Maybe this is just because I'm a beginner, maybe I'm crazy...but I feel like I can't play as well on my teacher's piano (a Yamaha baby grand) than on my digital (Yamaha P60). I still have to record myself to make sure, but that's how it feels right now. My digital has (I think) a much heavier touch, so when I go play for my teacher on his piano I feel like I'm unable to play the piece as I practiced it. Does this make sense? My teacher says I'm doing well & that I might just be sensitive to different pianos. I just feel really off when I'm playing his piano.

Maybe I just suck, haha.

I'm sure this happens to anyone, you are simply used to your piano. And I imagine there is just a big difference between a digital piano and a grand, mine is an old upright. Whenever I have the rare chance to play my sister-in-law's Steinway it takes like two hours to get used to it (imagine!). Then, however, you have to virtually drag me away from it. And even my sister-in-law says that before a concert she allways insists on playing the instrument before to get used to it. So, no you don't suck, sorry.

Patty

Same here...got my grand last year in April, use to play an old Janseen counsle from the mid 40's, had never been properly maintained (my own fault). Action is heavier than the old upright along with just the orientation of a grand. You will get use to it.

Have you gone to any stores and played a BUNCH of different pianos? If not, try it, it's an eye opening experience to hear and feel the difference among the many brands. Play both uprights and grand’s.

It's perfectly normal to feel the most confident and comfortable with the piano you practice on. With time you will get used to your teacher's piano, but at only one hour a week it may take a little while for you to get to that comfort level.

And keep in mind that on top of the physical differences between pianos, there's the whole mental performance anxiety game going on. You probably would have a harder time playing in front of your teacher even if you were at home on your piano.

Try and record yourself at home and see how much that changes your playing.

Maybe it's stage fright too. I can play a couple pieces but as soon as I have an audience, you would think I was playing with my feet instead. Unless I play for my cat....I can do that!

Don't play for anyone but YOU. Even when you have an audience, play for YOU. No matter who's there, who's listening, or what's going on around you, relax your arms, shoulders, hands, and fingers, and play for YOU.

Learning how to play on different pianos is a skill that's important to develop, because we don't typically haul our pianos around with us but play what's provided.

Easy to say, hard to do! It's not surprising that you feel you play better on your own piano. The difference in touch between a digital and an acoustic piano is pretty significant as well-- perhaps even more than the differences between individual acoustic pianos.

We don't?? My darned instructor!! And here I was, all set to switch from piano to piccolo! (Good grief, my achin' back!!) :p

I'm going to try to remember this for my lesson this afternoon. The first one since June and I've a couple of new ones to play for him..... wish me luck! I usually fall apart when my teacher is watching.....

Good luck and best wishes, Sandy. Press your fingers down, so that you really dig into the keybed, too. That's where good control comes from. You're going to be fine. Make up your mind that your instructor's approval or disapproval is something that, while you are playing, you are unconcerned about.

My teacher said the very same thing this afternoon!! Of course this was AFTER I played my piece "gingerly".....sigh.... My goal for this week....."dig into the keys"!!!!

A friend of mine, who began lessons as an adult in his late 40s says this "instrument change" is a real issue.

I's not just the acoustic/ ditital and upright/grand issue. It's how the music sits relative to your line of vision, how the decal fo the name forms visual cues for you as your sight read - or have memorized, it's the height of the bench and how comfortable you feel adjusting it.

Even the lighting may be an issue for some of us.

Maybe we should all take lessons at home!

Dorrie

Haha... When I took lessons and Wednesday night at home, I sounded like a pro, and then Thursday afternoon at my instructor's place, I sounded awful, I used to look at her and tell her very seriously, "Next lesson, will you PLEASE come to MY house and listen to me play this?" LOL

Sandy, make your mistakes like you really MEAN THEM! With CONFIDENCE!! If you hit a wrong note, it's not the end of the world. No matter how gingerly you play, the notes are still going to come out, so what the heck: Dig in and OWN that thang!! You're doing great! (Even when, and ESPECIALLY when, you don't think you are!)

Thanks for the responses. Yeah, at my piano teacher's place the bench is lower and I have to look UP at the sheet music since I haven't memorized all of my pieces (man I'm short!). It really throws me off. My lessons are only 30 min. long so I don't really have much time to accustom myself to the different feel, but perhaps in time it'll be less difficult to play well on it.

If only I could fit my teacher in my studio apartment. I don't think he'd be able to walk without running into something! It's not a mess but there's a lot of furniture crammed together.

I've always been a little bit thrown by the experience of playing another piano. My fingers stick to the keys of the churck piano. My teacher's piano has an action that's different from mine. And so on and so on...

I feel convinced that these things wouldn't bother me if I was a better player, so I soldier on. Interestingly, at my last lesson, my teacher's piano still didn't feel anything like mine, but I played much better than I'd been playing at home. More control. Fewer mistakes. Better balance between the hands.

When I described this to my teacher, particularly the part about the improved balance, she smiled and said, "I just had my piano voiced." The action's still stiffer than mine, and now its voice is much softer and mellower but, for whatever reason, I can deal with those differences better since the voicing.

I find playing on a my teacher's grand is quite a difference as well. The sheet music is higher and, if you use the soft pedal the key bed actually moves a little! That was quite a surprise the first time it happened. Of course, for me, the biggest difference is still that he's watching!!

If you learn lullaby on your teacher's piano, spending perhaps 15 minutes learning it, it's like putting a new file in your head called "lullaby at teachers house" that's a fraction of a fraction of an inch thick because you only spent 15 minutes total on it. Then you go home and practice lullaby at home, starting a sub folder called lullaby on MY piano that keeps getting thicker and thicker because you practice it 15 minutes every day for 6 days. Then you go to the teachers house and try to play, but the folder you use is the minuscule one called "lullaby at the teachers house". Obviously, you have less information, less experience, less comfort - the only way to change that would be to get experienced at playing many different kinds of pianos at many different locations so that you have a file folder in your head called "playing whatever I want, whenever, wherever".. grin

Cindy B, This is amazing!! I've never thought of it like this before, but you know, this is really true! Nice!!! *applauding*