I hope this helps any of you who are discouraged, depressed, or debating whether to continue with your studies because of something someone said. Keep pressing on doing what you love doing! Have a great week of practicing :)
I only need to please 2 people with my piano playing: Myself and my wife (because she has to listen to me practice). Thankfully we both have low standards with my music. I will never be an accomplished concert pianist, and I'm okay with that, but I can improve everyday and play some wonderful music in the meantime. I feel privileged to be able to travel back centuries and walk in the footsteps of the great composers. Even with my fumbles and mistakes, I still feel great honor and joy in experiencing their creative genius with my own two hands on my own piano.
Exactly! I have started music acadamy at the age of 41.. and having allready played the 2 Bach (petzold) minuets , first 2 movements of Clementi op36 nr1 ... It s just about the musical journey. I never dreamed I could play these so whatever anyone thinks about, I will try to improve every day at my pace and see what gems I can eventually play.
That’s such a lovely mindset. Your comment made me smile, I feel the same about how lucky I am to be able to sit down and learn the greatest compositions of all time :’)
I was just listening to Tiffany Poon say pretty much exactly the same thing about toxic trolls who criticize for kicks. Her advice was to cut them out. I assume she means...of you life, and/or your social media. I think your advice to cultivate an inner circle for serious critiques, and to take critiques outside that circle with a grain of salt, makes sense. The haircut is a bold choice. Who says we dudes don't get to make fashion statements? :)
This video speaks volumes of wisdom for people in any field. My professional training included a Ph.D. in Pure Mathematics. I observed that the top people in my area of study were the most approachable and helpful while the people at the next level below them often were arrogant and critical. So your comments are spot on! I might add that I have played the piano most of my life but suffered from very bad teachers and never learned good habits at an early age. Now as a retired rocket scientist, I have been drawn to devote a lot of my free time to playing the piano again after many years of not playing much at all. Your videos and the videos of other good online teachers have been a great inspiration to me and I can't thank you enough. You are doing an excellent service! Thank you so much!
Ted pretties mathematics / scientist / engineer / entrepreneurship and musician / sport athletes can't compare at all. One of them is young age training. Another of them is needing long time to accumulate so many knowledge / experience /to do so many times experiments and understand principle and establish / form scientific theory / scientific law through natural phenomenon and natural law. The more old for scientist/engineer age are, the more valuable for rank of Scientists/engineer/ entrepreneurship. The more young for musician and sport athletes age are, the more valuable for rank of young musician and young athletes.
Josh, you're so generous about teaching and soooo good on playing that it's almost unbelievable that someone could ever make negative comments!... And thank you so much for your encouragement for all of us!! You are planting good things for anyone who acess your channel, for free! Thank you!!
We’re all human, so it’s going to hurt when people criticize. I’ve found that most of these negative people do so because they’re jealous. You’re a gifted performer and teacher, as well as a kind person. Thanks for this very important video. We need less negativity in this world, especially now. Oh, and one more thing. I vote for the longer hair. Enjoy your hair while you have it. I lost mine long ago!
My approach is, there are pianists that I like their interpretations of certain pieces, and some that I don't. However I fully recognise that this is a personal preference and has nothing to do with the skill of the pianist. Similarly, if an amateur pianist shares a piece that they are working on, I'm simply in awe of their courage to share their hard work. Music is not maths. People will have preferences however, all in all, we should celebrate others' efforts and even thank them for sharing their music with us. ❤️
Can't imagine a better online teacher. Most critical commentary by others is about themselves and not about who they're dissing. Bravo your efforts and guidance. I support you 100 %!
To have a small circle of influence is the key. I’m a software engineer and this awesome video fits perfectly on what I’ve lived so far. Everyone should be aware of their influences
Thank you for posting this. Life is difficult enough without people being deliberately unkind. I’m not sure why some people feel the need to act that way. We all change the world every day in tiny ways, and we can choose to change it for the better or for the worse. The first time I ever played for anyone - I never play for anyone but my teacher - I was very nervous and made several mistakes. One of my family members told me it sounded terrible. I mean, he wasn’t wrong! But it wasn’t nice, and it was two years before I played for anyone again.
Thanks so much for this video, Josh. I started piano at the age of 40 and took it up solely for enjoyment and personal satisfaction. I had no idea I was entering into a world of so much negativity and judgement. My first teacher was very condescending - not only towards me, but of other pianists. I finally found a great teacher who is able to provide constructive feedback in a positive and encouraging way. I’ve also had to set my TH-cam uploads (showing my piano progress) to private so that only my close friends and family get them. There was so much negativity when they were publicly viewable. Thanks again for your great videos and advice.
I understand, I started playing at 42 by accident. My wife was given an old piano from a colleague that sat in the house for months not being played. One day I sat down to tinker and I still haven't got up lol 🙃
This video is one of the reasons why I have really gravitated towards your channel! Years ago I allowed critical voices to hold me back and it's still something I struggle with. I love classical music and especially piano but I have so often found a toxic Haughtiness in the classical music community that can be very disheartening. Thank you for being a decent human and sharing your thoughts on this topic. While I believe we can all benefit from constructive criticism if we are open to it, the negativity and nastiness can drown out the voices of those trying to help. I'm so glad that youtube finally got around to recommending your videos to me earlier this year, sorry I didn't find you sooner. Your videos and propractice have done more for me than the vast majority of teachers and lessons I've had over the last many years. Keep spreading positivity, you help more than you know!
Josh. Been watcing your videos for a long time and find them very informative! As a 63 yr old "recovering" ( I mean retired) music teacher one of the most important things I learned in my career is that music is a collaborative effort tempered with mutual respect! Lots of ways to to prepare dinner for example!! We can all take the opportunity to respectfully learn fron each other! One adult student of mine had a great take on this--- Opinions are like a**holes----everybodys got one!! Keep up the good work! I do enjoy your content
Every musician has their own special qualities. It's wonderful that we can listen to many different interpretations of the same music. I love listening to these videos. Learning is a lifetime process. It's wonderful. Thank you for all that you do and share.
Thanks for posting this Josh. Everyone who knows me knows that I am quiet and soft spoken person. I rarely comment here, but I want to say that you have been a great influence in my motivation to go back and improve on my piano skills and to love classical music again. The ProPractice community has also been very supportive. One of the members took the time to watch my video and kindly critiqued my playing. She took notes and watched it multiple times. Keep on doing what your are doing. I believe your are changing people’s lives with your dedication and commitment to us. I’m getting emotional too just writing this. Haha!
The haircut part was hilarious! Thanks for helping others :) From my side, just wanna add - "haters are gonna hate, players are gonna play...". We can't expect to get from people what they cannot give. And it is okay. But what gives a profound contentment is building something great over the life time by not giving up and quitting.
I always come back here because I feel so encouraged to continue with this musical journey with joy, hope and happiness, thank you so much Josh, I love your channel and everything in it
You are one of the most positive and influential people I have ever had the honor to know ! I realize I don't stay in touch like I should but know that I celebrate having you as a friend and the times we shared on your mission teaching others . Bless you and your family !
Thanks for the video Josh, rarely see others talking about this but it does have huge effects on people. I love piano but was always afraid to let people know because I never had any skill and so I just gave up on trying. But after watchinf so many of your videos which were always really inspiring (and entertaining too haha) I realized it's not too late to work hard at improving something I love to do.
I turn on TH-cam every day and use content I find. I do like to offer comments and I have tried to make videos and offer some of what I know and would love to share. it is not easy in fact it is so hard I don't do it. Watching great teachers such as yourself is such a gift and an inspiration. I have been able to pick back up on my piano practice and go at it from a completely different approach. We have limited to almost no piano teachers for adults here. It is my deepest desire to know music well and to be able to play some of my acquired pieces of music for my own enjoyment. I am almost completely self-taught and really depend on videos such as yours. It angers me to know that people are so critical and don't appreciate the difficulty of sharing content. Thank you for all your efforts and for sharing all of what you know. I know now what I need to work on to get better. Seeing you and other's many, many others that show how it can and should be done is so valuable and wonderful. I can't say enough of how grateful and delighted I am to be able to watch and learn from great educators like you.
You're such an amazing pianist and communicator it's hard to understand how you could ever get negative feedback! Thanks for all you do - it makes a difference.
Hi Josh, just want you to know you are a role model for me and other piano students. I am just as excited to support you much as possible, your my friend and take care. Ben
Some things never change. in 1829 Chopin newly arrived to Paris payed the necessary respects and courtship to prominent composers in the big city like Karlbrenner who is close to a nobody today. It's worth remembering that Chopin was a nobody at that time as this is hard to imagine now. So Karlbrenner was grandiloquent and patronizing him , he offered to "review" Chopin's concerto and said some entire passages he considered garbage and recommended Chopin to rewrite them. This is almost funny but reported by Chopin himself in this letters. Tchaikowsky 1st piano concerto was written for a specific pianist (was it Anton Rubinstein I think) who refused to debut it because he did not like it. When the 19 years old Chopin first played in public in Germany the women aristocracy criticized his playing saying he plays with such a highly refined touch but lacked the vigor, pounding force like their beethoven. Hahaha, this made my day as i think lowly of Beethoven piano works and have reviewed and unchanged that view over many decades (except his chamber music which is wonderful). Even when people like you, be aware that they are following a trend and that might only mean that you are "in" that current trend whatever that means, however that's not how masterpiece artistry works. Most composing giants like Bach were not that well recognized in their lifetime because genius often goes against the established trend and will be seen unfavorably by many but the ones who are above the mass. As far as youtube goes, it is a mass and even some of the most prestigious musicians or professors can be the least discerning and the least musical people you will meet. It's indeed possible to make a successful career and being a Karlbrenner who was famous for a decade especially if you are well connected and a nobody after that.
Josh you are very brave and great guy in sharing this experience and encouraging us to keep going so positively. You are making the world better with your videos and teaching and it´s being very inspiring and helpful to me. Internet is full of loudmouths and know-it-alls, I`ve read the meanest and most arrogant comments criticising Arrau, Schiff, Brendel...endless list.
Sir, you are a fine and wonderful soul, as well as an incredible pianist. I enjoy listening to you play and teach. I have learned from experience, as an ugly old man who plays terrible piano with no talent in anything, that there are people out there that will try to bring you down and hurt you. I wasted more than half my life crying and depressed over mean, negative people. These haters are not looking to help or inspire you, they are trying to destroy you. Please continue to ignore these bad people; delete them or turn off the comments. Your videos are truly incedible and a delight, demonstrating an awesome artistry for many, many years to come, and inspiration for future artists and simple people like me. I ask that you keep doing what you do. Revel and enjoy the greatness of your talents! You are a positive influence on our very humanity!
I have been subscribed to your channel for a while, and some how I missed this video. I play piano, but I am not a classical player. Although I am not a classical player, I do like the music. A lot of your teaching actually can help any player, in any style of music. This video is helpful for anyone, if they play music or not. It really is a lesson in "Life". There will always be haters in this world no matter how good you are at what you do. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you discussed this josh! When I get judged from my playing, or anything negative, I don’t know why but..... it motivates me to such an amount, that I actually end up proving whoever told me off wrong, And I actually get better at the piano.
Wow, you're just such a great person and always so inspiring for me. Watching this has been a great way of starting my day today. Once again, thank you, Josh! 🎼🎵🎹🙏💚🤓
Oh my God, you totally unlocked my desire to share my music on TH-cam! I tell you Josh you are such an inspiration, you kindness, your wisdom and all the tips you share, always with humor humility and mastery, I truly appreciate!
I don't comment very often but Josh I just wanted to say that besides being one of the most unique and wonderful musicians in the world that you are just an amazing person. I just want you to know that you are an Inspiration and immense encouragement for my 14 year old self! haha Never stop uploading! Thank you!
Josh, I LOVE this video. I think this is PRECISELY what we all need to hear. There is always the question of how "good" we are as musicians, and also to one extent or another, as people. I've had a dream involving this very subject, which I think you might find entertaining/thought provoking, etc. 😊👍
I have found your videos and advice SOOO helpful. Have been following your channel for a few years and am one of the 'silent' people who doesn't usually comment. I also really found the webinar on taking your playing to the next level really great input. THANK YOU. I think the advice on this particular video is good for life as well as music!
Josh, thank you for sharing your knowledge, curiosity and inspiration with all of us in this and other great videos! You are absolutely right that we should be more supportive and appreciative of each other in the small world of the classical music profession. I will definitely recommend your tutorials to my students!
I love your videos Josh! I'm a senior citizen struggling with piano, and you have been a great help to me. Keep up the good work! And I am envious of all that hair - I lost mine somewhere!
Thank you so much for all your videos. This video is the most touching and empathetic one I've watched so far. You're a fantastic pianist and you've made tremendous contributions to the community. Thank you for sharing all the personal experience and for being such a great person.
I have been watching your insightful and helpful videos for years now. You and Paul Barton are the TH-cam face of pianism giving back so many pearls of wisdom in tackling sticking points and stumbling blocks with a wealth of strings for the amateur enthusiast to add to there bows. You share all this give your time and for that I for one am truly thankful
Thank you Josh! I’ve got so much from your videos and podcast. As a jazz player approaching classical music is very intimidating and your content has really encouraged me to feel more capable of approaching classical repertoire.
Hi Josh, very sorry to hear that you are subjected to such mean comments. You are a wonderful pianist and teacher, I've been following you for years now and learnt a lot from you. So keep on the good work! Lots of love from The Netherlands.
Thank you Josh... I played piano to the Chimney weep ( winter job) the other day, he said to me, 'Its really a pretty piece,' Just one kind comment can go a long way. Makes all the difference.
Until recently I've been playing piano for my own pleasure and mostly without an audience (regular performances at nursing home until COVID). That said, judgement has caused me to stop playing; self judgement. How do you deal with the inner critical voice, Josh? I find it crushing and have come to believe it when it says that I'll never be any good.
I know I’m not Josh, but here’s my suggestion; just know that the only way for you to get any better is to just keep practicing. If you give up, then you’re not gonna get anywhere. I know it’s easier said than done, but that’s what I do. Whenever I’m struggling with something on the piano, and I feel like giving up, I just tell myself that I’ll be worse off if I give up rather than pushing through. So therefore, I’ll continue pushing through until I perfect what it is that I’m working on. Of course I take breaks in between, and I don’t force myself or lose sleep over it, but nevertheless; I still keep practicing. I don’t give up. And eventually I end up perfecting whatever it is that I wanted to perfect. So it always pays off in the end. It’s OK to take breaks from practicing, but just DONT GIVE UP. So I would suggest getting back to it as soon as possible before you lose too much knowledge of what you already know on the piano.
Well, judging from the volume of comments you are much loved and appreciated Josh. I'm so glad that you had the maturity not to get sucked into others' negativity (which is all about them) and that you've continued to give these wonderful, honest, helpful videos which are always delivered with kindness, humour and style! An invaluable gift to the world.
I am glad Im just a lawyer who plays piano for self enjoyment and have no delusions of being a professional. The criticism and judgmental comments I see in the piano world are brutal. Even people talking terrible about Valentina and other amazing pianists....
THANK YOU, JOSH!!! This may be the greatest advice I've ever heard on this topic. I have struggled for years with all the toxic negativity in the classical music world. This video should be required viewing for all classical musicians! :-)
My way to deal with any kind of criticism: I do my best everyday with passion to improve as a human...as soul !!!! So I do not care for bad criticism !!!! ;0) ;0) ;0) .........I just love your channel and I am new in piano issues!!!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!!!! Sending you tons of blessings from Europe !!!!!
Josh, you are amazing.. thanks for the many helpful tips, techniques, and recommendations. Your advice in this video is also quite applicable to many other art forms. Regarding your hair, IMO you can wear your hair any style and you will still be very easy on the eyes! Keep doing what you're doing... We love it.
This has has always been true, but even more so in this relatively new age of students sharing performances online with much larger audiences than their recitals and contests ever allowed for in the past. Thank you for sharing some practical coping strategies, I will be sharing with my students!
Love this video! People can be very cruel sometimes...I agree with you about knowing your purpose! I appreciate your encouragement in these videos. You are by far my favorite TH-cam piano teacher... so good, so practical, and encouraging but also motivating at the same time.
Okay. Josh, I've only recently started back on the piano after not playing for close to 20 to 25 years. So let me cut to the chase... I suck... and Rachmaninoff and Chopin and Beethoven probably do roll in their graves every time I'm practicing the pieces I've chosen. These hateful and critical people, obviously dont want to consider where a person is coming from before they criticise. When my mother passed away in 97 my dad and I avoided our instruments. She played piano in church and was taking violin/fiddle, my dad played guitar and I was on piano and guitar at times as well as we were a small family group for our monthly gospel music praise night in church. Nothing to record, just something we did as a family. I spent time in the military and also eventually had to be the caregiver for my dad as he ended up with Parkinson's and I felt it cruel to play the piano in front of him when could no longer play his guitar. He has since passed 7 years ago. Over the past year, year and a half I have been picking the piano back up. Found out also I have had a stroke several years back that I was unaware of until a bout of Bell's Palsey diagnosis. The stroke effects were adding to my frustration in doing octaves and just basically trying to relearn. Look, there are some of us that will never become concert pianists. We're not trying to be. We're learning for the love of learning, for the love of the music and for some, physical therapy. Your channel has helped me emensely, your kind and encouraging and love sharing knowledge to help others. Josh thank you so much for being you and for all you do to help others like myself. You are such a blessing. As for the hateful snotty critics- If left to themselves, the hate filled critical jackasses eventually eat their own and become eaten by their own given enough time. So, I'm not really going to worry about them at this point. Just know, I think your wonderful as do I'm sure many others as well and I love your site. God bless💞 P.S. feeling a little outspoken today😼
Thank you very much for this video. It is all worth remembering and holding on to. Whatever one is doing and how - is ones own business :-) I was at the brink of saying to myself : "I do not belong in our practise community. Let those, who are better have the bookings - even though I pay like they do". That´s over! Final!
Dear Josh! Your videos are very helpful, encouraging and into the point. Thank you so much for doing it in spite of some negative comments. I found your videos the most accurate and speaking a lot in short period of time. You are great player and humble man. I appreciate you and your efforts.
Thank you for this video Josh! This is the first time I write a comment, I guess your suggestion worked hahaha! But definitely, this gave me a push to keep working in my project, which is similar to what you do, but for the spanish speaking public! Thank you again!
Often people will criticise or condemn, not because you are not playing/doing that thing well but because they are jealous about how well you are doing it. They can be also be afraid that you will always better than them. I know a very old organist who, when a stand-by organist that was being taught by a very good theatre organist. The organist fell sick and the ‘boy’ had to pickup and play. Upon the organist return, the manager said the boy played very well, much better than expected. The organist terminated further tuition. While this hurt the ‘boy’, he grew up to be a very good organist BUT, he once described Liberace as a failed concert pianist. So sad and that is why I will not let him teach me or play when he is around. He never learnt the real lesson from that old organist.
I totally agree with you!! 👍🏻Thank you for stating the point so clearly and so straightforwardly! Unfortunately there are people who relish giving negative comments, especially on the net, where they are kind of hidden.
Hi Josh great video, you made some very good points. As a side note, I am looking to buy your full ProPractice soon. I wanted to ask if there is some sort of sale coming soon so that I can wait for that. Thanks in advance :)
Hey Josh it's Leo John again. I just wanted to reiterate something that I recently said in a comment after finding your channel which I just obviously love your work and just pretty much yeah I just love your your channel and the way that you are obviously and how knowledgeable you are specifically once again I just wanted to hail your your like radical pedagogical compassion because yeah just to do is just because but but also just with you know I taught rhetoric classes Midwest you know State School and for a little bit and I yeah this just resonates so much like I think it was like really there were colleagues in the department who I would I would sort of you know observe then listen to learn from and see how critical they were their students and and it really just shut them down and and really like turned off all of like this ingenuity that like and and then and then it like also my colleagues in the writing like The writers workshop were like hypercriticality was almost sexy like it and so I struggle every years just I thought I was just like malformed and and not smart enough that everything you know just and really spiraled there for 5 years but anyway I just wanted to say like as even if you don't read this it's fine but just till like emphatically and unequivocally sort of you know about support of these kinds of videos that are like you're you're clearly you're building into a pedagogical and like musical and like like obviously you're technically and like you no one no one I mean everyone knows that you you know you're really great performer musician and teacher but these are these videos are like I can just see like the I think they're really radical because you're instead of like selling the simulated like ideal cybernetic version of like the self that none of us really even have your you're actually like sharing suffering and then and then sharing ways of building strength amidst like pain and suffering and difficulty so sorry this is rambly I just like I just will leave and just listen to all your videos while I'm driving for like a taxi but so I text to speech but honestly it's just yes to this video and like I'm so it's just so happy his head your channel exists and that you do cuz it's it really like I said last another comment it makes such a big difference on The daily for a lot of people's lives and like it feels pretty cool anyway yeah you're awesome thank you and yep see you next time
Well said! An important reminder for all of us to behave in a decent manner whether we like something or not. Your videos are both educational an inspirational. Keep up the good work! Thank you :)
You’re inspirational Josh and so generous with what you publish. I look forward to taking your on line course in the near future when I’ve improved sufficiently Am working on Chopin’s prelude in e minor .......... you are making a great contribution to music. Keep up the good work. ❤️
Loved this video! I wish you could talk about this even more. My struggle is finding motivation after school. How can I motivate myself to be better at the piano, while continuing to teach as a business? I love how you say "the quietest people are the most accomplished".
Thanks for every word you’ve said in this video , it really helps me . Thanks for your inspiration in piano lessons and practice 💜 I enjoy every video of your channel , but this video makes me feel that anyone can experience this harsh judgments of others even some one great like you and I learned how to deal with it , Thanks to you 💜🙏🏻
A great channel with a great musician and nice guy! If you are going to put yourself out in cyberspace you are going to experience disappointment and joy unless you believe in what you do. Anonymity breeds cruelty in those who are so disposed and have low self-esteem. BTW how did you respond to that "Moonlight" troll? The bottom line is, if it's not any fun and find no joy in making music; or alternatively in our transactional monetized world, you're not making a living out of it, why bother? This is one of the best instructional channels around.
I hope this helps any of you who are discouraged, depressed, or debating whether to continue with your studies because of something someone said. Keep pressing on doing what you love doing! Have a great week of practicing :)
Thank you Josh. Just what I everyone needs.❤️
Thank you Josh!! Awesome as always
Thank you for this!!
Josh Wright thank you for making this very much needed video
Excellent much-needed video. You nailed it.. Thank you so very much
I only need to please 2 people with my piano playing: Myself and my wife (because she has to listen to me practice). Thankfully we both have low standards with my music. I will never be an accomplished concert pianist, and I'm okay with that, but I can improve everyday and play some wonderful music in the meantime. I feel privileged to be able to travel back centuries and walk in the footsteps of the great composers. Even with my fumbles and mistakes, I still feel great honor and joy in experiencing their creative genius with my own two hands on my own piano.
That’s a very good attitude:) thanks;)
Blessings to you Josh.
Exactly! I have started music acadamy at the age of 41.. and having allready played the 2 Bach (petzold) minuets , first 2 movements of Clementi op36 nr1 ... It s just about the musical journey. I never dreamed I could play these so whatever anyone thinks about, I will try to improve every day at my pace and see what gems I can eventually play.
That’s such a lovely mindset. Your comment made me smile, I feel the same about how lucky I am to be able to sit down and learn the greatest compositions of all time :’)
Well said.
I was just listening to Tiffany Poon say pretty much exactly the same thing about toxic trolls who criticize for kicks. Her advice was to cut them out. I assume she means...of you life, and/or your social media. I think your advice to cultivate an inner circle for serious critiques, and to take critiques outside that circle with a grain of salt, makes sense. The haircut is a bold choice. Who says we dudes don't get to make fashion statements? :)
This video speaks volumes of wisdom for people in any field. My professional training included a Ph.D. in Pure Mathematics. I observed that the top people in my area of study were the most approachable and helpful while the people at the next level below them often were arrogant and critical. So your comments are spot on! I might add that I have played the piano most of my life but suffered from very bad teachers and never learned good habits at an early age. Now as a retired rocket scientist, I have been drawn to devote a lot of my free time to playing the piano again after many years of not playing much at all. Your videos and the videos of other good online teachers have been a great inspiration to me and I can't thank you enough. You are doing an excellent service! Thank you so much!
Ted pretties mathematics / scientist / engineer / entrepreneurship and musician / sport athletes can't compare at all. One of them is young age training. Another of them is needing long time to accumulate so many knowledge / experience /to do so many times experiments and understand principle and establish / form scientific theory / scientific law through natural phenomenon and natural law. The more old for scientist/engineer age are, the more valuable for rank of Scientists/engineer/ entrepreneurship. The more young for musician and sport athletes age are, the more valuable for rank of young musician and young athletes.
Thanks. This is amazing. Just amazing 🤩. I can’t imagine anyone not liking Josh Wright
Josh, you're so generous about teaching and soooo good on playing that it's almost unbelievable that someone could ever make negative comments!... And thank you so much for your encouragement for all of us!! You are planting good things for anyone who acess your channel, for free! Thank you!!
We’re all human, so it’s going to hurt when people criticize. I’ve found that most of these negative people do so because they’re jealous. You’re a gifted performer and teacher, as well as a kind person. Thanks for this very important video. We need less negativity in this world, especially now. Oh, and one more thing. I vote for the longer hair. Enjoy your hair while you have it. I lost mine long ago!
My approach is, there are pianists that I like their interpretations of certain pieces, and some that I don't. However I fully recognise that this is a personal preference and has nothing to do with the skill of the pianist. Similarly, if an amateur pianist shares a piece that they are working on, I'm simply in awe of their courage to share their hard work. Music is not maths. People will have preferences however, all in all, we should celebrate others' efforts and even thank them for sharing their music with us. ❤️
Can't imagine a better online teacher. Most critical commentary by others is about themselves and not about who they're dissing. Bravo your efforts and guidance. I support you 100 %!
To have a small circle of influence is the key. I’m a software engineer and this awesome video fits perfectly on what I’ve lived so far.
Everyone should be aware of their influences
Thank you for posting this. Life is difficult enough without people being deliberately unkind. I’m not sure why some people feel the need to act that way. We all change the world every day in tiny ways, and we can choose to change it for the better or for the worse. The first time I ever played for anyone - I never play for anyone but my teacher - I was very nervous and made several mistakes. One of my family members told me it sounded terrible. I mean, he wasn’t wrong! But it wasn’t nice, and it was two years before I played for anyone again.
You and keanu reaves are the most wholesome people I've ever seen
WHOLESOME. 😁😁😁😁
I could not agree more! I admire these two incredible men so much!
Thanks so much for this video, Josh. I started piano at the age of 40 and took it up solely for enjoyment and personal satisfaction. I had no idea I was entering into a world of so much negativity and judgement. My first teacher was very condescending - not only towards me, but of other pianists. I finally found a great teacher who is able to provide constructive feedback in a positive and encouraging way. I’ve also had to set my TH-cam uploads (showing my piano progress) to private so that only my close friends and family get them. There was so much negativity when they were publicly viewable. Thanks again for your great videos and advice.
I understand, I started playing at 42 by accident. My wife was given an old piano from a colleague that sat in the house for months not being played. One day I sat down to tinker and I still haven't got up lol 🙃
ech4949 you started playing piano at 40 years old just only hobbyist
Ech4049 We can understand your 40 years old to touch piano. Your purpose on playing beautiful piano music is to reduce working pressure.
This was really helpful, even outside of piano playing just for life in general. Thank you, Josh!
This video is one of the reasons why I have really gravitated towards your channel! Years ago I allowed critical voices to hold me back and it's still something I struggle with. I love classical music and especially piano but I have so often found a toxic Haughtiness in the classical music community that can be very disheartening. Thank you for being a decent human and sharing your thoughts on this topic. While I believe we can all benefit from constructive criticism if we are open to it, the negativity and nastiness can drown out the voices of those trying to help. I'm so glad that youtube finally got around to recommending your videos to me earlier this year, sorry I didn't find you sooner. Your videos and propractice have done more for me than the vast majority of teachers and lessons I've had over the last many years. Keep spreading positivity, you help more than you know!
Josh. Been watcing your videos for a long time and find them very informative! As a 63 yr old "recovering" ( I mean retired) music teacher one of the most important things I learned in my career is that music is a collaborative effort tempered with mutual respect! Lots of ways to to prepare dinner for example!! We can all take the opportunity to respectfully learn fron each other! One adult student of mine had a great take on this--- Opinions are like a**holes----everybodys got one!! Keep up the good work! I do enjoy your content
Every musician has their own special qualities. It's wonderful that we can listen to many different interpretations of the same music. I love listening to these videos. Learning is a lifetime process. It's wonderful. Thank you for all that you do and share.
Thanks for posting this Josh. Everyone who knows me knows that I am quiet and soft spoken person. I rarely comment here, but I want to say that you have been a great influence in my motivation to go back and improve on my piano skills and to love classical music again. The ProPractice community has also been very supportive. One of the members took the time to watch my video and kindly critiqued my playing. She took notes and watched it multiple times. Keep on doing what your are doing. I believe your are changing people’s lives with your dedication and commitment to us. I’m getting emotional too just writing this. Haha!
Thank you for your generosity as a musician and teacher. I’m glad you braved the internet to share with others!
The haircut part was hilarious! Thanks for helping others :) From my side, just wanna add - "haters are gonna hate, players are gonna play...". We can't expect to get from people what they cannot give. And it is okay. But what gives a profound contentment is building something great over the life time by not giving up and quitting.
I always come back here because I feel so encouraged to continue with this musical journey with joy, hope and happiness, thank you so much Josh, I love your channel and everything in it
You are one of the most positive and influential people I have ever had the honor to know ! I realize I don't stay in touch like I should but know that I celebrate having you as a friend and the times we shared on your mission teaching others . Bless you and your family !
Thanks for the video Josh, rarely see others talking about this but it does have huge effects on people. I love piano but was always afraid to let people know because I never had any skill and so I just gave up on trying. But after watchinf so many of your videos which were always really inspiring (and entertaining too haha) I realized it's not too late to work hard at improving something I love to do.
I turn on TH-cam every day and use content I find. I do like to offer comments and I have tried to make videos and offer some of what I know and would love to share. it is not easy in fact it is so hard I don't do it. Watching great teachers such as yourself is such a gift and an inspiration. I have been able to pick back up on my piano practice and go at it from a completely different approach. We have limited to almost no piano teachers for adults here. It is my deepest desire to know music well and to be able to play some of my acquired pieces of music for my own enjoyment.
I am almost completely self-taught and really depend on videos such as yours. It angers me to know that people are so critical and don't appreciate the difficulty of sharing content. Thank you for all your efforts and for sharing all of what you know. I know now what I need to work on to get better. Seeing you and other's many, many others that show how it can and should be done is so valuable and wonderful. I can't say enough of how grateful and delighted I am to be able to watch and learn from great educators like you.
Your common sense is invaluable, Josh. This is why young budding singers should avoid the channel “This is Opera!” like the plague.
You're such an amazing pianist and communicator it's hard to understand how you could ever get negative feedback! Thanks for all you do - it makes a difference.
The heart, candour, and wisdom of this just took my breath away. Thanks for all your videos, Josh. You’re an inspiration to so many of us.
Hi Josh, just want you to know you are a role model for me and other piano students. I am just as excited to support you much as possible, your my friend and take care. Ben
Some things never change. in 1829 Chopin newly arrived to Paris payed the necessary respects and courtship to prominent composers in the big city like Karlbrenner who is close to a nobody today. It's worth remembering that Chopin was a nobody at that time as this is hard to imagine now. So Karlbrenner was grandiloquent and patronizing him , he offered to "review" Chopin's concerto and said some entire passages he considered garbage and recommended Chopin to rewrite them. This is almost funny but reported by Chopin himself in this letters. Tchaikowsky 1st piano concerto was written for a specific pianist (was it Anton Rubinstein I think) who refused to debut it because he did not like it. When the 19 years old Chopin first played in public in Germany the women aristocracy criticized his playing saying he plays with such a highly refined touch but lacked the vigor, pounding force like their beethoven. Hahaha, this made my day as i think lowly of Beethoven piano works and have reviewed and unchanged that view over many decades (except his chamber music which is wonderful). Even when people like you, be aware that they are following a trend and that might only mean that you are "in" that current trend whatever that means, however that's not how masterpiece artistry works. Most composing giants like Bach were not that well recognized in their lifetime because genius often goes against the established trend and will be seen unfavorably by many but the ones who are above the mass. As far as youtube goes, it is a mass and even some of the most prestigious musicians or professors can be the least discerning and the least musical people you will meet. It's indeed possible to make a successful career and being a Karlbrenner who was famous for a decade especially if you are well connected and a nobody after that.
Josh you are very brave and great guy in sharing this experience and encouraging us to keep going so positively. You are making the world better with your videos and teaching and it´s being very inspiring and helpful to me.
Internet is full of loudmouths and know-it-alls, I`ve read the meanest and most arrogant comments criticising Arrau, Schiff, Brendel...endless list.
Sir, you are a fine and wonderful soul, as well as an incredible pianist. I enjoy listening to you play and teach. I have learned from experience, as an ugly old man who plays terrible piano with no talent in anything, that there are people out there that will try to bring you down and hurt you. I wasted more than half my life crying and depressed over mean, negative people. These haters are not looking to help or inspire you, they are trying to destroy you. Please continue to ignore these bad people; delete them or turn off the comments. Your videos are truly incedible and a delight, demonstrating an awesome artistry for many, many years to come, and inspiration for future artists and simple people like me. I ask that you keep doing what you do. Revel and enjoy the greatness of your talents! You are a positive influence on our very humanity!
I have been subscribed to your channel for a while, and some how I missed this video. I play piano, but I am not a classical player. Although I am not a classical player, I do like the music. A lot of your teaching actually can help any player, in any style of music. This video is helpful for anyone, if they play music or not. It really is a lesson in "Life". There will always be haters in this world no matter how good you are at what you do. Thanks for sharing.
So encouraging, its helps us keep the faith and share the music. Go Josh!!
So glad you discussed this josh! When I get judged from my playing, or anything negative, I don’t know why but..... it motivates me to such an amount, that I actually end up proving whoever told me off wrong, And I actually get better at the piano.
Wow, you're just such a great person and always so inspiring for me. Watching this has been a great way of starting my day today. Once again, thank you, Josh! 🎼🎵🎹🙏💚🤓
Well said! Thank you Josh! Many of the negative comments are out of jealousy I think.
Oh my God, you totally unlocked my desire to share my music on TH-cam! I tell you Josh you are such an inspiration, you kindness, your wisdom and all the tips you share, always with humor humility and mastery, I truly appreciate!
I don't comment very often but Josh I just wanted to say that besides being one of the most unique and wonderful musicians in the world that you are just an amazing person.
I just want you to know that you are an Inspiration and immense encouragement for my 14 year old self! haha
Never stop uploading!
Thank you!
And I love the way you play, your wisdom and your haircut too!!!
Josh, I LOVE this video. I think this is PRECISELY what we all need to hear.
There is always the question of how "good" we are as musicians, and also to one extent or another, as people. I've had a dream involving this very subject, which I think you might find entertaining/thought provoking, etc.
😊👍
Thank you! What a wonderful reminder for our creative life as we begin the new year.
I have found your videos and advice SOOO helpful. Have been following your channel for a few years and am one of the 'silent' people who doesn't usually comment. I also really found the webinar on taking your playing to the next level really great input. THANK YOU. I think the advice on this particular video is good for life as well as music!
Josh, thank you for sharing your knowledge, curiosity and inspiration with all of us in this and other great videos! You are absolutely right that we should be more supportive and appreciative of each other in the small world of the classical music profession. I will definitely recommend your tutorials to my students!
I love your videos Josh! I'm a senior citizen struggling with piano, and you have been a great help to me. Keep up the good work! And I am envious of all that hair - I lost mine somewhere!
This is absolutely helpful Josh. I’m a great fan of your positivity!
Thank you so much for all your videos. This video is the most touching and empathetic one I've watched so far. You're a fantastic pianist and you've made tremendous contributions to the community. Thank you for sharing all the personal experience and for being such a great person.
Actually, this is a wonderful wise life lesson voor everyone, everywhere... Thanks for this Josh! I'll take it to heart.
I have been watching your insightful and helpful videos for years now. You and Paul Barton are the TH-cam face of pianism giving back so many pearls of wisdom in tackling sticking points and stumbling blocks with a wealth of strings for the amateur enthusiast to add to there bows. You share all this give your time and for that I for one am truly thankful
Thank you Josh!
I’ve got so much from your videos and podcast. As a jazz player approaching classical music is very intimidating and your content has really encouraged me to feel more capable of approaching classical repertoire.
Hi Josh, very sorry to hear that you are subjected to such mean comments. You are a wonderful pianist and teacher, I've been following you for years now and learnt a lot from you. So keep on the good work! Lots of love from The Netherlands.
Thank you Josh... I played piano to the Chimney weep ( winter job) the other day, he said to me, 'Its really a pretty piece,' Just one kind comment can go a long way. Makes all the difference.
Josh, Thank you so much for your generosity in producing these videos, and for addressing such important issues. PS: Love your haircut.
Until recently I've been playing piano for my own pleasure and mostly without an audience (regular performances at nursing home until COVID). That said, judgement has caused me to stop playing; self judgement. How do you deal with the inner critical voice, Josh? I find it crushing and have come to believe it when it says that I'll never be any good.
I know I’m not Josh, but here’s my suggestion; just know that the only way for you to get any better is to just keep practicing. If you give up, then you’re not gonna get anywhere. I know it’s easier said than done, but that’s what I do. Whenever I’m struggling with something on the piano, and I feel like giving up, I just tell myself that I’ll be worse off if I give up rather than pushing through. So therefore, I’ll continue pushing through until I perfect what it is that I’m working on. Of course I take breaks in between, and I don’t force myself or lose sleep over it, but nevertheless; I still keep practicing. I don’t give up. And eventually I end up perfecting whatever it is that I wanted to perfect. So it always pays off in the end. It’s OK to take breaks from practicing, but just DONT GIVE UP. So I would suggest getting back to it as soon as possible before you lose too much knowledge of what you already know on the piano.
I started playing for personal enjoyment because I love classical music but I had no idea it was filled with toxic people. Great video as always!
You are a class act. Thanks for inspiring all of us.
Thank you for posting this video! It is very encouraging.
Wow, another great video gently and honestly hitting just the right spot for me. Thank you Josh 🙏🙏
Josh. Great points here. Love your work and yes very important to ‘endeavour to persevere.’
Thank you! You're really a great person and a sensitive artist. You're helping me so much! ❤❤❤❤❤❤
This should be discussed more in all parts of society! Great video!
As always, great thoughts Josh! Thank you for all your support belong this years. All the best!
Thank you, Josh! You are a great teacher and pianist!
I commend you for this video!!! Thank you🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Well, judging from the volume of comments you are much loved and appreciated Josh. I'm so glad that you had the maturity not to get sucked into others' negativity (which is all about them) and that you've continued to give these wonderful, honest, helpful videos which are always delivered with kindness, humour and style! An invaluable gift to the world.
Thanks for sharing your life with others.
I'm crying right now. Thank you so much ❤.
I am glad Im just a lawyer who plays piano for self enjoyment and have no delusions of being a professional. The criticism and judgmental comments I see in the piano world are brutal. Even people talking terrible about Valentina and other amazing pianists....
THANK YOU, JOSH!!! This may be the greatest advice I've ever heard on this topic. I have struggled for years with all the toxic negativity in the classical music world. This video should be required viewing for all classical musicians! :-)
My way to deal with any kind of criticism: I do my best everyday with passion to improve as a human...as soul !!!! So I do not care for bad criticism !!!! ;0) ;0) ;0) .........I just love your channel and I am new in piano issues!!!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!!!! Sending you tons of blessings from Europe !!!!!
brilliant point about trying to delight a smaller group of people :)
I love your videos Josh, but this one was especially amazing! So many good points! Thanks for sharing!
Josh, you are amazing.. thanks for the many helpful tips, techniques, and recommendations. Your advice in this video is also quite applicable to many other art forms. Regarding your hair, IMO you can wear your hair any style and you will still be very easy on the eyes! Keep doing what you're doing... We love it.
This has has always been true, but even more so in this relatively new age of students sharing performances online with much larger audiences than their recitals and contests ever allowed for in the past.
Thank you for sharing some practical coping strategies, I will be sharing with my students!
Love this video! People can be very cruel sometimes...I agree with you about knowing your purpose! I appreciate your encouragement in these videos. You are by far my favorite TH-cam piano teacher... so good, so practical, and encouraging but also motivating at the same time.
Excellent advice for all areas of life - thanks for taking the time to say it! And Josh - keep rocking the hair. 🙌
Thank you for being compassionate..what goes round, comes around...hope the best fo you & your family.
Okay. Josh, I've only recently started back on the piano after not playing for close to 20 to 25 years. So let me cut to the chase... I suck... and Rachmaninoff and Chopin and Beethoven probably do roll in their graves every time I'm practicing the pieces I've chosen. These hateful and critical people, obviously dont want to consider where a person is coming from before they criticise. When my mother passed away in 97 my dad and I avoided our instruments. She played piano in church and was taking violin/fiddle, my dad played guitar and I was on piano and guitar at times as well as we were a small family group for our monthly gospel music praise night in church. Nothing to record, just something we did as a family. I spent time in the military and also eventually had to be the caregiver for my dad as he ended up with Parkinson's and I felt it cruel to play the piano in front of him when could no longer play his guitar. He has since passed 7 years ago. Over the past year, year and a half I have been picking the piano back up. Found out also I have had a stroke several years back that I was unaware of until a bout of Bell's Palsey diagnosis. The stroke effects were adding to my frustration in doing octaves and just basically trying to relearn. Look, there are some of us that will never become concert pianists. We're not trying to be. We're learning for the love of learning, for the love of the music and for some, physical therapy. Your channel has helped me emensely, your kind and encouraging and love sharing knowledge to help others. Josh thank you so much for being you and for all you do to help others like myself. You are such a blessing. As for the hateful snotty critics- If left to themselves, the hate filled critical jackasses eventually eat their own and become eaten by their own given enough time. So, I'm not really going to worry about them at this point. Just know, I think your wonderful as do I'm sure many others as well and I love your site. God bless💞
P.S. feeling a little outspoken today😼
Thank you for your comment.
This is a fantastic message. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you very much for this video. It is all worth remembering and holding on to. Whatever one is doing and how - is ones own business :-) I was at the brink of saying to myself : "I do not belong in our practise community. Let those, who are better have the bookings - even though I pay like they do". That´s over! Final!
Dear Josh! Your videos are very helpful, encouraging and into the point. Thank you so much for doing it in spite of some negative comments. I found your videos the most accurate and speaking a lot in short period of time. You are great player and humble man. I appreciate you and your efforts.
thanks josh! positivity and confidence crucial for artistic originality.. never gets discussed enough otherwise
Thank you for this video Josh! This is the first time I write a comment, I guess your suggestion worked hahaha! But definitely, this gave me a push to keep working in my project, which is similar to what you do, but for the spanish speaking public! Thank you again!
Often people will criticise or condemn, not because you are not playing/doing that thing well but because they are jealous about how well you are doing it. They can be also be afraid that you will always better than them. I know a very old organist who, when a stand-by organist that was being taught by a very good theatre organist. The organist fell sick and the ‘boy’ had to pickup and play. Upon the organist return, the manager said the boy played very well, much better than expected. The organist terminated further tuition. While this hurt the ‘boy’, he grew up to be a very good organist BUT, he once described Liberace as a failed concert pianist. So sad and that is why I will not let him teach me or play when he is around. He never learnt the real lesson from that old organist.
Love this from you! Your videos have always been inspiring and entertaining for so many years now. All I can say is: Thank you!
I appreciate you so much. Thank you for doing what you do.
I totally agree with you!! 👍🏻Thank you for stating the point so clearly and so straightforwardly! Unfortunately there are people who relish giving negative comments, especially on the net, where they are kind of hidden.
Great advice. There are so many people who like to criticize others’ musical abilities vs giving them constructive or motivational comments..
Hi Josh great video, you made some very good points. As a side note, I am looking to buy your full ProPractice soon. I wanted to ask if there is some sort of sale coming soon so that I can wait for that. Thanks in advance :)
Hey Josh it's Leo John again. I just wanted to reiterate something that I recently said in a comment after finding your channel which I just obviously love your work and just pretty much yeah I just love your your channel and the way that you are obviously and how knowledgeable you are specifically once again I just wanted to hail your your like radical pedagogical compassion because yeah just to do is just because but but also just with you know I taught rhetoric classes Midwest you know State School and for a little bit and I yeah this just resonates so much like I think it was like really there were colleagues in the department who I would I would sort of you know observe then listen to learn from and see how critical they were their students and and it really just shut them down and and really like turned off all of like this ingenuity that like and and then and then it like also my colleagues in the writing like The writers workshop were like hypercriticality was almost sexy like it and so I struggle every years just I thought I was just like malformed and and not smart enough that everything you know just and really spiraled there for 5 years but anyway I just wanted to say like as even if you don't read this it's fine but just till like emphatically and unequivocally sort of you know about support of these kinds of videos that are like you're you're clearly you're building into a pedagogical and like musical and like like obviously you're technically and like you no one no one I mean everyone knows that you you know you're really great performer musician and teacher but these are these videos are like I can just see like the I think they're really radical because you're instead of like selling the simulated like ideal cybernetic version of like the self that none of us really even have your you're actually like sharing suffering and then and then sharing ways of building strength amidst like pain and suffering and difficulty so sorry this is rambly I just like I just will leave and just listen to all your videos while I'm driving for like a taxi but so I text to speech but honestly it's just yes to this video and like I'm so it's just so happy his head your channel exists and that you do cuz it's it really like I said last another comment it makes such a big difference on The daily for a lot of people's lives and like it feels pretty cool anyway yeah you're awesome thank you and yep see you next time
Great advice Josh thank you! God bless you my dude.
Well said! An important reminder for all of us to behave in a decent manner whether we like something or not. Your videos are both educational an inspirational.
Keep up the good work! Thank you :)
You're a great speaker Josh! Eloquent!
Excellent message Josh 👏. Not only for piano but life in general. THANK YOU!
You’re inspirational Josh and so generous with what you publish. I look forward to taking your on line course in the near future when I’ve improved sufficiently Am working on Chopin’s prelude in e minor .......... you are making a great contribution to music. Keep up the good work. ❤️
Thank you for the video, well said Dr.😊
Loved this video! I wish you could talk about this even more. My struggle is finding motivation after school. How can I motivate myself to be better at the piano, while continuing to teach as a business? I love how you say "the quietest people are the most accomplished".
Thanks for every word you’ve said in this video , it really helps me . Thanks for your inspiration in piano lessons and practice 💜 I enjoy every video of your channel , but this video makes me feel that anyone can experience this harsh judgments of others even some one great like you and I learned how to deal with it , Thanks to you 💜🙏🏻
A great channel with a great musician and nice guy! If you are going to put yourself out in cyberspace you are going to experience disappointment and joy unless you believe in what you do. Anonymity breeds cruelty in those who are so disposed and have low self-esteem. BTW how did you respond to that "Moonlight" troll? The bottom line is, if it's not any fun and find no joy in making music; or alternatively in our transactional monetized world, you're not making a living out of it, why bother? This is one of the best instructional channels around.
Thank you for talking about this topic. It was really conforting 💐🎹🌹
thanks for sharing such a insightful perspective.