I had my first ever flute lesson last week and my teacher told me to check my embouchure in a mirror. As a result I have done all my practice this week in the downstairs loo, somewhat to the bemusement of my family! My piano won't fit in there so that stays where it is, but the guitar moves around a bit - often to the kitchen.

I just wondered if anyone else had odd practice habits?

hi robodoc i found the bathroom a good place mainly because the mirror was a descent size and height in there but it did make my flute playing rather loud i am in a ground floor masonette and the neignbours have never complained so i am lucky.

my flute tends to be played in the spare room as all the music stands and books are in there but the nicest place to play is my mother and laws balconey in india the birds ( green parrotts sit in the trees in the park opposite people walk round the park below listening to my playing trying to work out where the sound is from! and the neighbours wave and smile lots this was a wooden flute(bansuri) i wonder what they will make of a metal flute in december!

glad you are enjoying your flute so much

monkey flute

I practice in the kitchen because it's the one room that doesn't have anyone else adjoining either to the side or above. I have an old fashioned "larder" type cupboard and have put a full-length mirror on the inside of the larder door to open and use for practising. I also have a CD player set up in the kitchen for playalongs, and a tall bookcase to hold music, files, boxes of reeds/ligs etc etc. So it's a combination kitchen/music room. The downside is that the computer is upstairs in a room directly below my upstairs neighbour's living room, so I don't exploit all the computer based resources that are available as much as I might otherwise.

I practice in my own room. I broke 2 mirrors (14 years bad luck. I don't believe in that though), so I only have a midget mirror for checking the embouchure, which doesn't stay on the music stand properly.

I usually have two music stands set up - one in the sitting room (near the piano), with my flute music on it and my flute stand next to it, the other in my bedroom, with clarinet music on it and clarinet stand next to it. That one is right by my desk, which tends to accumulate recorders and piles of sheet music. So, pieces tend to get practiced in the sitting room or bedroom, depending on instrument. My flute goes walkabout with me though and scales get played all over the house, as do random snatches of things played by ear or from memory. Sometimes I take my flute into the main bathroom, not because it has a big mirror (though it does), but because it makes it sound really nice. It's the only room in the house that's fully tiled and has lots of hard surfaces and although it's a very small room, it's like playing in a chapel with really good accoustics. The downstairs loo is tiny, so I think it would be difficult to play the flute in there, but it goes everywhere else.
Guitar lives in my bedroom and I usually play it either sitting on my bed or sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed.
Organ I don't have any choice - I have to practice in church (which is where I'm about to head off to as soon as I finish tea). It's a bit of a hassle and it means I can't do little bits of practice in odd free moments and I can't practice every day, but it's good in that there are no distractions there, so when I practice, I practice long and hard (2-4 hours, very systematic, intense concentration - I'm always surprised by how fast the time whizzes by). Sometimes think my other instruments would benefit from a similar approach, but I'm glad I can just practice them whenever I feel like it.

T.

I practice in my study. Theres a stand (accumulating clarinet/oboe/whatever! music at a rate of knots until it falls over!), and my keyboard, which also acculmulates a lot of music. As does every flat surface in the room... Recorders and reeds also get found in the strangeest places

I practise my piano in the lounge where it lives
The flute has a stand and music in the dining room, but it often gets moved to the kitchen away from the TV and also the acoustics are better
Beverley.

I just practice in my bedroom. Unless no one else is in, in which case i move to the hall or living room as it sounds far nicer.
I think I've heard of James Galway advocating playing in the bathroom because of the acoustic.

excellent!


Yes, I sometimes practise in my bathroom for similar reasons although it's a pain with music etc.


I can sympathise.

Most of my practice is done in the living room because that's where music and instruments live.


Yes, so have I.

I practise in my bedroom.

Reminds me of the time when a music tutor once said, "I'm sure you all go home and practise your tonguing in your bedroom". He thought he was referring to scales, you can guess what we as a group of teenagers took it as I don't think he ever actually worked it out

Lol

Sometimes I practice in the kitchen as its quite large with a high ceiling so the accoustics are very nice, but I can only do that when people are out. Otherwise I practice in my teaching studio, which is still big, but its quite chilly in there!

I practise in a room meant for music in my house. It's the only part of the house that's sound-proofed and so my horrible playing won't distress my parents. There is a huge piano in there which my mother uses to accompany me - she had to do that for my Grade 5 exam. There is a long mirror on a stand that is quite useful if I need to check my embouchure but I never really use it. The mirror was placed in the room years ago when I played the violin and I needed to see if my posture was right.

Because of the sound-proofing, I can play at night but I am too lazy to play at night. hehe.

My piano is in the lounge-room and I keep a music-stand permanently up beside it so I usually practise the oboe there too. Sometimes I play in the bathroom; like others I initially went to use the mirror to check my embourchure and then discovered it has nice acoustics. It does mean carting everything upstairs though which is not very practical.

I usually make reeds in the study because the light is better there - I can put a chair right under the window.

In my dining room - five years ago I laid a wooden floor in there, and the only soft furnishings are the curtains and a fabric-covered ottoman, so the acoustics aren't too bad. Besides, it's where the harpsichord lives too...if my husband starts playing the piano in the sitting room, which shares a wall with the dining room, I sometimes have to retreat to the kitchen, but this is a tiny narrow cubby hole of a room, so I don't stay in there for long.

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who practices in the loo! Same reason as Robodoc, it has a big, well lit mirror.

Other than that, generally in our music/reading/sewing/ironing room, that's where the piano and harpsicord live. There are also exellent acoustics at the bottom of the stairs. Must try the cellar next....

My teacher said that playing in different rooms is not a bad idea to get used to varying acoustics and particularly not to be put off by playing in a very "dead" space such as her teaching room where the soundproofing make everything sound quite muffled.

I like to practice in the sitting-room/dining room of my house - I have a nice big mirror above the mantlepiece and with a wood floor and being quite tall it is a reasonably sympathetic acoustic. Sadly as the house is quite open plan it disturbs everyone. I also practice in one of the rooms at work, it has a very dead acoustic which means you can hear every little inconsistancy, but can be depressing on an off day. I have been known to do long note practice in the car.....parked of course when I've arrived really early for something.

My bedroom which has a dull acoustic, but makes you work harder on your tone as it is quite difficult to sound really good! The problem with playing in the kitchen/bathoom is the reverb which makes you automatically sound much better, giving you the impression that you dont need to work on tone.



When I get fed up of sounding rubbish, the dining room has a nice natural acoustic with a bit of reverb

I practise in our music room! (The spare room which doesn't really have a use yet so I use it for storing instruments and music etc). Our lounge has laminate flooring so the acoustic is lovely

the living room has a laminate type wood floor and a high wood lined ceiling, so the sound is quite good, but there's too much furniture and an ever-being-added-to drum kit there... very cluttery!
The kitchen has a tiled kind of floor and a high ceiling - and the sound is good... probably the best place to make a rewarding (deceptively good?) sound.
My own room is smaller but quite nice for sound... so it depends on whether I can bother to move a music stand and instrument around (it's called 'lazy')

Yep

As part of my day job I have access to a few empty buildings with big spaces...

I sometimes get to hog a whole concert hall for practising in - now that is serious self-indulgence, too .
Such a space is useful too, for some positive feedback - I know I didn't really believe I was capable of making a nice noise until I'd played in such a space, and it spurred me on no end...

It IS nice to sometimes play in a wonderful acoustic. I find that dead ones are too discouraging if it's the only place you play...

I tend to practice my guitar in my parents bedroom because I'd prob. manage to hit something with my guitar in my room, it's tiny! I also practice my flute in there but its quite nice to do it in the bathroom, with its lino floor.....

Haha, I love you!! That made me laugh so much. I've been known to play in the toilets at school before if there's little people banging things everywhere else in the music department. Unfortunately my teacher (who's male) wouldn't allow me to stay in there for my lesson - I wonder why?

I practiced on the beach once in India. It was late at night and really, properly dark because there was no light pollution. I closed my eyes, listened to the sea and played my favourite lullaby. It felt wonderful, but when I opened my eyes, there was quite a crowd gathered!

(Hubbie was watching closely - for my personal safety - and he found the whole thing very amusing.)

I have also been known to practice in a wardrobe in a hotel so as not to disturb any residents.

Normally though, I stick to the spare bedroom we refer to as my music room.

Hooray - I'm not the only person who practises in the downstairs loo! I used to practise in the loo as a) it had a mirror so I could check my embouchure and b) my walls are paper thin, so it's one of the few rooms which doesn't adjoin my neighbours. However, although it was great for flute playing, I couldn't practise my violin as I kept bashing my violin whenever I turned round.

I now use my husband's study as it's above the downstairs loo and I can move around with my violin but I can only play during the day when my neighbours are out so I'm now eyeing up my husband's shed!!