Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. How can you tell if a student is talented? You sometimes see kids who have difficult pieces they can play fast, and they have it all memorized. And then sometimes you hear somebody who just touches you, and you have a deep emotional connection.
Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. How can you tell if a student is talented? You sometimes see kids who have difficult pieces they can play fast, and they have it all memorized. And then sometimes you hear somebody who just touches you, and you have a deep emotional connection.
There are so many aspects of talent on the piano.
There’s the coordination of the hands, the visual element, the ears, and other aspects. Sometimes, to find out if somebody is talented, they’ll do a hearing test where they will play a C on the piano, then play another note and ask what the note is. Some people can tell if one note is higher or lower. Some people can’t. Some people can easily match pitch singing, but some people have to study for a long time in order to develop their ears for music. So there’s innate ability in music. But there is one common denominator among students that’s very interesting.
Talented students generally play too fast!
You have to slow them down because it’s a mess! They rush through everything. You try to get them to play with a metronome, and it’s a nightmare. Whereas, with students who are less talented, it’s exactly the opposite. It’s a struggle to get anything up to tempo. They naturally want to play slowly. That’s why talented students can be some of the most difficult students to deal with. They can be sloppy and not take enough time learning things accurately and playing music cleanly. So that is a telltale sign. Of course, there are many other aspects of talent.
As a kid, I always had weak, spaghetti-like fingers.
My fingers would collapse on the keyboard. My joints would bend the wrong way. You have no control that way. It took me years and years before I could keep my fingers rounded without the joints collapsing. But I was able to get the tone out of the piano that I desired. I always had great tonal control. That’s why I loved slow movements. It wasn’t dependent on technique. So there are essential aspects of talent other than just speed. But it is usually a telltale sign of aptitude and natural ability at the instrument to be able to conceptualize something.
So if you find yourself going too fast all the time, don’t fret. You have some natural ability!
Rein it in and practice slowly, and you’ll be rewarded by solidifying your technique. And if you’re somebody who struggles to get things up to speed, remember, there are many other aspects of talent on the instrument other than just physiological abilities. I didn’t have those abilities as a kid, but I developed them with hard work over many years. So there’s hope for everybody! Nobody has it all. Everybody has to develop their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. Talent only goes so far. Hard work is the answer. Put in the work consistently, and you will develop at the piano, I promise you.
Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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