Just checking in.. so far this is working. There's been a couple of days where I've been short on time and I was gonna skip it, but I remembered my obligation and sat down and blazed through a couple of short pieces and a Hanon or two

Good for you! Over the year you'll probably find that happening over and over --- you think "Oh, ok, I'll just give it 5 minutes"...and then an hour later you get up from the ivories!

Hi C,

Please ding me for two days.
I had a short business trip that forced me to miss January 23 and 24.

Now, back to the bench.

jim

Add me. Have traveling planned, but will be giving it a big effort.

Consider yourself dinged, in style:

LOL. Thanks C, that segment really rang my bell.

Ding, ding, ding went ... the last few months of 2012! I was most definitely not the master of my piano-practice domain last year. Trying again for 2013. Count me in, Cas.

OK, so I wasn't here on the first of January, but if I understand the rules correctly, I can still join the 'late starters' list, as long as I do it before September 30, 2013, right?

If that's the case, please sign me up. But I would like my start date to be postponed a few days (to January 31), because I sold my digital piano yesterday, and won't have a piano to practice on again until Thursday.

Welcome back Piano_deb, and welcome Saranoya!

Ohhh. Does that mean you have a new piano coming home? Be sure to post a thread with pictures. We love to see happy pianos!

fell off the wagon Saturday; no real good excuses! Actually thought about it when I woke up Sunday morning at 1am to go to the bathroom and seriously contemplated for a minute going downstairs to play something, but thought it would be silly at that point and went back to bed. Anyways, got some good practicing in today and more to come again tomorrow before and maybe following a lesson.

Yes, it does! A baby grand will be delivered at my new address in another three days.
I didn't plan on buying a grand this early (only been back in the game five months, after all), but my grandfather heard me make an offhand comment about how I would like to have a grand piano at some point in my life, and to him that was reason enough to run off to the store and buy one (I'm paying him back, though ... already gave him a 60% down payment).

It's a Boston baby grand (model 156 PE). Will post pictures soon!

Hi,

Would like to join the MOYD challenge. This is new for me.
Let me know if there is more I need to do.

newbieaz

Welcome !

No, nothing else to do other than follow the guidelines on the first page of this thread.
Good luck!

GW:
You play 2 hours a day but hate lessons?
Doesn't sound like the teacher was so great for you.
It took me a long time to find a teacher that worked for me and with me.
I finally found a place that offered group lessons for adults,
and had a teacher that was more interested in meeting my expectations
than having me meet his/hers.
Once I saw I was making progress, I knew I had found the right one.
Remember: You are the "Master Of Your Domain"!

So how are we all doing? There have been a few days this month where I could only fit in half hour of playing but on average I'd say I'm doing 2-3 hrs a day, this has probably been made easier to do as I bought my first acoustic this year, just hope I can keep it up.

Here's a question for anyone who might know, does playing on a software keyboard, namely an iPad app count? I'm just thinking ahead for if I'm in a situation where I can't get to a piano but have my ipad with me. I often use it for tinkling out little melodies or for doing theory when I'm not at home so just curious if it counts as part of MOYD.

Neil.

May I please be excused for today? I put in 13 hours at work and another hour at home for work. I'm bushed. Wanna read, drink a tea and fall into bed. Tomorrow I might need to be excused too if it goes anything like today did.

Sweet dreams all. (and welcome saranoya)

14 hours of work definitely sounds like a reason to be excused to me :-o

Enjoy the read/tea/sleep Becca

hmm um... Heck, I don't know.
I do know some folks use roll-up keyboards when away from home.
Is this any different?

My opinion is that if you have no access to a real keyboard, digital or acoustic, and you use the app to work on your piano skills - either playing or practising, in a way that you feel is a legitimate moment of focusing on your piano skills improvmeent, then it qualifies.

The following is not just for Neil, it is for others who have asked or are thinking about various scenarios "what if....."

Lots of folks ask "is it ok, does it count...?" In a way I feel absurd being the "rule maker". What it boils down to is being honest with yourself, and not tricking yourself into thinking you've worked on piano when you haven't.
Does a lesson count? ....well, did you sit down and play - yup.
Does a roll-up count? ....Can you play it? Yes? - ok.
Does an app really mimic playing piano...Well, I've seen Lang Lang use one on stage pretty effectively....I think it counts.

Those are my opinions, and going through the past MOYD threads, the first two seem to be held as ok through general concensus. The third point is something "fairly" new - but as new options open up, let's keep on exploring them!

The point is to work at getting better, right? To be as consistent as possible with getting to the piano!
Play on!

Mind you, this isn't about getting away with as little practice as possible, but rather trying to make it work when unable to take your time at your own piano. Nobody would recommend learning to play on just a roll-up or iPad. You need the real experience. But sometimes, that's all you got.

I've tried a few of these piano apps, but they don't seem to be for me. It's so limited. You can only play one hand, and even that is just one octave or so. I have no music that could be played on the app, leaving just excercise. And you can't even do scales.

Right you are Allard (though I don't think Neil is trying to get away with anything (nor that you are suggesting he is). It is simply making the best of what is available to you.
I don't really know how the apps work.
As I said, it is an honour system here. Above all we have to be honest to ourselves.

Hey guys, thanks for the response. I certainly don't want to be seen as trying to get away with anything. It's my determination to not let a single day pass where I don't do something related to learning piano. I've been lucky so far in that I can access my piano everyday, but I can see this may get harder as our baby due date gets nearer and when baby is born (beginning of June).

I have plenty of apps on my ipad which are music related, but mostly I'm using it for theory, note identification, scale identification, chord practice etc. I can use the software keyboards to play out little melodies of my own, or to put into practice some theory I've just learnt, it really is quite useful, especially when I have time on my hands at work (night shift). I hope it would be ok for this to count toward MOYD if the time comes when I cannot play my piano.

Keep up the good work guys,

Neil.

My teacher mentioned a while ago that if I'm really not near a piano, reading through & analysing a score can be useful too, so maybe some of your apps could qualify.

btw, I'm SO glad I got my digital piano - this is the 3rd day in a row that the only time I had to practice was early in the morning. I might not have found time at all to work on the acoustic, but with the digital I can just plug in the headphones & let 'er rip.

The reason for the early start today was that I had to get to a dentist appointment. My previous dentist, who I'd known for about 40 years, retired a few weeks ago, & guess who took over his practice? Dr. Bach! He did a crown prep today for me today & it turns out he's a really good dentist as well as having an auspicious name.

You're going to have to put me on the sick/injured list. The Ulnar nerve problem has just gotten too bad to continue on. I go in for testing to see where the problem lies Thursday. Here's to hoping it's in the elbow, which is where we think it is, because that's the easiest to treat. They start with time in a sling and if that doesn't stop it go in and just move the nerve over. If it's the neck (least likely in my opinion) they put you in traction. If it's entrapped at the wrist that is surgery with a long rehab and no guarantees.

Bill, that sounds awful! I hope everything goes well on Thursday & it turns out to be the elbow.

Sorry to hear of your nerve problems Bill, good luck for Thursday.

Neil.

I am new to this forum. I started learning how to play the piano 2 years ago but stopped after a few months. We recently purchased a fabulous acoustic piano (for our daughter), which motivated me to start again. I enjoy playing a lot and I hope I can stick with it this time around.

Please sign me up!

Good luck swimMommy

Neil - no, no, no one meant to think you would try to "get away" with anything, it was just a discussion on the ideas.

I think that using the app for working out fingerings or practicing tricky bars (because I think - I may be wrong) it might be a lot harder to actually play it as a keyboard! (Lang Lang we are not!) I would say that although study of theory and studying sheet music is useful, those activities do not count for MOYD. MOYD has to be working your fingers on keys in some fashion. So sounds like part of what you can do is certainly MOYD-worthy Neil

Joyoussong-Carol - Hope your dental work goes smoothly. I had a crown done a couple of years ago and it was a totally frustrating experience. I had a very weird dentist. Note the past tense! With a name like Bach, you can't help but feel something is right in the universe eh?

Bill - So sorry to hear your problem is getting worse instead of better! Best wishes for getting it resolved soon, in the simplest way possible!!!!

swimMommy - Welcome and good luck with getting back into the swinm of things!

SwimMommy
Do you swim or are you coaching the team or are your kids swimmers? I'm always curious about the names we assign ourselves.

Good for you playing the piano. I started playing (I'd played some in high school) when my eldest son was in lessons. He quit after high school but I'm still at it. He had more talent too...I keep asking him if he's going to play again.

Bill, please heal quickly