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The November 2025 Piano Slump

Send help. Roland Nicholas (my piano) and I are in counseling, and the piano isn’t speaking to me.

Well, not exactly ...

For the entire month of November, my faithful Roland sat in the corner like a dusty houseplant. Total practice time for the month? A pathetic 11 hours. I probably spent at least as many hours scrolling X. What happened?

I Re-discovered Muscles

A couple of months ago, I learned that my club's volleyball coaches would have a full-day training session in early November, and that we would be doing some of the drills. Ack! After years of a desk job + 1-2 hours of piano daily + a car accident September, I knew I needed to get back in shape! So I started the daily workouts. Fantastic for glutes, great for triceps, terrible for Chopin and ragtime. The workouts pretty much replaced my piano-practice sessions for a few weeks.

A Busy Month for Coaching

Early November was a whirlwind of middle-school volleyball clinics, subbing for sick coaches, and the full-day training where I miraculously didn't embarrass myself. (Proof below--I'm even smiling in the photo from that morning!)

The Chiropractor (My New Best Friend)

Twice a week, I've been trading 60-90 minutes for Dr. Brett to adjust my spine and neck. (Thankfully, it's all being paid for by the insurance company of the guy who plowed into us.) It's been hugely helpful ... but the sessions leave me so wiped out that "piano" gets mentally filed under "maybe later."

GG Two, Piano Zero.

In November, I took two separate trips to visit GG (my mom) in North Carolina: one earlier this month, and one for Thanksgiving. So, no piano on those days.

Oh, and a New Side Hobby: Mental Math

Yep. you read that right. I recently started a mental-math course because apparently I like to torture myself in multiple disciplines. Nothing says “relaxing evening” like silently screaming because 47 × 23 refuses to compute without a calculator. My brain has been building muscle ... just not at the keyboard.

Liebestraum Finished Me

I can finally play the Liszt pretty well, but a year of struggling to master it left me exhausted with the whole idea of playing piano. Maybe it's good that all of these other things got in the way, because I think I secretly needed the break.

The Comeback (Sort Of)

The few times this month that I did sit down at the piano, everything felt like starting from zero. But there's good news: This past weekend I practiced both days, and my fingers remembered everything. It's like my brain was practicing while I dozed. My Chopin waltz (Op. posth. B.150) sounds beautiful, and Liebestraum is barely worse for the wear. “Silent Night Rhumba” is still giving me fits with the syncopation, but it does sound markedly better than three weeks ago. Even “You Are My Sunshine Rag” (my dorky love child) is starting to sound smooth.

December: Back To It!

Here are my December goals:

  • Revisit my maintenance pieces (again).
  • Resurrect “Jingle Bells Rag” from the dead, at least in time for Christmas.
  • Finish “Silent Night Rhumba” ... also in time for Christmas.  
  • Keep working out without completely sacrificing piano.
  • Play the Chopin waltz for an audience.
  • Film some videos so my readers know I’m not just making this up.

Will I succeed? Stay tuned. Roland Nicholas and I are in the “let’s give this another shot” phase. Who else had a practice slump this month? Tell me I’m not alone in the comments! (Misery loves company, and apparently so does Roland!)

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