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ABF Survey 2020

Get all your questions about who hangs out in this forum answered.

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Sam

Question - does learning on another keyboard instrument (e.g. Yamaha Electone "organ") as a child count as learning piano as a child? It has synth-style keys and pedals.

Beats me - did you learn anything that helped you learn piano?

Sam

Yes. I learned to read lead sheets and play chords in the left hand and melodies in the right hand. I guess I'll just answer as if I learned as a kid then, although pianos are so very different from the organ I learned as a kid.

Sam, am I remembering right that you wrote the questions?

It occurs to me that the questions might take for granted score reading ability, and hence the questions about ask about ear-playing by not sightreading etc.

In the future, you might consider adding corresponding questions, something like: do you read music? how good would you say your sightreading skills are?

Just my two yen though

Yes I wrote the questions, but they have changed a little over the years. The first survey was in 2011. I added questions about online lessons this time around. If I can remember, and I do it again, I'll try to include something about reading music.

Sam

*bump*

We are up to 50+ responses - the other side of the planet should be waking up now - keep them coming!

Sam

I find multiple choice questions difficult and sometimes impossible to answer truthfully. I said I practise two or three hours a day, every day, when actually I do next to no practice at all. Although semantically incorrect I substituted “playing” for “practising” in order to be less misleading and closer to the spirit of the question. Even at this early stage, the proportion of people over sixty-five surprises me, as does the number owning two or more pianos.

Well it appears that this forum is one of the few places I can still consider myself young

I thought the same thing - I see myself as 'playing' (rather than 'practising') every day. While it probably amounts to the the same thing, 'playing' makes me want to get back to the bench because it doesn't feel like real 'work'.

Thank you Sam!

Thank you Sam for your survey! Fun to answer, fun to read the answers. As I now know that you write the questions, may I suggest one option? In "If you perform for other people, where?" could you add: "online, for instance youtube". Because there are a couple of different answers to that question that are different ways of saying "online".

I find it hard to believe that the majority of the folks here practice 7 days a week. Do people work?

Maybe the age of the focus population has something to do with it.

I don't. It's a hobby and we do it for fun. Think about how many days per week and hours per day some people watch TV or play video games and you won't find it hard to believe at all.

I do.
I do play seven days a week (MOYD 2020 and I suppose whatever you play counts) and I do work five days a week.

And yes, I'm of age but not retired yet.

How do I unmark an answer without choosing another one?

You can always just exit the page and start over...

Looks like we are up to 80 responses so far - keep them coming...

Sam

When I was working, out of the house for 12+ hours, long drive each way, 5.30 start and coming home to teenage kids, dog, cooking etc etc, I probably did practice just about every night of the week. It was a wonderful contrast to the mundane obligations of life, like entering another world of skills and imagination.
Funnily enough, since I retired this year I'm probably less consistant and the fantasies about all the extra playing I would do seem to have been, um, fantasies!

For the questions like "can you improvise" or "do you compose", I'd be interested in how many of the no's are because they're interested but haven't yet developed that skill, or how many are due to lack of interest.