Do you have a piano diary?

[makivka]

If you do, please comment below regarding what information you write down. 
I am thinking of starting a piano diary myself, which would show me my progress over time.

[ted]

The only time I have done that was to help eliminate an involuntary, cramping movement in a finger some years ago. I kept a diary of what worked and what didn't. I do not keep one now, but if I get a good idea, technical or musical, while playing at night, I write it on a piece of paper, else I am likely to have forgotten it by morning.  

[pazzi]

Sometimes I write the piece that I have been studying on my diary, but it's not really a "piano diary"

[piulento]

I used to have blog where I'd write about pieces that I played. I'd usually write about the piece itself (time of composition, form, a bit of harmonic analysis, etc.), good performances of it, different aspects of working on it, difficulties I'm having, parts I get along well with, and practice methods I think I should work on in order to progress with it (e.g - which scales to work on, important exercises, parts of the piece I should play slowly with no pedal...)
I actually found it a while back and it was pretty nice to see the different goals I used to set for myself and how I worked to reach them.

[bronnestam]

https://pianovning.wordpress.com/

Today I decided to make my piano blog public. I have had it up for a few weeks but I needed to make some polishing before I officially launched it.

I made this because I think it is nice and inspiring to read the piano diaries from other pianists of all levels. Being an amateur player can sometimes be rather lonesome so I think it is encouraging to see what my "colleagues" do out there.
I have divided the blog into a few categories, but the category labelled "Practice Journal" is exactly what it sounds like. I have been doing such a journal for years, although not all the time of course. So I thought I could just as well put it online, maybe someone would find it useful?

But this is my first blog experience in English so it is quite thrilling. As I am tired of sloppy Internet postings-on-the-go I frequently go back and revise and re-revise my postings ... because I am also a novelist, this is how I work. Being a novelist also means I love to use many words.

So if you prefer short tweets and Instagram photos of luxurious meals and beach parties, stay away. Otherwise, feel welcome to check it out.

[tinyhands]

I keep one, it started because I found in a one hour lesson with my teacher, we covered details that I would forget if I didn't write them down when I got home, but it's also for my own thoughts and feelings about my learning and the piano itself. I write down my thoughts like nervousness or insecurities in my playing or when I'm pleased with my strengths or achievements. I've kept it for over 2 years and sometimes I like to go back to read an old entry to see how I have progressed. like if I was starting a new piece ie - 'it's so hard i'll never get it' to then a few weeks later and how it has all fallen into place.

 I also have a list at the beginning of my diary of pieces I am working on and dates I started, which I like as it shows me at a glance in a year how many pieces I tackled and how long they took to polish to a good standard.

As an adult learner I feel it gives me structure and a goal as I'm not working towards exams per se.

I would definitely recommend doing it.

[pianistavt]

The topic of keeping a piano diary is rather timeless, hence I'm replying even though it's an old post.  My investment in piano practice went up a few notches in 2023, and I found that the number of pieces I was working on grew quite a bit, with different levels of focus - some I were reading/getting familiar with, others were officially on the practice list, but low in priority, where others were high in priority and some were in between.  Also some pieces were placed on hold and others were officially finished.  I also needed a way to track pieces I want to work on in the future, and ones I have recorded or performed.  So I started organizing all this in excel.  It works well - the columns are sort order, priority (high, med, low, future, hold, finished), composer, piece, start date, notes. 

But this isn't a piano diary - it's a repertoire organizer.  I also keep a log of what I practice each day, how I practiced it, perhaps a metronome setting, and any observations for the next practice session.  My practices can cover 10 different pieces in a week, so this is helpful.