Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Have you ever considered quitting or giving up playing?

World of music is not easy at all. There is always an obstacle and a time of disheartenment, whether your goal is gaining reputation through competition, being concert pianist, enjoying leisure play, etc.

So have you ever had a thought about giving up, and why?

Sort of. I expect that this will be like my other projects.

After some time you reach a level from which it's nearly impossible to improve further, unless you start doubling or tripling the amount of time you spend on it. For me that usually marks the time to switch to another hobby.

I've thought of giving it up for at least 50 years. It's really a terrible addiction.

Why? Well, because if you are seriously into it, you are a social pariah (as is the case with most addicts), and you end up holed up on an internet forum with other similar addicts. Who would want that?

Of course I've considered giving up and I've never really played for anyone other than myself (a few little concerts in the past, but stopped following a...shift in my priorities... since then my approach has changed radically so...it's not really the same anywho...); um...the main reason being; I'm not good enough and never will be. My sight reading sucks, my memory is muddy, my attention to detail is deficient at best and my technique is terrible. My interpretations are idiotic and my sensitivity is suspect, my consistency is completely absent and my rhythm is without repose. Um...or so I hear, whenever I listen. So really, what *is* the point? If I'm not serving music then to what end should I play? For my own enjoyment? Pfft But really, I used to be incapable of justifying playing music that had been recorded as there was nothing I felt I could ever add; and it's *sort of* true. My Bach will never be as good as Gould's Bach, so to what end could I possibly add to Bach? I realise time and time again, after plumbing the depths of my insecurity (and having a go at myself for being so uninventive as to find nothing new ), that I, and only I, can offer my interpretation. Um...it may be cack, it may be worthless, but it still *is* something "they" can't do. Who knows; in fifty years, I may make a recording worth listening to on one of the latest new-fangled iDribbles...I don't know. Um...then occasionally I remember that not everyone can improvise to the extent that I can and that in itself is another thing I have to offer music; my own, unique interpretations and my own, unique improvisations, no matter how trivial they may be. It's important to focus on what you can do rather than what you can't, to isolate yourself from the toxicity of envy and despair, as I remind myself; even Richter said he wished he could play Bach as easily and well as Gould could, that his primary criticism of GG was that he didn't play all the repeats...still...um...come back to me in a week, I may say the exact opposite
Xxx

A bit pathetic, but there are worse things.

I dabble in lots of things, from chess to adventure-racing to hang-gliding to high-altitude mountaineering. To........playing the piano

I've had years when I didn't touch the piano at all, but that was due to circumstances - I didn't own my own piano until 2010, and I was moving around with my job (which is unrelated to music). But even when I couldn't play the piano, I still listened to ('classical') music - a lot. And when I did come across a piano, whether in a bar on a ferry ship off Alaska, or an ancient fortepiano in a stately home, I'd sit down and play anything I could remember, often joining half-remembered fragments of pieces with my own improvisations.

That's when I remember how much I miss not being able to play regularly. It's all down to my love of 'classical' music, which never deserted me. I know many people - especially my cousins, who all learnt to play when they were between four to six (much earlier than me), and were more accomplished than me - who'd all given up before they reached adulthood, because they didn't care enough about classical music to want to keep on playing, when careers and family life took over.

Now that I have my own piano, I play every day except when I'm away on my travels - when I don't miss the piano at all. (Other priorities, like surviving a storm on a mountainside, take over then ). And I then return home with a renewed vigor and can't wait to get back to practising.......

Okay, so you aren't likely to win a Nobel Prize for it, but it isn't like you're a crack addict.

True - it's much more like opium or heroin addiction than crack addiction.

I'm a new person here, and only posted once but have been lurking a lot.

Because of medical issues, I *have* had to quit for 18 years. I have a then-undiagnosed connective tissue disorder which messes up, amongst other things, all of my joints. At the time, I thought it was because I had bad technique, and studied under a Taubman teacher for 3 years; so while my technique vastly improved, there was still discomfort, and so I stopped and moved on w/ my life.

I've only recently come back to the piano b/c I now know about the disorder and how to play w/o pain (lots of finger splints which I now wear all the time b/c w/o them, my hands are in constant pain). Even so, I'm anticipating that I'll need to eventually stop playing again; the disorder also causes other problems that will get in the way of playing.

Despite all this, I'm extremely thankful. 18 years ago, I was striving to play the best Beethoven, or Brahms, or Bach that the world had ever heard. The reasons why I played then (to be the best pianist ever) are different than the reasons why now (just b/c I love to play). I know I won't ever be a concert pianist; my Beethoven op 110 sucks but that doesn't matter to me. I'm playing Beethoven b/c his music speaks to me and fulfills a need.

In short, I chose to quit b/c of medical reasons. However, I'm extremely thankful for this second chance to be able to play again.

YHK, I can only imagine how difficult it has been to deal with this disorder. I'm glad to hear you're now able to play for pleasure.

Welcome to the forum, in case no one has said that yet!

I have quit for some time of playing piano, but I have soon realize how playing music relax me and I totaly forget about time and place. Music have always been something more that only people who play some instrument can know the feeling.

Never give up for something you love and have passion for it.

I gave up playing well a long time ago. Playing for pleasure does not require that I play well.

Yes, and I successfully managed to stay that way for 25 years until regret got the best of me last year.

Back on the bench now. Sitting in front of 88 very judgmental keys. They were not happy. Their trust is providing difficult to win over. We'll eventually work well together again.

I never give up playing but give up learning sometimes

No.

This is perhaps due to starting piano as an adult, but no. I've enjoyed everything I've had the opportunity to learn so far, and there is always more to work towards.

Even if I reached a stage where I felt I wasn't making any progress I would still be learning new music, so I can't imagine ever getting too discouraged.

I've had more than the usual number of students quit this year. It's nice to know many who quit restart later and love it

I also suffer from medical issues that often affect my playing abilities. In addition to that I suffer from periodical memory problems. Sometimes when I have had a really bad day, I do think how much easier my life would be if I just quit the piano again. Like yesterday, when I was on my lesson and completely unable to play anything. Even with pieces I have played from memory for weeks I couldn't get past the first few bars. I just need to remind myself that it's temporary and better days will follow.

But still, I question, why do I make my life so difficult? It's an addiction of some sort. Maybe I should just avoid the piano on those bad days. But I know myself and feel I need the regularity to overcome my natural lazyness to get up form the couch, walk to the piano and sit down. Especially when I have a painful day. The best motivation to practice for me is to touch the keys and hear the sound of the piano.

LOL!
No, seriously... I thought of giving up when I was nine or ten only because my teacher was mean, hit my hands, made me cry, and told me that I could never be a great pianist. After I stopped caring about that, it became this mas addiction I am afflicted with today. My parents and siblings hate me because almost everytime I walk by the piano I am drawn to it magnetically and instantly burst out with Beethoven!

I have thought of stopping teaching piano. I do it once a week for a few hours, and it eats up an inordinate amount of time in travel and research. But I keep it up because it's the reason why I am still improving as a musician myself.