What are the odds of becoming a concert pianist?

I'm just wondering, I would really like to become one, but I know it's not too likely, but what are the actual chances? Is there some sort of statistic?

Squat to none.

I'm not meaning pure concert pianism (if there is such a phrase), I accept I will have to have some other career (did I spell that right?). But I want to have some sort of ongoing participation in a concert hall.

It’s a moot question when applied to a single individual. Statistics are only meaningful when applied to a large population. If you become a great concert pianist then you become part of the statistics of great concert pianists. It’s that simple.

However, becoming a great concert pianist takes a lot of hard work, dedication, DETERMINATION (and desire), and let’s not forget about sheer talent. If you have all of those working in your favor you’ll become one. If any of those elements are missing it’s highly unlikely that you’ll succeed.

Moreover, if you’re initial goal is to become great, you’ll probably fail. That’s typically not the driving motivation behind the people who do become great. Most people who become great do so because they want to play well. The fact that they become great is simply what follows naturally from their desire to play well.

Just be the BEST you can be and accept wherever that takes you.

On a personal note, I started playing the piano 2 years ago (I was 56 at the time), I had great hopes of learning to play some pretty cool stuff, even just as a hobbyist without any dreams of becoming an actual performer at all. My initial hopes were quenched when it came to my attention that my fingers simply won’t do what I want them to do. I’ve been playing some pieces long enough to easily be able to play them well. My fingers just won’t do it. I know what I want to make it sound like, and I TRY to play it the way I want it to sound, but my finger just won’t do it. PERIOD!!!

Perhaps it as something to do with my age. Maybe it has to do with my health disabilities (I do have mental problems). Not the scary kind, just more like dementia. Whatever the reason, my fingers just won’t move the way I want them to move and no amount of practice or technique has yet changed that. I can’t even play simple Hanon exercises as smoothly as I’d like to. My fingers just won’t do what I want them to do period. It’s like there’s a physical limitation there that just can’t be overcome. Perhaps it’s even a form of early arthritis, I dunno. I seriously thought I could do this, but physical I just can’t.

In fact, lately I seem to be getter worse instead of better! I’ve moved on to much slower pieces, and even then I have trouble playing certain phrases precisely how I want them to sound. My fingers just won’t do it. I keep playing anyway, but my dreams of even becoming remotely good at an amateur level have been dashed. Of course, at 56, let’s face it, I did start this a bit late in life. I think I would have been fantastic had I done this when I was 20. But that’s water over the dam.

If you can get your fingers to play what you feel I say go for it!

On a personal note, I started playing the piano 2 years ago (I was 56 at the time), I had great hopes of learning to play some pretty cool stuff, even just as a hobbyist without any dreams of becoming an actual performer at all. My initial hopes were quenched when it came to my attention that my fingers simply won

I think you make a good chance if you become a professor in piano.

I think you make a good chance if you become a professor in piano.

And the chances of that in turn?

That'd be a heck of an income, though.

...I wouldn't rush to the conclusion that the reason you can't make it sound like you want it to sound is physiological. You might just be underestimating the time and work necessary. I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to make his fingers do what he or she wants them to do after two years. As an outside observer I would say you're far too pessimistic.

After having studied, seriously, with several very qualified instructors, for 13 years, I still can't do what I want my fingers to do all of the time. I'm closer than I was 5 years earlier, and closer than 5 years before that, but it's still not perfect.

In fact, I would venture to say that most concert pianists are not 100% satisfied with their own work, and they know there's always something they could have done just a little bit better. (In fact, I hope they can self-criticize, else how would they really know what needs improving?)

But as was said, it's a bad idea to base one's decisions upon statistics. Get some informed outside opinions of your own talents, and then make your judgements on those opinions. (What I'm saying is, just because some great pianist heard you and said you sucked, doesn't mean you actually have to listen to them... but you should at least try and get their opinion.)

Good luck, if that's the route you want to pursue.

Hi. I started playing the piano 6 months now,I feel great improvement,and I want to reach a level where I can play like Chopins;Op 25 No 6 in G sharp minor,or Debussy - Valse romantique.Im in the elementary class where 10-11 year old kids are. Well Im making 2 years of improvement in 1 year. With this tempo When will I be abble to play that level music? By the way Im 19 years old. I know, I know. :-D But I just want to be a great pianist,so I can teach my son or doughter to be the absolute perfect in piano. :angry:

Oh come on.. I've been playing for 40 years and I can't make my fingers always do what I want. I still can't get my hands completely around the piano part of Ravel's piano trio. And I make music for a living, I have for the last 25 years.

So, just so you know.. 2 years, 5 years, makes no difference, there will always be SOME piece of music that you can't get your fingers around.

I've just been asked to perform in concert the piano part of one of my own pieces (a rather massive song cycle), and I refused. I can't get my fingers around some of the more intricate parts. Besides, it's just so much more fun watching someone ELSE torture themselves with a difficult passage.

Hi. I started playing the piano 6 months now,I feel great improvement,and I want to reach a level where I can play like Chopins;Op 25 No 6 in G sharp minor,or Debussy - Valse romantique.Im in the elementary class where 10-11 year old kids are. Well Im making 2 years of improvement in 1 year. With this tempo When will I be abble to play that level music? By the way Im 19 years old. I know, I know. :-D But I just want to be a great pianist,so I can teach my son or doughter to be the absolute perfect in piano. :angry:

I'm 19 also and I've been playing for about 4 years. I too have made VERY quick improvement and I am now at about an 8-10 year level. Then again, I was never that great about practicing or memorizing, I just had fun and soaked everything up really well. At our age it is very easy to grasp the concepts of beginning piano. The hard part is sticking to it, not getting discouraged when you have to practice out of a pink kids piano book and most of all, have fun! Work hard, practice (something I wish I would have done more of) and there will be no telling how good you can become and soon you'll get there.

... I too have made VERY quick improvement and I am now at about an 8-10 year level. Then again, I was never that great about practicing or memorizing, I just had fun and soaked everything up really well... The hard part is sticking to it, not getting discouraged when you have to practice out of a pink kids piano book...

Mmm, same here. I self-taught myself the piano and composition, and music in general, using little "How To Read Music" books... for a little over two years at least, before I even talked to a piano teacher. I started this at like, 12 or 13. By the time I got my piano teacher, I was already playing difficult pieces, like Beethoven sonata movements, Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies, and Brahms' Hungarian Dances. I learned extremely fast, and then when I got a a certain level, I pretty much plateaued and things got a little boring. My piano teacher, eventhough I had already taught myself to a moderately advanced level, started me out on simple stuff, simple Bach, Hanon Studies, ect. A few years later again, and I'm now working on the entire Suite Bergamasque (Debussy) and a complete Beethoven sonata for a recital... I'm supposed to have had these things memorized, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much time on the piano anymore.

If ever you start, DON'T STOP. You'll hate yourself for it.

If ever you start, DON'T STOP. You'll hate yourself for it.

Yeah, I hate people who give up really early on because [small, mock whining voice]it's too difficult[/small, mock whining voice].

Yes. I know that fact.

Most people have limit in performance. But time is my only ally.

10 years of training can make you to be someone.

After 10 years its just self exploring.Except if u learn from someone whos far better then you.Im sad because I started at the age of 19,but Im happy at the same time. Better then never starting it.Somehow I know I can be a great pianist,maybe when Im 27 or 30. But I know that This is something I will use,to make people happy,and teach someone whos 3 or 4 years old and gonna say "Hey Dad! U hear this? I learned this in a short time." Thats all there is to it. I believe in absolute perfection!

I had a teacher that used to say that music is one of those rare fields that you remain a student for the rest of your life, no matter how much you think you have mastered, you still have allot to learn

Doesn't that apply to almost any field? I struggle to think of any to which it doesn't apply...

Well...With 8 years of experiance your playing on the piano, and someone hears you playing.What do you think, what kind of image does that person has from you? In that persons eyes you are incredible! What if you play on stage and 100 people are watching you? :happy: Its good to have a self motivation like,"I still have a lot to learn" But dont forget to enjoy what you reached in the present,and NEVER under estimate your abilities!

By the way,does TH

not impossible not probable