was phrased badly.

oh hum... teacher is the way to go.

check out PWs own Sam Rose's story......amazing
http://www.youtube.com/sirsardonic

No kidding! Sam went all the way, coast-to-coast across the US!