I'm sure you can play piano, but I'm also willing to bet it has put a ceiling on the types of pieces you can learn.
Have you tried learning a Chopin Ballade or Bach WTC fugue without sheet music?
Have you tried learning a Chopin Ballade or Bach WTC fugue without sheet music?
It doesn't have to be Bach. You will struggle to learn ANY advanced piano without sheet music.
Sure it's for "beginners," but I'm saying it will inherently stunt their growth compared to putting in the work to learn sheet music.
> I really can’t think of a less inspiring goal than playing “advanced” or “technically challenging” music
Really? You can't understand how aiming to conquer a highly technical and musical piece is inspiring? It's the same as tackling any other difficult goal.
Music at a less technical level isn't meaningless, but it's an inherent limitation on your musicality if your repertoire is limited by technique.
Technique facilitates greater musicality. Sheet music facilitates greater technique.
Regardless, do as you please, but it's like saying, "I'll never learn code, because I can build no-code products!"
You are putting words in my mouth - I am saying it’s not inspiring to me. I can understand that someone else might find it inspiring, sure! Like speedrunning a video game, some might find it an enjoyable challenge - but I think they can see that there are other reasons to play games. They wouldn’t say “who’s it for?” about a strategy guide because it’s not about speed.
For what it’s worth, I disagree with almost all of your descriptions of what musicality consists of. It’s not about repertoire or technique. If you see what types of music most people enjoy listening to and playing, you can see that you have a niche point of view. Technically challenging music is not more enjoyable to play or hear. Sheet music is irrelevant to most types of music, both historically and today - music is fundamentally heard and felt, not written and read, nor conquered.
I’ll leave this conversation now as it doesn’t appear to go anywhere meaningful.
I completely agree with your fundamental point, but it's a mistake to say someone needs to be able to be technically excellent in order not to feel like they've hit a ceiling in what they can do.