Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Anyone else still not understand how we do what we do?

Sometimes I'm sitting at the piano and I sort of go into third person mode and look at my hands flying across the keys and wonder "how am I doing that?".

I've been playing for about 15 years now and I've tackled a lot of pieces. I know everyone here has done their share of work learning, performing or attempting plenty of pieces of varying complexity. However, even at this stage of experience, does anyone wonder how they're able to navigate across 88 similarly shaped keys at varying speeds? I sit here astounded and still perplexed by my own capability.

It´s kind of the opposite for me. On rare occasions I do feel satisfied with my accomplishments but more often I'm amazed by the knowledge and skill gap. Glass half empty I guess.

I have this feeling often--not that my skills are all that stunning! But especially after doing lots of slow work with a piece, at some point it will start to move at speed, and I'll think, gee, who knew I could do that? (Plus I could never explain how it is that I'm doing it.)

N.B. Those of a squeamish disposition - please don't read this post!

Having just watched (on TV) the dissection of a (fairly fresh) human hand and forearm, which reminded me of the year I spent doing the same on a cadaver learning anatomy many, many years ago, I'm again in awe of how we pianists manage to hit all the right keys, in the right order. Or at least, some of the time. Well, maybe most of the time.

After all, it's all just a series of mechanical linkages - muscles (attached to bones) turning into tendons enclosed within sheaths, culminating in insertions onto other bones.....

Not sure if this link works outside the UK, but be warned - it contains 'graphic medical scenes':
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01mv2md/Dissected_The_Incredible_Human_Hand

Me too, my incredible ability to take a piece of music by any composer and completely muck it up has never failed to disappoint me. I don't see that ever changing. Playing the piano for me is simply a prolonged series of massive failure. It reminds me of that famous old saying, "One door closes, and the corridor gets darker!" Glass Half-empty? Doesn't begin to define the bleak and comfortless desolation of the piano. Only rivalled by a Jack Benny Birthday Party, I would guess.

I think about it constantly. Trying to understand the brain and how it works.....

More incredible to me - since I rarely get everything right when I'm playing - is the fact that we can be trained and can learn to look at lines, dots, squiggles and a few foreign language words on a piece of paper and transform them into sounds that can range from the ethereally sublime and evocative, to the tender and loving to the passionate and outright aggressive. That is amazing!

Regards,

I experience those feelings when I hear recordings of my own playing or seeing vids of my playing. It is then that I am amazed, and baffled, by the ability to play.

I except that others can do it, but I'm surprised that I have the ability, also.

I'm no more baffled by skill at piano than I am with skill at chess, speed skating, auto racing, figure skating, Rubik's cube, or anything else requiring enormous amounts of training and practice.

I have a little bias toward piano of course, but most other things are equally amazing.

I'll take it a step further: I am always baffled and amazed, when I consider it, that I can give a mental command to raise my arm, and then the arm just... raises. One thinks of the mental world and the physical world as being separate, but here I am, just... willing things to happen. I'm quite serious, this amazes me.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow...


-J

Not really with myself, because I'm too aware of my own flaws for that, but I am always amazed at beginner students It's just incredible how they become able to make music! I think this is why I love teaching beginners...

Wait, so you're saying you can move your arms just by using your thoughts!? I knew telekinesis was real!

Maybe you should re-evaluate your goals at playing the piano. Are you trying to impress the world? You will likely always be disappointed.
Are you trying to play beautiful music? That may be a goal you've already reached.

If one looked at what the average pianist could do after one month most wouldn't find it amazing. Then just multiply that by the rest of the time you spent reaching your present level.

What is amazing is the level reached by the top .01% of pianists.

Heh, reminds me of a quote I read,

"I do not consider myself a virtuoso. I do not find the things I do difficult." --Arcadi Volodos

I think the discussion is going slightly off my intended track. I'm really just pointing out the fact that we are capable of playing the piano at all. The thought that we can put our hands to the keys and execute complex movement is astonishing to me. Regardless of the fact that I'm self aware and I know whats going on between my brain, hands, fingers etc,... I still cannot comprehend how it's possible.

My experience chimes with this thread (except for the "when I play very advanced..." parts).

Even if it's only a small piece, hearing the piano sound and knowing that your fingers made that is one of the best parts of life. You only get frustrated by what you CAN'T make!

It seems... very usual and not original at all to me.

On the other hand seeing someone running 100 meters in less than 8 secs, or seeing someone RUN 44 klm in a few hours is just stunning! These are super humans!

Oh, check out the Badwater Ultramarathon sometime

I can't run 100m in less than 8 sec (I might just scrape in under 16 sec....), but I've run 44km non-stop in a few hours several times.

But I don't think Superman has much to fear from me, either as a competitor or as an adversary . And I've definitely spent more hours tinkling the plastics (a.k.a. 'ivories') to get to a decent (i.e. mediocre) standard than I have pounding the pavements (a.k.a. sidewalks) and trails to enable me to run 44km in less than 3 1/2 hr.