silent practice

[Tash]

ok i have a digital piano and i was playing with the volume and blah and was thinking, would practicing with no volume be at any benefit to me? or would it just stuff you up completely? tell me if there is any purpose to this thought of mine or whether i should just continue to ignore it!

[JK]

It might help if you're playing contrepuntal music. If you imagine what the music sounds like then it might help you to here the different lines of the music because you're not concentrating on the notes so much and sound quality etc. I don't know whether this would be a good idea but Glenn Gould said it helped him when he was paracticing Bach and his housekeeper was vacuming!

[bernhard]

ok i have a digital piano and i was playing with the volume and blah and was thinking, would practicing with no volume be at any benefit to me? or would it just stuff you up completely? tell me if there is any purpose to this thought of mine or whether i should just continue to ignore it!

Yes, it will benefit you. Why? And how?

Have a look at these threads where this issue has been discussed:


https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=perf;action=display;num=1077569098
(Virgil Clavier, why and how to practise silently)

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=perf;action=display;num=1076626761
(Virgil clavier for silent practice)

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=perf;action=display;num=1074210536
(Bar-Illan interview – silent and very slow practice on a real piano)

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[janice]

YES, it is VERY beneficial!!  A few years ago, my church felt the need to get rid of a perfectly nice baby grand piano and get a digital keyboard (gag me).  Everybody who plays it doesnt like it, but digital keyboards are "the thing" among churches like mine.  I guess that I am old fashioned and like traditional music, although I do enjoy the contemporary stuff.  The songs that were sung this morning were really neat, and a kid played the electric guitar.

Anyway, back to your question, it is very beneficial.  When I do a solo at church I usually practice it on that keyboard during the week before.  I need to see how it feels and sounds, and then I make adjustments in it so it sounds good on Sunday.  I often practice in silence.  It helps me tremendously because I often don't realize that I am doing a certain thing wrong, because I "hear" it how I want it to sound.  So I am being deceived by the sound of my piano at home.  Is this making any sense at all?  Another thing that I do is make a recording of it, and take it home and listen to it.  Sometimes I take it to my lesson and my teacher and I go over it together.  Silent practice on a keyboard enables you to separate "how you TRULY sound" and "how you THINK you sound".  At least it does for me.

[donjuan]

I dont believe it is beneficial technically, because everything you do on the piano depends on the sound you hear.  If a note is too aggressive, you will change your touch, lowering your wrist, etc..  

However, it may have advantages in theory and maybe (here is a little theory of mine, never actually tried it) sightreading, because you would keep your eyes on the page and learn to keep moving ahead in the music (Bernhard, tell me if I have something or am just full of crap), and you would not be stopped by the hearing of wrong notes, the signal to poor sightreaders (like me) to go back and do something different.
Since I havent tried this idea of mine, Im going to go try it right after I get off the computer, see if I have something..  
donjuan

[Tash]

oh cool thanks all of you, i may go try it out now and see how it goes!