Practicing away from the piano

[bella musica]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the forum, but I've enjoyed looking at all your tips and comments over the past couple weeks.  I've been playing piano for 15 or 16 years and am working on my Bachelor's in Music.  Some of my favorite composers are Chopin and Prokofiev, plus pretty much any Russian composer you could name! 

So to get to the real point of this post - I'm going on an overseas trip for about 3 weeks, and would like to know what ideas anyone has on practicing away from the piano?  I'm working on Beethoven's Op. 90, L'Isle Joyeuse, a bunch of Chopin Preludes, and Bolcom's 'The Poltergeist' from 3 Ghost Rags.  Haven't picked out any Bach or a concerto yet, but for the concerto I'm kinda leaning towards the Prokofiev 1.  But since I may not have a piano for some period of time, I decided to see how effective practicing away from the piano could be. 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

[phil13]

Maybe a dumb piano? Rachmaninoff learned his entire 3rd concerto on one on the boat ride from Russia to America.

Or, you might want to invest in an electric keyboard- a good one, with touch sensitivity and key pressure.

Phil

[bella musica]

Sadly enough, my luggage restrictions don't allow for this option.  I'm completely without any sort of keyboard...  Times like this make me wish I played something portable like a flute. 

On the other hand, Artur Rubinstein said that he liked playing the piano because then he didn't feel obligated to practice wherever he went, like all his violinist friends!

[dnephi]

Pischna (sp?) can be done everywhere.  If you can, get a piece of paper taht looks like a keyboard.  My great grandma was a great pianist and sometimes she used that to practice.

[pianogeek_cz]

There is a number of posts on mental practice hanging around here - the best are linked in this index: https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,9159.0.html

I do mental practice based on the described method quite regularly, and it's giving quite good results (for example, the sixteenth runs passage of the Gnomenreigen...).

[tyler_johnson]

Bring the sheet music for sure.  Read it like you would read a book.  Over and over.  Imagining yourself playing it, that's how I learn some pieces. also helps memorization.

[sportsmonster]

I just heared about the fold plastic piano. you can roll it in like a bed sheet. when you roll out the piano, there is a picture of a keyboard with electric sensors, that makes a tone like on a piano. and after it can be folded, or rolled in and put it in your smaller bag (like a sleeping bag). I dont know where you can buy this, but it is certanly one of the more funny and interesting invensions.

you might find it on internet somewhere.

[exigence]

Bring the sheet music for sure.  Read it like you would read a book.  Over and over.  Imagining yourself playing it, that's how I learn some pieces. also helps memorization.

^ amazing how much things come together for me when I just look at the music without playing.