HOW MUCH DO GREAT PIANISTS REALLY PRACTICE? 

40 hours a day

Good analysis ❤

I really enjoed this video, It seems like you are talking to us face to face as we are in a private lesson, and I really like that you provide us some verifyed information(eg links), these days it's very hard to find valuable informantion. I am currently preparing some pieces and my goal is to gradually reach 4 hours of effettive practice, currently I'm close to 2. It's really hard for me as I'm surrounded by many distractions, especially my phone.. I'm trying to wake up everyday and think of what I want to accomplish today, even beside practice. I saw many videos that talked about setting a quick , medium, and long terme goal, I think this Is the best way to progress. I really liked the video where you tried Cziffra's practice hours, when you put in the effort and see results it's so rewarding at the end ! I hope to get at 4 hours of practice at least, and I wish to everyone who plays an instrument, or even who doesn't, to really find the right time to spend into what you really enjoy, we must not forget that we are humans, and sometimes taking a break can do wonders ! Good luck to all !

I practice whenever I like it, I was forcing myself to practice every single day for 2 hours minimum and it wasn't fun. Now I practice 4-5 times a week and more than 2 hours each day while enjoying it much more. And I find it more efficient.

🔥🔥🔥😊 great video!

My father , international concert pianist , who resided in Zurich and America, practiced at one point up to 7-8 hours at a time , depending on what he was preparing for, daily he would play 2-4 hours. He never thought that this mindset of practicing for 10+ hours was necessary.

Bonjour Sébastien ! Je ne sais pas si tu comprend le français mais j’adore ta chaîne RU-vid ! Excellent pianiste! Continue..

The Liszt paintings are awesome !! 🤩

I think it depends, since I have an audition coming up soon I practice 4-6 hours including breaks, 4 hours probably without breaks. but I do also spend some time practice singing and learning harmony, and also trying to get some social interaction in between so I don’t die of loneliness. But I’m generally very obsessive so I’ve been thinking of increasing my hours of piano and reducing other activities. very interesting video nonetheless, quite informative so thanks!

As if my body would let me sit at a piano for whatever length - 8+ hours everyday. Not sure I want to deal with chronic pain of whatever in the long term.

Casarotti (2006: p. 9) highlights that Chopin said he did not believe that the practice periods of six to eight hours, as was common in the mechanistic approach, “meant diligence” but, on the contrary, it was an unintelligent practice and unnecessarily laborious. This perspective can be confirmed in the words from the composer himself: People are experimenting with different types of methods of learning piano performance, methods that are tedious and useless and have no relation to the study of the instrument. They do not teach us how to play “music”, and the difficulty levels they address are not the same as those found in the good songs of the great composers. It's a kind of abstraction of difficulty, a new genre of “stunts”. (CHOPIN in Esquisses pour une method apud EINGELDINGER, 1989: 23). According to Mikuli (apud EINGELDINGER, 1993: p. 55), Chopin always said that the real exercise was not in the “abstraction of difficulty”, that is, in the carrying out a mechanical challenge by numerous thoughtless repetitions, but, yes, in the exercise of concentration aimed at listening and understanding the work. In In a way, part of this thinking may have been influenced by Johan Nepok Hummel (1778-1837), as we noted in the preface to his treatise for Piano. Many already advanced pianists believe in the need to play by six or seven hours a day their instruments to reach their goals; they are wrong: I am confident in stating that a study regular, daily, with high concentration for no more than three hours, is sufficient for these purposes. A practice in addition puts the spirit, forming a mechanical musician rather than an expressive one, being, therefore, disadvantageous to the interpreter. Very common in this model mechanistic formation is when an interpreter is caught off guard to play any song and you can't do it without having a few days previous studies. (HUMMEL, 1828: p. 4).One of Chopin's concepts was to consider the heterogeneity of fingers, that is, there are stronger fingers and weaker, longer and longer fingers. short and these can be explored musically. Chopin wrote in his incomplete method for piano that “It’s all a matter of knowing a good typing...just as there are different sounds there are different fingers...Hummel He was very knowledgeable about this concept.” Rosen (1995: p. 500-501) states that This notion of a different character for each finger reveals something of the nature of the Chopin's musical thought: interest in color gradations and inflections of phrasing. Jasińska (2011: p. 15-17) comments that in general, Chopin was concerned with establishing a natural posture for the posture of the hands of way to achieve the best possible sound quality and beauty. According to Chopin's experience as a performer and teacher, transmitted in some fragments of his unfinished Esquisses pour une method for piano, the act of playing cannot focus solely on in mechanical concerns in ways that obscure the beauty of the sound. [...] Regarding fingering, for each finger Chopin applies a particular importance, emphasizing the significance of each of these. On the pages d e Esquisses pour une méthode we find: “Just as each finger has a different formation, it is recommended not to destroy the charm of particularity of each touch, but, on the contrary, developing it. (JASIŃSKA, 2011: p. 15-17). In general terms, we find in Chopin's Esquisses pour une méthode special attention to fingerings, the use of the pedal, legato and cantabile under reference to bel canto and the use of the heterogeneity of fingers as sound potentials. In this sense, the composer created ruptures with the mechanistic pedagogical perspective, as he was not requiring his students to insistent repetition of mechanical exercises in search of homogeneity of strength and agility between all fingers, but drawing attention to a refinement of the listening and control/relaxation of the body in respect of its limitations. A concentration on these aspects would be one of the factors that would favor the ideal romantic sound. Eingeldinger (1989: p. 17) comments that in this approach, Chopin favored his students quickly exploring a variety of sound colors.We can say that Chopin is one of the main pianist-composers to contribute to a renewal of the Study genre. His contribution to the genre consists of three collections of Studies: Douze Grandes Études Op. 10 (Leipzig, 1833 to Franz Liszt); Douze Études Op. 25 (Paris, 1837) and Trois Nouvelles Études (1840). Chopin understood the advantage of basing an Etude on a simple technical difficulty: pianistic technique and musical thought are, in the Study, identified in such a way that this is the only way to ensure unity of style. With its homogeneous texture, in which the figuration of the initial measures are generally developed without cease until the end, the Study is the most surprising product of the revival 19th century baroque [...] Chopin's Studies are researches of color, and Technical difficulties most often refer to the quality of the touch rather than accuracy or speed. This concern with color grants importance to Chopin's insistence on the different functions of different fingers. (ROSEN, 1995: p. 496-594). Chopin's Etudes are constantly highlighted for their balance between musical expression and instrumental technique. Kim (2011) comments that Studies by Chopin, as opposed to the Liszt Etudes or arrangements of the Chopin Etudes carried out by Godowsky, do not seek to make the interpreter a “servant of the mechanism instrumental". Chopin renews the genre by subjecting the instrumental mechanism to musical idea and listening, in order to carry out a broad sound investigation, through new perspectives of articulation, contrast, density, texture, register, agogic, etc. In this sense, some authors, such as Kim (2011), seek highlight the use of characteristic pieces - Nocturnes, Preludes and others miniatures -, as a pedagogical resource by Chopin in search of development of listening and expressive musicality. Some Chopin Studies - Op. 10 numbers 3, 6, 9; Op. 25 number 7 and Trois Nouvelles Études seem to come close to the characteristic pieces of romanticism such as Nocturnes and Preludes. They are studies of a emotional expression with balanced voices in legato and cantabile. At first page we can already see how different they are from Studies from the school of mechanism. The method Chopin teaches is reflected in his Studies, his pedagogical priority for the development of musicality would consequently come to include characteristic pieces in your studies. (KIM, 2011: p.38). It is difficult to appreciate today how radical this present synthesis was. in Chopin Studies. The biggest technical problems with these parts are often those related to touch and balance: they increase strength and flexibility of the hand, but also develop the interpreter's listening skills. A Chopin's coloristic invention finds its apogee in the Etudes. Your fundamentally contrapuntal nature can be seen as a counterpoint of colors, an interweaving of different species of texture. [...] For this reason, Chopin's coloring is as abstract as pitch or rhythm [...] (ROSEN, 1995: p. 515).

If you practice a little for 2 hours, you can divide what you practice into days, so you have better muscle and tendon recovery later. If you don't have balance, the universe will demand it from you, it's better to practice 2 hours your whole life than 8 hours young and 15 minutes old due to tiredness.

Great video! I wanted to ask wether you think practicing so long is good for pianists. Like you said Chopin has said to his students to only practice 2 hours a day, but it seems practicing 8-16 hours a day is paying off for these great pianists quite well. I'm confused on what would be the ideal amount of time to practice.

I dont think much ''playing pratice" pays off, it comes a point where you start regressing. Pratice should be mixed with theory ideally.

How could Zimerman train 16 hours a day as a kid ? Even if he didn't sleep at all, it seems impossible... Isn't he supposed to be at school ?!

i practice one hour or 2 per week. And doing super fine. It depends on your brain capacity and ability to digest memorize and improvize as long as you understood whats great and whats trash.

Please don’t judge me on my answer; Over 3 hours is excessive. It leaves no time for anything else but I guess if it’s your way of living you have to dedicate yourself. I can probably practice for an hour a day but my progress definitely shows. This is how all our gifts are really for other people to enjoy. I know I love singing but my gift isn’t for me but if I want to sound great I gotta practice at least everyday and it almost seems there’s always something to improve. Is good , good enough? I can sing for 3 hours and not even see the time go .

4 comercials in 5 minutes video. Sorry but it is too much