Steroids

[Kapellmeister27]

just a passing thought.  do you think steroids could make one be able to play faster or louder?

Personally i don't since piano playing is mostly mental and even a 12-year-old girl can sometimes play faster than a grown man.  plus steroids affect your mood so your musicality would suffer.

anyway though, it's just a thought.  does anyone have any other comments?

[donjuan]

yeah, we know music is all about playing as fast and loud as possible.. 

[SteinwayTony]

just a passing thought.  do you think steroids could make one be able to play faster or louder?

Personally i don't since piano playing is mostly mental and even a 12-year-old girl can sometimes play faster than a grown man.  plus steroids affect your mood so your musicality would suffer.

anyway though, it's just a thought.  does anyone have any other comments?

I wouldn't even think about it.  Even if my musicality was not affected, under no circumstances would I resort to an "artifical solution."  Anyone who does, whether it is for piano or baseball or figure skating, is despicable.

[xvimbi]

Anyone who does, whether it is for piano or baseball or figure skating, is despicable.

That's right! For expressive play, I use ethanol in various tinctures. For faster play, I can recommend Camellia sinensis extract, but since that's also a diuretic, the performance better be not too long. Lastly, for louder playing, I recommend a healthy dose of Spinacia oleracea every now and than. It's been proven to give huge forearms, and I have never been caught in any drug testing during piano competitions.

[abe]

Haha, funny you should mention steroids because I'm taking them right now. Well...not anabolic steriods, but the medicinal corticosteroids, to help fight my poison oak infection I'm currently suffering from (see my lovely description in the ABP thread). So to answer your question, after taking 4 pills yestreday and 4 earlier today, i dont think it's made much of a difference. However, i haven't been playing at well these past couple days, probably due to the poison oak rash, not steriods. On the other hand, I was able to play the Revolutionary pretty dang fast today   

[Brian Healey]

Steroids make your junk shrink. That's all it takes to keep me off the juice.


Peace,
Bri

[dinosaurtales]

Well this post reminds me of a story my teacher told me (it's funny NOW, but I am sure it wasn't at the time).  In her younger days, in competitions, she was talkig to someone about being nervous all the time, so the "guy" (whoever it was) suggested some sort of tranquilizer to calm down.  So she tried one.  Worked like a champ. She played away, and felt GREAT about her playing.  After the performance her teacher came backstage madder than a hornet ( I assume hornets must get mad), and asked her what the hell she was doing - her playing was AWFUL!  Well, she fessed up and he was just furious.  Looks like the stuff doesn't work as well as we' d like, eh?

[galonia]

Haha, funny you should mention steroids because I'm taking them right now. Well...not anabolic steriods, but the medicinal corticosteroids, to help fight my poison oak infection I'm currently suffering from (see my lovely description in the ABP thread). So to answer your question, after taking 4 pills yestreday and 4 earlier today, i dont think it's made much of a difference. However, i haven't been playing at well these past couple days, probably due to the poison oak rash, not steriods. On the other hand, I was able to play the Revolutionary pretty dang fast today

I agree - this stuff is great for treating inflammations (I regularly have inflamed airways which make it hard to breathe) but I don't think they make any difference to my playing.

[Troldhaugen]

Steroids might have transiently favorable effects on athletes (at the expense of their health), but I don't think simply increasing muscle mass will not make you a better pianist unless your goal is to break the piano apart. Those performance-enhancing drugs do more harm than good. Stay away from them at all costs!   

[puma]

Copoius amounts of steroids?

It would be funny if judges starting testing piano players for performance-enhancing drugs.  My opinion on the whole matter is that a drug alone will not help you, but it could help you (if you are nervous, maybe a tranquilizer will help).  But maybe it won't help.  Drugs can only be applied as finishing touches on an otherwise well-grounded repertoire.

[johnnypiano]

The use of steroids most of my life has enabled me to move grand-pianos up and down two or three flights of stairs.  Students who are fussy about what instrument they play on, and are too spindly to move, pay me to do this.  It is quite a good living.  Also, they usually applaud me for that they think are my Herculean efforts while I cheer on their Fur Elises and Moonlight Sonatas, which feats would be beyond me if I lived to be a hundred.   


 

[buddy]

steriods can give you energy but it is usually uncontrolled energy.  Eugenia Zukerman was an international flutist who had to quit because of prednisone.  She wrote a book, "Coping with Prednisone".  I have, up until very recently been on high dose prednisone and I guarantee you it interferes with your playing.  There have been times when I have had to draw lines between right and left hands on the music, lining them up as my eyes couldn't focus well enough.  It's terrible and frustrating.  Sometimes I try so hard to practice and nothing works.  I hate it.