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Post by Zi on Aug 30, 2023 10:01:42 GMT
Something corenfa said in another thread about self-made standards reminded me of this article in The Guardian. Mr Z came across it and pointed me to it because at the time we were struggling to get our veg plot off the ground (no pun intended) and things were going wrong. We'd laughed our way through the disasters of last year when it was just a couple of raised beds and pots but this year we were on a larger scale and it turns out that means there are more things to go wrong! Anyway, we found it refreshing and charming to come across someone who was trying to concentrate on the doing rather than the goal. In reading it, I've also been struck by her comment about trying something new each month. That has struck a chord too because that's how I planned my retirement - a great big list of things I'd try that I'd never got round to. Anyway, perhaps other people have a different slant or perhaps this chimes. Or perhaps those of you who started playing in adulthood had other motivations. Or those of you who started in childhood and have continued... The Guardian - hobbies |
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Post by keff on Aug 30, 2023 10:48:26 GMT
May have started as a child but by the age of twenty two had forgotten everything apart from knowing where middle C was on the stave. Guess this makes me an adult restarter, although that had to wait until my thirty third year.
Commenting on the Guardian article, what is a gig economy? If I may develop this question even further why are concerts gigs and not concerts? I could go on.
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Post by corenfa on Aug 30, 2023 21:04:03 GMT
In the case of my ex manager from my last job who started leaning piano at age 40- always wanted to and never had the money when growing up in his little village in Wales.
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Post by Zi on Aug 31, 2023 8:01:00 GMT
@keff - I think it's a reference to the kind of temporary work that has popped up. corenfa - I always find that sad that children get denied a shot at things. But it's great that he did eventually have his wish! |
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Post by pavane on Sept 6, 2023 16:10:00 GMT
Do have: more time.
Don't have: neighbours!
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Post by pavane on Sept 8, 2023 19:38:43 GMT
Today was fine and dry and I had a lot of outdoor jobs to do, and Mrs P is out for the evening, so I decided I would get all the outdoor stuff done during the day and do some practice in the evening (I usually do it in the afternoon). In the light of the experience, I'd like to revise the statement I made above about having more time: it's not quite as simple as having more time, it's having it when I'm relatively fresh. It's much harder work practising now that I am tired. I'm actually going to do it this time, though not as much as if I had started earlier, but I think if it was always an evening thing there would be lots of times when I just wouldn't bother.
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Post by keff on Sept 8, 2023 19:55:24 GMT
There are some evenings I can start playing at 10pm and really enjoy it. However most times I am too tired and it is counter productive even to try. I like one hour of playing just before breakfast but this means reaching the piano by 7:30am.
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Post by pavane on Sept 8, 2023 20:08:58 GMT
I used to practise in the morning much more than I do now but I keep meaning to get back to doing it - I think it was more productive because I was fresher again than in the afternoon. I agree about late night - it's very rare that I even consider it (only if I have the house to myself) but it can occasionally be fun. |
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Post by Zi on Sept 9, 2023 9:27:16 GMT
I wonder if it's good to have a set time and then one would know that space is set aside. At the moment I'm really being kidnapped by my perceived need to grow zillions of plants for the wilder areas of our garden. Notice I say 'wilder' - it's all wild but some is slightly more tamed than others. So, I do wonder if I made an hour specifically for music practice if I'd do more than I'm doing at present... I don't know if morning or afternoon or evening is better though...
BTW if I seem to be dropping in and out it's because we have a wobbly connection at the moment... and we keep going off-line. Our internet is flaky in any case but at the moment it is super flaky...
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Post by pavane on Sept 9, 2023 12:11:48 GMT
I've got into a routine where I practise pretty much every day starting at about 4pm. By then I've had plenty of time to do all the stuff I "need" to do, and if I haven't finished it, it will wait till the next day. Sometimes it's closer to 5pm by the time I get going but 4 is very much in my mind as a marker and I very rarely fail to get at least some practice done if I'm at home, so it has worked well for me.
We have: no mains water, or sewage, or gas; electricity that is so flakey we have a generator for occasional use; an unreliable 3G phone signal; a really good super-fast reliable fibre broadband connection. Which isn't bad really as it would be the hardest thing on the list to work around.
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Post by corenfa on Sept 9, 2023 15:59:34 GMT
The new electric piano has allowed me to practise before work if I get up too early. My cat is wont to trample on the humans early in the morning and sometimes this wakes me up at 6, which is too late to go back to sleep but too early to go to work. So I get up and practise, which is a nice way to start the day
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Post by keff on Sept 9, 2023 17:55:16 GMT
BTW if I seem to be dropping in and out it's because we have a wobbly connection at the moment... and we keep going off-line. Our internet is flaky in any case but at the moment it is super flaky... About one month ago my broadband connection became very unreliable due to a short circuit in the wire connecting the house to nearest telegraph pole. Wire has to go through quite a few trees and rubbing against branches had worn away the insulation. BT are my service provider and within twenty four hours of reporting the fault they supplied a mini WiFi hub which used mobile telephone signals to restore broadband until the telephone wire was replaced. |
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Post by Zi on Sept 10, 2023 8:18:53 GMT
pavane - We don't have flaky electricity and we are on the mains for water. However, no gas, no main drainage and an internet connection that measures download in days... I have thought about buying the latest Bethesda offering and seeing if I can run it on Linux but I have no idea how long it would take to download... I do think the set time sounds like a good plan but I'm not sure what set time would work best for me!  keff - We had a damage like that a year or so ago and the engineer said he wasn't supposed to fix things like that which required shinning up a pole unless there was someone there so Mr Z became the 'person' and also watched out for tractors... At the last house, we lived on a little private road which was hard to find and one of our neighbours had a serious and unpredictable illness and panic attacks so we suggested to her husband that he put a sign in our garden pointing to where the ambulance should go. He had a sign made and knocked in himself thus putting a knick in the cable which meant that the internet was unpredictable and there was no TV. This was on Christmas Eve and I don't think I've ever seen Mr Z so concerned about anything... no TV till the New Year. I thought it was hilarious and so did our neighbour when we explained... It took the engineers ages to find the problem too... corenfa - I can imagine that is actually quite an uplifting thing to do before work. Sometimes furry alarm clocks can be extremely useful! How is the new piano working out?
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Post by corenfa on Sept 10, 2023 11:27:44 GMT
... corenfa - I can imagine that is actually quite an uplifting thing to do before work. Sometimes furry alarm clocks can be extremely useful! How is the new piano working out? It is working out very well. I am getting in more practise then I ever have because I can play at odd hours. It is also great for composing - I found another old piece from undergraduate days that I remembered fondly and wanted to work on - it is terrible, complete twaddle. I was experimenting at the time and had no idea what I was aiming for and the end result is the musical equivalent of spag bol with blueberry jam and lemongrass. It means that nobody else has to endure me playing it. |
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Post by Zi on Sept 11, 2023 8:14:21 GMT
It is working out very well. I am getting in more practise then I ever have because I can play at odd hours. It is also great for composing - I found another old piece from undergraduate days that I remembered fondly and wanted to work on - it is terrible, complete twaddle. I was experimenting at the time and had no idea what I was aiming for and the end result is the musical equivalent of spag bol with blueberry jam and lemongrass. It means that nobody else has to endure me playing it. I wish the recorder was like that. I don't have to worry about troubling neighbours but I feel sorry for my husband as I can rather obsessively practise one or two notes... I try to practise when he is practising as he uses headphones. Your comment about 'twaddle' reminds me of my teacher who was wont to say that we'd played something perfectly note-wise but it made no sense at all... It took me a while to understand what she meant. I'm glad it has worked out well - you sound happy. Happy is good. |
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