EPTTalented people - Page 2
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Chromyne
Canada561 Posts
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Arnic
81 Posts
Music is a highly expressive artform, when you compose you're putting a piece of yourself into every single note, every word, every phrase. You're putting your soul out there to be heard and for that to happen, you need people to listen and react. That's why most musicians desire to perform before an audience. They will give back everything you put into the music and that feeling encourages you to create more. It's really difficult for someone who has great natural talent to understand how it feels for someone who has to work much harder to get to the same level. They've never known differently and although they may have the capacity to empathise with your situation, unless it's something they've experienced for themselves there's no way they can genuinely understand what it's like. Although it's annoying trying to explain things, try not to take it personally or get frustrated with them as it's not their fault. With regard to music especially, it's incredibly subjective. Some musicians may be technically perfect but might not appeal to listeners who prefer a more emotive playing style and there are those who compose extremely complex pieces that won't appeal as much to someone who enjoys a simple melody they can whistle on their way to work. From your original post, it sounds very much like you want recognition for what you're doing which isn't a bad thing but you can create problems for yourself if "winning a competition" is a main part of your motivation. I think you risk limiting yourself and your music if you focus too hard on that, you'll be composing and playing with other people in mind all the time. You'll be forever trying to put yourself in the position of a listener who is judging you and trying to tailor your music to suit them instead of performing freely, as you would if no one was listening at all and maybe that's what your friend was trying to say? Winning something and gaining recognition is a fantastic thing, it can be the justification for everything you've worked for but don't forget why you were drawn to music in the first place. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming you didn't start because you wanted to be better than someone else or to win a competition. Anyway, I don't think you're being insecure but you could maybe merge those goals down a little so you get "Win by becoming a better player". Then you've got the motivation for winning and improving all at once instead of two seperate things to worry about. | ||
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Cloud
Sexico5880 Posts
On October 25 2009 04:01 Chromyne wrote: Practice to get better and play well. Most people who play as a hobby aren't trying to win competitions. They practice so that they can create music and do something they love. Agreed. Everyone has their own motivations. It's not bad to want to win a competition. As long as there is passion for music to begin with, I see no problem with this. This is where I disagree. Michael Phelps does have a physical advantage of a longer torso and arm span, and larger feet. Much of musical skill (in order to play pieces for example) can be learned, but saying everyone is initially at the same level is silly. Some are more expressive, others can hear the difference as the piano key is struck at its end and the finger is moved up the key (this does change the quality of sound). Theres a difference between the physical and the power of the brain, we know of the limitations of the former, not of the latter. Can you reasonably say that Einstein was at the peak of his mental shape before he died? And can you say that even if it wasn't his peak it was farther than the peak of other people's minds? | ||
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druj
137 Posts
People with physics majors today know more about physics than Einstein did, but that does not entail they are smarter than Einstein, but rather they were given shortcuts and the educational privilege to do so. The proper practice and method, in music, I think, can present the same opportunities. Although if you say, that they plateau at a certain high level with the best possible training, then of course I will be inclined to agree it will be surmountable, but I think its very well possible he/she can come up with innovative methods of their own on their other sides of their mental skills to compensate for the other more talented people in that specific sphere. | ||
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JFKWT
Singapore1442 Posts
However there is notable contribution to talent from practice, hard work and hard thinking -> imagine someone who is physically and mentally able to, say, multitask like Bisu, he would have to 1st put in the hard work in practicing his mechanics, learn his builds, understand his MUs before being able to make full use of his "talent". So actually your "talent" may not necessarily be absent but simply buried in a corner and waiting for the correct digger or shovel to uncover it. Learning is another factor which talent seems to link closely with, usually in the simple relation of time taken to learn is inversely proportional to talent. I would like to use a personal example from my style of learning that I believe most people do unconsciously, which is to take every moment that you're aware of as a learning experience. (Btw, I play the violin, viola and have basic (read horrible =p) skills in piano and guitar, but not at a music majors' level imho.) and even though im pretty lazy i do finger and vibrato exercises on the bus and whatnot. Observe people's speech to learn turns of phrases, punchlines, shock and awe etc. which can be incorporated into your playing. Well what does this have to do with your post then? The talent your friend has unlocked is probably second nature to her, and the way she dismisses it is characteristic of someone who realised that one's apparent success is not as great a deal as the raw effort taken (to unlock the intrinsic talent). When others tell me "oh you're so talented in music" usually I just smile and let it pass also because i know i havent been putting enough effort to match my OWN ideal. If you want to achieve your goals though, i would advise (in a classic male fashion) that instead you observe or ask your friend (who has had such great success in competitions) for ways of playing and actual competition experiences, instead of thinking of other people's talents and your own insecurities, which will be magnified during competitions themselves under stress. Hope this verbose post helped =p | ||
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OpticalShot
Canada6330 Posts
When I play at a performance, whether it's a concert hall or in front of a few mildly impressed Asian girls, my first priority is to entertain and dazzle. That includes being extra (and unnecessarily) emotion, making body motions bigger (usually a bad thing to do), being unnecessarily loud (f -> fff!!!), and stuff like that. I mean, most of the public listeners aren't well-educated in fine music, so they like to see a very visual, emotional performance. That's what I look to deliver. For these kind of performances, I can even push my repertoire slightly above my technical limits - because you can tweak by tricky passages with the pedal without audiences flinching. I was in a few competitions before, and yeah for those it's time to deliver. Need to keep the composure, no pedal-cheating, etc. I found these to rather hectic and I hated having too much pressure on me. It also got to me that I was playing for a "certification that I'm better than the rest of the competitors" instead of giving audience a good time. You could easily guess that I didn't win a majority of those competitions - and I didn't feel particularly bad for it, either. My point is that you have to find what's your purpose of playing. Do you play to impress, to win, to escape, to dream, to ... what? If your purpose is to win, see to yourself whether you enjoy the process (such as daily hardcore practice). Hard work may not achieve everything, but it can achieve almost everything. Good luck to you sir! | ||
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ecDIESEL
United States132 Posts
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ThePhan2m
Norway2739 Posts
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Loanshark
China3094 Posts
The advice you got sounds like borderline apathy in a career. | ||
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Kingfisher
Canada144 Posts
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