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Hey guys, whenever you listen a piece of music for the piano what thoughts rush to your mind? Do you truly appreciate the music for what it is, or do you just picture yourselves playing it?, etc.

Both, plus many more things.

When I listen to Rachmaninov and Brahms, most of the time I imagine myself playing! Maybe because of the heavy piano material... I don't really know. It depends on my mood though, I don't always do it.

But, when listening to "pure" composers like Bach, I simply enjoy the music. I never imagine myself playing Bach, for example.

Oh, and when I hear Beethoven's symphonies, I picture myself conducting the orchestra!

Both, I'd say. If it is a style I really like or a song that captures me, I imagine myself playing it and makes plans for the piece. If it is something beyond any level I'd ever play at (like Ravel) or something that sounds cool but I have no desire to play (like Nyman) I just listen and enjoy. Inevitably I enjoy listening to stuff I can one day play more than stuff that is far beyond me, but I am more of a producer than consumer, as personalities go

It's unusual, when I listen to a piece for piano I often do imagine myself playing it, particularly if it is a composer I like, like Ravel or Liszt.......

however, if it's a large orchestra piece, the experience is much deeper...I often imagine entire otherworlds and/ or story-lines that the music accompanies.....Even if the music is so-called "absolute" music, the experience is so much more satisfying when I close my eyes and have a "cinematic" experience.

I have to admit, I do not experience music, even "emotional" or absolute music, as simple human emotions, and I often have a hard time with people who feel music expresses only emotion, or should be enjoyed "simply as music".

The problem for me with the piano is that, when you hear it, you think of...the piano! It is difficult to evoke anything extra-musical, like the orchestra can. Obviously pianists might try to achieve a symphonic or orchestral texture or whatever, but the color palette is limited compared to the orchestra.