Practice Piano without a Piano
Sometimes I’m busy with assignments, quizzes, or exams, or I’m lazy to go to a piano room. When that situation happens, I only have the choice to play piano without using any piano… [it's better than not practicing at all, right? 
]
These are the things that I need to do such practice. [don't laugh ]
- The source: A piano score, a recording, or a song that has been memorized.
- The brain to imagine the keyboards of the piano and the sounds produced.
- The eye lids to help the brain to imagine.
- The ears
to listen to the recording
This is how I practice piano without using piano. There are several ways according to the source.
- When I only have the piano score
While reading the notes on the score, I imagine my right hand striking the correct keyboard(s). After that, I imagine the sound that should be produced by the piano. I also do the same thing for the left hand part. Finally, I combined both the right hand and the left hand part and do the same thing.
I usually do this for only a short part of the piano score and after I have heard (and memorized) the song
If possible, I do the right hand and the left hand part directly at the same time. - When I only have the recording
Same thing is done here, except that I should catch the melody first then the accompaniment. To catch the melody and the accompaniment, I sometimes close my eyes (that’s why the eye lids are needed — but sometimes I fall asleep because of this 
). Usually I try to be as precise as I can, but I’m not used to this kind of practice……….. Well, this practice involves improvisation though… And I’m very bad at improvisation - When I only have the song that has been memorized
The same as 1, except that I don’t have to read score. Additionally, I close my eyes (the eye lids are needed again ). - When I use both the piano score and the recording
Just pay attention to the notes (especially the melody) as the recording goes.
This is usually done when the first time I learn the score. This can help me to memorize the ‘big picture’ of the score.
The effect of such kind of practice can be varied, depending on the intelligence of the brain. Personally, I think that musical intelligence and visual/spatial intelligence are highly needed to achieve the great effect.
But the best way to practice piano is to use the piano, isn’t it?
Love how your eyes help you when you practice without a piano.
Want to add to the fun? Check out my piano blogs. Especially the one on taking a virtual piano lesson.
I’ll pass on your ideas to my students.
Great post. I’m going to have to share this with my students!
Thanks for your comments
when I only have the recording….
hihihihihihihihihi XD
enakan dengerin langsung maenin XD
tp kalo gt gw jd ga bs baca partitur..
Thanks, I’ll try the methods. I guess it helps to prime our mind before starting to try the piece on piano, therefore saving practice time. Eh, boleh di post di NTUPE website?
That was a fascinating and unusual post. I have been practicing for years and never thought of the idea you presented. In the last few years I have learned not only to play but to service pianos, which is pretty rewarding. I have my own business called Los Angeles Piano Tuning (or LA Piano Tuning for Short) and I started a blog about some of my piano tuning adventures.
Enjoy!
-David Mann
Sometimes it’s really that simple, isn’t it? I feel a little stupid for not thinking of this myself/earlier, though.