what are your worst distractions during practice?

[crazy for ivan moravec]

i hate it when people start coming in and out of my room to get something. if i lock the door, they would knock! sheeesh. i need to put a big sign on the door everytime so that they wouldn't bother me. but when the sign has been there for days already, they start to think it isn't functional anymore but a sign that i just forgot to take off the other day!!!

eventually i would have to talk to them. (they're my siblings.  )

any distractions? maybe ur imagination? daydreaming that stops u from practice. that's also another distraction for me.hehe

[steve jones]

My god, dont get me started on distractions!

I was trying to learn a passage the other day, and it was taking most of my concerntration just to decipher the rhythm - then my sister starts trotting around our kitchen (next door) with these flip flop shoes on. Suffice to say it sounded someone clicking their fingers arhythmicly in my ear.

I almost popped, it was so frustrating. But whats worse is that no one in my family seems to understand. My mother cant concentrate properly on the TV with other people talking in the room... yet she fails to see why I need some quiet while practicing!!!

Man, I have so many more its untrue. I had my Dad the other day beating pork chops with a rolling pin, my brother typing on his PC keyboard (yes, his PC is in my studio for reasons best know to him), my sister playing speed garage in her room, my neighbour playing that tennis game where the ball spins around a poll etc.

And it all drives me around the twist!!!

But I'll tell you whats worse, MUCH worse. I also produce soundware (audio samples), and sometimes I have to make loop points so that a multisample can loop properly. This isnt that hard, but you have to listen very closely on headphone for the tiniest digital click or pop at the loop point. Just for that slip second you have to listen as closely as your consiousness will allow...

Ofcourse, it helps when your entire family arent watching Hollyoaks in the room next door!

Ok, rant over  (but seriously, you dont know what you've started here  )

[thalbergmad]

I could list distractions, but i would be here all day.

I feel sorry for Steve Jones. I would murder anyone walking around with flip flops.

[phil13]

Okay, there are so many that it's not even funny, and then there are even more, so many that it loops around and actually IS funny. Ha ha.

But the WORST one (and my biggest annoyance, BTW) is when my siblings come over to me and ask me to stop playing in the middle of a piece, so that I can do something insignificant that really could have waited the whole three *** minutes so that I could finish. THAT DRIVES ME CRAZY!

Two runners-up:

- People randomly pressing the top 2-3 keys while I'm playing in the lower register. Why the *** do people do that?

-My siblings turning the TV up when I ask them to go watch TV elsewhere (let me explain this one. EVERYONE in my family has a TV in their room. We also have an extra one in the living room, where the piano is. Yet, for reasons unexplained, my sister loves to watch TV in the living room. Now, my mom, who is the only person who completely understands and respects my need to play, has told my brother and sister that it's a rule that I have priority in the living room almost all the time. Yet, when I ask them politely to leave, they start bitching and moaning about, "I NEVER get to watch what I want to!" Hello?! You have a TV IN YOUR ROOM. I DON'T HAVE A REAL PIANO IN MINE!)

Phil

[jhon]

I am quite lucky that my 5-6 hours of practice a day is not anymore an issue at our home.  Yes, they can watch TV but it is just common sense that they will lower the volume when I'm practicing.

Since my piano is in teh living room, I kinda get used in all distractions.  I just talk straight in conversation while playing...

[noelle]

I can usually deal with noise my family is making, but I farrr prefer to practice when I'm the only one home.
When I'm practicing cello in my room sometimes, someone will suddenly come in and I'll jump like a foot in the air, startled.
The piano's in the living room, so they can't be so subtle.

BUT

the worst thing is
grrr
when I'm practicing, and then my mother's like, "I have to make a phone call, so stop playing for 5 minutes."  And then she talks to someone unimportant for half an hour, and if I try to play ever so quietly, I get yelled at.  Of course, she can't go upstairs unless she leaves the kettle on to whistle where she can't hear it.

[Tash]

only 2 things really annoy me- 1) when my dad decides to start vacuuming the house just after i've started so i can barely ear myself- where is the logic in doing such a thing??
2) my mum comes home and my parents start talking loudly.
i can pretty much handle everything else, i'm lucky and my parents are smart enough to talk on the phone in closed rooms and not watch tv during the day

[jason2711]

because of the extensive building work going on, my parrot was moved to the same room as where i practise.  I now have a permanent companion who screeches, whistles, rattles his cage, imitates the phone, the oven and smoke alarm, talks and swears incessantly while i practise.

Aside from that, my parents seem to want to use the room with the piano for watching tv at nights, even though they spent thousands getting a new room which is now complete upstairs!!

Ah well, it'll all be sorted tomorrow when my baby grand is getting moved to a new room 

though my parents will probably start using that room  then

practising is best when you're on your own in the house!

[quantum]

My mom has a good appreciation for my practice time, and usully refrains from making excess noise.  My dad had a habit of pacing with noisy slippers while I practiced.  It got so annoying, so I made a game: he was actually listening to me play so, when he paced, I stop right in the middle of a piece, he soon realised he was the only one making noise in the room so he stopped walking.  I started to play again when he stoped pacing, then he starded to pace and listen as I played, but the moment he began I immediatly stoped.  On and on with this circle, it wasn't long before he "got it".

Genneral rule I have at my house: if you make noise while I practice - fine.  I practice when you need to sleep.  End of discussion. 

[pizno]

My parrot screeches too!  And tries, badly, to keep time to the metronome. 

Also, my 17 year old daughter has to ask me questions about something next week, when I'm right in the middle of a passage.

But the worst is my email screeching for me to come check it!  It's a total addiction!

[cfortunato]

Cats who try to play along.

[musicsdarkangel]

my distraction is this beautiful girl, and amazing violinist, who comes and takes cigarette breaks with me every hour.


Her name is Vera......  what a beautiful name as well.


*sigh*

[rockitman31]

Dammed dog humping my leg while I'm playing.   

I wouldn't mind so much if the horny bastard would at least keep in time with the tempo of the piece I'm playing. 

[rc]

- People randomly pressing the top 2-3 keys while I'm playing in the lower register. Why the *** do people do that?

hah, I have a little cousin who likes to do this too. I mentioned it to my teacher today and he gave a great solution: tell them which notes they're allowed to press... The 5th of whatever key you're playing in will generally be the safest bet, won't be too discordant most of the time. The piece doesn't have to be wrecked, kid can play along, learn the name of the note, learn to play in time, play with dynamics... It could be very educational.

I sometimes like playing a game when someone's pacing around, play single notes in time with their steps. They don't always catch on, but when they do it's hilarious . I used to do this on an acoustic guitar when some friends would be juggling a soccer ball, each foot would get a different tone whenever they hit the ball. It would screw them up so bad

The absolute worst is when the meathead roomate and half a dozen of his meathead buddies are playing billiards and being jackasses in the next room. It's impossible to do anything with that kind of racket, that's when it's time to go for a walk. Actually, humping dog would be the worst.

...Nowadays, I live alone in a basement suite. Very little distractions Just the neighbours occassionally revving their crotch-rockets. Nobody even seems to know I live here.

[Jacey1973]

Phil and Steve Jones i sooo sympathise!! I have exactly the same problem with family members.

My mum calls me every 5 mins (we're having a bedroom decorated upstairs at the moment) "come up here a minute!" I rush upstairs in case it's urgent (i am just a page away from finishing a piece usually!) only to find my mum wants my opinion on her new curtains..........that SO annoys me - she can ask me any other time of the day, but no it has to be during practise.

My brother and sister moan like hell if they can't watch tv in the living room (where my piano is) and normally storm out (they are both teenagers unfortunately).

My grandad the other day randomly decided to take the light fitting apart, covering the whole room including my piano and music with thick dust. Then after he'd finished (after about 2 hours) my granny and mum spent aaages looking at the new light fitting asking me a million times "do you think it's nice? Are you sure it's not crooked??" All i wanted to do was to get on with my practise considering i'd lost 2 hours already. Other times my grandad will be upstairs hammering nails, drilling walls etc - basically making noise, or he interrupts me every 5 mins saying "that's nice who composed that?" (i like the fact he takes an interest but i have to tell him at least 5 times who the composer is again) or worse still he points at any random note (except C) and says "is that middle C?" (he took piano lessons about 70 years ago!!) Awwww I love him really!

The family member who annoys me most is my dad. Despite the fact i have 3 music college auditions coming up in the next 2 months which will determine my future he doesn't seem to realise that my piano practise has anything to do with it. He constantly interrupts my practise - usually right in the middle of something important to say "oh can you cook dinner tonight?" or "can you clear up the kitchen?" in a tone of voice which suggests i don't do anything ever - when i'm spend alot of my time clearing up after him!!

The worst crime yet was the other day when i didn't cook dinner because i had alot of practise to get through that day (i'd done about 5 hours that day) and i had choir practise in the evening - and my dad says "well you could have cooked dinner, it's not as if you do anything all day!!!!" I was so PISSED OFF i couldn't even look at him!!

Just because music is irrelevant to his life he thinks it's not worth anything to me - it's my career for God's sake!!! I actually felt so down after he said that (the fact that i can't get him to understand the importance of my practise - and that 5 hours of practise in a day is really hard work) that i cried for about an hour after that out of frustration (in the comfort of my bedroom - i would hate him to know he actually got to me!!)

I'm so glad i'm not the only person who gets stressed out about interruptions!....Oh and i CAN'T WAIT to move out, i would gladly live on my own if i could afford to.....mmm all that peace and quiet!

[steve jones]

Jenni,

Trust me it gets no better when its your own place. When I was at university, my room mate was constantly playing these daft internet war games - all I could hear was German Nazi screams and explosions!

Iv decided that when Im rich I will buy a retreat in the mountains somewhere, MILES away from any distractions. So when ever modern lifes gets to much, I can visit the mountain lodge and have a nice long studio session. Oh, and did I mention there'd be hot tubs too? 

[alzado]

I go along with Cfortunato.

Sometimes when I am playing, my black cat hops up on the piano bench on my right.  He sits there quietly for a minute or two, then he tries to nip my right hand every time I reach up above C5 or so.

At first, I just pull my hand away or brush him back.  I try to go on.  But if I don't heed him he will actually bite hard enough to draw blood.  The back of my hand and my upper wrist sometimes have healing cuts on them.

Usually I can't go on, and I have to stop. Then he rubs his muzzle down into the keys with a sideways twist and makes a kind of "clang" sound.  This may mean that he needs or wants something, like dinner.

Usually if I feed him, give him a little treat, or brush him, he will stop.  Otherwise I have to take him and lock him out on the porch "for the duration."

People may ask, "why do you put up with it?  Why don't you slap him?"

Answer is, he is VERY old.  About 15 or 16 at this point.  I feel sorry for him.  I am not sure he really "has it together" very well anymore.

[danyal]

At school: the squeaking pedals; the notes that refuse to work; the bell telling me I have to go to some useless class; the people who randomly open the door to see if there's someone inside (regardless of whether they heard sounds from the outside or not); teachers deciding they're far too lazy to walk 2 meters themselves  and make me stop practising to run their stupid errands; people inviting themselves in to listen and chat.

At home: the phone and doorbell (but i've learned to completely ignore these now, the people on the other end can wait); my out of tune piano; my stepsister that spends half the week at my house who likes sleeping early, so I have to stop early when she's here. The rest of my family sleeps through my playing but she's in the very next room and throws a fit rather easily... ; my dog who finds some sort of pleasure in barking at the wall for hours just outside my window