What we do before/while playing the piano

[chloebeethoven]

Hi,
I just saw Rubinstein's quote that he makes sure the lid is open before playing,
and I was wondering what kinds of things we the pianists/learners do before/while playing.
Please write as many as you can!

for me,

1. wash my hands (before)
2. smile (while)

Let's keep this going!

[pianisten1989]

Hi,
I just saw Rubinstein's quote that he makes sure the lid is open before playing,

I've seen the exact same quoute, but by Schnabel... Hmmm...

Anyway..

3. Fix the chair and just touch, and fix everything so I wont be disturbed while playing. (Before)
4. Curse at myself for playing the wrong notes, and being very very sarcastic.
5. I tend to throw either my metronome or the score in the wall if I play badly.
6. I sing. A lot!

[cdales]

What an interesting question--I can't resist!

1. Put on something comfortable-a bathrobe is ideal, but sweats are good too 
2. Wipe off the keyboard with a barely damp handi-wipe and wash my hands-always!
3. Find something to drink--coffee if it's morning, diet soda if later. and place within reach of, but not on, piano.
4. For a long stint, jot down a few things to try to accomplish (secure the cadenza in the Barber, master the jumps in the middle of the first movement, that kind of thing). Otherwise, when I run into trouble, as I inevitably do, I'll switch to something else to avoid the discomfort of dealing with an obstacle 
5. Grab a small squirt of lotion from the bottle I keep within reach of the piano and rub thoughtfully into my hands.
6. If I'm really serious, I'll also have turned off the grandfather clock chime ...

Now, no more excuses!

[steveb48]

Curse alot......no I mean ALOT

[nanabush]

I do checklists too:
-fix my fingering in this passage
-memory work from measures x to y
-metronome marking for a certain technique
-etc.

Coffee nearly always.  My parents are pretty much always making a pot of coffee when they are home, so I'll usually grab a giant mug of it, put in my nesquick (it's amazing in coffee) and then I'll really enjoy practicing.

Sweep the floor under the bench/pedals - my dogs love to lay down near the piano when I play, and sometimes they will lie right under the bench or on the pedals.  There are tumble weeds bouncing around my sun room eventually because of all the dog hair (yellow and black lab).  I'll usually have to sweep or dust buster, whatever is on hand, or else my feet will be resting on a pile of dog hair haha

These are only when I'm practicing at home... I'm not a weirdo who carries a broom around wherever I'm going to practice at school

On campus...

I'll make sure the door is closed to the room (slamming them doesn't do them justice, you have to push these doors closed with some weight).

Open the lid

Have all my music in a pile right near me (not in my school bag; I hate having to get up and search for stuff once I'm already settled in).

yadda yadda, etc, more small things I do too, but those are the main ones 

[liordavid]

1. sit down on the piano bench
2. lift my hands
3. lower hands down to key level
4. touch key with finger
5. use muscles to strike key
6. repeat steps 3-6

[latrobe]

Hi,
I just saw Rubinstein's quote that he makes sure the lid is open before playing,
and I was wondering what kinds of things we the pianists/learners do before/while playing.

Hi!

I think that Daniel Barenboim's book "Everything is Connected The Power of Music" is worth a read. He examines he experience of music in the understanding of the passage of time. It is born out of silence. So one has to consider whether to break that silence or to magically evoke it out of the silence, perhaps out of some music that exists but which one has not heard before one's performance merges into that music which pre-existed one's playing. . . .

So before playing one might imagine the music that one cannot hear but which exists!

Best wishes

David Pinnegar

Here's a snippet of what he says - it's a fantastic tutorial and the book is really worth buying and reading in entirety. Please forgive typos:

Sound is not independant - it does not exist by itself, but has a permanent, constant and unavoidable relationship to silence. In this context the first note is not the beginning - it comes out of the silence that precedes it. If sound stands in relation to silence, what kind of relationship is it? Does silence dominate silence, or does silence dominate sound? After careful examination we notice that the relationship between sound and silence is the equivalent of the relationship between a physical object and the force of gravity. An object that isd lifted up demands a certain energy to keep it at the height to which it has been raised - unlesss one preovides additional energy the object will fall to the ground. In much the same way unless a sound is sustained it is driven to silence. The musician who produces a sound literally brings it into the physical world. Unless he provides added energy the sound will die. This is the lifespan of a single note - it is finite. The disappearance of sound by its transformation into silence is the definition of its being limited in time.

Some instruments including the piano produice saounds that we refer to as having a real life duration; after the sound is produced, it immediately begins to decay. With others such as stringed instruments there are ways to sustain trhe sound longer than a percussion instrument, by changing the direction of the bowand makoing the chasnge smooth enough so that it becomes inaudible. Sustaining the sound is in any case an act of defiance against the pull of silence, which attempts to limit the length of the sound.

Let us examine the different possibilities presented by the beginning of sound. If there is total silence before the beginning, we start a piece of music that either interrupts the silence or evolves out of it. The sound tht interrupts the silence representrs an alteration of an existing situation, whereas trhe sound evovling out of the silence is a gradual alteration of the existing situation. In philosdophiucal language, this is the difference between being and becoming. The opewning of Beethoven's Pathetique is an obvoius case of the interruption of silence. The very definite chord interrupts the silence and rthe jsic begins. The prelude to Trtistan and Iolde is an obvious example of the sound evolving out of silience.

The music does not begin wit hte move from inital A to F, but from the silence to the A. Or in Beethoven's sonata op 109, one has the feeling that the music began earlier - it is as if one steps on to a train that is by now in motion. The music must already exist in the mind of the pianist, so that when he plays, he creates an impression that he joins what has been in existence, albeit not in the physical world. In the Pethetique the accent on the first note makes a very definite break with silence. In Op 109 it is imperative not to start with an accent on the first note, becuase the accent by definition would interrupt the silence.

The last sound is not the end of the music. If the first note is related to the silence that precedes it, then the last note must be related to the silkence that follows it.

[shadowzerg]

Nice topic choice!

1. I usually grab a wipe and clean my keys.
2. I sit down.
3. I play through whatever pieces I plan to perform in the near future.
4. I plan out my practice session.
5. I find my errors in playing, if any, and fix them.
6. I die to my music