Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Difference between amateurs/pros?

Professional by definition is that they make they're money as a musician. Amateur by definition only means that they do something ELSE for a living.

"Practice" is correct spelling in American English, but I'm pretty "practise" is fine in England, kind of like "colour"/"color".

motif, can't you read and comprehend? I didn't write what you ascribed to me.

all answers read, I miss this: am's love the music, pro's live the music.

I think a big problem with saying Pros live the music is it brings up to many philosophical arguments.

What about composers such as Schumann who wrote a lot, does this mean he was an amatuer?

Professionals get paid, do it for a living, so they are expected to have higher standards. What makes this even easier for professionals is that they have literally their whole lifetime to practice and improve. Amateurs mostly don't get paid, and only make their piano playing a part-time occupation,, thats why most people think they will never reach the same standards of a professional. But with a good mix of talent and hard work, I believe an amateur can also play at a 'professional' level.

When it comes to the arts, most people have romanticized notions.

Just like any profession, you have those who live and breathe their work, others who are equally great and devoted to their craft but treat it like a job, and everything in between.

you cannot treat art as a job, once you do you're only craftsman not an artist, hence no better then pianola.

Until you provide us with your art, you're just a poser.

what i'm more interested in... is whether, for a given piece, an amateur can play better than professionals.

perhaps even world-class professionals.

right now i tend to think it's possible, at least for less ambitious pieces. like, i imagine, many amateurs play "fur elise" better than professionals... i think many chopin waltzes and perhaps nocturnes are within reach for good amateurs.

gilbert kaplan, economist by trade, became the foremost authority on Mahler's 2nd symphony. the thing is, he's a one-trick pony--said symphony is the only piece he has ever conducted (at least up till a few years ago). so, at least when it comes to interpreting, "amateurs" can do better than professionals. but when there are such technical requirements at the piano, i wonder.

I'd rather be poser then pianola.

There is no either-or in treating art like a job and treating it like something you love. If it is indeed your job, then it's always both, and the only question is "how much", not "if".

And a dedicated amateur could conceivably treat it LIKE his job, i.e. seriously and without excuses, even if it wasn't what people paid him to do.

Curious ... are all those Mp3's on your site covers Dave? If so, that ain't art either.

Let's please not get started on what's "art" and what isn't, because I may just throw my laptop out the window in rage this time.

(and I like my laptop)

Oh wonderful, now I'm being critiqued by a New Age musician.


Create Your Own Beautiful New Age Piano Music Now ... Even If You've Never Touched A Keyboard In Your Life!


Easily SIGN UP NOW with Safe Secure PayPal!

Whatever you are, you are most definitely silent. (Of course I meant musically silent, not verbally silent. )

I was aware the first thing to come in mind would the payment issue, that's why I chose to ask "can amateurs be anywere close to pros" instead of "What's the dif between ams/pros". But the answers made me feel a lot better and feel like there's a point in practicing after all.

Or COURSE there's a point! You don't do it for money, fame, or whatever. You do it because you LOVE it so much you have no other choice. You do it because the passion inside of you won't allow you NOT TO. Now you won't always FEEL like practising, but that's not the point. You do it because the excitement of discovering something new with the turn of every page (even after playing for over 40 years) still drives you because you realise that this learning thing will NEVER EVER end!

Stores, don't be so romantic. Professional musicians practice even when they don't want to because they have very high standards. I won't accept a job when I come back from vacation since I'm not in shape. Being a professional musician is much like being a professional athlete. You're always in training.

Who's being romantic? I meant every word I said.

Well, he would know.

My teacher and my former teacher say the same thing, as well as the other professionals I meet/have met.

And yes, I practice even when I don't want to, but I find inspiration WHILE practicing and end the end, enjoy it like I did before!

For example (and even if this is off topic, I still want to share), if I need to practice Mozart but don't want to, I'll listen to one of his string quartets or something like that... Mozart gives me some unique feeling of joy and bliss, and when I hear it from his string quartets, it renews my inspiration and makes me want to produce that same feeling in the sonata I'm playing