To avoid further hijacking of Robodoc's thread about his new piano (where everyone was gasping with shock at some of the things people put on theirs), what's on top of your piano? I'll start...

From left to right: Diploma certificate, metronome, pile of teaching music (sight-reading and aural tests, plus any accompaniments which need learing), pile of learning music (currently the Grade VIII books for pieces, scales and sight-reading, and some Beethoven sonatas), and a few of my business cards.

Over to you!

<-- Junk-free piano!

Two candlesticks!!!!!!!!!

I used to have loads of stuff on it but then thought that it looked messy.

Loads of cards as I have just had my birthday!! metronome and that's it. I freak when anyone puts anything on top as I haven't had it long!!

The old upright doubled as a bookshelf and had a lot of music on it. Also a metronome, several harmonicas and a harmonica holder, several wooden 3d puzzles and a bust of Beethoven.

Today, a little teaching stuff and my diary to one side, some books of musicals on the other. Usually it's six inches deep in music though, one of my [fairly new!] pupils came in this week and came to a sudden halt at the door he was so taken aback by the tidiness...

sight-reading and aural tests, plus any accompaniments which need learing

erm - is that some kind of sideways look? do they curl up and make themselves less daunting? I'll have to try it !

(sorry D - couldn't resist...)

Have just looked at my piano and at the moment all it has on its top is a pair of glasses (I can't see the music very well with my varifocals, so have an old pair with standard lenses to use when playing). I used to keep the metronome on there, but it resonates when certain notes are played, so now it resides on the bookcase next to the piano.

However, I have to admit that part of the reason it's so clear is that the piano tuner came 3 weeks ago, so I cleared the rubbish off it. I tend to stick various piles of mail, Betterware catalogues, etc on it when there's nowhere else to put them!

Umm.... lots of books (2 daughter's piano books... my piano books, random books not used in the last lesson.... a metronome, 2 pots containing my Gr 6 scales - the 'known' and 'not known' pot, a picture of my Dad playing the piano at his last recital and on the wall, a hand drawn picture of Tobias Matthay that my Dad had above the piano when it was at his house, and a picture of my eldest daughter when she was about 2, with my Dad, playing the piano when it was at his house.
I tend to put my cheques on top of the piano when my pupils pay me....

It's a bit of a mess really.... I ought to tidy it up.

The top of my piano is a MESS!!! You can tell how much i've been practicing by how tidy it is. If its got a small and neat pile of music, i haven't been near it, but at the moment its buried under a heap about a foot high and stretching the length of the piano, that causes landslides off the end every time i start playing or need to get a book from somewhere in the middle. I also have a lamp, so i can see what i'm playing, and other random stuff tends to accumulate too (last time i looked there was a bank statement and several easter eggs )

Several books of music, metronome, notebook & pencil. Not too bad, really (but you should see my car - a travelling office!)

start with the cloth that covers the top of the piano

and there are some photos such as my father's photo, my mother's and my family photo

there was a metronome but, it has been back to my grandma

Never mind on top of it - I took out the hammers and have put 10 flutes, 2 oboes, and a clarinet in mine!!

On top there is a wooden indian and a lamp. On the grand there is just a little gold box which contains all of my scales written out on little bits of paper. So every time I practice I take a hand full out at random and practise those.
And on the digital...Nothing

ALCM diploma certificate on wall above, on the piano 6 small plaster busts of composers (Three at each end) , Beethoven Schubert, Wagner, Verdi, Elgar, Debussy, Johann Strauss (II). Metrognome.

Books which I'm in the process of using for teaching, or pieces I would like to learn myself, and the current libretto! I don't like lots of books on my piano, but there is only that one pile so it's not too bad. On the wall above piano I have my Diploma certificate and a few others.

My oboe and reed-making equipment and three reed cases.
A case containing sopranino, descant, treble and tenor recorders.
A flute.
An electronic tuner.
Two metronomes (one electronic and one wind-up).
A pile of music. (When the pile of music touches the frame of the picture on the wall above the piano I know it is time to tidy up ).

I don't have a piano. But if I did it would gather sheet music at an alarming rate, just like every other surface in my room

A couple of photos, a clock, my piano glasses, metronome and then a big wad of music books. I have got a cupboard especially for the piano music , but I tend to use this one foot pile of music each day. However, I expect once I get my new piano, which hopefully will not be too long now, I reckon that I will make sure that I put my music away after every session, but then I don't know how long that will last.

A photo of daughter with Maxim Vengerov (in matching black frame ), two metronomes - and an assortment of piano/violin books

Two very neat, absolutely square-on to the piano, piles of music. One of sight-reading and aural books, one of music I am playing. A music dictionary with a metronome lined up exactly in the middle of it and 3 pencils lying exactly in line with the central hinge. OCD? moi?

"Learing" means it vacillates between writing nonsense poetry and asking its three daughters how much they love him


I still maintain that OCD should be renamed CDO, as that way the letters are in alphabetical order

My pens and pencils live on the bureau to the side of the piano.

Sorry, hijacking my own thread here

I don't have a piano, but I thought I'd reply here rather than over there...

About the chap who slept on top of his piano...

Now, if that were me, I'd lug a matress or airbed under the piano. Then you have a grand four-poster bed and you could build walls (probably from piles of sheet music) and have it as your own little fort.

Now I can tell my husband we can fit a piano in the spare room, visitors will just need to sleep under or on it (all visitors to be weighed; only the light ones get to sleep on it!)

From left to right - I've got an upright:

a biscuit tin, on top of that is a video camera and a cuddly soft toy dog; a magazine rack with some Trinity Guildhall exam stuff, a pack of paracetamol, a toy drum and tambourine, some antibacterial wipes for wiping down the piano keys, a coat hanger, lots of music all higgledy piggledy, a pile of post that hasn't been opened, and a piano lamp. I'd like to redecorate my room but it is so messy and untidy I can't face it.

A cold cup of coffee from last night's teaching - yes, I know you shouldn't, in my defence on top of a book and a coaster and the piano is covered...
Two foot high piles of music.
A doll to watch me practise.
Violin dampit.
Small metronome.

It's a TIP, I'm surprised I can find the piano underneath all the junk!

This is even better! So now I can seriously considered getting a grand...

Strangely enough, I don't have anything on top of my piano at the moment

sheet music (in a mess, really must sort it out), metronome, miscellaneous violin things e.g. rosin, strings, practice notebooks, watch and lots of hairties (I always have them on my wrist and take them off to play).

On my piano - a neat pile of spare music belonging to an adult student, and a less tidy spray of various books of mine currently in use for teaching. . Nothing else.

On my clav - a lamp.

(No - the rest of the room is much less tidy! I have a huge desk with post, diaries and piles of papers, and a smaller drawers-on-wheels unit which has my printer on top and stationery and stuff in the drawers.

(but you didn't want to know that...)

An ugly looking vase thing that I must have once thought was ok, a plastic bloke in a bowler hat with a Sax that plays a tacky tune (my aunt bought it for the girls). A lamp, metronome and pile of sheet music. There's got to be other stuff but I'm not going to check

Metronome
Three grade certificates (the certificate of the most recent grade on each of my instrumensts) in frames
pencil & rubber
Sight reading book (i.e. him book)
festival cups

I used to have nothing on my piano, too proud of the fact I finally own a grand to have anything spoil its looks! But build up to special visit for exams in July means I've been rather busy ... Now have my music (Beethoven sonatas, Bach inventions, and Chopin Nocturnes), aural tests, sight-reading, my son's prep-test music, diary, accompaniment for grade 6 singing exam ...

My old up right piano, which used to be kept clear as a bell when it was my only piano, now has lamp, cello music, and (horror or horrors) a vase of flowers on it! Think I'm due for a tidy up after the exam day!

At the moment just 1 pile of music on the left - usual stuff needed in lessons. The pile on the other end was cleared away for concert last week, and hasn't migrated back yet. Ideally I'd like to have nothing on it - looks supremely tidy then.

However, at the side is a general mess of file for notes about lessons, pens, pencils, rubbers, stickers, metronome....etc.etc. - usual teaching paraphernalia. I have 2 sets of drawers which in theory are for music, but which have a lot of other stuff in them, some of it music orientated, just not piano-wise.

Needs a good clear out. Does anyone ever throw any music away? - I feel a bit as though I'm sinking under music, some of which I'll never use.

A cover to protect the top
Manuscript paper
Miniature glass piano
Music box in shape of guitar
Desk lamp
Metronome
Scented candle
Pile of various pieces for sightreading
Hymn book
Pencil
Rubber
Pen
Post-it notes
Dust

I have an upright piano, on top there is

- a lamp
- a bag of rice, * have one piece magnified and it won't stay still unless the bag is ontop of it *
- Grade book ( and folder and a note book for my music lessons )
- Pencil and Rubber
- Tissues
- 1 book and lots of music paper for sight reading.


I get absolutely annoyed when people put things on top of my piano.. and I thought that was a lot but tis quite neat..

A musical mug, a metronome, an African drum (!), a trophy thing, a teddy bear wearing a jumper promoting 90 years of Kemble, and another musical cup and saucer with a violin-shaped handle!

I remember the musical mug!

I have my lessons on my step-dads piano, and my mum has "normal" things on it such as ornaments, photos (never any dust!!!) etc.

On my Clavinova at home I have:

* A pile of music at each end
*A metronome (wind up)
*Grade 7 pieces/scales/sightreading and aural books
*Grade 8 pieces/scales/sightreading books
*A ring left behind by my tea-cup (yes I know...sorry!)
*Dust
*My cat..

On the wall above I have my
*Dip Mus (Open) cert.
*My Grade 6 Piano Cert
*My Grade 6 Theory Cert
*My Grade 5 singing Cert
*A framed cross stitch picture of Beethoven (which I did myself)

Does it sit there all day ??

No..only when I decide to sit down and practice! I think he's trying to tell me something!

*Where do you get the busts of composers from??*

On my piano I have absolutely nothing, but that's because it's new and no one is allowed to leave anything on it - but the rest of the room horrendous.

Mind you, I do think you should worry about a tidy musician, I'm sure it's not in our nature.

I'm not sure, I had a Beethoven one for years, and he fell and got chipped (on his shoulder), then I think my sister bought me a couple, and the others just arrived gradually. Theyre about 7 or 8 inches high in a white hard plaster.

They always said Beethoven had a chip on his shoulder!!!

I'll have a search for them. Thank you.

Mine's a small upright piano - it serves mainly as a shelf.

Two thirds of it are taken up with hymnbooks, worship books, Taize book, chant books, etc.
At the other end there's a pile of books about composers, with a pencil just in front of it.
The gap in between has an old trumpet standing on its bell.

There's two more pencils resting on the hinge of the lid. Under the lid, there's a pencil next to the treble end of the keyboard and a pad of mini post-it notes next to the bass end.

The dining chair that serves as a piano stool is, remarkably, completely clear. It normally has piles of random (non-piano!) music dumped on it, or a jersey thrown over the back or some other mess accumulating (typically whatever I've taken out of my rucksack when I needed it for something else, or sometimes the rucksack itself, though that normally gets chucked on the floor next to the chair).



Organ actually gets used.

Top has a framed photo of my Grandad (who was nuts about organs and organ music), two small cuddly tigers (used to hold music books open as there are no levers on the music desk), a melody-line edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern Revised (used for keyboard harmony practice) and a copy of Walmisley in d minor.

Music desk usually has a bunch of things open on it (whatever I've been practising lately), but I practised at church last night, so that's all in my organ rucksack still (which isn't the one that gets dumped by the piano).

The ledge at the bass end of the manuals has a full music edition of A&MR (to compare my pathetic attempts with the proper versions). The one at the treble end has a pencil, a theory card and a used mini post-it note saying "CHECK SWELL" which fell off a past list C exam piece which I was playing after a list B piece which ended with the box closed.

Bench has a pile of organ music and books at one end. It also has a lift up lid, and the compartment underneath has various organ music and a few pads of mini post-it notes.

One speaker stack has a 4-way switched extension cable on it, so I can unplug the organ easily (the wall socket is behind the speaker stack), and an ice hockey stick leaning up against it.
The other speaker stack has a pencil sharpener (the sort that has an integral container for the sharpennings) and a small tiger built out of Lego.



I did actually go downstairs to check exactly what was on both!

It's what's UNDER our piano that's the problem! Not to mention what's fallen down the back and is jamming up the sliding window...

It's only a small digital piano, so the most I've been able to cram on top is a mini-audio complex with the speakers teetering on top of it (on the grounds that the CD player sometimes works and it's handy for recording MDs), a box I painted with 4-seasons designs, housing various headsets, earphones, and remotes, an ancient lump of rosin of unknown origin, two Christmas ornaments , two CDs of Grade 8 violin pieces, a propelling pencil, Methode Rose and Beyer music, a Japanese hymnbook for practicing cadences, and my flutes lurking innocently behind the music-stand, where nobody thinks to look!

Hmm, there's a broken lamp there too - not even ours, brought home so that Airman could "fix" it.

And the bottom end of Viohazard's old 3/4 sized guitar case, which nobody seems to want to inherit, and which won't entirely fit in our "ceremonial alcove" (mostly full of very unceremonial guest bedding).

4 box files, 26 ringbinders, a set of 3 little draws, a metronome, a few school books, a grade one certificate in an envolope, about 200 books (some only 2 pages) a little clear glass ramikin filled with little clothes pegs type things for holding books open.

I am a tidy musician - my music room is a thing of beauty - as many forum members can testify!

I'm tidy too - it's my in-house engineering department which is responsible for the messy corners of Valhalla.

Whilst not wishing to compare myself to Carol, there are forummers out there who can testify to this

and what exactly do you mean by that Deborah??!!

ha! that rings bells. Not to mention the in-house IT dept and the in-house sound-system installer...

Let me just clarify that all the forum members who have been in my music room have done so for valid musical reasons

Snap!

Carol, if I compare myself to you, all that will happen is that people will realise how poor a pianist I am - there's no way I can play the accompaniments to the Brahms clarinet sonatas.

<wanders off chastising self for hijacking own thread>

and there I was thinking you might have been questioning my respectability...

I don't have anything on my piano apart from an over the music lamp but I have a harmoniun at the side of the studio that has a box of puppets, some albums of mezzo soprano songs, pencils, a pen, a rubber, a couple of cds and a recorder on the top.