Forums > Bad Habits

undividedself

Jun 11 2009, 07:17 AM

Hi! Here's a question for everyone:

What are some bad habits that have troubled your playing in the past?

Here are some I can think of from mine:

(1) Not observing rests accurately, especially with the left hand
(2) Not looking up items of musical notation I didn't know
(3) Playing when my hands felt sore
(4) Not playing repeat sections properly
(5) Mindlessly repeating difficult sections without trying to understand where the problem lay
(6) Ignoring the suggested tempo
(7) Not keeping a pencil handy to write in fingering and highlight certain notes

I'm getting better with most of these although (5) is still an issue

Thank you

Mad Tom

Jun 11 2009, 08:06 AM

QUOTE(undividedself @ Jun 11 2009, 09:17 AM)

Hi! Here's a question for everyone:

What are some bad habits that have troubled your playing in the past?

Here are some I can think of from mine:

(1) Not observing rests accurately, especially with the left hand
(2) Not looking up items of musical notation I didn't know
(3) Playing when my hands felt sore
(4) Not playing repeat sections properly
(5) Mindlessly repeating difficult sections without trying to understand where the problem lay
(6) Ignoring the suggested tempo
(7) Not keeping a pencil handy to write in fingering and highlight certain notes

I'm getting better with most of these although (5) is still an issue
Thank you

I am guilty of all the above (except 4 - which I don't understand) plus:

(8) Smudging (holding notes for too long in legato)
(9) Failing to observe dynamic markings
(10) Persisiting with a sub-optimal fingering because I am too lazy to change it
(11) Overuse of the right pedal
(12) Overuse of the left pedal!!
(13) Failing to consult the score to correct inaccurate memory
(14) Superfluous hand and arm movements
(15) Speeding up unintentionally
(16) Slowing down unintentionally!!
(17) Playing over stuff I can do when I should be working on stuff that I can't do
(18) Starting a crescendo too loudly
(19) Starting a diminuendo too softly
(20) Misplacing accents in complex rhythms
(21) Mis-reading rhythms

and no doubt many many more

p.s. And they are not all "in the past" either

dolce@piano

Jun 11 2009, 10:52 AM

I'm with you, Mad Tom - the list in endless !

Would like to add: sticking my left hand little finger in the air as though having tea with the queen, claiming I'm playing rubato when I get to a tricky bit I can't quite manage, playing endless tangoes which drive my family nuts . . . .

oldnotes

Jun 11 2009, 11:21 AM

All of the above plus forgetting to look at the key signature before playing.

davidmackay

Jun 11 2009, 12:07 PM

QUOTE(Mad Tom @ Jun 11 2009, 09:06 AM)

(1) Not observing rests accurately, especially with the left hand
(2) Not looking up items of musical notation I didn't know
(3) Playing when my hands felt sore
(4) Not playing repeat sections properly
(5) Mindlessly repeating difficult sections without trying to understand where the problem lay
(6) Ignoring the suggested tempo
(7) Not keeping a pencil handy to write in fingering and highlight certain notes
(8) Smudging (holding notes for too long in legato)
(9) Failing to observe dynamic markings
(10) Persisiting with a sub-optimal fingering because I am too lazy to change it
(11) Overuse of the right pedal
(12) Overuse of the left pedal!!
(13) Failing to consult the score to correct inaccurate memory
(14) Superfluous hand and arm movements
(15) Speeding up unintentionally
(16) Slowing down unintentionally!!
(17) Playing over stuff I can do when I should be working on stuff that I can't do
(18) Starting a crescendo too loudly
(19) Starting a diminuendo too softly
(20) Misplacing accents in complex rhythms
(21) Mis-reading rhythms

What?! These are all bad habits? Why did no one tell me, I thought they were part of my style.

PianissiMole

Jun 11 2009, 12:19 PM

QUOTE(davidmackay @ Jun 11 2009, 01:07 PM)

QUOTE(Mad Tom @ Jun 11 2009, 09:06 AM)

(1) Not observing rests accurately, especially with the left hand
(2) Not looking up items of musical notation I didn't know
(3) Playing when my hands felt sore
(4) Not playing repeat sections properly
(5) Mindlessly repeating difficult sections without trying to understand where the problem lay
(6) Ignoring the suggested tempo
(7) Not keeping a pencil handy to write in fingering and highlight certain notes
(8) Smudging (holding notes for too long in legato)
(9) Failing to observe dynamic markings
(10) Persisiting with a sub-optimal fingering because I am too lazy to change it
(11) Overuse of the right pedal
(12) Overuse of the left pedal!!
(13) Failing to consult the score to correct inaccurate memory
(14) Superfluous hand and arm movements
(15) Speeding up unintentionally
(16) Slowing down unintentionally!!
(17) Playing over stuff I can do when I should be working on stuff that I can't do
(18) Starting a crescendo too loudly
(19) Starting a diminuendo too softly
(20) Misplacing accents in complex rhythms
(21) Mis-reading rhythms

What?! These are all bad habits? Why did no one tell me, I thought they were part of my style.

Me too. I've been working on them for years!

Actually my worst habit is being too lazy to get off the piano stool to get the music out and muddling through by memory (reinforcing habitual mistakes, etc, etc...). Also putting my teacup on the space at the LH extremity of the keyboard. I haven't had an accident yet but one day...

Mole

Solari

Jun 11 2009, 12:21 PM

Ignoring ties across bars is my worst... for some reason I sometimes find it so damn difficult to keep my finger down on the key

I'm fine within bars though ???

musicbox

Jun 11 2009, 04:23 PM

Probably everything you have written haha!
Resting my hands on the piano!! Definitly.
And putting my feet on my toes ratehr than flat on teh floor.
Not putting my heel on the ground when pedalling.
Sitting too near the piano.

BerkshireMum

Jun 11 2009, 04:51 PM

QUOTE(dolce@piano @ Jun 11 2009, 11:52 AM)

I'm with you, Mad Tom - the list in endless !

Would like to add: sticking my left hand little finger in the air as though having tea with the queen, claiming I'm playing rubato when I get to a tricky bit I can't quite manage, playing endless tangoes which drive my family nuts . . . .

I'm so glad someone else does this too - I thought it was just me!

Actually, it's my right hand little finger, but the principle is the same!

chocolatedog

Jun 11 2009, 07:48 PM

My dad used to do that..... *sigh* ........ still miss him terribly - I've got very few people to play duets with these days......

BerkshireMum

Jun 11 2009, 08:15 PM

QUOTE(chocolatedog @ Jun 11 2009, 08:48 PM)

My dad used to do that..... *sigh* ........ still miss him terribly - I've got very few people to play duets with these days......

madbassoonist

Jun 12 2009, 05:26 PM

I am probably guilty of everything that has already been mentioned on this thread!

but, well, we're only human