To complain about the piano noise

[Noisedrivingmemad]

We have recently moved into a semi detached house. On our attached side are a couple aged about 60, and a couple of lodgers.
They are friendly people, dropped a card in when we moved, the woman has spoken to my DH a fair bit over the fence about gardening, not intrusive ,very nice, all good.
HOWEVER, she is a piano and violin teacher.
3 week days (mostly after school) she is teaching piano and violin and it is like. She. Is. In. The. Room.

I can just about handle the lessons, although the violin is pretty awful. My kids are fairly noisy after school so I kind of see it as fair game, and accept that being in a semi-detached house means we need to accept some noise. I just tolerate it, even though every dinner time it feels like we are accompanied by the god awful piano playing.
But even at the weekend she is playing (not teaching). She has been playing for the last 2 hours, I could kill her. I literally want to rip that piano out the wall. My kids were watching a film and I turned it up as loud as possible out of pure rage, but in the kitchen I can still hear it, tinkle tinkle fucking tinkle, the tunes go round and round in my head.
I think I might crack and throw myself off my own balcony. Sometimes I go to sleep dreaming of taking a big machete to her musical instruments or chopping her fingers off with my bread knife.

So what would you do? Should I say something?? Do I just live with it? Is it anti-social?

Help.

My best advice to you would be to move - life is too short . Our house has changed hands every 18months to 2 years before we bought it !

Take up enthusiasm for drum n bass

Ask her to move piano away from adjoining wall. & keep mute pedal down. I love piano but even when played well I really wouldn't want to hear it daily for hours on end. & I certainly won't want to sit thru students who can't play well yet, learning. It's not about whether it's within social hours or not. It's constant noise, every day, and that isn't acceptable. I think people saying it's fine are disingenuous, and wouldn't like it if it were next door to them.

Try to find a compromise. Essentially she's running a business from home so it's in her interests to come to an agreement with you as residents aren't actually obliged to put up with constant noise arising from business. There have been cases where local authority hasn't found in favour of music teachers. I do feel sorry for them but like other music bands it may be that if they're not in a detached property then they'll have to hire a music room with piano for the day and host lessons there.

OP,

In your place I would start recording what you can hear.

This is huge noise to have foisted on you on a daily basis.

You have zero control at all.

Did you not know this at all before buying.

I have 4 children and am on year 18 of piano fxxking lessons😁#dose.

The early years were a crucifixion of sorts as they practiced, despite two solid walls.

Clang bloody clang.
Violin is even worse, that screechy whine going through you.

I cannot imagine the stress of this.

Start recording it and keeping detailed notes of timings.

Then approach her about a solution.

The fact she runs her business out of her home is not your concern nor problem.

This is YOUR home and it is not reasonable noise IMO.

I hugely value my peace and this would absolutely mess with my MH.

How bizarre to be bothered by piano playing. I teach both from home and only get compliments from my neighbours about when I practise

Not one teacher of the 6 I have dealt with would have been bothering neighbours. 5 were detached and one was in a garage that was converted and unattached.

Gosh my daughter plays the flute and I hate the noise I can't imagine piano 🎹

How utterly bizzare for you to be unable to imagine a world where everyone wouldn't be thrilled at you imposing on them and their peace in their own homes.
🙄

I play the piano - they're very loud and there's no way I would dream of putting one against the adjoining wall. Listening to someone practice piano is ghastly - it's not at all like hearing a performance. You break up the music and repeat segments endlessly or go through scales and arpeggios. You have my sympathy. I moved to digital precisely so I could practice without alienating neighbors

Yes I think it’s bizarre that people class live piano playing as noise

Of course it's bloody noise!

I love opera but that doesn't mean I'd want it belting out from next door when I'm trying to watch TV or read a book.

When we moved into our semi 13 years ago the two teenage daughters next door were having an almighty row and the language was horrific. My then three year old commented about the shouting and my heart sank. You could also hear the parents snoring and thankfully only coughing right behind our heads on our bedroom. I almost immediately got a joiner in who installed soundproof plasterboard on all adjoining walls then had it replastered. Wasn't cheap but didn't break the bank either. Many years later we can still barely hear them. Not sure how effective this would be against a piano but might be worth looking into.

Also highly unlikely to be exceeding threshold limits. It's not an electric guitar. 🤣

Ultimately if you can't handle normal levels of neighbour noise you need to live far away from people, or at least in a detached house. Or sound insulate your own home very well.

If the house is semi detached then moving the piano to the wall that’s not adjoining should solve the problem?

We had a similar situation...saxophone! A buyer friend put up a soundproof membrane and plastered over it...drastic..but so worth it!

There is a widely believed myth that you can make as much noise as you like before 11pm. This is not true. It is possible for your music/TV to be unacceptably loud during the day too.

https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20058/noise_pollution/156/noise_control_advice_-_neighbours/2

I sympathise so much with you as I have had this and like you, I found the tinkle tinkle, and the accompanying caterwauling, insanely annoying. (The piano was not on an adjoining wall but it was still noisy and instead of confining the noise within the house, caterwauler would open room doors to the outside which would broadcast the noise out into my garden and through my patio doors into the living room. The anger this so and so caused.)

Soundproofing materials and techniques have advanced in recent years and since you want to keep things sweet with your neighbours, you could ask an expert to advise on what's feasible and how much difference it could make from your side. Further options would be to ask the neighbours to consider soundproofing their side or to move house. Is that why the previous occupants moved, do you think?

instead of confining the noise within the house, caterwauler would open room doors to the outside which would broadcast the noise out into my garden and through my patio doors into the living room. The anger this so and so caused.)
Fair enough. It takes a right royal tit to do that.

We have a piano in a semi, against the adjoining wall because that's the only place it fits. We've put in a soundproof panel behind it. We had DS test it out, he had a good bash at playing it whilst we stood in the neighbour's font room and all listened together. The panel made a huge difference and muffles the noise well.

Is the wall that the piano is up against a wall that you could have made into shelving and fill with books? That might insulate some of the noise

You should be glad it's classical music and not some pop based dross 😉
Sorry I'm being facetious! As a piano teacher I am conscious of running a business from home and the noise I cause. As such we bought a house that has a hall way separating the adjoining wall and then put the piano on the wall furthest away as I do understand that Mozart on repeat is not everyone's cup of tea. I've always asked my neighbour to tell me if it's annoying. I wouldn't mind if I was her you telling me. She may not realise.

Sorry to hear you can't relax at home because of next door's piano. Unfortunately it is not as simple as asking her to move it to another wall. Pianos should not be in strong direct sun, near humidity, fireplaces or radiators as they will go out of tune very quickly. In my living room there is really only one suitable wall for the piano.

YABU.
It sounds like she is being quite restrained in terms of times she might play if she lived somewhere isolated.
Presumably if she is good enough to be teaching, her own playing is going to be of a high standard, not some awful noise.

Just to answer some points made above. I didn't know before I moved in. The previous owners lived there for 45 years and were good friends of this neighbour so I assume they learnt to live with it or grew deaf and it bothered them less.

We can't afford to move to a detached house or to live in the middle of nowhere.

The only reception rooms are attached to her house, so there is no escape except for one small room upstairs.

I like listening to classical music occasionally, but I'm not a huge fan, but listening to slightly muffled relentless classical music that you don't like becomes unbearable.

I don't play loud films normally, today was the first time as we could still hear the piano over the film. We are actually very considerate neighbours. I purposely put our Alexa on the other wall, I don't let the kids be really noisy, especially early morning, we don't play loud music etc. The kids are pretty quiet actually, the only times I imagine they could be bit annoying is after school with friends over occasionally but this isn't regular and I don't let it get too loud.

Suggestions about sound proofing are very useful as I think that's something we could do when we replaster, as the house needs it.
Also some interesting points about how she is running a business and should be a bit more considerate, hadn't actually thought of that.

I think her piano is in the alcove by the chimney breast on the adjoining wall to ours, as we have alcoves there too, haven't actually been in her house yet.

Thanks for the responses so far, they vary wildly!

YABU she is playing during sociable hours

imagine what she is having to put up from your house, young children and a baby crying