Nice. I play the same instrument. Thanks for the sentiment. I've often thought something similar which is that I've gotta continue to suck for a long time lol

This is almost exactly my story! I'm 18 and I started when I was 5 but I really haven't been improving as much as I should be over the past few years. For me, it was my fault for focusing too much on my studies and neglecting the piano. But as you say, the future is whatever we choose to make it!

I'm on the other end....I've been playing for 50 years, & I still feel the same way, lol. I had to go back a couple years ago to learn the basics better. But now that you have the basics, you can continue to build rep for the rest of your life. Be grateful for your foundation & just go for it, one or two pieces at a time!

@@AZmom60 That's something I need to work on-- I really do have my entire life ahead of me. Don't know who or what i feel like I'm racing against.

@@manishs6479. The key is to not compare yourself to anyone else, but to play for your enjoyment. You can do it!

You’ve pretty much described my story too! I’ve been playing for 20 years and still lack some of the basics as I too was talked into doing exams and now looking back realise that for me, they were a waste of time. Now as an adult, I get told “you don’t need to learn technical exercises like scales etc!!!” Honestly I can’t believe this attitude! Anyway, as you say, you are only 18 and sound quite wise. So keep playing what you enjoy:)

I'm an older student too, having lacked the mental discipline to work hard as a child, now at 50+ having almost boundless motivation and self discipline, the body and hands say otherwise (resulting in frustrating hand/finger injuries from over-practicing in dogged attempts to gain fluency). So same with me, my scales/passage work tops out at about MM=80 in semiquavers before things get messy. But there is so much extraordinarily beautiful slower repertoire - even at the lower grades - that the piano can still bring a lot of satisfaction.

About the pinky sticking up. How are the ligaments in your fingers connected? Some people have much better control of their pinkies than others due to how the ligaments of finger 4 and 5 connect. Tightly Grip finger 4 of your RH with your LH hand, hold it tight so it cannot bend, then try to bend finger 5 of your RH. If you cannot bend your pinky it means that the ligaments connect together and little can be done about a pinky sticking up.

@@pierrecohenmusic omgosh!! I can't really bend it! While that's a bit depressing in a way it's also a little relieving to know maybe it's not just lack of intellectual ability to learn but more a lack of physical ability. I felt like such a dunce. Maybe it shouldn’t, but this actually makes me feel better! Thank you so much!

@@thearm95 I'm just like you with the discipline. I have wanted to learn since I was a kid but I'm actually thankful I never had the opportunity. I didn't value the hard work required and would have quickly ditched it as I have no natural talent. Everything I achieve I earn through a couple of hours of daily practice. More if I could. I love it now but wouldn't have appreciated it as a youth. Have fun with your practice!!

​@@thearm95 nicely stated - thank you! I, too, am an older (70+) pianist and organist who finds ample and adequate joy in playing many of the lovely, less-demanding pieces available in the repertoire. Much as I enjoy hearing them well-played, I shed absolutely no alligator tears that I never learned Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, Beethoven's Hammerklavier, or Chopin's Polonaise in A flat. I no longer have hundreds - much less thousands - of hours available to learn some some piece which I will barely - if at all - be able to give its due artistry, and there's very little satisfaction to be had from just barely managing to grind out the correct notes. ''Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where I ought to be ... - playing pieces I can manage artistically - sans hours of torturous practice and drudgery - ;-) Don't overlook the silver lining of what you (and others) can enjoy of what you CAN play well - by begrudging what you can't (and others probably could care less ...).

Completely agree. I used to have the same issue where I just get frustrated with my perceived lack of progress on a specific piece I'm working on. Just like you said, though, taking a step back and looking at all the progress you made throughout the years does wonders for your motivation and satisfaction with your progress. Personally when I get frustrated or down because things aren't going as fast or as well as I'd like it helps a lot to just pick up a new, easier piece, even better if it is a piece I gave up on years ago because it seemed too difficult. Most of the time those pieces which seemed too hard in the past now suddenly seem very doable, or easy even. The realisation that pieces that you struggled with or would have struggled with greatly in the past, now suddenly almost seem easy in comparison, really helps put everything in perspective. Helping you realise that with enough practice and dedication the current piece your struggling with can also be mastered and might even seem easy again in the future.

What happens if you are a piano teacher and you still has to be good to get students? Where I'm at is very competitive...unless I'm professional pianist standard, I can't even get decent amount of private students. As a piano teacher, I have to constantly practice and perform to prove myself and attract students. It's directly linked to my self worth.

I think we also set ourselves up for some negative walls to hit by setting up some arbitrary goal and then considering ourselves to have failed if we don't reach it. Why would you want to learn all of the WTC? They're not all that interesting - have you considered the 6 Partitas ("German Suites") or the French suites ? There are some lovely Bach "kaleidoscopes" in there ... What other composers, pieces would you like to learn?

@@aBachwardsfellow It's just something I've been dreaming of doing for many years. Andras Schiff and Paul Barton have inspired me a lot, among others. I also really, really love the way WTC covers the chromatic spectrum with the split of major and minor keys, preludes and fugues. WTC also seems to be, for the most part, right on target for being both challenging and comfortable for my skill level. I'm slowly working on my scale and arpeggio work, on top of some good old finger exercises but I've always been quite lazy with technical exercises. What Schiff has said about never really being that into technical warm up and substituting it with playing WTC every morning is a romantic goal and not really applicable to me to the extent that he does it. But I do prefer playing actual pieces for warm up rather than say, scales. It's just more musical to me and I can immediately get that feedback and mood that I want. So I find WTC to be reasonably good for warm up. WTC was composed for piano students in mind. It may be less flashy than etudes but it is designed for learning, just like etudes, though with a broader mission of teaching in mind. Chopin's etudes are all about specifics and exposing students to the seemingly impractical and making it work like it's part of the norm. Which might allude to how he might have felt about piano playing and teaching it. Rules are meant to be broken and while you need solid technique, the first and foremost must always be the quality of sound coupled with as neutral and relaxed physical input as possible; it doesn't matter if the thumb is on the blacks, if it's under or over, or if you use weird fingering for trills - if you feel comfortable and you are playing music instead of sounds, it works. Chopin also taught with WTC. He was very particular about his teaching material. WTC is also apparently only music he brought with him to practice on when he visited Majorca. I'm just rambling here at this point. WTC isn't particularly unique in that it's teaching material for students. It's not even unique within Bach's own works. But I do love it dearly.

Oh, and I do play and practice other material from other composers actively. Learning WTC is a very long-term goal for me.

​@@Zhinarkos well then, with all that heart for it, by all means pursue the WTC - it is a marvelously comprehensive work at its level. I'm quite fond of the 6 partitas for much the same reason, and others find the Goldberg variations similarly satisfying. You're correct about mindset being a factor. I don't find that acknowledging a passage to be difficult creates an obstacle as long as I don't dwell on it or practice with it in mind; the art of overcoming difficult passages is to approach them in a manner that makes them easy - I find that practicing difficult passages with a relaxed piano-pianissimo legato is beneficial, therapeutic - my goal is to never play the passage in a way that registers as difficult. And then - like the frog sitting in the pan of water - gently raise the temperature (tempo, volume) but always relaxed. (I know - horrible analogy !!) . I take it you are familiar with Theodore Leschetizky's close touch? Speaking of thumbs on the black keys, one of my favorite warm-ups is major 7th and diminished 7th arpeggios up and down four octaves chromatically through every key - in octaves, then in staggered 10ths and 6ths; not only will your thumbs play on black notes, but other fingers will be crossing over them onto black and white notes alike - a marvelous warm-up for fingers and wrists - as follows (2 octaves in C - but extend to 4 octaves when playing): C-E-G-B-C-E-G-B- |C| -Bb-G-E-C-Bb-G-E-C C-Eb-Gb-A-C-Eb-Gb-A- |C| A-Gb-Eb-C-A-Gb-Eb-C Repeat starting on C#, then D - continue through all keys; then repeat with hands displaced by 10ths, then 6ths. I understand Schiff's remark about not being into the technical warm-up and playing pieces instead. That is all well and good for someone who has an established technic - which was likely established via scales and arpeggios. However scales, arpeggios and finger exercises have their place as part of the learning continuum. You may find - as I have found - that technical practice becomes more interesting when you play games with it. For example, if you're using Hanon, try playing them in 10ths and 6ths, using mixed touches (legato, staccato), rhythms (dotted notes, triplets); try Hanon in all major and harmonic minor keys - in 10ths and 6ths - using various touches, rhythms, accents - ! For scales also play in 10ths, 6ths, and 3rds using various touches, rhythms, accents. Start your arpeggios with one hand on the second note instead of the octave - i.e. for C major start with the LH 5th finger on C and the RH 2nd finger on E as though the RH had started one note ahead; at the top the RH will reach C first and turn around while the LH is still coming up to the C, then turns around. So you start of in nominal 10ths ascending, and return in nominal 6ths descending. Finally - vary your technical practice from day to day. For example, one day I may spend a good hour or *two* purely on technical practice - scales, arpeggios, octaves, double 3rds, 6ths, Hanon in multiple keys, etc. Then the next several days I may barely play a scale or arpeggio at all. On some days I'll do a thorough technical workout in one key - often the key of one of the pieces I'm learning before starting to practice the piece. I'd definitely say vary your technical studies so they're not the same ol' grind every day. But at the same time have a goal - i.e. all scales in 16th notes under complete relaxed control - legato, staccato, pianissimo to forte - at MM=100 for quarter notes; then MM = 110, 120, 132, etc. For being mostly self-taught you're doing extraordinarily well to be doing the WTC. By all means continue to listen to Schiff - he's a marvelous interpreter of Bach and you will do well to imitate his interpretation. But - to Josh's point - do not allow your momentary lags to "define" you - just enjoy the journey ! :-)

@@aBachwardsfellow I find all of what you've said both agreeable and encouraging. It is like any athlete or other professional would say about progress, whether immediate or long-term. You reduce the stress and the pressure by thinking in pieces. That idea of making difficult passages simple is what I also personally try to aim for. Logic be damned but a measure of music with a trouble spot doesn't equal anywhere near to all the effort and time one has put into playing before. Seeking that ease of first touching the piano and playing two notes with it should continue to the challenging and uncomfortable. I enjoy experimenting so I'll definitely try your tips for scales and arpeggios. And, out of curiosity, if I were to try learning one of the partitas in the future, do you have any recommendations where to start?

- I'm not sure when or what caused you to listen to that 'lie' and believe it. It's time to send that lie packing and get it out of your way - stop focusing on external things that are "better than you" - and focus on what *you* CAN do. Even giving a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty has its reward - :-)

Me too. I told my teacher I would not touch Mozart pieces until my clarity gets better.

@@hkgweigwei But touching Mozart pieces is one of the best ways to help your clarity get better!

@Luka Meah thank you very much. I will try that!

Bro just said “don’t follow your dreams” lmfaoo. No. When one follows their dreams they could become a reality. You just said “if you chase a big goal and work really hard, one day you’ll fail” which is a humongous lie, and super discouraging. Just make sure your dreams are realistic for your current situation, and do everything you can to follow them.