Why are so many concert pianists so miserable?

Question

What's the major difference between a concert pianist and a pianist who plays in a band? And why are there so many reports about miserable pianists...

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/26/1059084262019.html

I've recently started learning the piano, and I'm 25 yrs, my current plan is to practice 3 hours every day. Is it a realistic dream to wanna play as part of a jazz band in 5 yrs or so?

I probably couldn't be a 'concert pianist' anyway...but maybe that's a good thing...cause it seems to be a miserable life...playing with other people seems to be more fun anyway!

Answer 1

I think that classical pianists are miserable because they practice for hours at a time and they are judged by older pianists who still say that their playing style is not "perfect". I know, because I experience this sometimes as a college-level classical pianist. I was sort of a child prodigy, I have perfect pitch - but I wasn't sent away to a school. I learned pieces by ear and spent years playing myself before I started taking lessons with a teacher. Technically, I've only taken formal lessons for three years, and I'm already at the level of my college classmates - I have to perform very advanced music. Everyone thinks that I've taken lessons from childhood as they did - but I didn't! Even though I have to practice for hours and hours, I am not miserable because I listen to constructive criticism, but when it gets to the point where it's not beneficial or too opinionated then I stop listening and play from the heart. Everyone is happy, including myself, when I play from the heart, and it's never too mechanical! Even though I know that it may be impossible, I hope that one day, I am allowed the opportunity to perform in New York at a concert hall - even if it's just once.

The difference between pianists who play in a band and classical pianists usually is the approach to the keyboard. Pianists who play in a band often play music (mostly chords) by ear. They listen to the other musicians and sort of "guess" the key and then they play chords under the singers. Their hand positions is more relaxed, and they usually don't have many scale passages, modulations, etc. except if it is a jazz band. Classical pianists tend to approach the keyboard with their hands in a more upright manner. The technique is cleaner and clear. Usually, there is more scale passages and modulations. Everything is not always "chordal". Sometimes, when the structure is "chordal" it is also more thick - (listen to Prokofiev's music). They tend to play strictly from the sheet music and almost never by ear, unless they have a background in playing for bands. I've been on both ends, but unlike some classical pianists, I like using my ear (because I have "absolute pitch").

Answer 2

I went to Mason Gross (Rutgers' music school, just south of NYC) in the mid 80s, and I have this friend who came in as a piano major after only 2 years of lessons. She knew 1, maybe 2 pieces, and went on to have 2 Master's degrees, one in musicology and one in piano pedagogy with some voice work. Entirely possible for you to be playing in a band in 5 years, jazz is much more complex than pop. They're different animals. Far from guessing the key, jazz tunes have a set of changes over which you improvise. There is a structutre, a grammar, which is not absolute but where chords are *likely* to go. I am a classical musician and teacher, my husband is a jazz bassist, and we're finding good things about each other's training. Playing with other people is good because you're forced to a collectibve tempo; I've found that many accompanists I've worked with can't hold a steady beat as well because they work alone so much.
Misreable lives? No, but there are trade offs, just like with any career. It's definitely dedication and passion that drives a concert pianist, and like any relationship, the realtionship between a musician and art can be frustrating and full of drudgery or moments of bliss the likes of which I've found nowhere else. There's a profound attachment to one aspect of life for the concert pianist and that leads to an unbalanced life; some things are neglected. It's highly competetive, and that can make for stormy attachments. I am a clarinetist (was engaged to a concert pianist). You do find that while you have friends from all walks of life, sometimes non-musicians just don't get you. It's kind of like actors-I spent alot of time with musicians, so that's who my friends are (met my husband working on an album). Now I'm teaching, so the new friends I'm making are teachers. There is some isolation among concert pianists, and unless they're world class not much money so they often live with parents.

Answer 3

I'm only going to answer the miserable pianists questions. Concert pianists aim to do the impossible: achieve perfection. Few other artists are held to this standard.

And since no artist can ever truly achieve perfection, it has to be terribly frustrating. I'd be miserable too if my life was defined by how I could not achieve the goal that was the standard for my profession.

Answer 4

Concert pianists are generally classical pianists. They slave away at the piano for hours everyday, playing pieces over and over again to get them perfect just so that they can get asked to perform a concert. They live very, very lonely lives, it seems. A pianist who plays in a band generally doesn't play classical music. Depending on the band/orchestra, they could play jazz, pop, movie music, classical, etc.

Answer 5

It's not a miserable life but it is a dedicated one I have known some people along the way that are into ballet or figure skating or piano that literally it becomes consuming they are not unhappy this is what brings them fulfillment it's not fun but is what their life is about there is also a certain comeradery that happens with people like this.

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

Because non of us our Beethoven, Bach, Liszt, Chopin, Mozart. These guys tower above every one else. Between them and guys who play their music is an infinite gap so their always aiming for the impossible