Can Piano Make the World Better?

Can Piano Make the World Better?

Indeed, piano be a tremendous force in making the earth a safer place. From the youngsters to the elderly piano can unite all and bring happiness and bliss to this world. And by pressing its breathtaking keys we can all raise the flag of love and compassion amongst our fellow men.

I’m only kidding of course. Piano itself cannot improve the world, regrettably. Well, I am a pianist and a teacher, what did you expected me to write. I had to be a little melodramatic. Piano itself can’t do the job. Except of course if a soldier got distracted from a bad performance of a Chopin waltz and missed his target. Then yes you can say piano can make a difference.

Here’s why your playing the piano cannot directly make this world better:

  • By playing the “Appassionata” you won’t feed the starving children in many parts of the world.
  • You cannot find the cure for cancer by going to piano masterclasses.
  • You won’t fight illiteracy by spending three months learning Liszt’s “Feux Follets”.
  • No, you won’t stop domestic violence by learning “Heal the world” by Michael Jackson.

Now, here’s a few ways that a piano itself can directly make this world better.

  • It can provide heat by burning in a bonfire.
  • Sitting on top of it to avoid being drenched by a flood.
  • Throwing it from the sky to the head of a dictator.
  • Using its strings as a barbeque grill on a Sunday afternoon.
  • Converting  it into a table for social gatherings.
  • Using its soundboard as a hiding place when playing hide and seek.
  • For young couples to lay down on its lid and romantically admire the stars.(don’t forget the candles).

Here’s how by actually playing the piano you can directly make the world better. You can:

  • By making more noise in order to cover the voice of a bad singer.
  • By accompanying a fast piece slowly in order to annoy a pompous violinist.
  • By playing slow and sleepy music when your children want to go to bed.
  • By playing badly so your fellow classmates can feel that they are better pianists than you.
  • By playing extremely loudly in a battlefield so that you distract soldiers from fighting each other.

However, fun aside, here’s how piano can indirectly help this world:

  • It can inspire.

And perhaps inspiration is the only thing we need in really changing this world. Because piano and its music can make a man or a woman appreciate the beauty of life. It can make an evil person reconsider their actions. It can make a sad person find meaning in life. It can bring a smile to a child’s face. It can feed the poor, find cure for diseases, take us to the starts. It can do everything if it inspire us.

So, let’s get inspired and start practising. Because, even if you don’t know it, you are making this world better.

Playing with Others

Playing with Others

Playing with others is always a good idea! And I don’t mean cricket or Chess on a Sunday morning (Even though that would have been a wise choice for some of my fellow pianists). Yes you guessed it; I meant performing with other instrumentalists and singers! Ok, you knew I was kidding and didn’t need to clarify.

Pianists tend to be, if I could say, a little egocentric. Part of it is piano’s fault, since it is such a fully autonomous instrument. Thus, they often tend to neglect the rest of the instruments and lose themselves in the pianistic abyss. However, by playing with others you can change that, since you would have to, for once, care about the other instruments as well.

Learning to appreciate other instruments helps to naturally coexist with other musicians. Because, when performing with others you will acquire a special talent; the talent to appreciate others. So, stop being a pianist and start becoming a musician. In a way, break your ego and you will excel in the musicians’ world.

Piano need not be a lonely cactus in the desert. It wonderfully survives with other instruments for many reasons:

First, piano is a polyphonic instrument. Polyphonic instruments provide a sense of orchestral presence since they simply can play many notes at the same time. Musicians believe that piano can satisfactorily cover the music “gap” other instruments often leave behind. No surprise piano is naturally the instrument of choice to accompany concertos for most instrumentalists. It can roughly provide an orchestral illusion of a concerto, an operatic aria or even a song from the radio. In a way, the piano is even more successful in accompanying than the guitar or the harp.

Now, tempo perception is an important aspect that you can develop when playing with others. And yes, your own vision of how the various tempi flow in a piece cannot always be right. Other musicians’ views of a particular tempo might also be valid.

A trap that most musicians fall into, even genius ones like myself, is that they often believe that they are mostly right about their musical instincts when rehearsing with others. For instance I have often played with violinists or singers that they force you to follow their own view of a tempo or a climactic sequence of a piece. And then, I have often felt that my own view of tempo is right and not theirs. I could have been right or wrong it doesn’t really matter. However, here’s what to do when confronted with a situation where you feel that your partner’s instincts are wrong about a particular tempo:

First, just stick to your guns. Don’t change your tempo even if your partner “musically” forces you to. If you are elegant enough try to change the tempo towards your partner’s direction but not more than 5% faster or slower from your desired one. Now, the second part is the most important. When at the end of the rehearsal you are confronted by a tedious remark from your partner to perhaps adjust your tempo, you are to say to him the following: “Yes, you are absolutely right, I think your speed was the correct one, I hope I managed to follow you”. Therefore your partner will feel that HE was in charge and not you, and this can always work with musicians and other primates when you want them to do what you want them to do. Now, for the third and final part, the next time you rehearse that piece, again, stand firm with your own tempo, and at the end praise your partner for wisely providing you with the correct insight. That’s it. They will start following you even more. Because, to be honest, you can’t always tell who is right or wrong when it comes to musical interpretation.

There are many reasons why music partners want to establish their own views of a piece. Here’s some:

  1. They know what they are doing and they possess a deep knowledge of a composer’s desires. (Now, that is mostly unlikely for the majority of musicians- sorry to the big-headed ones).
  2. They don’t know what they are doing and they don’t possess a deep knowledge of a composer’s desires. (This is the norm).
  3. They want to show-off their musical abilities. (This is the most possible scenario, particularly when frantic passages are involved).

I’m absolutely convinced that when Darwin famously said adapt or die, he was thinking of pianists. You need to adapt to the needs and musts of the other instruments as well, if you want your playing and consequently your career to prosper.

And your career will prosper. Or your money back. Oh, sorry, I was thinking of the piano method I bought yesterday just then…

At the same time, I understand that many pianists find it irritating when having to accompany sight-reading infants like most singers or having to put up with violinists who sound like they are cutting a tuba with an unsharpened saw. But please, don’t get angry. Music is hard. Working with experienced and inexperienced musicians alike will give you the tools to face the musician’s professional life with confidence.

And don’t think that all musicians are capricious, self-centered and have the intellectual capacities of a piano hammer. Somewhere there are musicians who are not that pompous and self-important and care about music-making too; like yourself, right?

You are going to learn a lot from accompany musicians from all strands of music. So please enjoy it and be thankful to all your music partners that they assisted you in becoming a better musician. And you never know, you might even become a better person too!

Can I Become a Famous Pianist?

Can I Become a Famous Pianist?

DISCLAIMER: IN ORDER TO HAVE A CONCRETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS ARTICLE’S STATEMENTS, PLEASE READ THROUGH TO THE END OF THIS ARTICLE. BY READING THIS ARTICLE YOU AGREE AND ACCEPT THAT THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN FICTION AND SOME EXAGGERATED EXPRESSIONS AND OPINIONS IN ORDER TO CREATE SUSPENSE. PLEASE READ AT YOUR DISCRETION. FOR   PIANISTS AND OTHER MUSICIANS.

 

Can I Become A Famous Pianist?


No, you can’t. It’s out of the question! End of article. (Read to the end of the article to really find out.)

Inform your teacher, alert the media and let your parents know as early as possible, that quite likely you are not cut out to be a famous pianist. Chances are that you are not going to become the next Vladimir Horowitz or András Schiff.

Statistically, is more likely to win a lottery jackpot than becoming one of the few pianists that audiences consider significant today. In all probability, you will become one of the hundreds of thousands of pianists that are good enough to perform or teach the piano.(cough)

Does this sound discouraging? Does this make you feel irate? Well, welcome to reality. And please don’t worry, this is just an article.

Let’s be prudent. Let’s be pragmatic!

However, take heart. It can be possible that you will play some decent piano music and you might be able to excite some audiences with your sound. But great playing alone is not enough to make you a classic figure in the piano world. I’m coming to that later.

Now, why do you think I sound so shrill and discouraging? The reason is because I want to protect you by telling you the facts. Being level-headed and true about yourself can help you to achieve all the goals you have set in your life.

If it were for all the piano students, from conservatoires to private lessons, to become famous and successful performers, then today’s famous pianists wouldn’t have a job. Needless to say, those pianists wouldn’t want you to become a great pianist either; especially a pianist better than them. Naturally, they would want you to stay mediocre so they won’t lose their money and effort. Regardless of what famous pianists publicly state to students and how melodramatically supportive they may seem to be, always lurking inside them is the desire for you to fail, and as a result, they would succeed.

On the other hand, being competitive and desiring the failure of your opponents is a natural thing in humans. Therefore, don’t assume that those people are simply bad and horrible. They are just humans who want to thrive and make great things. Still, not all the people must make great things, so that’s the beauty of life.

But let’s talk about yourself for a second. Say you were a famous and successful pianist. Would you like to wake up one morning and find that you are one amongst thousands of pianists that are also great? Or that your best friend at conservatoire became a world class pianist too? ( I think the second one feels much worse, isn’t it? :)).That would mean that you will lose most of your concerts and you won’t be that desirable as a teacher anymore. There would have been more pianists around for an agency to choose from, thus more competition.

Now tell me: Haven’t you already started to become less “altruistic”? So, don’t assume that all the great pianists are humane and amazing and great people and this and that and the other thing. As with Machiavelli’s Prince, they just knew that they could afford to show altruism and greatness because they knew that most pianists around them were not as good as them. For example, history has it that when Horowitz was asked, why he played his octaves so fast and loud, he replied: “because I can”. Well, there you have it. Think about this quote for a second. Altruism all the way!

However, humour aside, returning to the question of, “can you really become a famous pianist”, I would say that I don’t know. I will leave it up to you to discover the answer to this question.

Becoming famous in classical music requires, unluckily for some, to be great at your instrument or your singing. You need to start from there. Then, when you become good enough to be able to have a say with your music, what also counts is to develop your personal image. You may want to make a statement with your “outer shell” and decide how you want people to remember you. For instance, Vladimir Ashkenazy likes to wear polo shirts while in concert, whereas Evgeny Kissin likes to keep his hair big and fluffy. Those unassuming preferences, together of course with a little bit of impeccable playing, separate those pianists in the minds of people.

Also, keep in mind, that a great pianist mustn’t necessarily become famous. He could become half-famous or even not famous at all. He could just feel happy to perform exquisitely in the comfort of his own living room. Do you know a pianist called Nicholas Kokkinis, for instance? No? Well, he is a master pianist but alas he is not widely known.

Again, don’t get discouraged! Becoming a famous a pianist shouldn’t be a lifetime’s ultimate goal. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t become famous and it doesn’t really matter if you do become famous. You should concentrate in music-making first and foremost. And, if fame comes, then great.
Well, ….and if you just recently became famous you can write to me and mock me!

 

 

The Show-Offy Pianist

The Show-Offy Pianist

Have you ever been a show-offy pianist? No? Are you sure? Well, let’s see below. In this article we shall look at the show-offy pianist in classical music.

The show-offy pianist thinks he is not everyday riffraff. He knows deep inside that he must act snobbishly at all times except of course in the presence of more important pianists than him. Before them, he will strive to be modest and sincere. His acting superiorly to the rest of the pianistic “infants” has taken on so much that he is even show-offing when tanning on a holiday island beach.

While in concert a show-offy pianist naturally sustains a horrifying face which he labels artistic. When he bows at the end of a piece he looks as if he just lifted 40 kilos of tomatoes from the local street market.

When entering stage he expresses an innate disgust at the “lower” people surrounding him. When performing, he pretends to be so serious as if he was about to solve famine in a third world country together with bringing peace in the world.

His artificially empathetic expression only when confronted by worst pianists than him, takes a form of altruism and consideration. Common expressions when discussing with them would usually end with, “you may be right, I can’t decide” or when asked if he ever played a piece that he hasn’t, he would reply “not as such”.

Of course his inner “magnitude” and pompous last for acceptance increases the more he massacres a piece, and his self esteem reaches its zenith swiftly when people enthusiastically applaud a scandalous performance.

Repertoire of a show-offy pianist includes, but not excludes, Rachmaninov’s 3rd piano concerto, (typically only the cadenza from the1st movement), Chopin’s study no 4 op 10, Liszt’s Liebesträume, Beethoven’s Für Elise and generally composers that have a ghastly face while posing for a publicity photo or portrait. He would rarely play slow pieces, except for necessary and unavoidable second movements to sonatas with frantic last movements.

He hardly ever plays Haydn, Frescobaldi, Scarlatti or other non show-offy, “light”, composers.  However, when asked, he will bend over backwards to praise them as true masters of classical music, although pretentiously. He would almost definitely have a Richard Clayderman piece in his party repertoire.

Changing Piano Teacher

Changing Piano Teacher

I will start this chapter by asking you: Have you signed a long time contract with your teacher? If your answer is no, well you can let your teacher go at any time you wish.

But even if it was common practice to sign piano-tutoring contracts, I’m sure that your current instructor would be considerate enough to have no objections. Please, by all means give a notice to leave. I also want to presume that by the time you expressed this reaction to your teacher, you would have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about it carefully before considering that now is perhaps the right time to do it.   Make no mistake, piano is by now a part of your future self, thus your education as a pianist could be on the line. If you feel that your present teacher does not help you fulfilling your pianistic dreams satisfactorily, then you must change. And  certainly, the only person that can have a pragmatic opinion on that subject is you; Not his or her previous satisfied customers (students), not the international press or the local chemist … the only person that should be able to judge this serious issue is ultimately you.

I have to admit that’s a tough task, but being a “big” pianist is to have big responsibilities. Many pianists I know survived many miserable years with their hated teachers because they didn’t have the nerve to release themselves from their tutorial “dictatorship”.

The reason behind your decision that your present teacher is good no more, can be absolutely any; it might be that you have realized that they can play banjo better than the piano, or because you don’t like the way they dress. Or that they have a foul breath. Or, because they have a black cat in their house while you would rather they had a white one; it is up to you. It is your money and it is your decision how to spend it.

However, hopefully the reasons are going to be a little deeper than that: for instance, your current teacher doesn’t know what he is talking about when it comes to Beethoven’s sonatas. Or that they don’t have enough things to tell you anymore that you don’t know already. Again, nobody but you has the right to judge that. At the same time, people should be supportive of your decision.

Leaving your teacher at conservatoire level can be extremely hard.   Students suffer from that in many ways. For instance, students might dread having to face their teacher in the same environment again. Quite often they think that there is going to be a conflict between their new and their former teacher. It could also be that students are afraid they might get lower marks if they decide to change teachers. Yet, you mustn’t be intimidated. Most of the time, this is a simple secretarial issue and you get to change your teacher easily.

It is a fact that we all had teachers that we called mentors and others that we didn’t like. You are destined to have both. If you are lucky. A great teacher is one that stays in your mind well after you left him/her. You will always remember the things that you have learned. The same could happen with a “bad” teacher. You will also learn things, but mostly things to avoid.

To finish, be good to your teachers. Love them, show them respect and they will respect you back. They might even make you a better person.