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My experience is that progress does not only depend on the number of hours spent on (efficient) practice. The calendar time also counts. If you select a piece and spend one hour practice a day on this piece for 5 days I think you'll find that you have progressed further than if your spend one day with 5 hours practice on it. At least I'm the type of person who seem to continue the learning process when I sleep.
Now I have been practicing piano for almost 50 years and still not reached Grade 8 . Actually I don't even know what Grade 8 is.... So maybe my experience isn't worth so much.... I feel the same way, although I've been playing for only a short time now. 8 hours in a day wouldn't help me at all. For whatever reason though, things seem to click a bit more after a good nap 
♯ ♮ ♭ ø ° Δ ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Yamaha C3X YouTube![[Linked Image]](https://forum.pianoworld.com//gallery/42/full/21183.png)
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I think it's brilliant. I love testing what is possible. I also like my day job, so not something I want to test myself, but I'll be following your progress. Great job keeping it up this long! You've already achieved so much by simply sticking to your plan. Many could learn from that, including myself.
And I think a lot of the negativity above has been already addressed by you. You're goal is to pass the exam, not replicate 8 years of emotional and musical growth as a person and musician. I would hardly think every student who passes the exam is at the same musical level overall, the same as every 4.0 student in school isn't the same "smart". You don't have to have Vladmir Horowitz-like musical maturity to pass the exam, and I'm sure there are some 30+ year students with advanced musical maturity who wouldn't. It's primarily a skill/knowledge test, as most all tests have to be.
I also think people are discounting how much progress you can really make when really focused for that long each day and it's your true top priority. Sure, there will be diminishing returns as the mind tires throughout the day but less-than-optimal returns are still returns. Anyone with a technical job that requires concentration and thinking has probably done more hours (in a row, nonetheless) of study and thought in a day. And it sounds like you're breaking up the hours into chunks throughout the day, which is commonly recommended for college students studying for the same reason.
Anyway, enough rambling. Good luck to you!
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ABRSM examiners up to - and including - grade 8 are simply looking for evidence of good technique and good musicianship. Not a specific approach to interpretation. Agreed. In one of my Bach, my teacher had me Wite-Out all slur marks on the page and put in all new ones.  I almost didn't choose that piece for the exam because I have to show my music, and I so obviously altered the official music for RCM, and I was really worried. Turned out, the examiner gave me a good mark and commented really positively on the interpretation. The examiners are real musicians and they certainly would not mark down for choices that are sensible. I don't pedal Bach, but if you do, as long as you can make it work, then yes. Perahia used pedal in his Goldberg Variations. It's brilliant. I will continue to not pedal. Ha!
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The examiners are real musicians +1 That's also what helped me not to be intimidated by teachers, too.
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...
I think a lot of the negativity above has been already addressed by you. You're goal is to pass the exam, not replicate 8 years of emotional and musical growth as a person and musician... Experience cannot be crammed. There is nothing negative about this statement. It is just what is. Otherwise most of the commentary I have read on this thread has been very positive and encouraging.
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[quote=chamberbell]...
Experience cannot be crammed. There is nothing negative about this statement. It is just what is. Otherwise most of the commentary I have read on this thread has been very positive and encouraging.
I suppose negativity was too strong a word, but there has been quite a bit of commentary that roughly sounds like, "That's cute, but not how it works. You can't do that. But good luck." Not rudeness (no one's really that rude here), just a negative view that he will succeed. I hear the same thing whenever I tell my husband I'm going to spend the next year getting in really good shape and I lay out a detailed plan for how I'll be ripped in December. I get, "Really? OK...good luck...no no, I fully support you, I just think it's unlikely" Supportive...ish.  Some parts of experience can be crammed, some parts cannot. The events in life that help us interpret the emotions in music...not so much. But someone forcing themselves to commit to a one year Spanish immersion study in South America will have a lot more experience speaking Spanish then even a student majoring in Spanish at a university. The unknown is how much this particular fellow will be able to cram since that's unique to each individual and also untested. I'm simply interested in his results because I see nothing specifically standing in his way. I think the hardest part will be sticking to his plan, but he seems to already be accomplishing that.
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According to this Guardian article, Benjamin Grosvenor started playing at 6 years old and in 18 months was playing ABRSM 8 pieces. " Coming from a half-decent amateur pianist, you could understand this comment, but from someone who started playing the piano aged six, and who was playing Grade 8-standard pieces just 18 months later" http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/apr/14/benjamin-grosvenor-pianist-proms
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Experience cannot be crammed. There is nothing negative about this statement. It is just what is... The above statement is very true, wreaking of reality, which merely hinting of or speaking about in today's day and age seems to be considered politically incorrect, for fear of hurting someones feelings. Since when did truth and reality begin to hurt so much that it was to be hidden and never spoken, and where people had to be coddled instead of corrected? As a youth I took violin lessons for 3 years, but simply couldn't perform vibrato, plus it sounded more like I was cutting the instrument in half when I was playing rather than making music. Although I wanted to learn, it just wasn't happening, so I accepted that fact, ended my lessons, and moved on. Next on the list was the trumpet, where again I met with some difficulty. When I played it sounded like there was a drunk elephant in my room and I just couldn't "get it", so after 2 years off it went back to the music store. Again, I wanted to learn, but it just wasn't happening, so I again accepted that fact, ended my lessons, and moved on. Oh well. I really wanted to succeed at learning the violin and trumpet, but the learning experience proved that despite my yearning to do so successfully, and even with the proper instruction, the resulting reality of it dictated otherwise. Sure, I could have continued on in a futile effort, much to the dislike of my parents (and I'm sure the family pet as well), but what would continuing on have proven? What would I have accomplished? I'll tell you what...wasting my parents hard earned money and time that I could have exerted practicing the piano is exactly what I would have accomplished. The above scenarios of instrument learning failure didn't cause the earth to stop rotating upon its axis, or me to cry myself to sleep every night for weeks, to seek counselling, or see a psychiatrist. It's a simple reality that just because a skill exists, doesn't mean that it can be learned or mastered by anyone who tries. Sure, there are "books" and study programs designed to "help" you forge your own destiny, but honestly, how many people, I'm sure by now numbering in the hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions, after attending those highly promoted lectures or purchasing those DVD's and books instructing you how to become successful overnight by buying houses "No money down!" or by flipping houses, ever went on to become a real estate magnate like Donald Trump? How many people who purchased any of the Bob Ross' "The Joy of Painting" DVD instructional videos went on to become the next famed artist of the century? How come we're not reading on a daily basis about all the success stories of the new trend of multimillionaire real estate moguls and billionaire artists that are overflowing in the streets? "It says I can do it right here in this $49 book I bought, see [holding the book up in the air while smiling and rapidly nodding head up and down]??!! Oh right, it's because the "reality" of it is that it's an extremely difficult and next to impossible thing to become a Conrad Hilton, a Rembrandt, or for that matter, a Horowitz, simply by taking shortcuts, or by buying and looking through books and instructional DVD's. There has to be in a person an inherent or natural skill just sitting there waiting to be accessed, just waiting for that moment, that primer, to burst free and blossom. Even then, being predisposed to an easy time of learning, it's the years of experience that defines the artists abilities, none of which can be obtained from being crammed into any short length of time. There are of course exceptions, but they are few and very, very far between. The products mentioned offer people, of course for a price, this; a hope. Some people are inherently lazy, and others very optomistic, so combine the two with the mere suggestion of learning a skill or trade with minimal effort, and you've got a recipe that is of course appealing to the masses ([unemployed, sitting on a couch watching TV at 3am eating potato chips] "Hey, I know I can do this, because, well, who's better than me?!"), but the staunch reality remains that success in anything is almost never, ever, guaranteed. Yet despite this reality, these products persist year after year, sucking in the dollars and euros from those with high hopes, low budgets, and little hours to commit, meeting with the occassional success, but usually never to a level anywhere near the promises made by those offering these "roads to success." The get rich scheme, identified as such because, well, it's a "scheme" silly! ********** scheme skēm verb 1. make plans, especially in a devious way or with intent to do something illegal or wrong. "he schemed to bring about the collapse of the government" synonyms: plot, hatch a plot, conspire, intrigue, connive, maneuver, plan ********** Reality. I wish we'd get back to it. Regards, Andy
1979 Yamaha C7D
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Experience cannot be crammed. There is nothing negative about this statement. It is just what is... The above statement is very true, wreaking of reality, which merely hinting of or speaking about in today's day and age seems to be considered politically incorrect, for fear of hurting someones feelings. Since when did truth and reality begin to hurt so much that it was to be hidden and never spoken, and where people had to be coddled instead of corrected? As a youth I took violin lessons for 3 years, but simply couldn't perform vibrato, plus it sounded more like I was cutting the instrument in half when I was playing rather than making music. Although I wanted to learn, it just wasn't happening, so I accepted that fact, ended my lessons, and moved on. Next on the list was the trumpet, where again I met with some difficulty. When I played it sounded like there was a drunk elephant in my room and I just couldn't "get it", so after 2 years off it went back to the music store. Again, I wanted to learn, but it just wasn't happening, so I again accepted that fact, ended my lessons, and moved on. Oh well. I really wanted to succeed at learning the violin and trumpet, but the learning experience proved that despite my yearning to do so successfully, and even with the proper instruction, the resulting reality of it dictated otherwise. Sure, I could have continued on in a futile effort, much to the dislike of my parents (and I'm sure the family pet as well), but what would continuing on have proven? What would I have accomplished? I'll tell you what...wasting my parents hard earned money and time that I could have exerted practicing the piano is exactly what I would have accomplished. The above scenarios of instrument learning failure didn't cause the earth to stop rotating upon its axis, or me to cry myself to sleep every night for weeks, to seek counselling, or see a psychiatrist. It's a simple reality that just because a skill exists, doesn't mean that it can be learned or mastered by anyone who tries. Sure, there are "books" and study programs designed to "help" you forge your own destiny, but honestly, how many people, I'm sure by now numbering in the hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions, after attending those highly promoted lectures or purchasing those DVD's and books instructing you how to become successful overnight by buying houses "No money down!" or by flipping houses, ever went on to become a real estate magnate like Donald Trump? How many people who purchased any of the Bob Ross' "The Joy of Painting" DVD instructional videos went on to become the next famed artist of the century? How come we're not reading on a daily basis about all the success stories of the new trend of multimillionaire real estate moguls and billionaire artists that are overflowing in the streets? "It says I can do it right here in this $49 book I bought, see [holding the book up in the air while smiling and rapidly nodding head up and down]??!! Oh right, it's because the "reality" of it is that it's an extremely difficult and next to impossible thing to become a Conrad Hilton, a Rembrandt, or for that matter, a Horowitz, simply by taking shortcuts, or by buying and looking through books and instructional DVD's. There has to be in a person an inherent or natural skill just sitting there waiting to be accessed, just waiting for that moment, that primer, to burst free and blossom. Even then, being predisposed to an easy time of learning, it's the years of experience that defines the artists abilities, none of which can be obtained from being crammed into any short length of time. There are of course exceptions, but they are few and very, very far between. The products mentioned offer people, of course for a price, this; a hope. Some people are inherently lazy, and others very optomistic, so combine the two with the mere suggestion of learning a skill or trade with minimal effort, and you've got a recipe that is of course appealing to the masses ([unemployed, sitting on a couch watching TV at 3am eating potato chips] "Hey, I know I can do this, because, well, who's better than me?!"), but the staunch reality remains that success in anything is almost never, ever, guaranteed. Yet despite this reality, these products persist year after year, sucking in the dollars and euros from those with high hopes, low budgets, and little hours to commit, meeting with the occassional success, but usually never to a level anywhere near the promises made by those offering these "roads to success." The get rich scheme, identified as such because, well, it's a "scheme" silly! ********** scheme skēm verb 1. make plans, especially in a devious way or with intent to do something illegal or wrong. "he schemed to bring about the collapse of the government" synonyms: plot, hatch a plot, conspire, intrigue, connive, maneuver, plan ********** Reality. I wish we'd get back to it. Regards, Andy
Will do some R&B for a while. Give the classical a break.
You can spend the rest of your life looking for music on a sheet of paper. You'll never find it, because it just ain't there. - Me Myself
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I think it's possible.
Why wouldn't it? Beethoven, Mozart, and many more reached that level and beyond at an early age, and in a short time.
It's a matter of attitude and dedication with hard work.
What did Bernhard say?
There are 3 requirements for piano success, and I've already forgot. Environment, dedication, some aptitude?
It made a lot of sense when I read it some time ago. Maybe somebody here remembers.
And some people love a challenge like this.
There are more genii in the world today than there ever have been in history.
It's just that very few of them dedicate themselves to piano playing.
Will do some R&B for a while. Give the classical a break.
You can spend the rest of your life looking for music on a sheet of paper. You'll never find it, because it just ain't there. - Me Myself
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Good luck! Make sure you do what Clara Schumann did: add a long walk outdoors every single day, for an hour or more. She credited this daily habit to her being able to deal with everything life threw at her. And what life threw at her was gargantuan. 
Cunningham Studio grand; Yamaha CLP-645 Clavinova
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I think it's possible.
Why wouldn't it? Beethoven, Mozart, and many more reached that level and beyond at an early age, and in a short time.
It's a matter of attitude and dedication with hard work.
A touch of genius was also working in their favour of course. I don't think it is impossible. All the power for trying and sincere best wishes for your success, even if only partial for anyone that does try for it. On the other hand, I'd hate for anything like this to then begin to be a new normal. Like once it has been done, taking 8 or 10 years to get to grade 8 becomes no longer quite as remarkable of an achievement ... Oh yeah, well buddy over here did it in only 1 year ...
The truth of the matter is, whether you take 1 year or 10 years, for most normal people this comparison would show quite different results I think, even if they both achieved a similar grade on the exam.
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I'm not sure prodigies should count, LOL.
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If you are able to achieve Grade 8 in one year then I salute you I really do. It is not something that I could achieve but this does not taint my next comment on this subject which is: I feel that any grading system be it for piano, martial arts, fly fishing or brain surgery is to stand up with your peers and be assessed to a set of standards. I suspect however that there is a significant risk of trying to progress so far so soon that it would be very easy to 'learn for the grading' without developing the underpinning knowledge that should accompany the grading. I am a fly fishing instructor, which I appreciate has absolute zero to do with piano playing but I see this occurring in my own area of expertise. Getting back to piano, I am constantly twisting my teachers arm to move me along faster and faster and faster. During my last 3 lessons she has told me quite firmly that although she appreciates that I am practicing for many hours every day, she feels that I must not attempt to fly ahead as there must be a period to allow what she is teaching me to be practically applied to playing music so that it sinks in to my thick skull for life. This may not apply if you are in fact a child prodigy which starting to play at 50 years of age, sadly I am not. On a semi related note, I am approaching the stage where I can begin to appreciate a good pianist from somebody who can bluff their way through a piece of music. I have seen a number of individuals who have never taken a grading in their lives but can play to an extremely proficient and high standard. Most of them smirk at pianists who put themselves through a grading system. I suspect however that few of them, if any could pass a Grade 8 exam. (No offence whatsoever intended to any Grade 8 and above pianists). I wish you much success in your quest. If you achieve what you are attempting to do and are then looking to take on students, I will sign up with you immediately. I think my piano teacher might follow me and sign up too.
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I am approaching the stage where I can begin to appreciate a good pianist from somebody who can bluff their way through a piece of music. I have seen a number of individuals who have never taken a grading in their lives but can play to an extremely proficient and high standard. Most of them smirk at pianists who put themselves through a grading system. I suspect however that few of them, if any could pass a Grade 8 exam. If someone can play, say, Beethoven's Appassionata very well but can't pass the Grade 8 ABRSM, he's just a one-trick pony. He might not be able to sight-read, or know any theory, or have basic aural skills (yes, believe it or not, you don't need aural skills to play advanced repertoire). He might even have been taught that sonata by rote by his teacher, and might not even be able to read music at all (yes, this does happen). He might not even be able to play "Happy Birthday" by ear, using basic chords for the harmony. Really, the ABRSM exams are just basic tests of all-round musical skills, that all classical pianists should have at each stage in their development. They don't demand anything extra that are superfluous to the requirements of any decent musician. To put that in context, my teacher didn't bother to do any aural training with me, or make me practice sight-reading, once she realized that I was playing through lots of stuff on my own (from scores borrowed from the school music library), and that I was singing in the school choir. All she did was to do a 'mock' ABRSM exam with me a couple of weeks before the actual exam, to make sure that my sight-reading and aural skills were up to scratch.
If music be the food of love, play on!
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I have seen a number of individuals who have never taken a grading in their lives but can play to an extremely proficient and high standard... ...
If someone can play, say, Beethoven's Appassionata very well but can't pass the Grade 8 ABRSM, he's just a one-trick pony...
They can both play certain things well. The rest -- the substance behind what got them there -- is really only of consequence to them. Other musicians (it seems more than any) desire the back story before awarding any due (un-biased) appreciation. IE. what else can you do? I grew up listening to all the arguments about it and the mud slinging (if and when it occurs) goes both ways.
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Just curious - and sorry for going off-topic.
There's a fly-fishing exam?
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After comparing his progress to mine, I think he can do it. I've been studied for a year and practiced about 1hr every day or roughly 360hr/yr give or take a few. I'm on the same page as his, learning the same song and techniques (at least according to his blog). My teacher and some good pianist I've known informed me that I can reach grade 8 in about 5-6 years. I know I'm slow so I'll go with 7 years. That is around 2500 hours. He's practicing around 6 hour per day or 2100 hours a year. It's very close so I think it's really doable goal.
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Gave me the giggles, you did. :o))
I'd love to learn fly fishing someday. Without a teacher I'm likely to catch the bottom of my jeans, though.
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Just curious - and sorry for going off-topic.
There's a fly-fishing exam? Yes there are examinations for fly fishing instructors. These are separate qualifications for single handed and double handed fly casting instructors. There are also qualifications for fly dressing instructors. As daft as it may appear the qualifications are extremely difficult to acquire and can take the neck end of a couple of years each to qualify in. Some people take the exam and fail and never go back. In the organisation in which I qualified there were 3 increasingly difficult levels of assessment for trout rods, salmon rods and tying bits of dead animals to fishing hooks. Good innit? Geoff
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