Piano Expertise
Is it enough to finish 8 grades of Piano, based upon only the syllabus of either Trinity or ABRSM?
I mean to say:
3 pieces per grade counting upto 24 pieces plus scales.
Are they really enough to reach expertise in Piano?
Any ideas please..
Comments
Although some users have claimed 'expertise', you might try searching online piano forums for more feedback from pianists rather than here on an open-source notation forum if you find responses to be lacking.
Hi.
It really depends what you mean by "expertise".
As a pianist/performer of over 50 years, I am still working at improving.
In reply to Hi. It really depends what by xavierjazz
Good answer... to which I would like to add that when one actually starts to enjoy playing (i.e. the sound and the feel of) his/her chosen instrument - then he/she has reached a pivotal level of expertise. After all, many people simply give up before this tipping point. (e.g. too difficult, fingers hurt, cheapo instrument, etc.)
Best regards... and, most importantly, may you always enjoy 'tickling the ivories' - and thereby, improving all the time.
In reply to Good answer... to which I by Jm6stringer
Also, enjoyment and pain, or rather new tensions, can be paralleled without being opposing qualities of ability. The motions of the human body in relation to the spirit are seemingly always open to adaptations upon new understandings and territories -- one of the real decent reasons why practice is fun even under relatively extreme circumstances. With this in mind, expertise does not exist!
In reply to Hi. It really depends what by xavierjazz
Hi..
My meaning of expertise is defined as below with an example:
Currently, I am taking more than a month's time (daily an hour) to play fluently the first part of Beethoven's "fur elise" (if you divide fur elise full piece into 2 parts).
If this can be done within a day's time, then I might think as expertise achieved.
Also, can anyone comment as whether an expert pianist can play immediately a new piece that he is seeing for the first time?
In reply to Hi.. My meaning of expertise by karthiks25
Depends on the complexity of the piece, but yes.
Obviously there are different possible definitions of the word "expertise" here. I guess the relevant one here is, "knowing enough to be able to successful learn any piece in the standard repertoire without additional training". That is, it is not about how well you play or how quickly you learn, but you should at least have the skills required to make a go at just about anything once you complete such a syllabus. Now, I can't say if that goal is actually achieved, but that's what I would imagine the goal to be. So that someone who has completed the syllabus wouldn't come across some piece and say, "I can't figure out how to play this". Instead they might say, "wow, this will be a lot of work, but with sufficient practice, I can get this on my own".
To me, this is also something where you really don’t notice that you are “improving,” even though you are.
Above all, you should enjoy playing your chosen instrument(s), and you should play them regularly – knowing that you will inevitably have good days and not-so good days. Play at whatever speed is comfortable for you, and r-e-l-a-x and enjoy it. The ability to make music – at all – is a precious thing.
If Für Elise is not doing it for you today, how about a little improvised ragtime?! :-D
Just go with the flow and have fun at what you are doing. Do this, and, quite by accident, you will “steadily improve.”
The enjoyment of playing a musical instrument should last a lifetime. I certainly know that it has for me (and don't dig a hole for me yet!).
Another thing that I have lately begun to do is: I always record it. I am playing a MIDI-equipped instrument and I am always, whether with a DAW or just a simple phone-app, capturing it. No, I don’t keep everything that I capture, but, then again, I’m not exactly going to run out of disk space anytime soon. I just hit the Record button and basically forget about it.
Inspiration wanders by at the oddest moments. And, guess what! You caught it!
With computer technology, you can now record your performance and literally repair the “clammed” notes. With any good DAW you can mark out a section for automatic “punch-in / punch-out” and re-record as many “takes” of that section as you please, until you arrive at one that sounds right to you. You can easily exchange the data back-and-forth between MuseScore and something else.