Rather an odd question

[MarkAllison]

Hi,

I think I'm getting addicted to the piano. I find myself wanting to play at lunchtimes at work. Is this unusual? I'm not a professional pianist, just an IT worker that needs to practice.

I work in London, UK in the old City and wanted to know if anyone has found it possible to practice on someone else's piano during the day. I wondered if it would be possible somehow (I don't know how at the moment) to find a piano somewhere near my work to practice on. How would you go about this? I don't know anyone in London that owns a piano near my work. I live 60 miles from my workplace.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Mark.

[xvimbi]

I hear you! Where I work, I have a Yamaha Baby Grand and a Steinway D to play on practically whenever I want (but I don't have much time). What about putting a digital piano at your workplace?

[bernhard]

Here are some options:

1.   The roll-up piano!

https://www.hecsaninc.com/

2.   Make friends with a piano owner near your work place. (put an ad on the lonely hearts section of a newspaper ).

3.   Find a piano shop near your work place.

4.   Schools usually have pianos. Enquire from a school near your workplace if they would let you use their piano at some point during the day. You may offer to make a contribution towards it (schools are often strapped for funds, so they may welcome your idea).

5.   Churchs and community centres also have pianos. Any of these near your job? As with schools, you could offer to make a contribution towards your use of it.

6.   Convince your boss to buy a piano for the use of the workers (that is you, of course). Do some research that proves how this would improve productivity and you are home free.

7.   Change jobs.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[RJones]

Actually that really isn't a very Odd question at all. I've also been looking for a practice piano near work but so far haven't been very successful. I have a Petrof dealer two doors down from my office where I take lessons but they want $10 CDN per hour for practice time which becomes a little steep if I go every day. (~$2600 per year) I've decided that it is more economical to purchase a digital for my office. I'm just waiting until after Christmas to see what goes on sale.

Rodney

[mound]

I'm lucky I guess, I live close by, I often go home for lunch..

But consider this possibility, along the lines of much of what Bernhard has said elsewhere in these forums (I'm surprised he didn't mention this in his above post!) - Use your lunch hour to do "away from the piano" practice..  I just did this at work yesterday actually during a break,  I loaded up a PDF of the score to a Beethoven Sonata I am preparing to learn, and I listened to the recording while reading the score.. I did that a couple times, and then spent 15 minutes working on a bit of harmonic analysis of the piece.

You don't need a piano to practice.

-Paul

[Brian Healey]

You don't need a piano to practice.

Great advice! Some of the best practice you can do is mental practice.

Another option may be to check out your local library. The public library near me has a piano room that anybody can use for free on a "first come, first served" basis. Of course, that may not be a common thing for libraries to have.

[MarkAllison]

Thanks for your replies. I am a freelance consultant and generally move jobs every 3-18 months or so which varies depending on the contract I have. So, installing one in my workplace is not feasible. I like the idea of placing an ad though, and also calling round schools and churches.

Thanks!

Mark.

[davefriends04]

Hey!

you do IT stuff and you wanna play piano?

you might LOVE this: https://www.prodikeys.com/

Click on one of the two keyboards on the right side, there you'll get more information and you can watch a couple sample videos, very great product i think!

[pianowelsh]

If only getting at the keys will do and you have cash to spare there are rehearsal spaces in and around central london some affiliated to piano dealers where you can rent by the hour. Could proove rather expensive but Bosendorfer. Steinway and Bechstein all offer this  - I'm sure many others do too.

Happy playing!

[Bluethroat]

Hi Mark,
I know exactly what you mean in your post.
It's quite simple really. If you can't get near a piano to practise on during the day, work from home.

[MarkAllison]

Hi Mark,
I know exactly what you mean in your post.
It's quite simple really. If you can't get near a piano to practise on during the day, work from home.

LOL! Funny you should say that - I worked from home today and got in about 2.5 hours practice! :-)