Where do you go?

[justliam]

I saw a film fairly recently called the legend of 1900, about a pianist aboard a cruise ship who never leaves, and his asks him where he goes when he plays piano.  I just wonder if any of you day dream whilst playing? When I practise I'm concentrating so I never really, but when I play a piece I know I often find my self drifting off into my own little, particularly if it's a simple familiar piece.  Also wondered if those of you with performance experience ever do this on stage, or if it's 100% Concentration

[pianistimo]

i go into a repeated daydream, but it has minor changes every single time.  like for the mozart fantasy in c minor - i kept playing the beginning too fast at first.  then i caught sight of my visualization.  a sort of 'curel' ad.  here's these two alligators slowly coming out, and then the contrast of them to the person.  also, i think about different characters in mozart, depending on high/low voice or what they typically do.  i would say, imagination is half my memory work.  probably not good, but it does help with associations. 

also, when performing, i get extremely into the 'zone' (which is probably meditation) and start blocking out  (unconciously now) as much as i can of anything beyond the piano and the sounds coming from it.  i think teachers might actually help 2nd or 3 rd year piano students by purposely having one or two people in master class/practice recital let the cellphone ring, or drop things, wrinkle paper, chew gum.  it's bound to happen sometime or other and if you lose concentration over those things, it's reallly irritating.

[jeremyjchilds]

I always think about real estate...because I am buying or building (can't decide yet) a house

[pianistimo]

real estate? 

[llamaman]

I've only ever done that once. I was playing Fur Elise and I zoned out. It was really wierd. I was still playing it with my mouth open, staring out the window.

[celticqt]

When I zone out I mess up, so I try to concentrate on what my fingers are doing.  I actually try to think a measure ahead of where I'm playing.

[jamie0168]

You'll probably think I'm a dimwit, but I tend to forget about what I'm playing and involuntarily replay the "Family Guy" episode I saw the night before...lol. About five minutes into the episode, the piece is over and I think to myself, "What was I just playing?"

[thorn]

It depends on the piece; with most pieces i just tend to go into my own little world, but with impressionistic type pieces, i go to wherever the piece goes.