What do do? Please help.

[pianochick93]

Ok, I am 14, and I live at home with my mum and 2 sisters. They all seem to have higher priorities than me practicing piano, and as a result I only get about an hour every 2 days. What can I do to make them allow me a little more practice time. Our house is small and the piano is in the lounge room, so TV is automatically prioritized over piano for them. It really doesn't seem fair from my point of view.

I think that at the stage I am at, and not wanting to go professional/performer at any stage, that I should be practicing about 2 hours a night. I am about Grade 5-6 AMEB, sorry I don't know what that is in American grades, but I am playing pieces like Rach's 2:3 and his prelude in G minor.

So I suppose my big question is how long should I be practicing and how can I make my family see the light?

[thalberg]

2 hours a night is perfect.

I had the same problem as you--my practicing annoyed my family and it caused lots of fights.  I had an eartraining teacher who said her father used to pay her money not to practice.  And when she did practice, he'd go take a nap in the back seat of the car parked in the garage.  (this eartraining teacher was a horn player.)

The solution?  I never found one.  Just know that you're not alone.  Someone will come up with something. Maybe m1469 will.  She's good at  that sort of thing.

[ramithediv]

You must get an electronic Keyboard and a pair of headphones. Also, if you get a portable one you can take it to your room. 

But ensure you use the piano when it is available. 

[nachoba]

Ask in your local school, library, church, whatever....tell them that you need access to a piano. That help me, I managed to find a piano for practice 1 hour a day.
good luck

[opus57]

I see, I'm not alone with my problem. Our grand piano is placed in living room too and this is exactly the place where my family uses to watch TV. Further exists the problem, that we are living in a multiple-family dwelling and so I have to respect the laws of "silence in night". But I plan to buy a piano with "silence technique" so that the keys feel like on a real grand piano...