Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Has the web impacted your piano playing in a positive or negative way or neither?

hmmm, sorta made it compulsive

just take into consideration the time spent you see others playing their pieces that have been posted as clips on the Net.

I rarely spend time listening/watching videos on the Internet, unless a Piano World member has asked to critique a video performance.

Regards,

No, videos of people playing have done little for me in themselves.

However, the web has introduced me to many interesting pianists and musicians around the world, several of whom have now become friends. I do not use the web per se, just to get interesting contacts to whom I then write and exchange ideas at the personal level.

The web has enabled me to purchase recordings and scores I could have obtained in no other way.

The web has thousands of interesting essays and articles about music and piano playing. Many of these have helped me considerably.

The web, largely through its forums, has enabled me to help a surprising number of people. I would not have thought myself much use to anybody concerning music and playing the piano but it has turned out that I am. This is a pleasing consequence of the web.

So, to answer the title question as it stands, without restriction to just videos, I would have to say that the impact of the web on my music has been completely positive in every way.

purely positive.

i, too, don't watch videos of others - with the obvious exception of wonderful precious ones like Michealangeli, Cortot, Rubinstein etc on YouTube because otherwise, i would have no way of watching them play. of course they're good not only for learning purposes, but also for enjoyment.

It's mixed -

Positive, because I work on polishing more pieces for recording I post.

Negative, because I spend too much time on the internet.

Rich

I watch quite a few internet performances. For the last 7 years, I lived in West Texas and didn't get a chance to see many good pianists perform, so watching videos and listening to recordings on the internet has been a nice way to stay connected.

I'll probably watch less now that I live in a piano-friendly college town (lots of live performances here in IC.)

Positive because listening to lots of material on youtube from the (old) masters or good amateurs inspires me to practice/play.

Definitely positive, for many reasons others have listed like access to information and performance videos, and feeling like a part of a music community. And what about the astounding amount of public-domain sheet music that's freely available?

I can't see any downside other than the amount of time I spend at the computer. But I used to sit in front of one all day at work, so I'm used to it—and I watch a lot less television.

In fact, I watch very little YouTube—but I'm glad it's there.

Steven

I was like a kid in a candy store when I discovered youtube. I have probably thousands of videos of world class pianists(stored by the pianist's name)and continually find it enjoyable to watch them.

Positive!!

Whenever I need to learn a new piece, I just went to Youtube, and listened to many examples.

In addition, I also can learn from others' mistakes.

Great thread!

Definitely positive purely for the motivation it provides.

Negative effect on my playing (if I had spent the time practicing that I do here or surfing looking for performances on disc or YouTube, I'd be a lot better), but it's certainly taught me a lot, made some friends, and helped me increase my CD collection. I'm unlikely to catch up with Kluurs in that area, however

Very, very positive. I love messing around with different music, even if it's way beyond my technique. I find it very helpful to hear what the piece is (at least nominally) supposed to sound like before launching in to it. Maybe it's a lack of formal training, but I often have difficulty guessing the way something should sound like without hearing it (Szymanowski sonatas, most recent).

Also I find it very inspiring to see great performances. I spent a few minutes last PM watching Horowitz play Scriabin etudes. If that doesn't make you want to practice I don't know what can.

And finally, I had never heard of Marc-Andre Hamelin, Martha Argerich, Georges Cziffra, or Claudio Arrau (to name a few) until I hit youtube. Am I ignorant? Yeah, I guess so. There were certain pianists I liked and I tended to always buy their CDs (Horowitz, Rubinstein, Brendel, Ashkenazy, Van Cliburn, Richter, a few others). Lesson learned. Youtube has opened my eyes to a lot of great pianists.

For all of the above I must say that the web has had a very positive impact on me, at least with respect to music and the piano. If the stupid spam in my email would just go away . . .

It has been an invaluable research resource. BTW, I have no use for YouTube...

Definitely positive.
If it wasn't for the internet, I wouldn't be taking lessons right now.

It may sound weird or ignorant, but I always thought that the process of music learning was forbidden to adults, that it was a privilege for children. If you didn't take lessons as a child, oh what a pity you're definitely late, there's no second chance for you.
But surfing the net I learn there is not only possible for an adult to learn, but also that there're LOTS of adult students doing really well.

As for youtube, I have found there interpreters and music which have inspired me and widen my musical horizons.

[Edited for typos]

Definitely positive. Through the web I can consult with other pianists and musicians. This is something I can't do here. Also I find many other pianist at different levels playing the same repertoire on YouTube. I also get to hear new pieces that I have no chance of hearing otherwise. I also enjoy studying theory through the various online ear training media.

youtube videos have been really inspiring to me, although I spend too much time online when I should probably be practicing more.

unalloyed positive

The Web has had absolutely no influence on my playing at all. It has influenced my shopping and my personal communications, it has revolutionized my research and work life, but has had no influence on my piano playing per se, other than to allow me to order special editions of repertoire that might not be available in our little city.