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I am not a blogger. However as I have been tracking my summer homework progress I thought I would make a blog.it would be abou me and my learning etc. No idea how to start ablog. Not even sure if its a good idea.

Have a couple more drinks. Call me in the morning.
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Am sure you'll change your mind.

Is your reply a joke?

adultpianist,

a blog about your experience is a great idea. you'll become more reflective about what you're learning as you stay with it.

there are a million places out there like blogspot, wordpress, etc. where you can start a blog with a few mouse clicks.

you'll see in my signature that i'm blogging. i write from the perspective of teacher about piano, jazz, and related things.

the voice you choose is your choice. that's the great thing about a blog.

get out there and do it. it'll lead you to good places.

adultpianist, I agree with Mark. Go for it! The blog hosting sites such as wordpress or blogspot give instructions for how to get started. We can probably give some advice here if you still have questions.

I have two blogs on blogspot. A person registers then starts typing. It is not all that different from posting on the forum. For piano, my blog is mostly about uploads. I don't believe that folks would be interested in my methods or progress, because I am not following a method book, don't have a teacher, and spend about 50% of time on composing original pieces. I haven't met any other piano beginners following anything close to my erratic path.

One caveat is that a blog can become a time absorber. Some seem to spend more time on the computer than at the piano bench. That's fine if a person wants to do that, but many folks might get more satisfaction in the long run, by limiting the computer time, and spending more time and energy on piano.

I find that weekly posts to the Achievement of the Week thread are similar to what many might post on a piano blog in terms of progress, struggles, the rare triumph. I get many more readers on AOTW, and also get to comment and interact with others. I don't get a lot of comments or readers on the blog.

What the blog is good for is archiving things and indexing my uploads for easy access.

Why do you want to start a blog? Is it just for personal enjoyment? (I have blogs that are purely for personal use. I find it fun to read even the most mundane posts from years ago.) Then there are blogs that are more for public engagement. You write a post with the hope that others will help you with your music and practicing. I know of a few threads on this forum that functions as practice journals; the community seems to engage and help each other out on these threads. If that's your goal maybe start one of those posts that way you can tap into the community here.

I started a blog using Wordpress a few weeks ago, http://musical.neuralfirings.com/. It's hosted on my own domain but you can start one for free on Wordpress.com. I've been recording bits and pieces of my practice sessions, as well as recording general thoughts on music and music tech. It's more for personal recording keeping. I find it fun to go back and listen to me sight reading a piece for the first time, or listen to how a particular section progresses as time goes on. Also, each time I record a session, I kind of feel like a mini-performance, which keeps me on my toes. Last, it's a great tool to help me reflect on music, practicing, how I'm progressing/not progressing.

If you have any technical questions about setting up a blog, recording, etc. feel free to PM me.

I really do not think you can tell what a person would get the most out of. In actual fact, I would get an awful lot of pleasure out of blogging my progress, as much pleasure as sitting on my piano stool and playing my piano

Of course, if I were a professional pianist, I would not be doing my own blogging. I would be interviewed by a journalist and they would write it for me so I would have more time to sit and play....

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I really do not think you can tell what a person would get the most out of. In actual fact, I would get an awful lot of pleasure out of blogging my progress ...
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It depends on a person's personality and goals. Do you keep journals? Do you like to record things? If so, blogging might be a very good outlet. Me, I have always liked to journal and record things. I do book reports and movie reports, and keep various journals, and spreadsheets, on my computer, all just for me. The two public blogs are helpful to me in their own ways.

You posted a question, and I replied with an observation that more than a few folks seem to spend more time on the computer blogging about a task than doing and learning. Again, that is fine if that is what a person wants to do. However, some seem to fall into a time hole, vs. making a conscious choice as to priorities. Conscious choices tend to be better choices.

If a person wants to spend hours typing, recording, uploading, that is fine. I spend my fair share of time on my two blogs, so I am not one to talk, or to judge. That said, I balance the journaling time on the computer, with the learning and the doing time.

If say, after a year, a person has spent 400 hours working on their piano blog, and 200 hours practicing, it is an interesting choice. As is often the case, I don't see a right or wrong answer, just a choice as to priorities.

Sand Tiger, I'm curious, what do you spend the most time doing on your blog? (writing, recording/uploading, responding to comments)

I personally find it hard to write. That sucks up the most time. This goes for any blogs though--personal, piano related, work related.

Oh yes. Please forgive me for joking with you. I won't do it again.

Are there any blog sites that are free? I found one but it only has a free trial and then you have to pay to keep up the blog

Blogspot is free, from their splash page:
"Create a blog. It's free."
http://www.blogger.com

Wordpress also shows up as free:
http://www.wordpress.com

A person can choose to run ads or not when they set up the blog. I choose not to, because with the traffic I get, I would earn about 1 cent per year, and the ads slow it down for any readers.

As for what takes up time, it is mostly the mechanics of posting. I maintain word processing files that have even more content than the blogs, on my computer. If I weren't blogging, I'd still do the journaling and note taking for myself. I spend far more time on the Achievement of the Week thread, where I post weekly, and other replies on the forum, than I do on my piano blog, where I might post once a month, or every three months. Even so, I do monitor and sometimes limit all the computer activity. Many of us would be better musicians (or any other endeavor), by limiting computer time.

Like I said, I have kept various journals for many years. Blogging is a way to do it publicly. My low readership is disappointing, but understandable. I resist posting about controversial topics, just to drive traffic and comments. I see that kind of exchange as a waste of my time, and there are plenty of places on the Internet for wasting time.

My piano blog is a good way for me and other people to find my uploads quickly. I also like the off site backup aspect. In case of fire, flood or similar disasters, having an online backup of some work is a good thing.

PianoWorld is my blog. Instead of people having to come to me to read my thoughts, I just come and force everything onto them

Bobpickle, I have read your post, here:

PianoWorld is my blog. Instead of people having to come to me to read my thoughts, I just come and force everything onto them laugh

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Yes!

There are millions of reasons to do a blog - I don't know anything about facebook except it is - to me - the scarest part of the internet.

A blog is like writing a newspaper column everday or as you feel like it.

But what is so awesome about piano world is that whether you are stuck in an egloo in the north pole or the south pole with a small digital piano and you can't figure out the fingering of Mary Had a Little Lamb, you can click into Piano World and millions of piano players around the world are practicing their piano with one eye on their music - and the other eye - not on their hands - but on their computing to see if anyone on piano world needs their help and they are there anxious to help you.

That is why a blog can be more lonely for some piano players but Piano World is never lonely - because just when you think nobody will ever understand you, people will post, been there, done that, and help you move the huge boulder in your way that you thought couldn't be moved.

3S01PW

I have had second thoughts about doing a blog now. It is too time consuming and I work on computers all day. I think this site is better because people see more and can respond. A blog is kind of like a diary in a way and I have kept diaries in the past and then got rid of them. I am not a professional pianist trying to make a living out of playing the piano so a blog would be of no use or interest to anyone but myself.