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Absolutely. There are a ton of other songs that people request over and over. Cranking out Bach or Prokofiev might be impressive, for about ten minutes, but after that, people begin yawning. Jazz standards, blues, boogie, ragtime, popular Broadway tunes... Mix it all up, maybe throw in a classical piece here and there, and people remain interested.

It's like going out for a lavish meal, where the food is served slowly, one course at a time: My wife and I might really enjoy that, together. Just the same as musicians may enjoy sharing classical pieces with each other. No way would I enjoy sharing that kind of meal with a group/crowd of people, and likewise, most groups/crowds of people don't care for an evening of Classical tedium, IMO.

hehe, it's as if they all have a big blindspot for any music other than classical...as it happens I agree with you Frank.

I agree a pianist should have a broad repertoire. But he should also know his public: it won't work throwing in some Bach hidden in the middle of jazz pieces: they'll yawn anyway.

Yeah, they are too busy having their daily garbage dose for breakfast.

Not sure what you mean by "garbage," and not sure that I'm deserving of your sarcasm. "Garbage" isn't a term I've used nor implied. If you want to get into an argument with someone, sorry: Starting with me will not benefit you in any way.

Frank, your assumption is the crowd finds "classical" boring, right?

jazz is not a requirement for a pianist (unless you're a jazz pianist), a taste maybe.

Where did I say that it was an assumption? Did I say that anywhere? No, I didn't. In my experience, yes, I've seen people react to pianists playing exclusively classical, by yawning and moving to another part of the house to get away from it.

And classical is required by whom? The "authorities" on this board? LOL Classical is not a taste or preference? Really?

It's required by no one, unless you are a music major in a university or conservatory.

I think that the suggestion that every pianist should be able to play a variety of musical styles is quite laudable.

However, those of us who have devoted a lot of time to trying to develop our skills to play classical music would find it impossible to find the time necessary to learn to play - with any degree of skill and conviction - pop, jazz, blues, rock, ragtime, etc. These require such different techniques and such different knowledge of the keyboard as that required for playing classical music that life might just not be long enough to be proficient in all genres. I know for a fact that some very good classical pianists have no idea how to play a pop tune or blues or jazz.

Yes, I've played my own arrangements of "pop standards" well enough to be paid for doing so, but I would never pretend to have the required knowledge to play blues, rock, ragtime (unless it's written out as is the music of Scott Jopin). When I think how much time has been devoted to the study of classical music - although some of the technique I have would serve for other music, of course - I don't know where I would ever find the time to study other genres so that I could perform them well enough that others would derive pleasure from it.

It is true that some of the great classical pianists do dabble in jazz and that the occasional jazz pianist does play some classical - perhaps because that was where the original training and focus were - but I'm not aware of any "pianists" who can play all genres well.

I think I'd rather do what I can do as well as I can, instead of trying to spread myself so thin that nothing I played would please anyone. If this means that I am not a "pianist", well, I guess I'm not a "pianist".

Regards,

I apologize.

By the (ludicrous) standard put forth in this thread, one can deduce then, that the following are/were not "REAL" pianists, like the "prodigies" and authorites that we apparently have on Piano World:

Ray Charles
Pinetop Perkins
Jelly-Roll Morton
Oscar Peterson
Albert Ammons
Fats Waller
Dave Brubeck
Art Tatum
Teddy Wilson
Bud Powell
Count Basie
Duke Ellington

etc. etc.


Interesting....

Personally, I do find a lot of classical to be quite stuffy and boring, but there are also a lot of wonderful pieces and composers, and not just classical, but Romantic, and forward, to and through the present day. It just gets to be ignorant and exceedingly pompous to continue yammering on classical that EVERY pianist should know, when there are plenty PLENTY of pianists who couldn't care less.

That reminds me of something I once heard.

Sure. And if I purchase tickets to a classical recital, I'm there to listen. I have in the past, and thoroughly enjoyed it. (Except for idiots with cellphones that go off in the middle of peoples' performances)

Frank_W, this is a forum devoted to classical music, so I don't see the relevance of your posts. Perhaps "Pianist Corner - Non Classical" is the forum you were looking for. This isn't it.

Well, Frank, it was your definition, wasn't it?

If it's ludicrous to suggest that, for example, Artur Rubinstein wasn't a great pianist because he didn't play jazz or pop or ragtime, then I guess it's just as ludicrous to say that Brubeck and Tatum and Peterson aren't pianists either.

I don't quite see where you are going with this.

Regards,

I'll read everything.

This is exactly my point, Bruce. There are pianists in all sorts of different genres of music, and plenty of them have never played a lick of classical. Ever. But to say that EVERY PIANIST should have this laundry-list of classical pieces under their fingers before they can be considered pianists, is just wrong. It smacks of obnoxious elitism and exclusivity, and rubs elbows with bigotry.

P.S. I know a number of classical pieces, some jazz, a bit of boogie, and a number of ragtime pieces. And yeah, I fart around with Bach every now and then.

Many of them were using a missile to kill a fly. A real pianist may not play convincingly music from all genres, sure, but he's certainly able to play them.

I'm quite sure most jazz pianists have a solid classical base. You just can't began on the piano by playing some Bill Evans, but by starting with Bach you sure can.

I see what you're saying, and I agree. I'm not bashing classical, (or baroque) or saying that it's irrelevant, or anything of the sort. As I said, it's the attitude that if someone can't rattle off 10-15 classical pieces on the keys, they aren't a "real" pianist.

There are some days, in fact, when I'm almost life-like!