Last week I think I may have actually injured myself by not taking off my wedding rings before I played. I normally don't wear any of my rings when I'm just around the house because they get in the way. I had just gotten home or was getting ready to leave, don't remember which, and somehow the way I moved my hand while I was playing I think the ring kind of restricted the movement of a tendon or muscle. It hurt for a few days and I could see a little bit of bruising in the knuckle. Whatever it was, I felt it imediately. Note to self: don't wear wedding ring when attempting to play "Ego"!

I sometimes play in slippers, but I don't do much of anything barefoot.
Sometimes in jammies
Morning or evening doesn't usually make a difference, but once in awhile I hit one of those "flow" states around midnight and it seems like everything just comes right out and then I have trouble bringing myself to go to bed!

Definitely morning. My evenings are like yours - I either play like an angel or garbage comes out of my hands - depends on how tired I am from work.

I practice in the evening normally in pjs or my "piano wear" as my husband likes to call them. Once in a while on the weekend I'll play in the late morning or afternoon but I seem to do best in the evening after dinner. Rings and Crocs, sometimes watch.

Funny. I don't find a difference. Rings on or off. Shoes on or off.. If my feet are warm I'll play barefoot though. I don't like playing in shorts because my legs stick to the piano bench.... Once at a lesson my watch was loose and a little rattly so I took it off but usuallly it's on. Interesting topic..

Frycek- that gives me something to shoot for
DO YOU get to practice as much as you want to or feal you should?
DO YOU try to schedule your practice time so that you do not disturb others?
I don't. I'm getting an average of 2 hours a day. I try to get an hour before work and the rest after dinner. Some days more, some days less. Although I am also an early riser, I don't play before my wife gets up. In the evening if she is watching the talking heads or a ball game, I play away. If she is watching one of her favorite TV shows, I make a concious effort to keep the sound level quiet. Lots of ball games in the summer(Cubs of course), not to many now.
Julius

No, I don't always practice as much as I'd like to or want to. I've got health problems (asthma and pulmonary hypertension) that exhaust me so sometimes sleep takes precedence. As far as scheduling time so as not to disturb others - I'm very lucky in having a rather bohemian household. My husband is just as likely to be up at that hour as I am and if not he can sleep through anything. I'm also very lucky that my piano has its own room so there's no interference with the tv or computer and we don't live in an apartment so there're no neighbors to disturb.

During the school year (I teach) I don't get to practice as much as I would like to. That's frustrating because I really want to play more but my mind is burned out from teaching all day. I never feel like I should practice because it is something I love to do and can't get enough of so it's never an obligation. During the summer I get to practice almost as much as I want which can be anywhere for 3 to 5 hours a day. It makes me feel completely happy and content.


Yes. I have to consider the needs of my family first. I have to ask myself "is it a good time to dominate the sound level in the house with my practicing?" "Am I fulfilling my role as mother/wife by isolating myself at the piano?" and "are there chores that need to be done?" In the summer when the windows are open, I have to consider the noise level late at night. I wish I could practice before work, but I'm the first one up at 5 a.m and everyone is still sleeping.

DO YOU love your piano?

I DO love my piano - especially now that she's got a Dampp Chaser and doesn't do that funny buzzy sound (cracked soundboard) on chilly mornings before my heater warms up.

I play barefoot too, but not in winter because the pedals are too cold....

I absolutely love my piano, a Baldwin Hamilton. I smile every time I play it and every time I sit in our piano/computer room (which is a lot!).

I love the sound of my piano.
I have an Alfred Knight studio console (43" tall) from about 1961. We no longer have the receipt so I don't know exactly when it was purchased. Trying to find information on my piano is how I found the forum. It seems that the few posts that I found, said that they were over rated and difficult to tune (stable, but difficult to set good unisons). My piano tech had no problem tuning it and was surprised at how it sounded.
DO YOU remove the upper or lower panels of your piano so it is louder (sorry this really only applies to uprights).
I will usually remove the bottom panel. Its difficult to hold the music when I remove the top panel, so I don't do that often. If my 86 year old father ever saw that, he'd have more than a fit.
Julius

I too have an upright. A 1906 Wellington. I have removed the bottom panel for louder sound, but last year we got rid of all the carpeting in the house so removing it now is almost deafening to the player. (Usually me).

I used to remove the bottom panel and open the top in my earlier rock & roll days .

I'm a little less wild now.
DO YOU ever just open up the top - upright people?

CMOHR

My Knight has a lever with a spring that opens the top 3". I have the top all the way open against the wall with a folded towel so it doesn't buzz.
DO YOU get crazy when your piano makes buzzing sounds for certain keys?
It seems like its gone on forever, but I think I finally cured the buzz that my piano made by stuffing a folded Kleenex between the arm of the center and left peddle. I never used them anyway, only the gas peddle on the right.
Julius

Re "do you practice as much as you want/should?" No. I am back in grad school and just don't have the time to practice as much as I want. I also can't practice as much as I think I "should," in terms of if I want to improve a certain amount, or work up new pieces, I think there's a certain amount of time and effort that I should put in if I expect results. I am unable to meet that bare minimum, so my progrss is slowed. But it's better than nothing and my goal until I finish grads school is just to keep practicing and playing as much as I can, even if that's a small amount. That way, when I finish school, piano will still be a part of my life.

Re "do you love your piano" No. I had a piano that I loved, and sold if before coming back to the US (are people getting tired of me saying that?!), so I just can't seem to forgive my digital for not being my old upright. Having said that, I have come to see my digital piano as a tool, it's very functional and will tide me over until I can get an acoustic instrument. As with practice time, even if I can't be closer to my ideal, I can still enjoy what I have available to me.

Not nearly enough practice; no discipline.
No need; I use the digital with earphones.

More and more (the acoustic) since I installed acoustic panels to fix the room; what a difference

Do You take the music rack off to play ?

I do; I hear the piano so much better; leave it on to practice of course, with partitions and all.

You are wasting away to a shadow.

Keep up the good work.

Enjoyed the vids too.

No rings - I grew out of mine many years ago, although, like Rickster, I've lost 32 pounds so maybe they fit now. :-) I keep my watch on.

Occasionally barefoot, but mostly with shoes. Occasionally in pj's.

Some days I practice as long as I would like to, some days not, but I always get some in. I'm sure that I can always use more.

I practice my digital with headphones when my adult son is home. More to keep from being embarrassed when learning a new piece than to keep from disturbing him.

Gee, Mom3gram, thanks for the complement, and congratulations on your weight loss! I feel better than I have in years (and look better too ). Of course, I just ate some potato chips, which is a no-no!

I enjoy your music!

Rick

Yup, me too. And my blood pressure and cholesterol are SO much better. Lay off those potato chips though.

Ugh -- no! Nail polish makes my fingers feel like they're suffocating. No kidding.

Never wear rings, either; not even the wedding ring. I guess I can't stand having stuff on my fingers.

Watch is good, though. (Yes, I'm over 30!) Wear it all the time except when I'm sleeping or on vacation.

Love walking barefoot in the summer, but can't play like that. My right foot starts to get sore after a while if I don't at least wear sandals.

Definitely better practicing at night. No interruptions, and that's when I have the most energy.

When you practice, DO YOU start the first practice of the day with finger exercises? I do. Although my pace for adding new ones is slow, I'm up to Hannon 14 and I play all 14 first thing before practicing what I'm learning. My book only has the first 20 so I bought the complete book of 60.
How does this work? The book of the first 20 was $6.95, the book for the next 20 was $6.95, and the book of the last 20 was $6.95. The complete version of all 60 was $6.95.
Maybe if they sold BMWs you could get the big beamer for the price of the baby beamer.
Julius

How about a "did you"?

DID YOU ever fall asleep at the piano?

I think I did once. I was trying to practice recognizing intervals by ear. I had asked my husband to play some for me while I had my eyes closed, and then I would see if I could guess what interval he had played. This lasted about 5 minutes -- I think he got bored. So I asked my daughter to play some for me; she lasted about 3 minutes. So I just decided to just do it myself by closing my eyes and pressing two random keys, guessing, then opening my eyes to check. So later that evening (well, much later -- about 1:30 in the morning), I was doing this and having a hard time identifying some of the intervals. So I started sitting there for just a few seconds with my eyes closed, listening and thinking, before I would try to guess. ZZZZzzzz. Oops. I guess that was a boring exercise! Or maybe I just shouldn't practice so late at night.

I mean I know I want (should do) more Hannon etc but to me this sounds like too much before playing/practicing?
- SC

I have never played any Hanon in my life, but going through the technical exercises for my grade 10 RCM exam just once took 45 minutes. I can't imagine willingly submitting to that everyday.

I must admit, I have never fallen asleep at the piano. The closest I've come has been to be sleepy and playing badly at which point, I stop playing and go fall asleep in front of the TV.
About Hanon. I've had the book since about 1962. I don't remember how far I got back then, but I suspect not mutch past exercise 3. I've seen some posts that say that the exercises improve your speed and fingering ability. Its probably different for everybody depending on what you are trying to achieve. I think they help me and especially when I play them with a metronome. Its more like a warm up and not something I do for fun.
Julius

Exactly how I feel.

Also,
Haven't fallen asleep at the piano. Yet.

I do play my upright with just the top open sometimes.

I've had a weird performing mishap a couple of times, caused by (I think)......
Practicing in my socks.

I had gotten into the habit of practicing without shoes on. Then, one time when I was performing, my foot started slipping off the pedal in the middle of the final downward riff in Chopin's 4th Ballade. I assumed it was because of some new shoes that I was wearing, so the next time, I made sure to wear my trusty old shoes. Same thing happened. Then I realized that I had gotten into holding my foot differently because of practicing in my bare socks.

Moral of the story: If you like practicing in your socks, then perform in your socks too.

Wedding ring on (otherwise playing is hazardous to my health)

Shoes off

Fingernails cut short

Pants on

Underwear on

OOPs. Too much information.

DO YOU play anything besides Einaudi?

Well, sure! Just not very much.

Also, DO YOU know the way to San Jose?