Do you reckon that playing on the piano helpsa us to type faster and vice versa?

I'm sure it helped me when I did a typing course at college. I tested myself online a few months ago and got 76 wpm. The actual button pushing must use the same part of the brain I would have thought.

Not when you try playing chords on the computer keyboard

I would disagree. I'm a really fast typer but can't play piano to save my life!!

I think it makes you sensitive to the amount of weight you need to depress the keys. I love new computer keyboards where you only need the lightest of touches but my (non-piano playing) husband learnt to type on a manual typewriter and he bashes away on the computer keyboard and it very soon loses its lovely bounciness.

I'm a bit of a computer basher if I tell the truth. Nothing is more satisfactory than a good type. (Does this make me a social reject? )

On the other hand, I suppose I'm a bit of a piano basher too

Me too. I think it might be due to spending copious amounts of time on a certain music forum



You're a lovely piano player!

I can touch type and play the piano. Not sure if they're connected though...

If you're bored, how fast can you type the alphabet:
http://www.offthewrist.com/index.jsp?id=ff

I'm not very fast at typing - I'm faster on the piano. I've had several adult pupils who are very good typists, but found the piano quite hard. As one said, you don't have to type chords or legato or dynamics.

Absolutely - I rule at the piano, but I type with 3 fingers

I agree! *nyeh*

What on earth does "nyeh" mean Sarah?

(And you're trying to convince me in that other thread that you're not odd)

7.756!

7.334 - beat you!

Beat you

5.339

I am sure I've done that game before though

When, many years ago, I went on a course to learn how to touch-type, the teacher said the fact that I played the piano and so my fingers were used to working independently was a real bonus.

Now I probably type as well as I play!!

I just tried again & got 6.48 ... I can see this becoming ridiculously addictive ... must force myself to shut down the computer & go to work!

Sort of, "you are a good pianist, so there nyeh!"

Bit like when I say to you you're a good flautist!

PS: 5.435. And I'm a lousy pianist.

6.273 so far.......


Edit: just got 5.932!!!!

No, absolutely not in my case! I had grade 8 piano when I tried to learn to type and attended several classes without success. There was a typing tutor with one of my computers and it helped. I can type more or less properly now - know where the letters are and which fingers to use. Have just typed this without looking at the keyboard. One word was wrong - 'just' again appeared as 'jsut'!!

Sad eh? 5.704!!!! Must go and do something more useful with my time!!!!

I've just got 5.879, exactly the same as someone else I'm chatting to

5.112 - amazing that I type most of it left handed though. But I am a pianist!

EDIT: 5.035

EDIT 2: 4.61, woo, I'm getting faster!

EDIT 3: 4.342

EDIT 4: 4.159 - I really should be getting on with my Physics coursework, but this it too fun...!

~Wobby~

Im stuck at like 7 sec...the main problem im having is remembering the alphabet!

i have quick fingers so..... it works both ways for me

When you say touch type, Trebor, do you mean just that you can type without looking at the keyboard, or is it that you know the appropriate technique in which one knows which key goes with which finger, etc. I guess that's what you're talking about too, noodle?

Actually, I can 'touch-type' in the sense I can type words without looking at the keyboard, but its more of a spatial-awareness-type than anything else: I just know where most of the keys are. However, I don't have a set standard in which a key goes with a particular finger - I just have set patterns in the way I type certain words - as I said before, I actually type mostly with my left hand, and keep my right hand over I,O,P,J,K,L,N,M,[,] and [.] mainly.

In fact, the way I would type 'Hello, how are you?' would be '(L2, L3, R2, R2, R3, R2) [L1: space] (L2, R3, L4) [L1] (L4, L2, L3) [L1] (L2, R3, R2)'*...

*1-5 corresponds from thumb to little finger, whilst L and R correspond to left and right.






Easy way to remember it is to play the song in your head while you're doing the game. By the way, 'h' is an 'aitch', 'z' is a 'zed', yet I'm going to be further more controversial and say that I would type 'a hotel' and not 'an hotel': apparently, you can edit the rule with this depending on pronunciation. Oh yeah, on this game, there are certain patterns of letters you can 'glissando', like from f-h and j-l (actually, I didn't do that though), and some that you can line up your fingers to, like c-e! Just if you want a higher score...

I read somewhere that only 10% (or was it 1%?!) of people can recite the order of the planets correctly (and that's forgetting Pluto: not that that is very hard anyway), and I thought, 'That can't be right: I knew it since high school or so!'. Is it truly something that quite a lot of people don't know, and I'm assuming it's unusual for people not to know it because I know it; or is it obvious, and that particular statistic was on the lines of '99% of all statistics are made up on the spot' statistic? Maybe someone should start a poll to test planet order knowledge out on the musical community (but somehow we'd have to stop people from cheating)!

~Wobby~

Typing does help if you play the piano. When I learnt to type I went night classes with 2 friends, who both gave up as I was far in front of them, due to being a pianist. I have to admit though, our night class was on the old fashioned typewriter with carbon ribbons and you need(They both have admitted since that they thought they were rubbish - if only they had realized at the time, I had the advantage through piano playinge. My 2 friends couldn't use their little fingers to press the keys - obviously before the days of electronic typewriters, word processors and computers. I am normally a fast typist, but tonight, due to a very stressful day, I've had that one exra glass of wine and so my speeds only came up to 9.0. Am going to try again tomorrow (before the wine comes out). In all seriousness though, I think that if you are a good music reader and play the piano by feel, then once you learn the qwerty keyboard (where each letter is) then you tend to type with feeling for the keys - known as 'touch typing.'

I can't stop laughing!! ;-D
I think I do agree.
I play piano and I can type very fast..I guess.
However, I have quite a lot of finger strength,
hence I tend to type "harder" and louder than average people.

Both. I learnt when I was 11/12ish from a CD. It's been reasonably useful.

And (just to show off), my best for the alphabet is 2.079.

Edit: Yay, sub 2 seconds (1.967). I can go do other stuff now...

Ah, ok that's cool - I never learned a proper technique to typing, but my typing speed is sufficiently fast, so I don't mind - and I guess I've probably engrained my own way of typing so much now that it is unlikely that I'd be able to replace it with the standard technique...

But, I've got to say, 1.967 seconds is pretty impressive! That's 13.22 keys per second! Or 13.22Hz theoretically!

~Wobby~

Awesome word

I can type relitavely fast without looking at the keyboard too much now, but I can't touch type using the proper technique.

I can touch type because I used a program to teach myself. I haven't the faintest whether the piano has an influence on it...

Same. I (for some reason) can type faster with a laptop keyboard. You don't have to press so hard. And with the alphabet thing, i got 5.something which i thought was good..until i saw Wobby etcs....but each time i press a wrong note (sorry!) key i automatically press backspace!

It was 8+ seconds the first time because I wasn't so sure about the starting time and all. The 2nd time I did it was 5.762s. Whee. I'm not that good a pianist and I've never learnt how to touch type.

Whee

9.4.... although I'm a pianist I can't type to save my life

I « learnt »to touch type years ago, on a “querty” keyboard.” Playing the piano certainly helped because my fingers were more agile than those of the rest of the Pitman’s class I was in. I still use the right fingering (which is more than I can say for my piano playing) but I cheat by sometimes looking at the keys.

Now I live in France and have to use an “azerty” keyboard. Old habits die hard and my “a’s” are more likely to be “q’s” and I don’t know my “w’s” from my “z’s”. I can tell you it’s worse than difficult modulations or having to use fixed solfa names instead of ABC. – which is another weird French habit.

(Off topic but I shall off line this evening sweating it out in front of the TV over the French Presidential election resul )

You can turn your computer keyboard from “azerty” to “querty” but then you’d have to stick little labels on the keys like I do on the xylophones in school!

My brother (who is a computer swank) has just emailed me to say that he has a program which makes your computer keyboard sound like an old typewriter. Didn’t Anthony Hopkins write a short opera in which there was a part for soprano and typewriter? Rings a vague bell somewhere.

I am exactly the same as you (learnt to touch type on a querty, now touch type on an azerty). I don't really have any problems with the azerty any more, except occasionally with the full stop which you can only get on upper case. My problems come when I go back to the UK and try and do research in libraries. The catalogues always tell me they have nothing on "Qustrqliq".

I had a similar problem moving between Russian and English keyboards! I only was in Russia a year, but we used them in uni too.

There are two layouts for Russian keyboards - one which is the classic Russian, as qwerty is the classic English one, one which puts the Russian letters on equivalent English letters, ie on or near one that sounds or looks the same.

The transliterating one is obviously much more intuitive for someone used to typing on a qwerty keyboard, but I spent quite a lot of time getting used to the classic Russian layout, and also when I am typing on a transliterating keyboard sometimes I will go for the letter as I see it in my head, rather than what it sounds like. So if I want to write the N sound it should be really obvious as it's on the N key. But N in Russian looks like a little capital H and so half the time my finger dives for the H key instead......



I'm rather glad I don't have too much occasion to type in Russian any more!

On Alphabet Thing:

First try: Around 8/9?
With Practice: 3.791


Edit: New Record: 3.451. This is addictive.
Edit 2: 3.053.

I have to admit being a pianist did allow me to approach this with a methodical nature I might not have done otherwise. [Doing it slowly, grouping keys together trying to alternate between hands.]

Edit3: 2.835

2.794

2.516

2.272 Oh god.

2.269. I think I've peaked.

2.126. Gosh darn it I need to stop.

Go wash your mouth with soap!!!

No-respect-have-you-ly,
GC

Are you jealous of my low time? Be honest.

GC is offended by your irresponsible use of a certain word in your post.

directing-ly,
GC

Shame on you Jaunty Angle. Go to cusser's corner and wait there until you are allowed to play again.

I did 3.19 seconds. Then again, I could script it like most of the script monkeys who are top of the list at 1.01 LOL

I'm afraid "Christ" is just another expletive to me now, I suppose the upside for you is I'm going to h3ll.

Edit: This forum censors "h3ll" ? 3=e.

I'm afraid I may have to PM the mods and let them rule on the appropriateness or otherwise of your chosen expletive for the forum.

Seeking-arbitration-ly,
GC

I'm sorry you feel the need to do that.

Perhaps you need to read the forum rules... at the top of the page there is a snapshot.

Daftness and defiance make extremely repugnant progeny of the most unwelcome sort.

Rebuffing-ly,
GC