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I was practicing really well with a great new teacher but even though I’m triple vacced I think I still caught the virus and my body has been going crazy.
I’m hoping to start again tomorrow. For a week I couldn’t even think of going near the piano. I really hope lessons don’t return to zoom again,I really don’t like that form of learning.

Yes. It has been stressful.

Yes, my progress has slowed significantly due to lack of motivation since the beginning of the pandemic.

My daily schedule is rather unorganized. I still practice music and go for group piano lessons every week. Since I'm spending more time at home, practice time can be early in the morning, afternoon, evening or very late at night into the early hours of the next day. I'm not exactly a night owl. Some days I'd be in bed early after dinner while other days I'd stay up all night.

Progress is about the same as before the pandemic lockdown. I'd be working on 1 - 3 pieces at a time. The days when my energy level is way down, I'd practice for an hour and stick to the piece I know well. Other days I'd put in more time and work on the newer piece.

After 2 years we anticipated the C-19 virus would be under control and the world start to reopen. Along came the latest variant before the holidays forcing some countries into lockdown again. Not a lot we can do but get vaccinated regularly and be patient.

I also adopted a puppy in July 2021, so that has changed my ability to focus.

We spent less days visiting friends and family, or strolling through Stockholm and having coffee in a cafe, so I have a bit more time for practising, but otherwise the pandemic hasn't changed much.

An understatement. I am okay to share that I was already dealing with mental health issues, burnout and delayed grieving…the pandemic took me into a tail spin..and only this year, am I starting to see light and yes, professional help is essential and for that I am grateful.

Piano lessons turned towards zoom, and it is my preferred choice. Focus was tough , but playing the piano calms me down. I did pass 3 exams, which surprised me. I am allowing myself grace if I take some days away from piano. Pandemic was a curse and a blessing. I discovered new art projects that I wouldn’t have had the time to look into. Looking ahead, I am looking for balance, not intensity.

The pandemic affected other activities in my life but not the piano. I had piano lessons with zoom and I continued to practice every day.

As my day (& night) job is in the front line, I was trying to stay safe (not to mention stayin' alive - sounds like a song ), and quite often, would be utterly exhausted mentally if not physically when I managed to get home. Piano would then be a means of taking my mind off what I'd seen and been through that day, so learning difficult new rep went out of the window, and just playing through stuff I already know and love took over almost completely for most of the last year, and the early part of this year.

I really only started to feel somewhat 'safe' when I got my vaccinations (and obviously, I was in the priority group to get them). How I managed not to get infected at all until then seems like a minor miracle.....and while I'm indulging in pensive rumination, how lucky we are that this is 2021, not 1918, and that science was able to come to our rescue so rapidly.

And my monthly recitals of course were also cancelled, so there was no real need for me to learn anything new to perform. Instead, I spent most of my time at the piano playing through some of the stuff I hadn't played for a long time (not since I was a teenager, in fact) - almost sight-reading them, because many were completely forgotten scores. As well as actual sight-reading of pieces I'd never heard or played before, from various sources like Pianist Magazine. Some people might be surprised that my idea of playing music that would take my mind off the stresses of my job is not slow gentle 'relaxing' pieces, but fast & furious stuff with lots of notes which keep all my fingers busy, which is also the kind of pieces I like to perform (though I do usually throw in one or two slower, gentler pieces in each recital, of course ). It's only when I'm warm and sweaty from my workout at the piano that I feel ready to wind down and get ready for bed.

Through many of those dark days, piano was like my lifeline to sanity, and avoidance of burnout.......

For much of last year the local conservatory got students on Zoom. Since September the administration allows in-person lessons for people with proof of vaccination with the Zoom option available. Local schools will be going back to Zoom / online learning in January. Still waiting to hear if the conservatory is going to lockdown in January meaning all the students will be on Zoom.

Local stores are open but limit the # inside. Some popular stores have lineups outside. Younger people still find a reason to go out everyday even to a coffee shop. Seniors tend to stay home due to mobility and health reasons.

As what would be called a senior, I don’t stay home for mobility or health issues, but because of soaring Covid-19 infection rates and more transferability than with past variants. My friends feel the same.