I looked at my bf and said “please don’t…” and he grinned, sat down, and played for about 15 minutes. After a few minutes I went and waited near the counter for our food. When I came back I asked him to stop and eat with me. He said “let me finish this song.”

The guy sitting 2 ft behind him was visibly annoyed. I was extremely uncomfortable. He got pissed at me afterwards for shit*ing on his passion.

I told him it was self-centered thing to do. Just bc there’s a piano and you’re good at it doesn’t mean everyone in the room should be forced to listen to you play.

For the record, I play piano too. We share the passion and support each other… I’d support him playing in a more open space, just not such a small cafe.

What do you guys think?

Edit: this wasn’t really a date, it was a quick lunch while we waited for the store next door to open

Edit: he played soft background music. But since the space was small and it was a real piano it wasn’t quiet enough (to me at least). There was not a sign saying don’t play.

Edit: everyone is telling me to play with a metronome. Okay, what speed of metronome should I use

I tried 120 and it was very hard

My plan: I’ll try tomorrow to just play the first page at 100 and with my wrist up

Here is a clip of me playing Chopin’s Fantasy in F minor live in competition. I was 16 at the time of this clip, and now im 17 and have been playing for 10 years. I practice between 4-6 hours a day. Is it worth trying to get into a good school or perusing another career?

lol I know it’s all a personal journey and not about comparison, but I’m starting to feel like I must really suck. I took lessons when I was a kid for maybe 10 years, stopped when I went off to college, and resumed lessons after graduating, so I’ve been back at it for 3 years after a break.

It almost seems like every day on this sub, there is a self-taught beginner of like 1-3 years who is playing songs far more advanced than I can play after 13 years of learning. I’m working on Arabesque No 1 right now and it is taking me months. I have to go one line at a time and even then, I’m still slowly practicing and refining. And yet there are people on this sub who play songs harder than that who have like 2 seconds of experience. I don’t understand why I’m so far behind. I also just finished up Passacaglia, that one took me maybe 3 months to learn - is that pathetic for someone with 13 years of experience? Idk, I feel abnormally bad at this.

^ Rachmaninoff Prelude No. 13 as part of a recital I gave in April. Im currently studying physics but honestly Im considering following my passion. I just want to make sure Im not chasing after an unattainable dream.

This is from Ligeti’s “The Devil’s Staircase”, and I was dumbfounded to find an octuple forte in the piece. How would this even be possible??

1-2-4-5 works but in no way I can smash it fortissimo enough this way. Dropping E or D works too but it definitely sounds worse. And using all 5 fingers seems out of question — it feels like I'll destroy my hand this way. Any tips?

It is very difficult to play the piano. Still, there are SOOO incredibly many pianists in all conservatories and even before (see all the very many Chinese prodigies in China but also in US and Canada) who play perfect: outstanding technique and musicianship, super polished performances with zero mistake... How can that be? I don't get it...

I’ve been playing piano for 22 years. I’m 35 and working as a private piano teacher for 12 years.
It was my everything: began playing 3-5 hours per day from day one and learned on my own using my mom’s old piano books from the 70s. Within 2-3 weeks I was playing Bach’s minuet and could read notes easily.

I’m fully self taught so I went through tough times figuring things out without the internet and a few books from the library. I loved every second of it. Not many 14 year olds can force themselves to do 3 hours of any consistent skill building, and I have learned that from 1. 12 years of teaching and 2. Seeing how teens tend to prefer short term satisfaction over hard work. (Yes I know there are some but they’re often forced)

My point is that I loved every second…but after two years of being failed by the medical system and not being able to get this “injury” figured out by my crap insurance and idiotic doctors, my passion and dedication is fully gone.. for two years straight I’ve been doing all I could to heal what this was/is….

But the US medical system being horrendous, I’ve accepted that I’m a victim of neglect and possibly even purposeful delay in proper treatment….

I’m not sure why I’m on here saying this… no one knows me… and no one cares how miserable I’ve become. I see my life ending soon since I can literally barely use my hands at this point… and we all know we need these to ANY job…

But the reason I know why I’m here is because lately I’ve seen so many people post about wanting to quit and having no heart for it anymore and it annoys the f*** out of me…

Mostly because I would do anything to spend just more 5 minutes feeling like I can properly play piano like I could even just 4 years ago… the last time I played decently, I had just learned the Liszt Trancendental Etudes 1-3 and was getting Ready for #4 which was my top goal since I heard it at age 16… along with a Rach piano concerto…

Well, idk how to end this annoying post… just please realize you’re lucky you can actually have the amazing opportunity to learn the BEST instrument on earth.. when some of us are now done and it was the only thing keeping them alive (financially spiritually emotionally and physically)

I hope you all achieve the skills you want and allow it to carry you to the best moments in your life…. Peace

Edit: thanks for all your comments… I’m so lost and I don’t really have anyone to confide in… which is why I’m here honestly…

right now i practice anywhere between 4-5 hours a day while preparing for college auditions. but after reading biographies i notice that some pianists would do up to 10-14 hours a day, and one of my friends told me that his minimum was 4-5 hours 😭 and he usually can go to 8. but also according to lots of research it says that anything after 6 is potentially harmful and counterproductive. what are your guys’ thoughts on practice hours?

I’ve been playing mostly classical music for 3-4 years. I think I’m a grade 6-7 RCM. Let’s just say I’m not the fastest learner, how long do you think it’ll take me to be as good as her if I dedicate 1-2 hours a day to practicing?

Hi everybody, thanks for stopping by!

I feel that I'm struggling with:

• Speed
• Accuracy
• Dynamics
• Musicality
• Tension

I've been working on this for ~2 months now and can't seem to shake the tension out once I increase the speed and volume.

I'm noticing from this clip that my Left ring and middle finger jut upwards sometimes, which I'm sure attributes to some of the tension.

My teacher has recommended playing block chords for accuracy and forming the shape of my hand, and also that I should practice with more speed and power to eventually reach intended tempo. I only encounter tension in both forearms when I try to speed up.

I've looked at a couple of resources and techniques (Taubman, wrist rotation, relaxing shoulder, etc) and I suspect there's still issues with the way I'm incorporating my arms' weights. My teacher talks about releasing all the tension at the fingertips and that I'm locking it in prematurely at my forearms, though I can't seem to *figure* it out despite weeks of experimenting.

I would love any advice about this from the community, as well as any other feedback you may have from watching this clip.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this subreddit. I've played piano for about 7 years. After a year of working with different tutors when I just started playing, I decided to teach myself for the next 6 years, so most of my technique has developed on my own without formal correction.

Lately I've noticed the downsides of that catching up with me. As a teen, I've been to a lot of recitals and watched other players perform their pieces flawlessly. When it's my turn, I do the best I can, but I consistently hit wrong notes. I think the accumulated effect of my self-taught technique is starting to show. I was also told that my back hunches a bit while I play, and I don't know how to correct that either.

The frustrating part is that even on easy passages, I focus hard on playing every note correctly, but it doesn't work. I still end up pressing wrong notes.

What I really want is to fix my technique so that the time I put into learning a new song actually translates into accuracy when I play it.

this is a "beginner" piece i found in a book...

i can only do 10th intervals (f to a).. can't stretch more

edit: the book turned out to be for electric organs...and apparently after reading the comments the base notes are to be played with the left foot pedals.

I'm a Post Grade 8 (ABRSM) Pianist, and I'm 18.

I started playing piano in 2024, with my mother as my teacher.

Since then, I've learned many pieces and in September I'm going to a conservatoire to study Music Education.

There's just one problem - I find that I don't actually enjoy playing...

I know this is quite a big thing and should probably have thought about it before but I just don't enjoy it.

I don't even get the satisfaction of finishing a piece.

I also struggle to properly get lost in music, whether listening or playing.

Does everyone face this problem? If so, do you have a solution, anything in particular that makes you enjoy it?

UPDATE:
I'm findinf that some people are saying it might be because Im playing music so hard (compared to my level) that Im focusing more than playing. Feel free to share any thoughts on/like this!

I'm learning Debussy Arabesque #1. This chord comes up in measure 43. It's the first chord in the piece that is physically challenging for me. My hands aren't huge. I can just barely play the E without depressing the F. But barely and only if I set up carefully. Should I just keep at it? Will it eventually become easier? If not, should I omit one of the keys and make it simpler? What would you do? Any advice appreciated.

I'm looking into working on a long-ish cycle soon. I'm thinking something 30-40 minutes long top (but can be shorter), like:

1. Chopin Op. 28 - I'm not into this too much. It's a great work, but I've listened to it so much that I can't take it anymore. Maybe I just need to let it "heal" for a couple of years.
2. Scriabin Op. 11 - this is fine and there are some nice preludes in there, but I don't think it's as good as the Chopin.
3. Schumann is nice but not very pianistic. It's fine as I want to do some Schumann anyway, so I'll bite the bullet. He's got quite a few options, specially Kreisleriana op. 16, Carnaval and Symphonic Etudes. I think I prefer Kreisleriana. Carnaval is nice but I've listened to it as much as Chopin Op. 28.

Variations are okay as a backup, but not preferred (not my favourite type of composition). I want to keep it under 30-40 minutes, so this rules out monstrous variations such as Beethoven Diabelli which are too hard anyway.

While I'm working on some advanced pieces again (Chopin Scherzo no. 3, Liszt Gnomenreigen, Albeniz El Albaicin), I'd avoid extremely hard cycles such as Brahms Paganini Variations for now. This probably rules out Schumann Symphonic Etudes as well.

Any other ideas I should be considering?

EDIT: wow, so many suggestions. Thank you all :) I'm still listening to them.

Can’t speed up the tempo and hand positioning is hella uncomfortable

I’ve been struggling to understand this concept for a very long time now

Every resource seems to say that the arm (by which I assume shoulders/biceps/triceps) is supposed to be fully relaxed

I’ve done the exercise many many times - relax the arm, let it fall, use your fingers to support the weight, and I don’t understand how this is workable in actual playing

So I started paying attention to videos of people playing, and I can’t find seem to find any instance people playing truly fully relaxed

Look at this tutorial for example https://archive.pianoadventures.com/blog/videos/arm-weight-in-depth/

Two minutes talking about full relaxation, but as soon as he starts playing at 2:20, his arm is clearly being supported in part by his shoulder or back or something, it’s clearly not “resting/walking” fully on his fingers.

Or, say, this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KALge_dcJps&list=RDKALge_dcJps&start_radio=1

I can understand the weight on the drop in into the keys, but what about the fast passages? Her arm is clearly being held up by back or shoulders, no?

TL:DR

If this is about

• using only as much tension/force as needed, but back/shoulder is still activated

• not pushing down on the piano

• and the arm drop thing is a poorly contextualized exercise

that would make sense to me

If it’s about really being fully relaxed, I might give up because I don’t think I’ll ever get it

Admittedly, I’m a bit of a new piano teacher, and I am not a master of the instrument. But I can count on one hand the amount of songs I’ve ever learned where I had to put more than one finger on the same note.

Every beginner piano book I’ve been asked to teach out of has numerous songs that teach kids to put both thumbs on middle C. I think that’s an odd choice when most songs will never ask them to do that, and in fact, I’d argue it’s usually bad technique, especially for simpler beginner songs like the ones in these books

Am I stupid? Is there an actual technical reason for this to be the case?

Here’s a quick clip of me attempting to play this arpeggio faster. I can play it slowly and cleanly, but once I speed it up, my thumb tuck feels clunky and everything starts falling apart.

For people who can play arpeggios lightning fast: what actually helped you break through that speed barrier?

Should I be focusing more on wrist/arm movement instead of literally tucking my thumb underneath? And is there anything obviously wrong with my technique in this clip?

Roast me if necessary, but please give me something useful afterward 😂