Piano Practice Reg.

Probably method 3 - )

However, you need to ask yourself 'How many hours in a day am I going to need in order to attain my goal? ' -:)

Are Trinty (TCL) providin you with a choice of Sales (A or B section) or is the choice a 'quick study'?

I will be back later.

I am going to follow this thread with great interest

-:)

Ok... Here we go

I found this list to help you

It is a list of of piano pieces with their grade difficulty approximations for each grades 1 to 8 (I am aware that RCM in Canada use 1 to 10, and there may be others :) )

Then you could also have a look at Trinity Rockschool piano exams, and also RockSchool Piano/Keyboard exam syllabus - They are 2 separate exam board by the way.

This is just a test to see if it posts... my last one didn't

Ah.. ok... it did :-)

The skill you wish to aquire is sight reading. I will come to this in a little while.

The examnation boards in the UK - namely the Trinity College London, (TCL) the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and the London College of Music (LCM, under the auspices of West London University (previously Thames Valley University) ) have a piano syllabus from Grades 1 to 8. The examinations consists of all or some of these elements

Technical - ie. Scales and arpeggios. or a quick study

Performance - usually 3 pieces from specified list A.B & C (three from total of nine pieces) This will therefore be 3 pieces in 3 contrasting styles eg Baroque, Classical and Modern (20th/21st Century)

Aural - a variety of test to test the candidates ability to distinguish between different rhtyhms, intervals, sing melodies, beat in time... (There are graded exams in Musicianship with the ABRSM)

Viva Voce - Theoretical question about the nature of the pieces, terminlology eg. what does Lento mean? etc.

Sight reading - The candidate has to play a piece that they have never seen before'

All of the Examination Boards will provide you with a syllabus, and matrial that you can purchase in order to make the examinations a success.

Now, what should happen is that a candidate for any particular grade eg. Grade 1 'Should' be able to play any one of the pieces on that syllabus list. They 'should' be able to sight read the excerpt in the 'sight reading' part of the exam. If you have been taght well, and have been motivated to research and learn about different styles of music, constantly practicing (sp?), learning new material etc. then I see no difficulty in pursuing your deram of becoming a professional pianist. However, it usually takes a candidate about 1 year per grade - sometimes 2 grades in a year..... motivation is the key..It is very difficult to obtain this knowledge from an hour or half hour lesson per week (There is an excellent list of postings from another forum, which I will link to later. The teacher had success, because s/he taght the student every day.... )

In reality... it tends to be that a candidate has prepared the material for his/her examinations, only concentarting on the 3 necessarry pieces, and scales/arpeggios, leaving the 'aural tests as a last minute thing'.....:-) I'm sure you get the picture.
Examiners and teachers are aware of it! So some teachers are in favour of exams - the 'exams prove nothing' side of the coin, whists others use them to develop their teaching curriculum.

I have known students who have passed Grade 5, but are only able to play the 3 pieces from an exam syllabus, and not a lot else (I know, I was one of them :-)) They are able to prepare for an exam, and it all works out well for them 'on the day'

This is why auditions are necessarry in order to enter university/Conservetoire courses...
On paper, one might seem like an ideal candidate - but in reality.... well...

The Professional Pianists world encompases many different aspects. Some become Concert Panists, other become educators, accompanists, play for Stage shows, Jazz pianists, play in string trios, Quintets etc.

(On another thread someone asks why people learn the piano? The piano does offer more versaility than others ... by that I mean from the piano, you will find it easier to compose, learn harmony, learn how to accompany, fit in with other musicians etc. You have the complete range of orchestral instruments at your fingertips (but only 10 fingers to play them with :-) )

Sight reading is a skill in its own right. There are plenty of pianists who would certainly not go on stage without at least 2 rehearsals, and some time to pracitce the music in between. There are others who can simply 'turn up and play'
It depends on how you read the music.... what 'shortcut' methods do you hae to be able to interpret and play the music. Remember, you have to decode pitch and rhythm in an instant - read ahead a bar or two. - If you are accompanying, then red the soloists part as well.
Paul Harris has written an accompanying book for each of the piano grades. His book is quite useful :-)

If you want to look into the further realms of the professional piano world, then consider the diplmas pffered by the forementiond Examination Boards. Each has an Associate level, Licentiate and Felowship level (eg. F.L.C.M., F.R.S.M, F.T.C.L.)

my advice to you would be to find a good teacher..one who isnt just concerned about exams, but your overall musicianship skills. Find other musicans to play with. Go to concerts. There are plenty of piano pieces available on Youtube. There are plenty of instructional videos as well (some good, some not so good)

I am going to provide you with 2 excellent link as a source to your inspiration

www.pianostreet.com - a UK based site

and

www.pianoworld.com - a USA/Canadian based site

I am sure you know most of this already :-)

Good luck, and never give up :-)

PS. I hope I haven't mispelled anything... had a bad day... now where is that Daniel Powter video :-)

Lacking a deadline, practice your personal drive and intuition so as to minimize the desire for outside input regarding judgment toward the proper way of going about something such as following this syllabus; take time to find out what works for you. Grab online public-domain performances of the listed compositions and listen to them "kinesthetically" if you will, but also psychologically so that you can make better decisions regarding what you want to accomplish. Commit to bite-sized decisions.
 
1) Baby steps ( "What About Bob?" )
2) Never quit; take breaks when needed - you'll know when.
3) Keep a log regarding any and all of your physical, mental, and spiritual realizations in the process.
 
And with that, I think I'm off of the MS boards for quite a while.
Good luck with your endeavors.
 
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You say: "...completing the Trinity eight grades of music and become a piano professional." I wonder if you realise that getting to grade 8 is generally reckoned as the level required to enter one of the music schools (in London the Royal Academy [of music], the Royal College, Trinity, and Guildhall). If you spend 3+ years at one of these colleges, and are *outstanding*, you probably have a career ahead of you as a soloist. Otherwise it's a tough business. Do we understand from your question that you have not actually achieved Grade 1 yet?

Hi.

The meaning of a "piano professional" is being able to make a living by playing piano.

There are many different styles that can lead to that, and classical music is one of those styles.

Ultimately the most important thing is to be able to play, first, to your own satisfaction, and then to a level that others want to hear. If you don't like what you are playing it is questionable that anyone else will.

Trying to learn to play well by reading music is not really the most important thing, although reading is helpful.

To really play well it is important to UNDERSTAND how music works. That actually requires a GOOD teacher who actually does understand how music works.

In my experience playing (professionally), learning and teaching music for over 50 years, most teachers themselves don't have a clear idea of how music works, and so they find pieces that "sound good" and then use rote learning to get the student to "perform" the music.

You can get quite far (in terms of performance of those pieces) but ultimately when you get to "difficult" pieces you hit a wall. While there are many reasons why people hit that wall, personally I believe that lack of knowledge on the part of "professional teachers" is one of the main reasons.

I could go on, but I want to try and help you.

So, this is what I recommend:

Don't focus on being "professional". Spend time LEARNING, with a good teacher, the intrinsic structure of music.

MEMORIZE all the pieces you work on. I had the misfortune to have been taught to read and depend on having music in front of me most of the time, and that interfered with developing my ear. It took great effort and many embarrassing moments for me to free myself from the tyranny of reading.

LISTEN, listen, listen - to good music, and most importantly to yourself. record your playing. Be firm in your criticism and forgiving of your weaknesses.

Solve something every time you practise. Memorize one bar, fix one note, make a pedal gesture better, fix something.

Spend TIME, concentrating. Don't give up.

Enjoy yourself. Don't make practise a dreaded event. Amongst all the work, PLAY (in all meanings of the world.

Understand that playing well is a process, not a destination. I am still improving, and plan to until they carry me away. I'm lucky.

Accept any opportunity to perform in public, if you feel you can survive not living up to YOUR expectations.

Play with others as much as possible. That is an important place where the true spirit of music enters the room, and there is always an opportunity to learn in a group environment.

Try to accept that there will always be someone "better" than you. Release envy, work harder, be kind to yourself.

Be generous to your fellows, you will feel better about yourself and so will they. You never know who has a gig in their pocket. I will share a personal experience. Not too long ago, an opportunity came up where I decided to add a trumpet player to a band I was hired to produce. There are many great players here in Toronto, and I went to see one that I had never worked with but knew slightly. He saw me in the audience and introduced me to the crown. That made me feel good and I was already predispose to give him the gig - that's why I was there. After the concert I hung around to offer him the gig. He (for reasons known only to himself) decided to act in an arrogant and unpleasant manner to me, surrounded by his "fans". Shortly after, I left. I hired another player, a great player and we had a wonderful time. Be kind.

There is so much more, but ......

You can do it, good luck.