3 weeks of vacation without a piano !

[drooxy]

Hi everyone,

Next month, I'll be travelling for vacation and cannot bring my piano with me.

As I will probably have some free time (that is what vacation is made for !), I would like to keep on improving my musical skills !

I have started two books about harmony and I would like to finish reading them, I would also like to improve my reading skill, and I wonder if there are other things that I could do... For instance is there finger/hand/arm exercises that can be done far from a piano ?

If you guys have ideas about that, let me know !

Thanks,
Drooxy

[Motrax]

Well, depending on where you are staying, there could be a piano shop nearby. And then you could practice on nice pianos if they have them!

[dj]

do you have a keyboard? because that would certainly be more portable and you could at least practise sight-reading on it.

[donjuan]

Well, depending on where you are staying, there could be a piano shop nearby. And then you could practice on nice pianos if they have them!

those shifty eyed salespeople wont let you play their pianos purely for practice and put them out of tune!  Before you know it, they would have suckered you into buying a piano.
donjuan

[Its_about_nothing]

Someone please give a useful advice! I'm in the same situation.

[RappinPhil]

Oh no! THREE WEEKS without paino!

For the love of god people, there's more to life then hitting some keys. Get out there and enjoy life.

[Its_about_nothing]

Well, I'm not desperate. I just want to be able to keep improving somehow. And there's more to life, but I can't take that with me either.  

[johnjwong]

my hands gets rusty and slow after 3 weeks.. last time i went on vacation and when i come back after 3 weeks, i totally forgotten a few piece that is just 3 pages long... I totaly can not play that piece anymore after 3 weeks and i have to re learn it....

[donjuan]

once, I took a 3 week break, and when I came back, I had difficulty remembering which key was C. SERIOUSLY

[DarkWind]

And when you found C you proceeded to play Mary Had a Little Lamb? Anyways, as I have said to others, try composing. It's fun.

[donjuan]

And when you found C you proceeded to play Mary Had a Little Lamb? Anyways, as I have said to others, try composing. It's fun.

I dont know....i dont think my theory is good enough for composing.  I need a piano to guess and check..yeh,,i know..

[DarkWind]

It's better without knowing what it sounds like. Makes you more anxious to get back and play it. If not, you can always try percussionism. You can never go wrong with that.   Melody doesn't matter that much. Rythm doesn't need a piano.

[donjuan]

ok, it sounds interesting...maybe I will go on holidays with my family after all..

[drooxy]

I see... I might consider to cancel my vacation... !

[in_love_with_liszt]

Despite disbelif by many, there ARE excercizes you can do away from the piano, not just on vacation, but every day. That is the first thing I had a new young student do before we even sat down at a piano and looked at music or learned C.

Ok, first one: Hold your arm out to your side, bent at the elbow and the palm of your right hand face down. relax your hand and straighten your fingers so that there is still a slight curl to them. Now, take your other hand and start with the index or second finger. The idea is to place the index finger of your left hand on the top of the last joint in the right hand finger, and your left thumb under the tip of the right hand's index, and gently try to pry it "open" (up). Then you have to flex to try to keep the tip, and only the tip of the finger from being pryed open. The rest of your finger and arm should remain straight, only trying to flex the tip. Do this with all the fingers, the thumb is exempt.

You must realize that this must be done carefully, and gently or you could potentially harm yourself. Second, this excercize, and others like it that are done away from the keyboard merely promote technique, and will not help your brain remember your songs when you finally do touch a piano again. However, some time off from piano is a good thing to allow your muscles and ligaments and tendons to relax and heal, but too much time can certainly make you rusty. If you are confused by my instructions, or if you even want more away-from-the-keyboard exercizes, feel free to email me, I hope this helped.

[donjuan]

Despite disbelif by many, there ARE excercizes you can do away from the piano, not just on vacation, but every day. That is the first thing I had a new young student do before we even sat down at a piano and looked at music or learned C.

Ok, first one: Hold your arm out to your side, bent at the elbow and the palm of your right hand face down. relax your hand and straighten your fingers so that there is still a slight curl to them. Now, take your other hand and start with the index or second finger. The idea is to place the index finger of your left hand on the top of the last joint in the right hand finger, and your left thumb under the tip of the right hand's index, and gently try to pry it "open" (up). Then you have to flex to try to keep the tip, and only the tip of the finger from being pryed open. The rest of your finger and arm should remain straight, only trying to flex the tip. Do this with all the fingers, the thumb is exempt.

You must realize that this must be done carefully, and gently or you could potentially harm yourself. Second, this excercize, and others like it that are done away from the keyboard merely promote technique, and will not help your brain remember your songs when you finally do touch a piano again. However, some time off from piano is a good thing to allow your muscles and ligaments and tendons to relax and heal, but too much time can certainly make you rusty. If you are confused by my instructions, or if you even want more away-from-the-keyboard exercizes, feel free to email me, I hope this helped.

that is an interesting exercise.  Ill try it for a while, expecially on my 2 week vacation coming up...  Can you give another exercise?- maybe one to develop the fourth finger?
thanks

donjuan

[in_love_with_liszt]

Donjuan, I told you already, these are somewhat "secret"  exercizes that have been passed down from teacher to student for some time. If you are able to convince me you have mastered this exercerize, I may be inclined to share more of them. If you want to work your 4th finger, use the exercize I described on your fourth finger. Some people suggest trilling on a table or your legs, but I wouldn't suggest this myself, it's not something I've found to be particularly helpful.

[donjuan]

alright, I understand
I'll keep working at it.
Thanks,
donjuan

[Nana_Ama]

Bring a keyboard... and if you can't do that then.... Bring the music with you and study it.  Break it down into sections and find patterns...etc

Good Luck
-Nana

P.S- I'll be away from my piano for two weeks and that's what I plan to do.  I might even try composing.  

[donjuan]

P.S- I'll be away from my piano for two weeks and that's what I plan to do.  I might even try composing.  

I would love to do that, but I am not too good with solfege, so the melody would be a total guess for me.

[Nana_Ama]

I would love to do that, but I am not too good with solfege, so the melody would be a total guess for me.

LOL niether am I which is why it would be even more interesting to play it.  You never know you might like a section or two  

I just hope my fingers don't get weaker when I come back