Piano Noob

[choliszgetibusselkan]

In may i will be at the start of my 3rd year of playing piano. i'm not trying to be an ass or anything, but my peers think i'm some sort of prodigy. my teacher also says i am decent. i'm playing liszt, chopin, debussy etudes, i dabble into some piano concertos (actually just tchai's no. 1 and rachs 2 mv 1). i can play some ravel and a piece by alkan, etc. and i don't neglect "easy" stuff either.

i can play the notes RIGHT, they sound RIGHT and i know i am playing them RIGHT, but i feel there is something missing in my playing.

at first i thought i was as good as everybody says i was, but now there is just something so important missing in my playing, that my playing gives a jarring sound when i think about it.

i'm thinking soul or something. or stratifying my dynamics. maybe misplaced accents? maybe phrasing? perhaps my legato is a bit out of touch? how about that split second break when i go up an octave when i play an arpeggiated figure? my pedaling i think is making my playing sound muddy? or maybe the consistency of the volume among my fingers? or maybe the fingers themselves? maybe they aren't developed enough to play them properly? that really sends a shiver.

do any piano vets out there know some methods like leschetizky hanon or whatever? do they help? what sort of specific advice can you give me in each of my insecurities? any help would be appreciated.

i really want to feel that i am as good as some people think i am!

[Drummer06]

Yo man.

I can understand how you feel, I felt the same when I started playing.
My family, my teacher, My friends, everyone was telling me that my Playing was
extraordinary. But I Just felt like something was missing. So what I did was I went
and got copius amounts of CDs. Cds of the Masters (e.g Horowitz) playing the same pieces that I was playing. And I would have those CDs blaring as I Practiced
piano, And by doing that it gave me the abillity the play Just like Horowitz,
Because I could hear the differnce between what I was doing and what they were doing, And with that I could go and fix those minor Bugs and Then I would have that feeling of achievement and I would know that I was as good as everyone said I was.

So thats my Advice to you. I would also suggest that you Post Recordings
on the Forum, so that we can hear what it is that you are talking about,
and then we will be able to detemine which areas of your playing need
improvment and which areas don't.

Always
D6

[PJF]

I agree, following along with the greats is a great way to learn some often intangible ideas.

[PianistSk8er]

I do not have time for a long post, but since you mentioned Hanon, I will tell you that, in my experience, it is considerably effective. The only problem is that the exercices are extremely boring. It would be just as much (if not more) useful to learn some of Bach's WTK, and MUCH more fun...

Good luck!

PS