Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Attending advanced recital: Inspirational or demoralizing?

I attended a recital by some very advanced players, much younger than me. I really truly enjoyed the music, but sadly it was quite demoralizing, which is not something I expected to feel. I thought I would come out inspired, but instead I feel like giving up. Well, I am not really going to give up, but still... I feel a bit discouraged.

How do you all feel after attending advanced recitals?

Admire and aspire, but never compare.

Piano is all about personal bests. That's how I keep myself from getting discouraged.

I must be an optimist, and a fairly contented person. I have attended two formal piano events, which were very different, but which both brought me pleasure.

The first was the Dallas International Piano Competition, which featured 18 immensely talented and accomplished competitors. The years by which their competence exceeds mine surely outstrips the number of years I have left on this planet. If ever there was occasion to feel discouraged, this was it. These performers were awe inspiring. And that is exactly what I experienced. I did not come away with any negative feelings. Rather, I was delighted to have been in the presence of such dedication, devotion, and excellence. I never had any negative thoughts about myself over the huge gap between us.

The second was just a couple of weeks ago. It was a recital by the music students at the local university music school. A few of them were quite good. and a few others were not that far ahead of me or some of the other beginners here. One student played a section, the middle section, I think, from Clementi's Sonatina number 1, a piece I am familiar with and could recognize. She played it well, with some mistakes. But, there was never any doubt about what piece she was playing. From this recital I drew optimism and hope as the level these students had achieved seemed within reach for someone like me. I never had any negative experience toward myself from watching this recital.

Wise words.

Smart enough to know that comparing yourself to others is a fool's game.

Foolish enough sometimes to engage in it.

Resolved to keep soldiering on, because what else are you gonna do?

Attending recitals or performances of advanced players is neither inspiring nor demoralizing to me. I just enjoy watching them play and listening to the music.

Engaging in "if onlys" is a road I'd rather not travel. I count my blessings that I have any piano skills at all.

I'm with Stubbie. I go because I enjoy live music.

Mostly I attend a local concert series. My most troubling thought tends to be that such hard working, and talented musicians have to work for not much money, and that the competition is fierce to get that low paying gig.

The Olympics are coming up this summer. Virtually no one on this forum is at the equivalent of Olympic level at piano. I will probably watch many of the Olympic events. I will not despair that I can't sprint at 25+ mph like world class sprinters, or high jump 8 feet or whatever. Think about how silly that would be for me or for almost anyone to have those thoughts.

It is just as silly for me to compare myself to top pianists or top musicians or top songwriters. That said, yes, occasionally the discouraging thought does creep in. But I can see how silly the idea is, and laugh at my folly, and the thought goes away.

Same here.

I was running the London Marathon in 2002 when Paula Radcliffe won the women's marathon with a world's best: I saw her running on the other side of the road near Tower Bridge, all alone, with no-one within shouting distance behind her. She inspired me to run faster and post my marathon PR, rather than demoralized me because I was an hour slower than her....... .

The same when I attended Lang Lang's "Inspire" concert in London a few years ago, where he was on the stage with 100 children playing on 50 grand pianos. Several of the kids played solos on the concert grand, most of them much better than I could ever hope to be. When I got home, I went straight to my piano and started practicing hard......

Thanks all, it makes me feel a bit better and puts it perspective. After a few days passed, I feel inspired again to achieve my personal best. I will take that feeling and try to run as far as possible with it.

For me I think it's definitely inspirational.

I mean I've seen tons of children age 7-12 playing pieces I still have severe difficulty working on, I already knew a long long time ago I never had that kind of talent or diligence. It's about getting as good as I can be, although I have very high standards for myself, I don't compare age.

So watching advanced recitals or professional recitals I just think I hope one day with a lot of work, I can play as well as these performers.

may the force be with you!

I attended a lovely concert given by my teacher and a friend of his - Bach Suite for solo cello, a Chopin piece, and then the 3rd Beethoven Concerto for Cello and Piano. Each one different, each one new to me. Really funny part - every time the piano part had some complicated runs in the LH, I could feel my own LH getting tense! More work to do on relaxing, I see.

I used to be indifferent to Beethoven (sorry - mistake of youth) but having heard some of his music in person, I have a brand new opinion. I don't know whether I will ever play even a few measures of the piano part of the Beethoven, but I am inspired to find some kind of piano and cello music that I can play with my daughter when she comes home for the summer.

Without listening to players who are better than you, how will you know how the music is _supposed_ to sound?

Yes, depression may be a side-effect. That's the cost of knowledge.

I find it inspirational to listen to advanced or professional pianists. Sometimes I come away with a "Ooh I want to do that!!!" feeling, and sometimes I just am an awe of what can be done with talent and a lot of hard work.

Last year I took some lessons from a concert pianist, and he would always be playing when I arrived for my lesson. I would often sit in the room listening until he finished a piece and think that if I can learn 10% of the control and musicality that he has, I will be achieved a lot. I found his playing very encouraging, not threatening.

I find it highly inspirational to feel that I'm in the pianist community now, instead of being in the non-pianist community where I have to sit in the audience and just listen. The best thing I've done as a pianist was to join a master class with some extremely talented and nice diploma students, all of them half my age. And the teacher was a friend of mine, a very successful concert pianist. I got terrific lessons and I attended the others' lessons and I felt like an equal to all of them, despite that I was not at all in their league. But who cared? We were all pianists, and I enjoyed to listen to these wonderful talents and the musical experience they gave me.

After all, they have all been as bad as I am. They know how it feels. And I believe they found it a bit inspiring too to join with an adult amateur who had personal goals and not career goals - that is another perspective, and I think we all benefit from having many perspectives.

I recommend that you join and appreciate the company of better pianists - not just as a worshipping fan who think they are immortals and not humans like yourself, but as someone who shares their interest and appreciate their efforts, because you know how to value their efforts. You will become a better pianist yourself ... provided that you are not agonized by the fact that they are better than you. I don't have much of a winner's instinct myself, I run my own race, but I am proud to be a pianist too. Not a GOOD pianist but still ... a pianist.