Do you ever get self conscious when practicing?

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Last Tuesday, someone told me that I always play really loud.  I became really self conscious.  Whenever I practice Bach, or a slow Beethoven movement, I always floor the left pedal, and I try to be soft.  But when I heard that, I got kinda self conscious, and I've noticed that I refrained from playing loud pieces.

Then Friday before I began practicing, someone told me that all I do is play the same thing and I should try something different.  Not only was I kinda offended, I got SOOOOO self conscious!!!  Aren't you supposed to practice until perfection?!  I don't mean like note perfect perfection (with the exception of baroque and classical era music), but up to the point where you can play it in front of a Jury, or in a competition.  And I've noticed that I changed my practice routine.  I felt so salty!!!   

So does this ever happen to you?

[thalbergmad]

I am always self concious when practising.

If I am not, I am wasting my time.

Thal

[pts1]

I am always self concious when practising.

If I am not, I am wasting my time.

Ha! Good one!

[ajspiano]

So does this ever happen to you?

The comments happen from time to time, the being concerned about them not so much. Consider the speakers level of knowledge before you take on board their advice or give a damn what they think about you.

[j_menz]

Take your foot OFF that pedal!!! 

The only time you should give two figs what anyone says or thinks is when you respect their opinion.

[ajspiano]

The only time you should give two figs what anyone says or thinks is when you respect their opinion.

Even then it may be debatable.. best to simply use your own brain a lot of the time..

I remember when I was quite young some things that "respectable" adults told me to do in relation to many different situations that were flat out wrong.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Take your foot OFF that pedal!!! 

The only time you should give two figs what anyone says or thinks is when you respect their opinion.

Why do people want me to take my foot off the left pedal?  Is it against some unwritten rule or something?  Are you guys hiding something from me?! 

I was using the left pedal in lessons today and my teacher said that using the left pedal is cheating.

Do people really care about this?!  It shouldn't matter how you play it as long as it sounds good right? 

[j_menz]

Why do people want me to take my foot off the left pedal?  Is it against some unwritten rule or something?  Are you guys hiding something from me?! 

I was using the left pedal in lessons today and my teacher said that using the left pedal is cheating.

Do people really care about this?!  It shouldn't matter how you play it as long as it sounds good right? 

Of course we're hiding something from you! 

Actually, it depends a little on what "left pedal" you're talking about.  If it's on a grand, it's probably an "una corda" pedal, which not only alters the volume of the notes but also (and possibly more importantly) alters the quality of the note.  Beethoven was quite fond of it, though the pedal in his day was actually even more capable than on modern pianos (could do 1, 2 or 3 strings).  His Fourth Piano concerto is actually not possible to play as directed on a modern grand, though one of his instructions "with more and more strings" was probably a little overstated even then.  It's use is, in any case, usually marked, and you won't do justice to lots of passages if you just keep it floored. Not as noticable, but just as bad as flooring the right pedal.

On an upright, the left pedal is only a basic "soft" pedal, and moves the hammers closer to the strings. In this sense, it's actually pretty useless except in covering bad habits (a lack of dynamic control).  Uprights tend to have a smaller dynamic range than grands, with soft notes being harder to produce, so perhaps the pedal could be said to be an attempt to make up for the inadequacy of the piano rather than the pianist.

Either way, it's use should be sparing.

[tril]

Last Tuesday, someone told me that I always play really loud.  I became really self conscious.  Whenever I practice Bach, or a slow Beethoven movement, I always floor the left pedal, and I try to be soft.  But when I heard that, I got kinda self conscious, and I've noticed that I refrained from playing loud pieces.


So does this ever happen to you?

yes, a couple of weeks ago, I finished a Mozart Sonata and was like feeling awesome. Then I heard it play on youtube by a 15 year old kid who played like twice the speed  . OINK feel so sh*t

[p2u_]

yes, a couple of weeks ago, I finished a Mozart Sonata and was like feeling awesome. Then I heard it play on youtube by a 15 year old kid who played like twice the speed  . OINK feel so sh*t

Maybe your feelings were not warranted? Speed does not necessarily make or break Mozart, you know. Did she play just as expressive as you did? Did she have the same or better sound quality as you did? Did she play with taste in Mozart style, or did it sound like Czerny/Hanon?
P.S.: This is actually off-topic. Just something to think about. No need to reply.

Paul

[werq34ac]

So on occasion, I like to experiment in the practice room. I make fantastic gestures worthy of Lang Lang and sway like crazy just to see if it does anything (btw they don't. All gestures made whilst playing the piano should be for the music and not with the music). Anyway, mid-raising my hand to the heavens, a girl (that I know) walks in... awkward...

[robson]

I am always self concious when practising.

well, I am usually unconscious when playing...

[49410enrique]

i have a HUGE problem and hard time practiciging if i know people are listening or can 'hear me' i.e.  if i am at home i must be alone, no one can be visiting or inside, if i have to practice at such time i use my digital w headphones door closed. solitude is my refuge.

if i'm at school i can do it if i am focused on the task at hand and am not aware if someone is actively listening specifically to me. if by some reason they make a noise or i see them listening istart messing up worse, or i just stop until they go away. 

[virtuoso80]

    Do you ever get self conscious when practicing? OH YEAH. To the extent that I can't really practice well if someone else can hear me. If someone else can hear me, then I feel like I need to put on some kind of performance for them. It's only when I have at least the perception of an empty space that I can really relax and allow myself to go into practice mode.

This has troubled me forever, even living at home, I had to wait until my family went out in order to practice. I could play while they were home, but I couldn't allow myself to really dig in and repeat sections over and over, or let things sound un-enjoyable, always feeling at at any moment I was going to hear my mother say, "Ugh, that sounds terrible! What is that!?"

[nanabush]

Once.  I was 'sight reading' the Grand Polonaise Brillante by Chopin (as in, I was just dabbling with a few spots, kinda butchering it, but it was just for fun)... this was at my University.  Then I'm about 99% sure that Jan Lisiecki was right outside my practice room, and he definitely would have heard me haha (I think he played this piece when he was like 12-13 in a piano competition)... I think it was at the time of the Ottawa Chamberfest, so he would have been in the area... I wanted to curl in a ball lol.