I am thinking about going on Vacation

[donjuan]

My family is planning a trip to the Oregon coast this summer.  I have to leave my piano for 2 or 3 weeks.  I hate that feeling of returning and having to relearn everything...I am going to try Darkwind's advice of composing a bit, and In_Love_With_Liszt's finger exercises, but I still cant quite feel right leaving my best friend the piano for so long.  I have to overcome this someday- I will have to leave and travel one day, and I will not always have my piano.  How can I change my view of the piano so I can sit down and play, rather than try to remember something I havent practiced for a while?  Is it possible?
donjuan

[f0bul0us]

It's possible, some people even find that after a long break they play better. If you feel that you're re-learning everything, there's a big problem with how you practiced the weeks/months prior to leaving. I don't think it's so bad that you'll have to re-learn parts of what you're playing, but it's obvious that if you do the memorization is mainly within the fingers and not the brain. Try this before leaving, if you can begin a piece with one hand (left or right) then remove your left hand  (while continuing on with  the right hand) for a few bars, then re-add the left hand and remove the right hand. Try to keep doing it, if you can get through the piece without significant blocks in memory you know you won't have to re-learn that piece.

Good luck!

[donjuan]

hmmm sounds interesting.. I have never looked at it that way.

[in_love_with_liszt]

but it's obvious that if you do the memorization is mainly within the fingers and not the brain.

wait wait wait....let's go back to Anatomy 101....
Remembering things requires: memorization, or storing things to memory. And your memory is located in your....fingers? I think not. You fail the course .

Donjuan, I personally wouldn't feel comfortable spending more than a few days without an actual piano, true, because I'm concerned about keeping in technical shape and keeping up on my repetoire, but also because I compose and feel so depressed when I can't sit down and work on my piano concertos. Although this being said, being away from a piano for 2-3 weeks won't be the death of your piano career. You may have to work a little harder when you come back, but then again Brahms diddn't touch a piano for several years and when he came back to the piano he wrote the incredible solo piano versions of the Hungarian Dances. I won't lie that I wouldn't be worried if I were in your position, but remember that this is coming from me, the one paranoid night and day about technique. You seem like a hard worker though, so I'm sure any rest and relaxation you are in store for you completely deserve.

[in_love_with_liszt]

Oops, sorry SFHM, I diddn't understand what you were saying at first....in actuality you pass the course with flying colors!

[willcowskitz]

According to a story, Rachmaninoff learnt a piano concerto (don't recall which one) during a train trip, he had some kind of a board imitating (in shape and looks?) a keyboard with him. You might want to get yourself one.  

[in_love_with_liszt]

Actually Rachmaninoff practiced his 3rd concerto on the shipride from Europe to his debut in America on a silent keyboard...basically the keyboard of a piano simulating the touch, but without actually making any noise. I don't think they make these anymore though...

[donjuan]

i wanted to take my keyboard- I have a Roland FP3- , but there just isnt enough room in the car.  (we are driving down to Oregon)

[BajoranD]

A thought (take it or leave it, as you wish):

Instead of thinking about the vacation as exile from your piano, why not try thinking of it as an opportunity to gain life experience and inspiration to bring to your music-making when you get back? The Oregon coast is beautiful, breath-taking, awe-inspiring, and in three weeks you might be able to stock up on several years' worth of mental images for your playing. The bottom line is: when you're 55 years old, will you remember what you practiced for those three weeks, or will you remember the vacation with your family, and the beautiful sights you saw? There's no right answer to that, but how you answer it probably determines what you should do.

[willcowskitz]

I remember Rachmaninoff sitting in train when practicing so I guess he must have been doing this off-piano playing on more occasions, I also don't think that particular concerto was one of his owns.

[donjuan]

A thought (take it or leave it, as you wish):

Instead of thinking about the vacation as exile from your piano, why not try thinking of it as an opportunity to gain life experience and inspiration to bring to your music-making when you get back? The Oregon coast is beautiful, breath-taking, awe-inspiring, and in three weeks you might be able to stock up on several years' worth of mental images for your playing. The bottom line is: when you're 55 years old, will you remember what you practiced for those three weeks, or will you remember the vacation with your family, and the beautiful sights you saw? There's no right answer to that, but how you answer it probably determines what you should do.

My family just extended the trip actually, and we are going down to the Redwoods.  We tentatively plan to leave on aug.4.
One part of me want to see the sights, another part of me hates the long car rides, and the vast majority of me just doesnt want to leave the piano.
ah shit, there is just no easy way out of this, is there?  I guess I should go- trips like these wont be free for me for too much longer..
donjuan

[bernhard]

Mental practice.

Have a look here:

Practice
https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1078506136
(mental practice)

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1072079622
(Glenn Gould on mental practice thread)



Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[donjuan]

Mental practice.

Have a look here:

Practice
https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1078506136
(mental practice)

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1072079622
(Glenn Gould on mental practice thread)



Best wishes,
Bernhard.

I read those threads, Bernhard....sounds really tiring and difficult to learn to do.  I should probably learn Yoga or Meditation first.

[Antnee]

I just came back from the bahamas... and I missed the piano dearly... I just got home an our or two ago. I was away from the piano for seven days. When I touched the piano today... I noticed some things...

-The piano seemed louder and more crisp sounding than before.
-My touch was better. I could shift between dynamics better.
- All difficult passages that had been learned with those various tricks, still work exactly as before and are still pretty smooth although they are a little sloppy.
-My fingers need to re-adapt. They are a little less accurate while playing, and I tend to feel a little careless and sloppy, but that will go away.

A tip... Make sure you don't try to memorize anything before you leave...You'll just forget it. What I did was paractice all of my pieces in the ways I nomally do, right before bed on the night before. That way your brain takes on the PPI.

-Tony-

[donjuan]

I just came back from the bahamas... and I missed the piano dearly... I just got home an our or two ago. I was away from the piano for seven days. When I touched the piano today... I noticed some things...

-The piano seemed louder and more crisp sounding than before.
-My touch was better. I could shift between dynamics better.
- All difficult passages that had been learned with those various tricks, still work exactly as before and are still pretty smooth although they are a little sloppy.
-My fingers need to re-adapt. They are a little less accurate while playing, and I tend to feel a little careless and sloppy, but that will go away.

A tip... Make sure you don't try to memorize anything before you leave...You'll just forget it. What I did was paractice all of my pieces in the ways I nomally do, right before bed on the night before. That way your brain takes on the PPI.

-Tony-

ohhh a seven day vacation would be perfect, but I am gone for 16.  I am actually tempted to order one of those roll up keyboards xvimbi mentioned in another thread:

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=inst;action=display;num=1090140046

I would, but I am afraid it would just be a waste of money...
donjuan

[Tash]

yeah it is painful leaving your piano, but it can be kinda beneficial in a way. because you're so musically deprived, when you get back it will seem so much better. i don't think 16 days will have a hugely bad effect on your playing- sometimes i'll take a week off practice if my pieces need some space and they end up being significantly better after the break.

also what bajoran said, you could find some very inspiring things that will also be of a benefit to your playing. Like just listen to music, read some books to do with music, and get some new ideas about what you want to achieve in your practice when you get back, and so then it'll be all the better when you get back! I'm sure you'll be able to remember how to play your pieces- i think it takes about a month to properly start forgetting. But i get the impression that you're pretty good, so don't worry about not being able to remember

[Antnee]

one thing I did on my trip was Listen to recordings  of my pieces... Always a good thing to do, because your piece can someimes become distorted in your mind...

Also I tried memorizing away from the piano... Not too difficult but not too easy either. It's good for your music comprehension skills.

One more thing to do to keep your fingers relatively warm is to try a few exersises. Lift each finger as high as you can to get them more independant. Then try two at once like this...

Lift 1&2, 2&3, 3&4..etc...
Then lift 1&3, 2&4, 3&5.
            Try various things like that...
Then try tapping each finger while holding the others down as fast as you can.. Or do trills... Try things like this to keep your fingers in shape... There isn't much else to do...  :-/

-Tony-

[donjuan]

Thanks tash and tony for your warm encouragement.  I feel better now about leaving the piano for a while!
donjuan

[bizgirl]

I brought my keyboard (which I really don't like to practice with) on vacation and when I came back my playing was horrible.  It's amazing how, with only 1-2 hours a day of practicing while I was gone, I adapted to the light touch of my keyboard (Yamaha DGX500).  When I played for the first time on my piano at home it was definitely not how I had played before I left.  I was messing up and notes just didn't sound when I played the fast scale passages of my pieces.  Oh, the things we have to sacrafice by taking a break...

[donjuan]

I brought my keyboard (which I really don't like to practice with) on vacation and when I came back my playing was horrible.  It's amazing how, with only 1-2 hours a day of practicing while I was gone, I adapted to the light touch of my keyboard (Yamaha DGX500).  When I played for the first time on my piano at home it was definitely not how I had played before I left.  I was messing up and notes just didn't sound when I played the fast scale passages of my pieces.  Oh, the things we have to sacrafice by taking a break...

How long were you gone?

[bernhard]

I read those threads, Bernhard....sounds really tiring and difficult to learn to do.  I should probably learn Yoga or Meditation first.

The easiest in not always the noblest.