Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum How to tell when you have practised for too long...

...when you try to use the right hand fingering to play the left hand of the Eb major scale...

...when you start practicing the left hand while simultaneously resting your head on your right arm against the front of the piano.

When you sit down and play the upteenth repetition of a hard passage, look up at the music and reallize you aren't even on the right page. That happened to me yesterday.

You've practised a piece too much when you start becoming sick of it. This occurs approx 3 weeks after the rest of your family started looking at you a little crooked upon playing the piece.....yet again!

Tip: Take advantage of *empty house* time and play the **** out of the piece. your family unit will be so much stronger as a result.

lol..at least you puttin your hours in, i wish i had more time to...its alota work aint it

When I have to stomp on my fingers to put out the flames.

When your goal for the practice session becomes fuzzy or you get distracted.

...when you fall asleep at the piano. Yeah, I did this once.

...when the buttons and seams of the piano bench have given you a figured bass.

(I've fallen asleep at the piano too, but unfortunately that didn't mean I had put in many hours, only that I started too late.)

Elene

...when it's 1am and your wife scares the crap out of you with a 'PSSST!!' and evil glare because you woke her. Even thought the attic fan was running and you were playing as quietly as you possibly could.

...this has happened more than once...

Haha, oh, that's funny.

In my case, you know you have practiced a piece for too long when... You say, "hey, sister, come to hear me play "x" piece I just finished" and she says she has listened to it too many times (while you were learning it). xD

Or, when your family unit (previously unfamiliar with the piece you're learning/playing) knows the molody by memory and can easily tell when you make a very little mistake.


Haha, although they've never complained, I think my family must be a bit tired of hearing me. But sometimes I don't know how can they, I don't play at a high volume.

I honestly worry a great deal about my family having to listen to pieces I've played for years. Or having to listen to anything else I play, for that matter. They swear they don't mind, but....

On the other hand, I have to listen to my husband practicing saxophone. He's a competent professional, but it is loud! I like his clarinet practice periods better.

Elene

I've done this more than once - with your head down resting on your hands you'll wake up when (1) your hands fall asleep too and start to tingle or (2) you relax to the point where you involuntarily play a booming and highly discordant chord. Usually happens after suffering through a hot, exhausting day on the golf course - one of the perils of the retired life...

JF

variation: you decide to move on to yet another piece before shutting down for the day. You work for minutes and finally notice you've put the sheet music upside down.

When everyone in the house started humming the same tune in the shower?

...when the cat decides to show you how to play it correctly.

Now that's a Victor Borge moment..lol

Cool sounding chord. Something from late Scriabin?

At the same time?

JF