What's the most memorable feedback you've received about your playing?

It was sometime in 1984 (I think) when the French pianist Marc Ponthus came to my apartment in NYC to do a runthrough for an upcoming concert. Afterwards, he asked me to play something for him and I played Chopin's F-minor Ballade, which I was just working into performance shape. As I hit the coda, he put his hand on my upper back and said, with disbelief, "Wow, your mechanism. It's incredible!"

I knew exactly what he meant (and it wasn't exactly a compliment): How in the world can you play at this level with your whole back so tight?!

He was right, of course. I had built compensation on compensation, tension on tension, driving my fingers, not trusting them. It all blew up not long after and I've been recovering and reconstructing ever since! Not an easy gig! But now, whenever I'm playing and start slipping into that forcing mode, I feel Marc behind me with his hand on my back saying "Your mechanism..." and I stop and let go and back out of that cul de sac, or stop playing if I can't.

I think Marc would be amused to know how much his little comment has meant to me all these years.

I read your message Dominic, how cute and powerful at the same time. Lovely experience!

I was very young, maybe 9 or 10. At the music school they used to have external people as jury for the end of year exams. That year, the guest jury was a Venezuelan pianist who was a child prodigy and earned a scholarship to continue her studies in the USA when she was still a young child.

That same day and occasion, my piano teacher had complained about something I didn't do or something like that. After the exam, they called my Mom in to talk to her and sent me out. When my mother came out, she was still saying that it would be good if Judith Jaime's (the pianist) would give me some advice. So, Miss Jaime's called me apart and talk to me, but the only thing I can remember she told me was "keep doing what you do..."

I have to admit that is a phrase that comes to mind when my confidence is shaken.

I had an aunt who gave music lessons in her home.  I was visiting once and overheard her telling a student " you play the piano like I sing...lousy"  While the comment wasn't directed at me and I didn't take lessons from her, it still made me feel better about my own playing.

Some corrections, Judith Jaimes Is the  Venezuelan pianist name and the jury was composed of at least 3 pianists, the main teacher, another teacher and a third external juror, Judith Jaimes in this case.

Thanks

Mariela

My most memorable feedbacks came from my music professors at a southern California college, one who was a Juilliard piano graduate and probably near her 60's (so, supposedly very experienced), and another piano professor, who I believe also taught or teaches at a UC San Diego or a San Diego State University, and was perhaps in her 50's (so, also supposedly very experienced).

First, my piano professor, the Juilliard-trained pianist, seemed mentally unstable during the typical introductory lectures, a strange swing of moods and tone of voice.  My beginning piano book, Bastien Group Piano for Adults, was filled with highly unpleasant nursery-rhyme songs and cliche folk songs, but I took extra time to lightly pencil in the chord names in pop-notation above each harmony in one of the pages, for example, "C", "C/G", "Am", and so on, because I was also taking undergraduate music theory and attempting to apply it to real music.

I asked my Juilliard-trained piano professor to explain the song in terms of this chord progression, simply, why C here, why C/G there.  She barked at me in class, demanding I erase the markings, "We do NOT write chord names above the notes!  And I do not teach theory."  Then she snapped, "We ONLY play the DOTS!" and she walked away to the other side of the piano lab.   I suppose she assumed I was reading the chord notation rather than sight-reading, yet I was not, and regardless, she had no justification for any such assumption.  Unfortunately, I was also locked into this particular piano class because of class scheduling and class add/drop deadlines, so I didn't have any option, except to press on, ignore her rotten personality, and spend time in practice. 

Second, a week after this, I was practicing furiously in the piano lab, pressing out more minutes at the keys, when another piano class began coming into the piano lab for their scheduled class.  The other piano professor walked in (the San Diego professor), and this professor had a style which was very gregarious and confident, useful to control the energetic freshmen students, not angry like the Juilliard piano professor.  Since their class was beginning, I gathered my materials and started to exit.  The San Diego professor mistook me for a student in her class, and called out to me, "No no, sit down, we are not breaking out into rehearsal rooms yet, we will do the small-group exercises later," to which I said, "Oh sorry umm I'm not in this class.  I would looove to be in your class but I can't add it."   To which she replied, bizarrely:  "George Clooney, take me on a date, an expensive dinner date, and I will add you.  Yep.  George Clooney, take me to an expensive dinner, and I will add you in."    I laughed awkwardly at this and left.  Now it is up to the audience here to ponder this bizarre response from a faculty instructor to a student.  Let's assume the audience here has reached the same conclusion as I have, that this is a highly, highly, improper comment from a professor to a student, and so, I later filed motions with the college.  I have recently discovered that, while I did make a formal complaint, the complaint is not valid or actionable because California specifies that such a complaint against an instructor must be made within 180 days.   

Third, a few weeks later, the Juilliard piano professor decided she would give all the students a surprise individual quiz on scales and/or chords.  I had been spending an average of 3 hours/day (often practicing 5 hours/day) on the songs in the piano book, and much less time on the scale exercises.  She sat down on my piano bench and said in her strict voice, "Play F major."   I think outloud during these situations, so I said, "Um, let me see, it's um, you said F major, right, let's see, F, umm, it's--" and I played the F major scale; but, by this time, she had stood up, apparently fuming, turned around away from me, and shouted loudly to the wall, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DON'T KNOW THIS!!" and she stormed off to the opposite side of the piano room.   Although I had played the scale correctly, it didn't matter to this Juilliard professor.  She had flipped out.   The entire class went completely silent, pin-drop silent, for the rest of the hour, while she went around to talk 1-on-1 to other piano students.  I was appalled, yet stuck, because I needed to "pass the semester piano class" but knew I could not continue in her class after that outburst.  I waited until the end of class and almost everyone had left the piano lab and as she was walking out I said, "I have to talk to you about something.  I don't appreciate how you yelled at me in class, and now I will drop your class, but it is past the withdraw deadline, and I do not want to get a 'W' on my transcript for this, so I would want you to approve a transfer to another section."   She then denied that she had yelled at me, said she could not assist with any transcript or transfer problem, and that was it.   So I went to Administration, complained about improper instructor behavior, was then sent to a college registration Counsellor, and given the phone number for the Dean of Arts, who I immediately called, and of course he was not in his office, so I left a very specifically worded voicemail, saying, a piano instructor has just yelled at me in a highly unprofessional way, and I need to transfer to another piano section, because I can't continue with this instructor, and I don't want to miss a semester of piano, which would set me significantly back on the undergraduate schedule.  Several days later, which is nearly an eternity within a busy semester schedule, the Dean and Music Department Chair emailed me back, saying they would approve a transfer to another piano class, without a mark on my transcript.  The kicker: the option to transfer to a different piano class was to the San Diego professor's class.   Of course, I declined this option, and instead, dropped piano class completely.  The department never followed up with any additional feedback from me, so then, I had to spend a significant effort to formally complain about the Juilliard-trained professor, and the Dean of Arts had a 1-on-1 meeting with me, to apologize for anything that happened, and admit, "We never ask other students what occurred in these situations," and I later saw a year later, the Juilliard-trained professor is still teaching piano there.  

By the way, this college has won multiple awards from Downbeat Magazine. 

Overall, this highly improper instruction has led to a setback in piano studies of about 3 years.

Due to these experiences and others, I will strongly prefer remote lessons, especially purchased video lessons; where mentally unstable or unprofessional instructors can't do as much damage.  Certainly the cost of video lessons is much less than the cost of music college, and video lessons additionally come with a pause button.

Those have been my most memorable feedback from piano studies.

Once after I played Amazing Grace on the flute at a coffee shop, a vocalist from my group told me she saw gold everywhere while I was playing.

No question about it, I once played (excerpts) Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in a local TV program with guest Hollywood star Ginger Rogers in the room. After I played, she said, "And to think, he's only eleven!" I don't believe I'll ever forget that!

The most memorable feedback I got was from my piano teacher in college. I had worked really hard to audition and get accepted to this school, despite only starting to take lessons when I was 18 (I was around 21 when I auditioned with a Bach invention, Mozart K. 545, and Chopin prelude). 

We were in a studio lesson with all of the other students of my teacher. I had just played a piece I was working on, Chopin's prelude no. 6 in b minor. After I was finished playing, he looked at the students and said, "Can you believe he's only been playing since he was 18?" The comment was so touching and validating that I still remember it to this day.