How to practice piano when away from home

[Bigginswade]

Over the summer holidays, I'm planning to visit my elderly parents and spend more time with them as they need a lot of help with stuff. As they live a fair distance from me, plan would be to stay for one-two week stretches. I'll have to take the children with me.

We'd like to continue with piano practice though as DS will have a graded exam after summer. Also because there really isn't much to do at my parents other than watch TV so being able to play for fun would be a nice form of entertainment.

How do others practice if they don't have a piano? There aren't any churches nearby where we can ask to practice and I don't have any friends there with pianos. I've checked keyboard rentals and it doesn't exist where they live either. Does anyone have any suggestions? It really would be nice to have an actual piano (even a keyboard) to play. Would mean I can aim to visit most school holidays and not have it impact too much on piano practice.

Any suggestions welcome!

I think you've answered your own question! A keyboard that you either take with you or leave at your parents seems the logical answer.

Other possibilities are to contact churches and village halls to see if they have a piano you can access. When i started to learn as a child I used the village hall piano. You may need to be prepared to hire the hall for the time you wish to practise.

I hope you find something.

Buy a Keyboard with full size piano keys. They come up on ebay/gumtree frequently. You can get x shaped stands that lie flat so stand and keyboard could be stored under a bed when you are not there.

If you buy second hand you are likely to be able to sell it for a similar price that you paid at the end of the summer.

Rent a piano?

I would buy a second hand keyboard. Doesn't need to be fancy, not even a full sized fully weighted 88 keys type. You should be able to pick one up for about £50 to £60.

Would definitely buy a keyboard with full size keys. Fully weighted is possible but much more expensive.

Would subscribe to the Yousician app too for structured learning.

Hi
My daughter has been having piano
Lessons for 18 months on a weekly/2 weekly basis at a piano shop in London and I bought her a key board off EBay about 8 months ago to practice on which is brilliant and comes with a stand and stool etc .
My point is , it’s like riding a bike as you never forget as we have been on holiday for over a week and she has came back and had a lesson and it’s like she had never missed a lesson .
A break is good .
Don’t worry .

Don't just get a keyboard - the keys are so much smaller and lighter, it's a different instrument, it would be counterproductive. You need something with 88 proper weighted keys.
Something like this might do it - a 'portable' digital piano and x stand. (They are quite heavy in case it's just you and elderly parents to move it around, but not impossible.) They don't take up too much room and could be put away when you're not there if space is an issue at your parents' so you could leave it there. You could buy online and get it delivered straight there too. It should be easy to sell on Gumtree, Fb etc especially in Aug/ Sept.

Link fail, attempt 2 - something like this www.gear4music.com/pianos-keyboards/digital-pianos/stage

Mental practice without the piano might also be useful - here's a perspective: bulletproofmusician.com/does-mental-practice-work/

You don't need a fully weighted digital keyboard when you just need something as a second piano to practice on when you're away from home for a week or two at a time. I looked for a second hand 88 weighted keys keyboard for about 6 months. Never found one for less than £250 which is a lot to spend on a temporary thing.

Thanks everyone. This is really useful. I'll have a look. Agreed a break is good and I wouldn't bother if we were there for a week.

On a sidenote, I've just come back from a piano auction - we need to upgrade ours and had my eye on one - and was outbid on my first and second choice. Gutted. Clearly not meant to be!

If there would be room for a proper piano at your parents' house, you may be able to get a second hand piano quite cheaply. And in fact if you are upgrading your own piano, maybe check how much it would cost to transport your old one to your parents' place! (may well not be cost effective though)

I would look at getting a lower-spec digital piano on eBay second hand (£200 would do it).

Something with weighted keys is a must, at least 61 keys and full size keys.

There are reasonably compact entry level digital pianos which will be fine for a second practice instrument up to the higher grades.

Off the top of my head, Casio CDP120 or 130.

We currently have a digital piano with weighted keys. An entry level Yamaha Arius. I'm concerned it isn't going to take DS up the grades as the resistance of the keys, though weighted, simply don't replicate the acoustic he plays in lessons or in his grading and it's always a shock to him.

I'm also one for mental practice. It's often more beneficial than physical. Often when one plays we go into automatic pilot and miss important details on the score.

Is the exam a "Special Visit"? The ABRSM exam session isn't until November.

Also, listen to (good!) recordings of the pieces. Not enough music students listen these days.