Lens

This world is much brighter than you perceive it to be.
I'm no believer in any religion. However, not a pessimistic realist, either.
Having read "Message of a Master" for the first time in several years since I accidentally came across this short but extremely insightful, powerful, and intricately articulated work, it came to my mind again that I should clear the clouds I brought all over my mind to be overly realistic to a pessimistic degree.

competition evaluation criteria

PTNA, national piano teachers' association of Japan, clearly provides the evaluation criteria for annual competition on its evaluation sheet, as 12 viewpoints below:

1. accurate touch
2. beautiful tones
3. precise rhythm and beat
4. appropriate tempo
5. balance of melodies and accompaniments
6. memorization
7: range and changes in dynamics
8. emotional expression
9. construction
10. pedalling
11. concentration on the stage
12. appropriate stage manner

requirements of a Master

One of the (rare) modern works that I value, "Laws of Mastering" collates five points that qualifies a Master and those who are not clearly and concisely.
Below are those five points with my interpretations:
1. Persistent yet is able to sustain concentration ... can demonstrate these otherwise conflicting qualities simultaneously

2. Manifests distingushed, unique abilities ... even without any intention to show them off, they stand out naturally, scintillatingly

3. Has very clear focal points ... it is often said that "God resides in details" but a Master

4. Dimensions are different in viewing others ... a Master does not normally outspeak his or her assessment of others

5. Able to accurately recognize oneself ... has full understanding of both strengths and shortcomings of oneself, no underestimate, no overestimate, no pessimism, no optimism; hard look at what really are about oneself

scales, scales, scales

Great piano instructors unanimously emphasized the importance (and its underestimate by pianists and would-be pianists) of practicing scales on daily basis.
There are literally thousands of ways we practice scales.
First and foremost, there are 24 tonalities. To multiply, there other parameters as:
Upward or downward;
Unison or Inverse unison (is there such an expression?);
Both hands, left hand only, right hand only (this is actually very much effective);
In terms of harmonics, there are 8th, 6th, and 3rd;
Touch, i.e. legato, non-legato, portamente, staccato;
Intensity, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff;
Rhythm, i.e. dotted or not among others (there are other variations);
Simply multiplied, how many are they? ... 24 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 4 x 6 x 2 = 41,472 combinations. Oops. No surprise we should spend much more time on scales.
I omitted the tempo as one of the parameters because we should normally play slowly, valuing every note carefully listening to it.