Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Do you have a "cheat" day and what do you do that day?(MOYD)

I committed to Master of your own destiny and have a good streak going since ten days before the new year. There have been one or two days I hit the piano at 11:45 pm but, according to the rules, it counts. My question is, does anybody have a cheat day? I don't mean a cheat day like from a diet, where you eat a large pizza followed by an ice cream sundae once a week, essentially sabotaging your diet. Just something that breaks up the routine.

For me, it's band night. Once a week I practice with a band, playing keyboard on a list of songs. These songs are, for the most part, not ones I work on, on my own, at home for my own practice. But it gives me a chance to cleanse my palate and shake up the routine. For lack of a better term, I call it my cheat day and still allow myself to check off a MOYD day.

I am curious if anybody works in a cheat day to break up their routines while still feeling satisfied that they played piano that day.

No, can't say that I do.

Nope.

I generally aim to play 6 of 7 days a week.
I find it lowers frustration if you have a "legal" day to not approach the piano compared to a rigid "you have to play every day" schedule.

Since this is strictly a hobby for personal enjoyment, I get to say "I am not in the mood/too busy/too tired" once a week.

I don't have any need to have an off day (not 'cheat' - I'm always honest ), because I don't put any obligation on myself to play every day.......but I do, including when I'm on holiday somewhere else in the world, if I can get access to a piano. Any piano - I enjoy meeting new challenges (like trying to make a decrepit old piano sing as it had never sung before, and will never sing again once I've finished thumping it ).

If there's no piano (like halfway up a mountain, in a tent in a howling blizzard), no sweat. I have other things to occupy myself, like figuring out how to stay alive & kicking.

Let's make sure we are all the same page here...when I say cheat day I mean you are still playing. It's just one day a week you play fun stuff, maybe fool with a pop song you like and heard on the radio, maybe try to work out Billy Preston's solo in "Get Back". The other day I heard this song I really liked and couldn't even find the chords, let alone the sheet music. I took a break from my other practice and worked out the chords and arrangement as I heard on the recording. As an "adult beginner" it was refreshing, educational, and even got me to sit at the piano longer than I normally would have (just as two hour band rehearsals are longer than my usual practice sessions). At the same time, the music I usually work on had a chance to solidify and set in my brain once I returned to it.

Imo, this would count as a MOYD day. I don't feel the need to something to "cleanse my palate," but I'm sure plenty do. It's the playing that counts!

I agree! If you are playing a keyboard in a band, then you are not only playing piano, but you are performing! It more than meets the MOYD rules!

Swiss and Stubbie.... Yeah, I know it meets the rules. I was just wondering how others take a break from what they are working on while still playing and making it a piano day.

I play every day; there's almost always time before I go to work and then I find more time in the evening too so most days I get two sessions in. I played on 363 days last year, missing just a couple in March to travel.

How many days can a participant miss before being disqualified? One day a week seems too many, in my opinion. But I saw one participant miss five months in a row for no reason, and they were able to claim a badge.

This is not a competition against others. This is for each person for themselves to feel motivated and to hold themselves accountable.

I often don't practice what I'm working on with my teacher. Instead, I find other, perhaps easier stuff, to work through. More so to explore other music and improve reading efficiency. Or sometimes I just go back to old stuff and see what I can do better with it.

Oh yes, I do. Now I am not a MOYD person, because even if I take a day off, there is no risk that I suddenly will stop practising. But yes, I absolutely have days in which I only play what I feel like. Actually, I hope to have more of those days than I had last year.

I don't practice on Fridays, I just play.

I go thru my repertoire of 25 songs or so.

I don't have a cheat day as you described it, but I do mess around with Fake Books on the weekend when i have more free time after i finish my method book work.

I try to focus every day on what my teacher has assigned (usually with a lot of input from me!), but some days I "rest on my oars" a bit by spending most of the time either on G.A.S. or other lighter fare, or brushing up on older material that is not part of my current assigned work.

Sunday = laundry + NYT Sunday crossword = no piano.

Cheers!

I don't have a specific "cheat day", but on days when I have more time and I'm just over the stuff I was assigned (usually towards the end of the week), I'll often pull out something to play around with that I don't have any intention of actually committing to learning. I could be from almost any genre.... just something I heard that I thought was beautiful

I don´t know if this is a "cheat" or a "madness", but somedays, I "forget" that I am a pianist and I become a Jazz singer. I stay for long hours singing songs from the "Great American Songbook".on a mic, and a playback big band. Of course, I still don´t have the courage to show that to anyone. I feel I´m a bit out of tune :))

Practicing piano is the satisfying thing that breaks up the stupid routine of my paid employment.