Today I was browsing Youtube trying to find a good version of Bach's prelude no.1 in C major and it was quite disheartening to hear so many...I mean many, many poorly played versions. The same happened with C.P.E. Bach's Solfeggietto and Bach's prelude in C minor - the famous BWV999. And I assume the reason pianists all over the world upload those videos is because they believe their playing is (at least) OK. I honestly can't see someone uploading a video to show the world how poorly they play this or that song.

Although I have had classical piano training I wouldn't label my piano education as orthodox. And the reason I say that is because I never had "levels"or grades. At the time, I didn't understand very much what that meant  but today I see this as a wonderful thing because there was no achievement other than just the enjoyment of playing the piano. There were no steps to climb. There was no "next level". There was no judgement. The next song was just another song, not on a higher or lower place in the scale. Playing the piano was awesome no matter what I was playing or what level I supposedly was at.

Unfortunately, modern piano teaching (based more and more on finger dexterity levels) put the songs mentioned above in the 'easy' baskets and the result is that very rarely we hear them performed in a way that moves us. They are frequently looked down by the student who has already gone way up in "level"(and by the teacher as well). But one very important thing is forgotten:

Bach who wrote the Brandenburg concertos is the same Bach who wrote prelude no.1 in C major. He was a genius when he wrote the concertos and he was the same genius when he wrote the preludes. And in my opinion, it takes a lot more to perform the work of a genius than just playing the notes right.

The compositions mentioned in the example above are obviously on different levels of finger dexterity but they are absolutely on the same level of geniality. And they demand a lot of maturity if performed in a way that changes us, in a way that transforms the moment when we are playing or listening to these masterpieces into magic, in a way that transcends mundane reality and takes us to a higher plane.

I'm writing this not to have a go at the pianist who swapped the focus of his attention from playing to what level they're at or the teacher who is stuck in the achievements ladder. I'm just trying to shed a bit of light on why we humans have the need to put out there what's inside and therefore some of us chose to play the piano.

My advice to my students is always: Piano playing is not juggling, it's not a stunt, it's not a sport and therefore it doesn't belong in the circus or the olympics...it's supposed to move, to change, to transform you and whoever is listening. And if it doesn't, in my opinion it's just a big waste of time!

So, if you're playing or learning something that you consider great just because it's "difficult" or because you'd need to be very, very fast to be able to play it but, at the end of the day it doesn't move you, play something else.

Thoughts?...