I've been doing piano and voice for a while. Every since I was in high school one has had to suffer, it's mostly piano that suffered since I always had deadlines for voice (I always had competitions and performances to work for). Still, the more I advance the more I realise that I need to put more time into both instrument and it's starting to feel really hard to do this. Has anybody had success at keeping both instruments? I sometimes feel like I should quit one but I really don't want to.

I feel your pain. Maintaining two instruments at a high level is extremely difficult. Often, I will go through phases where one is prominent and the other on the "back burner" for a few months. I recently decided to focus on a career in opera, so my piano playing has suffered. I'm still trying to maintain, however, and get to the piano each day. But to actually progress in piano I'd need to do much more than that. For now, however, I'm OK with just doing what I can with 15, 30 minutes or 1 hour in piano while my focus is on singing.

Some days are better than others, but since making this decision for this season in my life, it's been much less a guilt thing to get to the piano, and more an enjoyment thing when I do. I figure I won't be able to sing on stage when I'm 60, but I'll still be able to play piano, so for now, voice comes first.

I'm with you guys -- it's definitely a struggle, since we all know the kind of focus that is required for mastering an instrument.

I've been trying to 'take turns' between piano and voice. Last year I was preparing for a voice exam, so the majority of my practice time was going to voice, and I was just maintaining my piano skills. Now I'm preparing for a piano exam, so I'm just maintaining my voice skills. I know it can be frustrating for my teachers, but they seem to understand how much is on my plate right now and that there has to be a certain amount of give and take.

My voice teacher wants me to get my ARCT (Associate of RCM) in vocal performance but i told her I can't even think about it until I finish my ARCT in piano pedagogy (hopefully end of this calendar year). So we are focusing on learning lots of different repertoire and just doing a lot of singing so that when I'm ready to prepare for the voice ARCT, I'll have a big list of repertoire to choose from.

I do struggle, however, with the feeling that I won't be truly great at either .. I'll just be a mediocre piano player and singer. Maybe someday I'll have to choose, but right now I'm having too much fun .

At the same time, keep in mind that your skills as a singer are probably improving your phrasing in your piano playing and giving you a nice lyrical sound. AND your skills as a piano player probably make you a better reader than most singers out there.

Over time I've come to realize the different roles these two instruments play in my life. And while they both complement each other, they don't serve the same function. I do not desire to perform in both. For piano, I love teaching and I love playing for myself, and I don't mind accompanying other singers. But I really do not desire to perform that much. It's really more for personal enjoyment and sharing that with others. Voice, however, I LOVE to perform, and I also love to teach. Knowing this, I maintain and learn what I can on piano, but it has become secondary in my life right now to voice, since I need to be on top of my game to perform vocally. There may come a time when this changes, but I've accepted this is how it is for now, and I don't beat myself up about it. It's not like it's a race or something.