What do you put on your piano?

[natasha]

what do u put on ur piano??? if u do???
i have 4 candles, a crystal tree and 2 chinese good luck turtles!!!!!!!!and a crystal elephant:)

[amee]

Hey Natasha!

I don't put anything on my grand piano - I like to keep the lid open when I'm playing, so whatever I put on it just slides right off again.  Although sometimes my cat likes to jump inside and mess around in the keys...

[MzrtMusic]

I have a clock and a metronome on the sides of my grand.... And there is generally a stack of music...

Love,

Sarah

[lea]

i hav a metronome and a couple of ornaments....i like to clean mi piano regurlary

[natasha]

ur cat amee???
hehe
my piano tchr has soo much junk on hers!!!
i dont even want 2 think about tidying it up!!

[chopinetta]

I have picture frames on my upright piano... i have my teeny-weeny digital metronome on it, lots of drawing books where i paste some photocopied pieces, then expect lots of clearbooks, papers, pieces, candles, mugs, figurines, etc. it's really messy actually...

[rachfan]

On the music desk of my Baldwin grand sits an electronic metronome and a high intensity lamp.  That's it!  I keep the lid completely clear.  There are times I like to open it either using the short "singer stick" or the regular stick--and I sometimes put the music stand down too to get the full glory of the sound.  Yes!!!

[Black_Key]

If it were up to me, I wouldn't have anything on the  piano in my house, but my mom likes to have vases and stuff on it, but sometimes I take the vases down and put my books on it - but my mom never sees that  

[chopiszte]

I have a sculpture of a lady with two fancy dogs, a lamp, and a small pendulum metronome.  My music is on the floor and table near the piano, old unused music in the stool, and music I am playing on the stand.

I want to get a sculpture of a composer and put the lady and her dogs some where else, and i'd like to get a daguereotype or portrait of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, or some other famous pianist/composer.

[Jezzica]

I have ... let's see... um....get rid of the rubbish... and an ancient easter egg...

well, I have, my drumsticks, tons of music papers, a couple of Sci-fi books, oh... an over due assignment, and a pot with fake flowers

[natasha]

go jezzica!

[glamfolk]

Stacks of cds, theory notes for students who leave them here more often than is necessary, (and I'm beginning to take it personally) cash and checks from students, sheet music, music books, candy, some screwdrivers for emergency repairs, tuning equipment, a pencil sharpener, spare batteries, a dish towel, and a huge wad of cat hair.  I like to keep the lid open, so all this stuff is balanced on the iron frame inside.  

My piano playing deaf cat passed away suddenly last week, so I'm oging to keep the hair as a memento.

[dinosaurtales]

whew!  You guys are scary!  You're making me glad I bought a new piano and not a used one!  I keep the cover on it when I am not playing it, to keep the cat OUT and OFF it.  I lift the lid when I play, 'cause it just sounds so good that way.  

[Chiyo]

I have music books and a lamp.

[Colette]

i got the piano of my dreams---an ebony steinway b, and it's my baby, so i cover it every night, open it only rarely to keep the dust out, and would kill anybody if they ever put anything on it, not to mention if i got a cat who felt a strong urge to use the legs as scratching posts...a piano should be treated like an instrument, not like a piece of furniture, in my opinion.

[tosca1]

I always cover my piano when not in use with a specially made dralon velvet black cover.  Pianos should never be used as tables and must be loved and treated as people. Sometimes if I am very happy with the sound of my piano I may even give it a little peck kiss and a gentle caress.  Treat it as something you love.
Robert.

[glamfolk]

The difference between a piano and a piece of furniture is, of course, that the piano gets played.  Television is furniture.  My piano is played 4-5 hours a day by students who are thrilled with the possibilities that music affords, and the mess on it is a testament to the use that it gets (ever seen a description of Beethoven's piano?).  Don't fetishize it, make music with it.
Dave  

[dskim]

Dust.  It takes no effort, so I'm not sure if I'm "putting" anything on the piano.


David

[e60m5]

Hmmm... don't got anything on my piano, other than music when I'm playing it. The lid gets opened often - so yes, it wouldn't really work to put stuff on it...  

[Sketchee]

I have lots of pictures of myself ... for my mom's sake..

[DepravedPianist]

I try to keep everything off of my piano, including sheet music. I usually just study a score and then play, whereas I used to sight read it which took my focus away from my ears, and put it to my eyes which is wrong if you ask me. With practice all can learn scores by simply studying them. I do however keep a small bookshelf right next to it, and directly in from of your face as you sit at the piano you will see numerous pictures hanging on the wall in frames; all more or less about an 8x10. Franz Liszt, Glenn Gould (3 pictures), Chopin, and Horowitz.  Plus a large bust of Beethoven that I have mounted in the corner of the room.

DP

PS, goodness it was hot today, so hot in fact that I saw a pigeon walking in the shadow of a fat man.

[xenia]

I agree with glamfolk!

I have on my piano: a lamp(so I can see scores) in the middle.On the left side of lamp I have a little palm, on the right side is beautiful candle-stick(with white candle).I have upright piano.

[Franz_Liszt]

 I have a metronome, and sheet music ( very limited ) - I do most practicing from memory.

[10Fingers]

ahm... my hands?!?  

[Franz_Liszt]

Sometimes I put a lamp on my Piano

[Johnnylightning]

Cool Question!

*A full size model of a human spine (vertically)
*A mini statue of Aphrodite Winged Goddess (Paris/Lourve)
*A framed autographed 5x7 of "BOZO" (from the '60's)

[lc3606]

I'd like to have nothing, but the truth is I have files of music, stacks of music, teaching reference books, pencil sharpener, stapler, 3-ring puncher, metronomes, index file box, lamp of course, pencil cup, note paper, and other odds and ends.  I have just moved an empty bookcase into the room and tonight I'm going to attempt to relocate all those items (except lamp, pencils, metronome, note paper) to the bookcase.  I like the clean look (why is it I don't have it?).

[lc3606]

Last night I relocated everything except the lamp to the new bookcase.  The piano now has nothing on top and has been polished.  I now have a pencil cup, small clock, and notepapers sitting to the side of the piano.  Still can't open the top of my upright though, because the lamp needs to sit there (unless I'm playing from memory).  Does anyone know of a lamp that can sit, or be attached somewhere other than the front few inches of an upright?

[RiskyP]

I always take off my watch and my necklace when I play. I put them on the piano.

[BoliverAllmon]

I have metronome, sheet music, music books, library books, really everything that I own that has to do with music in on or around my piano.

Boliver

[dj]

NOTHING!!!!! geesh would any of u put stuff on your voilin? or how about on a flute? shelves r for storage, the piano is for fingers!

[bachopoven]

beer?

What is a piano for? So that a guitarist can put his beer on.

Just a rediculous joke. But I have a digital piano. I put my sheet music, a pencil for marking, and I usually put some water or coffee by the side of the sheet music.

My dream is to have a baby grand and a cat someday. Then I will have the kind of trouble and fun that someone described with the cat while playing.

[janice]

I have a grand piano, and so much music that I have to keep the lid down.  I no longer have neat little piles of music.  Everything now runs together into one huge heap.  I occasionally try to make neat little piles again, but they don't last long.  Also, when I am practicing at nite, I need to block out light from a family member's reading light, because it is blinding.  I couldn't find anything tall enough to block the light out totally, so I looked and looked.  I found a box of instant non-fat dry milk mix.  This works perfectly!  Whenever someone needs some for cooking, they know where to find it!  My piano tuner gave me a funny look, but oh well, it works for me!  Thanks for this thread, I've been dying to tell this story!

[xenon]

I've got a library of music, my piano lamp, a pad of paper, pencils, a metronome, a trophy, and a clock/calculator (useful for timing and calculating ).

BTW, my piano's a console so it's easy to stack stuff.

[eddie92099]

Trophies  
Ed

[ahmedito]

Ive got a BIG pile of music, an alarm clock, a metronome, a picture of my wife, a picture of my brother (Its a yamaha upright) a box of crayons and some books of pop hits and new age for when Im just to tired and want to improvise a bit...

Please, not the typical POP musica and NEW AGE are crap!
I dont care, I love all styles and Genres of music, even if you have to endure some very bad individual works. If not, I suggest you look through a 19th century catalog of piano works from composers such as Thalberg, Herz and others... Not everything was Chopin, Brahms and Schumman back there either.

[TwinkleFingers]

a stuffed pig named willy

[eddie92099]

Well said Twinklefingers!
Ed

[gingernut]

Hmm

Year round i have some pictures two ornaments a lamp and some piano books

xmas i put some nice white lights around the legs
its nice when im playing at xmas and there on

[Bosendorfer_214]

Metronome, music for the piece that I am practising, and a novel.  I sometimes read while I practise.  It is much easier to really listen to myslef if my mind is distracted.

Other music, tunning hammer and forks, trophies, ribbons and plaques go in the bookcase.

[glamfolk]

Ready to cringe?  A friend called and offered some venison from a deer he had shot, and I was expecting a few packages of frozen meat, but to my surprise he brought a quartered deer to my house.  The only clean spot in the house at the time was (you guessed it!) on top of the old Chickering.  So I butchered a deer on my piano over the weekend.  I've got pictures and I'll post them.

[dj]

Code: [Select]

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Ready to cringe?  A friend called and offered some venison from a deer he had shot, and I was expecting a few packages of frozen meat, but to my surprise he brought a quartered deer to my house.  The only clean spot in the house at the time was (you guessed it!) on top of the old Chickering.  So I butchered a deer on my piano over the weekend.  I've got pictures and I'll post them.


well i think u win, i definately cringed

[xenon]

Oh my.  I feel sorry for the piano, not for the deer

[cziffra]

mostly books, the metronome, and starting last week, a collection of gifts from pupils.  my second ever pupil gave me a little statue of buddha for christmas- his smile cheers me up when i'm in the middle of op25 #4 of chopin

[Eek Lek Tik]

My fingers on the keys.
My ass on the bench.
An occasional fake book on the desk.

[Rach3]

Interesting, all! We are a disorganized, eccentric, cat-loving race.

[Rach3]

My one piano has not much, some unavoidable dust, a mechanical metronome that is too big to travel, misc. music which I regularly relocate to a nearby shelf, a pencil...

But my other piano is a different story. A Bosendofer half-concert grand, very large and shiny, very resonant deep tone, somewhat over-strong, extra keys F-G# on the bottom. Well, it's not technically mine, but being pretty much the only serious student at my university (as I infer from the absence of practicing), I have occupied it since '02. It resides in a large, defunct-chapel-turned-occasional-recital-hall-slash-my-personal-practice-room, with a very nice church organ right next to it (which I also play). When I'm there, there is nothing on the piano except open music being propped open by other thick music volumies (Kalmus ed. Beethoven sonatas don't stay open without TWO heavy volumes, one on each side), a small metronome (sometimes my own), and my pencil collection. Also a watch. There is very little superfluous decoration; a lost music stand; a smal bust of Wagner that used to sit glaring at me from atop a harpsichord until my piano teacher found it and took it away (it had been taken away from him by errant administrators for some lecture or other, two years prior, I found this rather funny); also on the piano misc. spare change for no particular reason.

How could you possibly put anything INSIDE a piano lid? That's absurd.

[liszmaninopin]

Well, it depends how hard I've been playing.  One time while playing a sffff I knocked a crystal ornament down, and have occasionally shaken other things off the piano.  Under normal conditions, it is covered with a bunch of crystal ornaments (dogs, rabbits, bowls, etc.)  It is always an adventure to play on my grandmother's piano.  Besides the fact that we have found a mouse nest in there before, I have to shove a pile of family heirlooms out of the way to make room for my sheet music.  It's rather amusing, one never knows what mummified photo or trinket one will find in that piano while removing the mouse nests.