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A teacher recently said to me: "I'm really proud of you!" I'm OLD and the teacher is YOUNG yet, to my great surprise, these words meant the world to me. I remain grateful for them and for the possibilities these piano lessons opened up in my life.
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Gail Starr Always!
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...and always grateful for the feedback !
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Monika Tusnady I obviously wasn’t at your last lesson - the one where “nobody was proud of” you anymore ;-) - and I don’t want to overburden your lighthearted comment with deep meaning. But I will point out that a teacher usually doesn’t stop being proud of a student because things don’t go well in a lesson, or because there is something to criticize, or because there may be no reason for specific praise that day. When your teacher tells you they’re proud of you, you should not only treasure that comment, but continue to hold on to it for the future and remind yourself of it in more frustrating times to come.
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As a teacher of many different levels and ages, these stories are very good to read, because they remind me of how important and long lasting the comments I make to my student are. They might stick with them for ever!
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Some years ago I played Chopin Nocturne op9/2 for a little group. After that somebody came to me and told: , I am not a friend of classical music, but you got me to tears.‘ That was ,wow‘!
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Some years ago (2005?), I performed Schumann's Kreisleriana at the public library during a piano festival in Colorado Springs, CO. There was a requirement that we say something about the piece before we performed it. So I had made a lot of notes and explained Schumann's inspiration for the piece. After I played, many fine fellow pianists came up to me and said they had always hated the piece. But after hearing the backstory to it, they understood it more and really enjoyed it. It made me realize what a gift it is to share what I love about the music I play.
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As I was diddling around on a piano I just finished tuning, a man came up behind me and said that I was very musical and that I may want to consider taking up piano playing. I took it as he was joking and turned around to see Andre Watts walking away.
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Dave B that is an amazing story and made my day happier after reading it!
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Dave B That 's a great story!!!
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I wish I could hit LIKE more than once.
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The only feedback I remember from a piano exam was the comment that I played one of the pieces with "old-world charm". I am still tickled by the comment to this day as I cannot imagine how as a 12 or 13 year old, I would know what old world charm should sound like. I can only give my teacher at that time credit for her very thorough coaching :D
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At a chamber workshop.
—You aren’t waiting enough after the fermata.
—How long should I wait?—Until you can’t stand it any longer!
ya know, it was great advice. I do it all the time and it works nicely.
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Harry Neuwirth I love that!
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Not positive feedback, but truly memorable. My freshman year at college, one of the comments for my first jury was that my Mozart K. 280 was "hot and crusty."
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gallaghejas Hmmm... I wonder what time of year your jury was held? Was the "hot and crusty" meant to say that your playing was delicious like a pizza? or that it was like an old sandwich sitting on a radiator?
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That my playing was generous
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When I was in college I accompanied a flautist for her senior recital. One of the pieces was a set of Beethoven variations on a folk tune. As I recall, the pianist had a busy part, doing most of the "varying" on the theme. After the recital, one of the graduate students came up to me and said "Gerry, you and I should discuss the Beethoven. There were some important subtleties that you missed". I thanked him. Not two seconds later, my musicology professor came up to me with a big smile and said, "Great job on the Beethoven!"
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The most memorable feedback that I have received about my playing started in 2020, when a little girl was visiting us in Portugal with her mother,
Sophie (6 years old) who lives in USA, fell in love with the Chopin's Noturne Op, 9 n. 2, that I had played for her,
Afterwards, she asked her Mom to have piano classes when they came back to USA,
Two years later she sent me a video with her first piano presentation in her school.
It was one of the greatest emotiond of my life.
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HENRIQUE ALMEIDA
That’s wonderful! You had changed Sophie’s life and perhaps her life’s trajectory for the better. Thank you for sharing.
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In 2022 I attended a five-day summer school with Graham Fitch at Finchcocks, a wonderful, magical old manor house in Southern England. Over the years I had learnt so much through his website, so going there to work with him was the logical step. I played some Bach, Schubert, Liszt and Brahms during the week, and when we parted, Graham said "Your playing is fantastic." I had not worked with a teacher in nearly 30 years, and I was full of joy and pride!
Of course I told my wife; soon after my birthday came up, and she had a mug, a t-shirt and some stickers designed and produced for me saying "Your playing is fantastic." One more reminder why I love her so much.
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Jan You have an amazing wife. And she's right about your playing!
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Gail Starr Thanks Gail, that's so sweet.
One thing she doesn't like as much is my practicing, and I got memorable feedback from her on that once or twice... which I totally understand!
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This is not piano related but I was playing Eb clarinet in Berlioz' Symphony Fantastique, in the 5th movement, I think, The Witches Sabbath. At the end one of the trumpet players told me my playing was 'Truly diabolical'! I took it as a complement.
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My memorable feedback was when my teacher said, I played like a real musician.
And the funniest was on Instagram, when somebody commented under the video where I played Bach's Prelude c moll wtc1, that Richter had played it better)) I mean... Richter)) i was compared to him)))
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Janina Lieder That's wonderful Janina! Well done!
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