Who keeps a music journal?

[Mozartian]

I've been keeping one on and off since the summer of 2005, and fairly constantly in the last year or so, and was curious to know if anyone else here does so and what types of things they write in theirs.

Mine covers a very broad range of subjects- really anything concerned with music, from my aspirations and goals to certain technical problems I have (and how I eventually solve them), my progress on repertoire I'm working on, comments from my teachers, thoughts on concerts, recordings, accounts of my own performances, etc. It's very interesting to me to be able to go back and "revisit" the last few years and see my progress! It's very helpful, as it helps me clarify my thoughts and goals and really be able to better judge where I'm at and what I most need to work on.

[opus10no2]

I never write anything down that I don't intend to read again later.

But yes, it is interesting to see how much we've changed, but I do that by occasionally look at my old posts on forums.

Some cringe-worthy stuff, but also some sources of pride, staying true to my roots.

[rach n bach]

I do... kinda

I have saved all of my teacher's notes from my first lesson onwards, and I'll write my own comments and thoughts on the back of the paper.  Also, I tend to record my pieces when they are about 70-90% finished just to keep a record of where I have been.

It is a very good idea to keep one though...

RnB

[ted]

I do keep a book handy to the piano in case I make a discovery I am afraid I might forget the next day. Usually I do not need it. In a sense, I suppose the huge heap of recordings of improvisation going back over thirty years constitutes a "musical diary", but probably not quite in the sense you meant.

[Bob]

I write stuff down, not necessarily in a journal.  I can't stand the though of losing an idea.

Whether I ever read it again is another issue.  But I think writing it down helps me to remember it more.  Computers are good for searching through your own information.

Either way, I find I end up coming back to the same topics eventually, thinking about them a little deeper each time.

[Mozartian]

Either way, I find I end up coming back to the same topics eventually, thinking about them a little deeper each time.

Same here. Fascinating to see how one can jump off with an idea and fly with it (I save all my correspondence with a particular piano friend for the same reason- we generally talk about the same basic subjects, but are always taking different views on them).

[Bob]

I was digging through some old notes recently.  It was very cool to see the germs of ideas in some of my old notes.  Things I do as part of my standard way now were just a random thought I had back then.

[rc]

I've been keeping track of my daily practice since I began, the purpose was to keep myself on track and be able to see my practice habits...  Occassionally jotting down ideas, discoveries (rediscoveries), or writing out my stream of thoughts to help figure out what direction I should take.

Pretty boring stuff mostly, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort...  But it's nice to be able to look back and see the progress - flipping back a month and remembering what a difficult time I had with something.

It's definitely useful to be able to see the progress!  Otherwise I'm prone to forget and start thinking I'm going nowhere.

[keyofc]

I just started one in January or so.

I do a lot of recording too - but sometimes I need to capture a sentence - something I've noticed, discovered.

I think it's a great idea - and I wish I had done it all my life.

But never too late to start!