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Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
Grisha and Todd, sound right?
I've been reading a book called The Pianist's Talent, and it had a few things, I wanted to see if your experiences meshed with this:
"their talent manifests itself spontaneously, untaught and unlearned...it is often the discovery of talent in the child which has prompted its parents into arranging for it to be trained, not the reverse...even in professional households..the parents have been surprised by their offspring 'jumping the gun'"
Anthur Schnabel: "When I was six years old, my elder sister...started to take piano lessons. My mother told me...that I, without having lessons, succeeded in doing what she was taught much quicker than she. I simply went to the piano and did it."
At all levels, there is a correlation between the degree of talent and the amount of virtuosity, both mental and physical, which is available to the individual on demand, withotu having to be worked for.
For the great talents, playing the piano is experienced as a Gestalt, a totality of activity enjoyed from childhood as naturally and unconsciously as any other form of play, and something to be taken for granted as other people accept the ability to walk or speak.
[These are anecdotes or studies of extraordinarily talented/prodigy pianists]
RE: Grisha and Todd, sound right? (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
Miguel, do you mean to ask me if it was given to me from the beginning? Some things were, others were not, and some things I still cannot get. Guitar was a game to me from the beginning, a very interesting game, and still more pleasant because I was good at it. Only much later I started to understand the music, and with this understanding came responsibility, and ultimately, my stage fright.
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: Grisha and Todd, sound right? (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
Grisha, very interesting! The context is that this book studies many of the great pianists, and enumerates some common points. It seems that they all played "naturally" in the sense that their skills were largely theirs without training. They would somehow be able to play very complicated and virtuosic things with no struggle, from a very young age. Something about the way they used their bodies, their coordination and mastery of physical motions, was very, very different from the average person.
Of course, I think the piano is more conducive to intuitive use than guitar, as its interface is much simpler.
Stage fright! That came to me first of all :) Music as a game seems more fun to me! I was watching a Sabicas video today, and he looks so relaxed, like he's having a very pleasant time. It looks very easy for him.
RE: Grisha and Todd, sound right? (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
It did seem easier for me. I used to hang around my Dad's teaching studio alot when i was a child, and i did notice that i could learn to play things faster and with less effort than just about any of his students, young or old.
Like Grisha, i sort of saw it as a game. ANd we all know how much more fun a game can be, when you start to realize you can play it better and with less work, than anyone you know.
I had really good ears from the begining. Alot of what i learned from my Dad was learned by listening to him practice through a closed door in the basement. Oddly, he never got on me about playing. I would most times, have to chase him around to get him to show me something new. I dont know if that was his reverse phsycology or what, but it worked great. He let me play what, and when i felt like it. He also exposed me to a very wide, and eclectic range of music early on. He had trouble getting me to read, cause i would just end up stumbling/reading through something slowly, and then playing it back from memory, instead of learning to actually read. So he sorta gave up on that.
Suffice it to say, im glad he didnt lock me in a closet for 12 hours a day. If he had done that, i may not even be here right now. T
Posts: 1770
Joined: Jul. 11 2003
From: The Netherlands
RE: Grisha and Todd, sound right? (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
I red somewhere, that from the child maestro's only a very few get to the top when they are grown up. And a teacher from a conservatory said in an intervieuw that when you start not playing at a young age 6, and even beter 4, you will never get it to the top.
RE: Grisha and Todd, sound right? (in reply to Grisha)
quote:
my stage fright
Thanks for this Grisha and Todd, very interesting indeed!
Grisha, how do you overcome stage fright? Is it simply experience that makes it easier or do you have tricks that help? Did you ever get the sweaty hands resulting in sticky fingers causing technique trouble? I hate that...
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