Next year I start college. But I'm not only starting college, that is besides the point, what it really means to me is the fact I'm going to begin studies of my instrument. I have played piano for six years. Even when I began I didn't practice that much, maybe five hours a week, now it is even less, maybe two hours a week. It's not that I didn't want to play, the music just came naturally to me, I could learn a piece within an hour, and then just have it, and find no more need to practice. Also i didn't (and still don't) have the time to practice as much as i want.
This is all going to change. I have been studying famous pianists, and each and every one have one thing in common, complete dedication. One such pianist I have been researching is William Kapell, a young pianist who tragically died at the age of 31. Before his death, he accomplished much. From what i have read, he was always immersed in his music, it's all he thought about. He would practice eight hours a day and wouldn't play a piece to anyone until he had mastered it. This dedication is what I want to achieve. It is what I need to achieve in order to accomplish what I want to accomplish, and that is mastery.
It is hard for people who have never practiced at least two hours on an instrument to comprehend this. I will spend every day practicing up to at least five hours a day. Just me and the piano, and all the the time I can utter perfecting pieces, practicing until my fingers do exactly what I want them to do. And I will do this, and when I finally emerge from my studies, the first concert I play will be like a gateway to heaven. I will know when i'm ready, I won't play until I am completely satisfied with my skills, whether it takes two years or eight. I won't brag until I know I have the right to and I won't play in public unless I know the audience won't hear anything other than perfection.
This is what it will take. I can't do this now due to all the distractions and schoolwork that come with any highschool. College is my fresh slate, and this is what I believe I am meant to do, and so I shall. Below is William Kapell, a man who has inspired me deeply and a talent we will never see fully flourish.
