Parents see piano as a key to unlock success

A tough path

While some parents may have planned to encourage their children to become piano professionals, very few kids who learn the instrument actually follow a professional path as adults.

Reports from within the music education industry show that only about 5 percent of Chinese children who take up the instrument in childhood will make a career out of playing or teaching, ThePaper reported.

Liao said many factors lead to such a result－the main one being that becoming a professional pianist requires a great deal of talent, but very few children have such deep natural ability.

She said talent on the piano can be reflected in many ways, such as the player's ability to control their fingers, to read and process musical scores, to identify the notes they hear and to express their feelings.

"The differences between individuals in each aspect can be very large, and only those who excel at almost all of those things will meet the threshold to work toward a professional career," she said.

"Also, it relies greatly on teachers and coaches, as well as parents, to detect children's talent and tap their potential on the piano.

"Obviously, these conditions are only the basics. To become a professional pianist, you have to go through years of repeated and dull training and practice."

Gao Jie holds a master's in piano performance. The 24-year-old music teacher at a middle school in Hefei, Anhui province, said she wouldn't have entered the field if it hadn't been for her two bo le, or talent scouts.

"One was my music teacher at primary school, who discovered that I was the only one in my class who could sing what I heard exactly (which indicated that she had "perfect pitch"; the ability to recognize notes without the use of reference points). It was at the recommendation of this teacher that I started to learn the piano," she said.

The other prime influence was her piano teacher, who encouraged her to continue learning, practicing and pursuing a professional path after she started high school.