Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner What do you sacrifice by devoting yourself to the Piano?

I gave up nothing to devote my time to the piano. I agree with Bruce too. My piano time is highly valued to me because it's so limited. So having said that, I couldn't give a fart about TV, and usually don't watch it much.

and

Many times I was obligated to go parties and family gatherings that I hated, and I nicely put my foot down and said no. I stayed home to practice the piano in peace. [1]

John
[1]
The idea is great, but for some reason the door bell rings with unwanted vistors, the dog wants to go out a gazillion time, and the phone interupts me at least three times.

The only thing I've given up is TV. 3 hours a day can easily be pulled from TV time. I live a completely full life otherwise with work and family and taking kids to activities, plus other hobbies.

Now what my family has given up (poor family , is the presence of silence...it is daily routine for me to be on the piano from 7-10pm.

I have also given up TV almost entirely - there seems to be nothing on it these days anyway! I also don't have much of a social life much of the time and the other thing I've given up is sleep and relaxing when I get home from work. Luckily, I have a very patient wife!

I also have other hobbies which require what most people would define as work (sitting infront of this PC and reading a lot plus researching the latest developments on the net) so I sort of go in musical / non musical phases to try and keep a balance. It doesn;t always work so I just end up burnt out every few months and have to stop.

I started playing the piano when I was 4. I'm 19 years old now and still playing, but I can honestly say that playing from such an early age was the best thing that ever happend to me. It helped me become a proficient musician.

Ever since I can remember I've never had trouble with math. I've always had a logical and scientific mind as well. Identifing patterns and trends also comes very naturally to me, and sometimes I do so with out even realizing it.

These are a few of the benefits from playing the piano at a young age. There is actually scientific evidence proving that children involved in music generally tend to accel in the fields of math and science. Its called the "Mozart Effect"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_effect

I'm not saying that music is the absolute reason why math and science come naturally to me. There are plenty of mathmatical and scientific minds in world that were not acheived through music and the "Mozart Effect" and I could be one of them. But at the same time I can't deny the possibility...

I started piano at 8 only, but I have always listened to classical music and have pretty much the same experiences Jared here talks about! I love maths, and my gf thinks I'm weird sometimes because of my brain's tendency to find, create and muse on patterns.

On what I've sacrificed, well, nothing! I've given up a lot of things and social contacts because I attended the conservatoire while studying to be a translator, but now that it's only work and music, I find I have quite a lot of free time. I don't even have a TV in my bedroom (I use the DVD-R in the living room to record House MD, the only thing I watch), but I can read a healthy amount of books, go out with friends 1/2 times a week, hang out with my gf, and even sleep an average of 7 hours per day...

BTW, my work hours are not fixed, and I work from home. That helps a lot. There are some days I practically spend working, but then there have been entire weeks in which I have had nothing to do!

Well, I don't have any friends, and don't get invited to parties, so that's not a problem.

Anyway, I don't really feel like I'm giving up anything. I probably don't play as much as some of you, but I love piano, and I wouldn't give it up for anything.

what a gift piano passion is

however,

there are no patches on my sons' boyscout uniforms,

my daughter looks shabby

my house is a mess

i have no social life

no one gets Christmas cards till January

or presents either for that matter

i have no leisure time

my husband is unloved

the yard is unkempt

the car is a disaster

and my dog needs to visit the vet

Sleep

it's better to say I lost all this time for other things because I'm working on my music, rather than because I was getting high.