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I actually played my wonderful Estonia 190 for company yesterday! I had a Longaberger Basket party at my house and I played Chopin Prelude E minor, Chopin Nocturne Op. 72 no. 1, Chopin Waltz A minor and muddled through Venetian Boat Song Op. 30 #6. I did not play perfectly, but I wasn't as nervous as I have been in the past. I made everyone stay in the other room so I think that helped. I jokingly said, "wrong note" at one time and someone said, "does anyone else play any kind of instrument?" Someone else said , "Are you kidding, I have trouble playing the radio!" I thought that kind of put it in perspective. The good thing is I didn't beat up on myself for not being perfect - at least I did it.

That's nice work, teachum. I look forward to the day I can make it through Chopin in front of friends. Struggling with Bach and Mozart is fun enough for me right now!

Good for you teachum!

I always play for friends and family. Most notably at our quarterly wine tasting parties. Last december at our annual Chateau Lafite party, our new teacher attended. He was not our teacher last December but he became our teacher soon afterward. He was giving us mini lessons that evening!

Both myself and my daughter have progressed so much in the 8-9 months since starting lessons with him. He is going to attend this December's party and we will all sit down and play, while enjoying the company, wine and food.

A great time for sure. It sure helps to play in front of people even if they are your friends and/or family. Now that our teacher is going to be listening to us it might get a little more tense but we will see soon enough I guess.

If you remember I also have an Estonia 190.

Herman - Don't count Chopin out right now. There are several preludes that are very doable. The Chopin PRelude in E minor is not that difficult, very expressive. The Nocturne is difficult for me, but I have been working on it off and on for years. But I find a lot of Bach extremely difficult. I'm willing to work harder on Chopin because for me the pay-off is greater. All a matter of taste.

Oh yeah, I forgot, I've been in Chopin mode since starting lessons with my new teacher.

you must be very good, teachum! i play just little bit chopin, and always feel his music is hard to play.

THank you Signa, but I would certainly not classify myself as "very good." Getting better, yes, and learning, but not "very good." I do work hard at it though. It doesn't come easy for me.

It's amazing. I can speak to a group of a hundred people and not get nervous. If I plau the piano for even one of my kid's friends, I get nervous. The ;best thing is to have the audience in a different room, for sure...

Wow it's really very inspiring reading your msg and may I curiously asked how long have you been learning piano (I mean from scratch) till now that you are able to perform in front of your guests. By the way, what is your practice routine ?

Haha I am starting out my very first lesson tonight and I am really looking forward to it .... Cheers

Way to go Teachum! I think every time we play in front of others it's bound to get easier. I like your idea about having everyone in the other room while you play.
Keep up the good work.
Jon

Teachum great job! It really seems to help me too if everyone can be in a different room. Another scenario is if your playing and people are there but they're mingling and the playing is more like background music than everyone sitting quietly and listening.

Cathy

That's great Teachum! Separate rooms are definitely a plus.

Your story reminded me of when my husband and I stayed at the coast a couple of months ago(?) and I practiced on the old upright in their lobby waiting room since no one was there. Then suddenly people started showing up to wait for their room to be ready, and I just phased them out, not looking at their faces. I then left after awhile, without making eye contact with anyone as I got up, and although no one said anything to me, a couple mentioned to my husband later at the wine tasting that a woman was playing some nice music on the piano. He told him it was his wife practicing. I was just too timid to see any of the faces since I knew that would mess up my playing, but it sure helped even a tiny bit in my self-confidence! Many of the people talked among themselves while I played because they were part of a wedding party taking place that evening on the beach.

Lucky - that's a hard one to answer. I have been on again, off again. I used to plink songs out when I was 18 and knew how to read the treble clef from voice and choir. Then I took one quarter of class piano as a Freshman, but was bored with group piano. I really started many years later and took lessons for 3 years. Then I moved to Idaho and didn't play hardly at all for 12 years. Then I started playing again about 5 months ago. So what does that add up to. Really about 3 years of lessons and many wasted years - much to my chagrin

But - it's the journey that counts, right?

I think I began to get over some of my performance fear when I started my search for a grand piano. You have to play in front of people to try out the pianos! Playing in Costco is really intimidating!

I almost never play in front of anyone, so I was really nervous for my first lesson. When I finally stopped blabbering and started playing I almost threw up. It wasn't my imagination either; she told me to stop and breath a little before continuing on. She has a beautiful old Steinway and I think that kept me from throwing up on it.