If you have talent, you can be good without to practise so much (have I heard).
But if you don have talent, can you be good with only much practise?

i think that theres the odd "prodigy" that can be good without practice...but everyone needs to practice. i also think that anyone can play an instrument, but only if u "put ur heart" into it, ur gonna get awesome results...thays my thinking anyway ! lol!

Hey, I think if you are not a "prodigy" that you have to prctice everday for at least an hour but, if you are a "prodigy" like I am..."prodigies" practice almost 2 hours a day but they put their heart in it and that is what makes the difference.

if you can say that it`s probably not true,besides virtuoso or not if you aren`t playing 4 to 6 hours a day then your not playing at all.i play one or two hours when i don`t have the time,and i don`t even considered that i`ve played.lizt used to play six hours a day,can you say he wasn`t a virtuoso?the more you play the more you`re good,the less you play the better you could be,even if your jesus!!!!!

I think if yr a prodigy then you will have to practice even MORE than the average person. Caz if yr so avg. then whatever amt. of extra practice is gonna do u no good. A prodigy, on the other hand, practices at least 5-8hrs everyday to perfect their `presentation`. Well, I`m not one. So, I practice at most 3 hrs when only I`m extremely free. So u see, it`s quite impossible to function without practicing. The more so, if u have talents, caz u`ll always be eager to move on. Thank You.

I was never a prodigy, and you don`t need to be to be a great player. The problem with a lot of prodigies is they think that being a good player is hitting all the notes right on a very hard piece. A `prodigy favourite` is fantasie impromptu, but I have yet to hear a single 11 year old who does it any justice. I`d much rather listen to a good performance of fur elise or some simple Satie piece than have to sit through another soulless performance of moonlight sonata 3rd movement played by a little kid. Prodigies are impressive, even though their not that uncommon these days, I know I`ve met a few, but truly great players, they don`t come along so often.

I was pretty talented, but I never really did anything with it. At one point I only practised for about an hour a week. Motivation without talent is 100 times greater than talent without motivation, is what my teacher used to say, and sure enough, now all my piano playing friends are far ahead of me and I`m playing catch up. I could stop here and say that the moral od the story is that if you have talen then you must, must, must use it. But I`ve had a pretty good life up till now. There are more pleasurable things in life for me than the piano, and I`m glad that I did them. I know a person who is a pretty exceptional pianist, and I know I could be that good if I had put the hours in. But he doesn`t have much of a social life, whereas I do. So i guess there wasn`t a moral to my life, and it might be completely pointless me writing this message. Ah well.

I believe that someone with a little talent and a lot of motivation will always go a lot further than someone with a lot of talent and no motivation.

Let me tell you this i am 18 and have played the piano for 9 years alw ays a consistent player until i advanced to a teacher that is unmatched by most in the U.S.. I learned alot and i can tell you these responses are petty. I also have studied with another world renown pianist who was Russian. He helped bring my talent out. You want the truth of the matter. Ill give you the truth.Talent is allowed to be demonstrated to the EAR when one practices. In other words, an authentic child prodigy does not simply hit the correct notes but dictates the emotion of the listener. Let me simplify what I am saying. Piano playing is an understanding esp classical music. I am not talking about music theory I am talking about the essence and the quality of the sound. If you dont have talent practicing is a waste of time. I firmly believe that their is a critical period for developing the cognitive skills to play challenging music similar to learning your first language. Any questions/ comments email me.

Quote from Pianohands...`I learned alot and i can tell you these responses are petty...`/ Wow! that`s slightly edgy...Pls be more polite...U never know who the other party is on the net. And I can assure u that we Do have Professionals here... Well, anyway, I think at least everybody agrees that practice makes perfect right? Esp. so if yr talented. Happy new Year!

piano hands, you`re really 18? Because most people at 18 are more mature to come on am imternet forum, show off about who they have played with and then say something like `if you don`t have talent then practice is useless.` Yes I agree that there are some things that cannot be taught, either you have it or you don`t. but the piano is not just supposed to be played by proffessionals, thats just arrogance talking. The same way that amateur painters should be allowed to paint, the piano can make people happy without a world class performance.

I believe a great composer once defined genius as: "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

Just remember that the word GENUIS was once defined as: "1% Inspiration and 99% Perspiration."

Well, I`m all hands on that! Ian and Ron.