I am astonished at the sheer amont of music people like taylor eigsti, eldar dgangirov, gearld clayton etc have learned at their age.

They have pretty extensive classical training.. and when I hear them play the sound very fluent in funk and latin style, at least enough to sound authentic.

And I know they've done quite a bit of homework on the jazz end.. I've heard gelard clayton do a great block chord solo, and Eldar played Oscar Peterson's Place St. Henri.

What surprises me is that each of the things I mentioned takes years to master.. playing block chord solo is not easy.

So I was wondering, how realistic is it for most of us to

play authentic funk
play authentic latin jazz
play Chopin Etudes

and on top of that have

Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock... etc in your playing.

All at the same time?

btw I know these guys are not going to be as good as a classical, funk, latin specialist, buts its amazing that they do it at a respectable level.

First thing, if you own a metronome and a hammer, use
the latter to smash the former. That is, you need to get
away from the idea that music is played in strict
time. The way sheet music is written gives only
the roughest outline of how a piece is actually
played in performance. Real music is played with
rubato, that is, in more or less free time. This
is the key to good playing, no matter what kind of music you're
playing.

Sheet music is written with a time signature,
and that gives an approximate pulse to the music,
but the divisions of the beat, the smaller time value
notes, are typically not played in strict time.
In particular, 4-16th notes, 4-8th notes, 2-8ths,
2-16ths, triplets, etc. are usually not played in strict
time. It is these divisions of the basic beat where
the real music starts to emerge, and where you shine as a
performer, and start to "swing," whether you're playing
classical or jazz.

Huh, what does that have to do with anything I wrote?

I don't know how you ended up getting the idea that I was asking for advice as to how to play music. That's clearly not what this post is about. Why did you decide to write me a response about not using the metronome, and what real music is? how does that relate to what I wrote about the young prodigies?

Keep in mind that prodegies are prodegies for a reason; I don't think that they are just ordinary people who started early and worked hard. I think that they are people who literally have a significantly higher gifting than the average musician in that they simply think and process these abilities at faster and more efficient rate than others do. This is in addition to the hard work and detirmination that comes with being a musician.

etc,

yeah some of these young piano players are really amazing.

i used to think that i had to play every style authentically, but i dont worry about that anymore. i think it's impossible anyway--a least for me. you dont want to spread yourself too thin. but at the same time you want to be well rounded too musically. so it's matter of finding that right balance with the styles that you are practicing.

right now im only working on a few different areas of my playing. but it's good because i make more progress when i focus on less.

dave& piano N Cheezcake

yea, I was working on some funk, and it dawned on me that playing good funk is a huge undertaking. Same with latin music, it takes time to learn enough montunos and do them stylistically right.

I know Those guys have enormous talent, but they had very early exposure too. both Eldar and Gearld Clayton had family who played music professionally and they probably had more oppertunity to listen and even play with real funk/latin bands growing up.

I started late so I had to focus on one thing, but I really wish I had it all.. I love funk, and I still want to play Ravel's Jeux De Aeu(Sp?) or Beethoven's Wladestein sonata... not because I have to... but I really love them all. It's very inspiring to hear a good classical pianist refine a piece of music the way they do. And I equally love how people like George Duke can grove and make you feel good.

but then again, my teachers are great players, but they probably can't play real funk/latin either.

I guess In the end you do what you can do, and do your best. You can do 5-7hrs of practice just with the jazz stuff alone, and that's fine if that's what you're into.

For real...
Anyway, what do you mean exactly with authentic funk? I don't think any jazz artists has really gotten away with it except Herbie Hancock. And Ravel - Jeux d'eau is out of most avarage classical pianist league aswell.
This clip totally kills me everytime http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cumoVX7x3Zo

KlinkKlonk

I've heard those guys do funk and other stuff, and they sounded pretty convincing. of course they are not going to be as fluent as someone who spent their career doing but I was pretty impressed. but It could be more of a generation thing.. They probably listened to more funk and other stuff growing up than my teachers.

As far as classical music is concerned.. I read Kenny Kirkland and Alan Broadbent were concert-level pianist.. but I guess Kenny Werner and George Shearing didn't go very far... So I guess it really depends on the person. I don't think some of my teachers are able to play Jeux D'eau even if they practiced, not that well, at least... and they are very good players.

Maybe I will have time to work on that once I feel like I've done enough on the jazz stuff.. right now my hands are full just on the jazz end of things.

Speaking of someone who can do everything, Uri Caine's really amazing. I have his version of Bach's Goldberg Variation and he literally does everything on that album, everything from Mozart imitation to post-bop, to techno. I can't believe that one person can do all that, I don't know how he does it.