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Dear Reaper978:

To be as good as Rubinstein...well, that's just about every classical pianists' dream..so you are not alone in this desire.

But pianists like Hofmann, Rachmaninoff, Hororwitz and Rubinstein just come around every century or so, maybe just like a comet. For every one of them, there are thousands of others, all have devoted every waking hour to their passion and who have sacrificed everything -- a normal life...meaning family, friends and fun.

And out of those thousands, there are, perhaps, one or two who have what it takes to make it to the concert stage.

As for those who don't make it, do they quit playing and go to a vocational school to learn a new trade? Hardly!

Do they say: "Well, if I can't have it all, then I don't want any of it?" I doubt it. If they have this attitude, then they really didn't have what it takes...after all.

I'm just a person whose dream is to live long enough (I'm 67) to be able to play as many of Chopin compositions as possible. I just want to recreate beautiful music. And I hope I die sitting at the piano.

Regards,
Kathleen

I hear Shiro approaching

I was discussing some of these things with my teacher today. It's one of the problems common to adult learners. We have an ear that is developed way beyond our fingers. I hear and feel all the subtle differences and understand when the technique is explained to me but getting the fingers to cooperate is near impossible.

Mine is pretty much the same as mentioned. I spend so much time learning a piece, drop it for a while and then come back to find out it has flown away....

Then of course the technical problems. Some things are just out of reach. And I sure wish I could read quicker....

I just have to say again how comforting it is to know that my frustrations are shared by so many! Makes them less frustrating some how. Thanks everyone for sharing!

Not being as good as those professional jazz pianists I listen to on CD and watch in person or on TV even after literally MONTHS of practice!

popular kids!

Oh Debussy20!

I often wonder how talented kids manage. I know you are talented and I know you are about 14 and I know that at 14, life is tough! How do you manage to keep your (obvious) passion for piano when the peer pressure is so great at your age? My hat is off to you for sticking to it and for your talent, and for your wisdom at such a young age (and I can say that as I just found out I'm going to be a grandmother...ahhhhhh ) So I'm REALLY old!!

Anyway, it's great having you around and I enjoy your input here! Thanks!

I have always maintained, well….not always, but most of the time, certainly, that one should play with a confident (aggressive) style, perhaps better described as "decisive" – Yes! Decisive. One should play decisively, as I do, but not always. This is why I get frustrated. Sometimes.

My frustration is with memorizing. It is sooooo hard to do but so important. I really can't start to make music until I've memorized a piece.

I just wish it was easier.

my biggest frustration is waiting to be good. Isn't frustrating learning something new about playing, that you should have known already. Piano is so simple but so complex. Sometimes I think we care too much and that is why it becomes so hard. Another frustration is learning how to put all the different parts of playing together. Listening, Fingering, Reading, Counting.
.. boy is that frustrating. Let me know how you handle it.

Monica already posted the one that's my current nemesis:

Recording is like playing in a live recital with your worst critic sitting right beside you. Maybe the more you do it the esier it becomes. We'll see.

Here is a recording I made earlier today of Chopin's "Suffocation" Prelude. The tempo is a little too fast and it may have other problems as well, but it's the best I could muster at the time with that red-eyed monster close by.

http://www.box.net/public/zlb7uhh70a

Hoping for a cure …

Record Relapse Disorder (RRD) . . . when the “record” light goes on, playing ability is severely regressed . . . relapse is to an earlier stage of skill, talent and piano experience (pre-natal in extreme cases) . . .

Pedal Abuse Syndrome (PAS) . . . in contact with a piano pedal (may also occur in vehicular contexts), sudden-onset increase in foot-bone density, mass and weight . . . also known as “anvil foot” . . .

Tympanic Membrane Playback Cacophony Distress (TMPCD) . . . a secondary complication of having both RRD and PAS . . . acute eardrum pain induced by playback of recordings of jarring, pedal-sustained, wrong-note dissonance.

Mike,

It appears as though I may be doing great harm to myself trying to drive that 600 pound beast around the living room. Not only is it causing severe syndromes to me...taking me back to the womb, club foot, ruined ears...but I may harm the neighbors as well if I lose control and break through a wall. Heaven forbid I'd flatten them out and need to call an ambualnce to haul them away to the hospital for physical and emotional emergency care. Perhaps it's best that I leave the beast alone and quiet. My, my, what a terrible couple of days for me.

What's your advice Doc?

You forgot the Teacher Relapse Disorder and related Shaky Hands.

Positively giggling...

Patty

Your words, Lisztener, evidence the appropriately tortured soul of a musician . . . however, your posted recordings show no signs of RRD/PAS/TMPCD. Let the beast sing!

quarter note triplets in the RH played against 2 quarter notes in the LH

Interesting thread. A few years ago I was listening to Ludovico Einaudi on Classic FM, playing Le Onde and I thought, hmm, I can play that. So I ordered the sheet music book and well.. perhaps I just play the uppernotes with the RH. SLOWLY. So I started with "Passagio" . After a few weeks fiddling away I heard it the way it should be played and I almost fell from the pianobench. Aaargh, it was played at least 4 times faster than I did. So there's the difference: I can play it in my head but somehow the signal from the brain ...gets lost.. on its...way ... to the...hands...
So, that my frustration. Anyway, what's wrong with playing a boogie woogie like a lullaby, as long as I like the way it sounds to me?
Lately there was a thread about "sad pieces, melancholy, flats" etc. Well, my pieces sound melancholic even played with sharps

Lisztener,

You play the Prelude beautifully!

But where did you get that awful name for it?

I think your tempo is just right for this piece.

Please consider posting your link in the "Totally Devoted To Chopin" thread.

Otherwise your wonderful recording is just going to get quickly buried here.

Thanks for posting your terrific playing.

Mel

Lisztner: Very nice on the prelude. It's one of my favorites, maybe because it's one of 6 that I can play. Did you get a clue for the name because Chopin had an extreme fear of being buried alive (as did his father)?

Yes, please do post it one the Totally Devoted to Chopin Thread for all us "avid fans" to hear.

Kathleen

My greatest frustration is....
getting frustrated.

Too many things to list as far as frustrations go... so I won't bother to list them.

My current frustration is figuring out a way to situate my keyboard comfortably in from of my computer station. Anybody have a picture or can describe how they made their music workstations comfy and easy to navigate around?