How does playing the piano make you feel?

[and]

How does it feel when you play the piano, and what do you think about whilst you're doing so?

Would be interested to hear your comments,

and.

[thalbergmad]

How i feel depends directly on what i am playing and so does what i am thinking.

The other night i was playing the Tausig-Weber-Invitation to the dance and i was feeling totally elated. I was thinking i was in the Wigmore Hall with a packed audience.

Back to reality.

[arensky]

How does it feel when you play the piano, and what do you think about whilst you're doing so?

Would be interested to hear your comments,

and.

If I am playing well it feels good. If I am playing badly it doesn't feel good, but I try not to let that interfere. When I'm playing well, I'm not thinking, I'm one with the piano and the music. When I'm playing, uh, not so well or badly, thoughts and thinking are usually interfering with my stream of conciousness. Thinking while performing is bad, and thinking about anything but the matter at hand (pun not intended  ) while practicing is bad too. I am convinced that being a good instrumentalist is largely mental...

[pianistimo]

playing the piano makes me feel relaxed.  i usually feel the start of some kind of deep meditation coming on (if i'm playing beethoven/mozart) - with scarlatti - a sort of light headedness.  with each composer, i feel something different.  kind of like going to an art show and looking at different paintings.  i most relate to macdowell - because he liked to use imagery and poetry in his music...and his music is heartfelt and not really that virtuosic for the sake of virtuosity - but more for the sake of getting an image across.  debussy has a beautiful effect of always creating 'visions' of water lilly's or waterfalls, etc. for me.  spanish music - vibrant, fragrant flowers.  maybe instead of colors, i see pictures. 

i feel my total self's feelings with something that i've composed on my own - according to what i was thinking/feeling at the time.

[rc]

I am convinced that being a good instrumentalist is largely mental...

Agreed, I'm getting to the point where my playing is almost entirely mental. After you've got the physical aspects figured out (making it physically possible, making it physically efficient, prevent injury), the rest is a mind-game... Then the frustration and rewards begin

What to think about while playing is a difficult one. I don't think I've quite got this under control for myself yet, but I know a few things. Never focus on what your fingers/arms/muscles are doing, they should already be programmed and to focus on that sort of thing will only screw it up. Better to be thinking structurally, try to have all the little details of dynamics and articulation already figured out, think in sections and try think ahead a bit. Always try and be listening to how the music is coming out, be able to adapt.

Hard to talk about...

I find it useful to put myself into some kind of emotion in relation to the piece. Music is good for that, evoking those un-nameable feelings. Last night while practicing I used an image of being a kid playing around in an autumn evening, sort of a fun/warm/nostalgic emotion. I have no idea if such a thing comes through in the playing, but it seems to give my mind something to base off of without wandering to troublesome thoughts, but not consuming enough that I lose track of what I'm doing.

...Hard to talk about.

[lostinidlewonder]

If I'm practicing there is little pleasure in it, the internal voice is cursing at all my mistakes and getting annoyed that I am not getting it right fast enough. When I'm playing there is heaps of pleasure just listening to sound, but the mind can wander, often certain pieces to me inspire memory or emotion, often some very unrelated memory of what happened the day when I studied a certain part of the piece.

Some piece inspire really odd memory. Like Scriabin Etude op8no6, makes me think of this person who walked dogs for a living who I use to notice daily while driving to work.

[jas]

If I'm playing well it makes me happy in a way that most things can't. I'm sure everyone here knows how great it feels to play something really well and how uplifting it is for your mood. It reminds me why I love to play the piano.

If I'm playing badly, though, I can go from being in a perfectly fine mood to a crabby piano-hater in one fell swoop.

If I'm practicing properly I've usually got a feeling of mingled frustration and achievement. But that depends on how well things are going.

Jas

[apion]

When I'm playing a powerful, forceful, energized concerto (like a Brahms 1, Brahms 2, Liszt Totentanz, Beethoven 5, etc.), I feel almost invincible .... almost superhuman.  It's an awesome feeling.

[steveie986]

Most piano sessions for me involve a frustrating amount of dissatisfaction. I really try to make every phrase perfect, so practice sessions are just battles between my musical vision of how it should sound and my woeful technical abilities which fall far short most of the time.

However, every now and then by some strange fluke I seem to transcend my technical limits and "become one" with the instrument so that it becomes, momentarily, simply an extension of my body. Those are mystical moments.

[aspiramente]

Playing the piano makes me feel like a small part of something very special.

[m1469]

Let's see...  Sometimes completely exhilerated, sometimes sad, sometimes peaceful.  I guess it probably also depends on the repertoire.  Generally though, it makes me feel like I am curiously staring into a deep chasm.   


m1469

[g_s_223]

I find playing particular pieces on the piano can act as a potent trigger for the recall of memories: typically of people and my relationships with them at a particular time when I was often playing the piece in question, c.f. Proust and the madelaine cake.

The memories can be happy or sad, and this does now affect what I wish to play.

[steveie986]

I find playing particular pieces on the piano can act as a potent trigger for the recall of memories: typically of people and my relationships with them at a particular time when I was often playing the piece in question, c.f. Proust and the madelaine cake.

The memories can be happy or sad, and this does now affect what I wish to play.

Yes, very well said. Music unlocks the door of nostalgia.

[m1469]

I find playing particular pieces on the piano can act as a potent trigger for the recall of memories: typically of people and my relationships with them at a particular time when I was often playing the piece in question, c.f. Proust and the madelaine cake.

The memories can be happy or sad, and this does now affect what I wish to play.

yeah, I guess it's similar for me too.  The music can stir up all sorts of memories.  Sometimes it's a little disconcerting, actually.   Even just sitting at a piano can do that for me too.  It happened not so long ago, I sat at a certain piano that I had not been with in a long time.  I started to cry  .

[steve jones]

I sometimes find myself imagining that Im playing in concert and that the audience is hanging of my every nuance. I guess that the narcastic side of my character getting away with me!

I tend to experience that when its a faster piece, and I have it really nailed. I got it the other day playing Bach Invention 1 - this is hardly 'that' kind of piece, but Id been practicing it for a week or two, and I got it up to a fair old pace. Lol, I find myself hammering away like I am somekind of master virtuoso 

Guess it is feelings like this that keep me practicing long and hard - well, if it didnt make you burn a little, what would be the point?