This is something that crossed my mind just a few minutes ago, how many people here leave their instruments on/next to their chairs during rehearsal breaks, and how many shut them in their cases? Discuss......

mine go on their stands (or on the floor!). last year i played flute, picc, clari, trumpet, and trombone all in the same concert and i only have stands for flute and picc so the others went on the floor...

It amazes me when the majority of people in our orchestras leave their instruments on their seats when we're not rehearsing. The first thing I do is put my violin back in it's case - it doesn't exactly take a lot of effort and I dread to think of what could happen if someone knocked the chair or something. Mind you, that could just be me being paranoid!

I once saw someone sort of 'hang' their violin by the scroll from their music stand.

I usually play through my breaks... though if not - if it's a long break and i know im just gonna be sat down through it then i'll keep my flute/violin with me and put it on my lap or whatever. Or i'll put it back in my case - but i'd rather just keep it with me... a) safer in some ways b) i HATE to put my flute in my case and shut it without cleaning it... i know it's only for like an hour but i don't like the thought of that xD so if i put it away i have to clean it...



Argh!
I wouldn't even leave my violin on a chair (they don't really fit xD) let alone hang it by the scroll on a music stand :| That's like a 90% chance of killing it!

I don't play in an orchestra but when the symphonic band stops playing I usually will place the tuba on my lap and wait for us to begin again. If I have to get I usually just put it on the ground next to my chair, you have to be pretty focused on something to run into a tuba >.>

On my chair
I secretly want it to get damaged then I have the excuse I've always needed to get a new one!

Having started the earlier poll about hanging Martha from the wall and then realising it wasn't safe and putting her back in her case you'd think I would have learned years ago;

20 odd years ago when I played in several orchestras (clarinet) I always made sure my instruments were both put away in their cases during breaks (and cleaned). They were worth several thousand pounds and fairly new so I was quite paranoid about their safety. (I did once leave a cheap clarinet on a seat during a school orchestra rehearsal and it was knocked off and broke a key).

So..*bangs hand on forehead* ... how I ever thought Martha would be safe on the wall really surprises me and I'm terribly relieved she's back in her box and she's getting silk pjs for her Christmas pressie .

In the youth orchestras I've been in it's very common for people to hang their violins on the ledge of the music stand also. I do that if I want to remain in my chair but don't want to be holding on to my instrument. When I want to go offstage I usually leave it on the chair (out of sheer laziness, probably) if its a short interlude.

But this orchestra I played with once didn't allow anyone to leave instruments onstage.. except the bigger ones.

In my school orchestra, almost everyone leaves their instruments on their chair or on top of their cases (which are always to the left of our seats), but last year I participated in the SCSBOA String Orchestra, and during breaks we were all required to put them away in our cases. However, the stage on which we rehearsed for SCSBOA was a lot smaller and cramped, so it was a lot more likely for our instruments to get damaged. The music room at my school is a bit larger, and our orchestra is about 2/3 the size of the SCSBOA one, so when I'm there I tend to be a little less paranoid about my viola getting damaged. I suppose where you leave your instrument just depends on the situation (but I would never hang mine by it's scroll!).

=)

Sydney