i hear its very hard to become a concert pianist. since people say this im enforced to think that to be a concert pianist you never make mistakes at all and youre always perfect (which is impossible to me). wut does it really take?

i have the same question as PianoPymp.... i really want to be a concert pianist... or other lines as long as it's related to performing....

8++ hours of practice a day, no less; the ultimate dedication to your instrument and music; an unbreakable spirit and years of experience. Your sight-reading must be at a superhuman level, your fingering and technique unmatched, hyper-accurate pitching and timing, and the ability to make your second-hand upright sound like a Steinway grand.

That pretty much sums it up.

thanks for that...i will work hard... and not spend too much time here...

wow ive been playing for 2 and a half years and im playin the very difficult pieces that are considered level 8 and higher and practice a minimum of 5 hours a day but i still cant sight read well or dont have any of that other stuff. i dont think that i could become one

same...

i do practise alot but i think to become a concert performer of any sort, u must have ultimate dedication to ure instrument and practise.

All i can say is, as long as you work hard and look towards it, you can acheive it

Someone once said the most important thing is to be able to recover from mistakes so well that 90% of the audience don't even realise you've made one!!

i think that its just as bad if i hear the mistake when as when the audience hears it

being able to cover up mistakes easily
having a good memory.. O______O
DEDICATION. LOTS.

In addition to an obscene amount of practicing and dedication to your instrument a college degree in performance would help a great deal, going to a prestigious music school being taught by other pianists the "tricks of the trade" is a valuable experience and can greatly increase your level of performance as well as how well you deal with competition from your peers. I for example am currently a Music Theory/History, and Piano Performance major. Afterward I plan on attending graduate school to earn my PhD or DMA.

is music history fun? i personally perfere performing....

QUOTE (liebe_klavier @ Aug 26 2004, 02:31 PM)

is music history fun? i personally perfere performing....

I would say a good understanding of the historical background of music development is quite necessary for a convincing and good performance of any pieces of music.

The reason being that you have to know what the composer is writing for, and why he is doing for that... Is he happy or sad? Is he angry or is he motivated/excited... etc, etc...

And as you link the periods together, and relate the composers from one to another, you will appreciate more about what is inside the music... and why is that.

Although I wouldn't think it's very "fun" to study the history, it indeed is an integral part of any pianist that will enable him/er to (more) fully and truely "understand", interpret and perform that music.

Cheers,
Tannie

thanks...ar u studying in a music college or in uni? coz i reeli wanna go to music college... as i do love performing..

OH.... poor me, I am on the opposite side of the river
I have a degree in electronic and a diploma in financial market...
I began learning piano only after my first degree, and just got to grade 8 this year...
Although... a degree in music is part of my dream too!
I am trying very hard to make it possible - financially, mainly!

There's only a certain level you can get to, and once there - any further gain is near on impossible. Many Concert Pianist really are born that way, they have it both physically and mentally. One without the other = failure. 99.9% of people here won't make it as a concert pianist IMO. You don't see many concert pianist spending hours on forums, posting birth dates, and the like. Pianist can, and are sometimes, very reclusive, and very occasionally - dysfunctional. I will be a Piano teacher one day, but not a concert Pianist - that is, at the highest level which gets you at least a Google search/result!.

Concert pianist do more than just practice piano too, it is a total musical thing, and playing with other musicians, chamber music, etc. they also seem to be well educated, well spoken, and upper-class people, but can also come from poor families - but these are likely to be in Russian suburbs eastern Europe etc.

Color of the skin sometimes makes a difference: how many black Concert Pianist do you know, performing on the stage, and what percentage are these compared to white? (Asian/Chinese are obviously in a different class - Ask Lang Lang;)

oh i see...