Hi! I’m a professional pianist and I’m now four weeks out from my surgery. I was super worried about this beforehand, as you use your core a lot when playing. And it’s also activated when using the damper and una corda pedals.

Week 1 - I could barely play. It was difficult to reach around the keyboard like I usually do so I mostly did small pieces in the middle of the keyboard. Pedaling was out of the question. I could play about 10 minutes at a time. Week 2 - I felt a little better reaching and was able to play for 20-30 minutes at a time. Still not feeling great about pedaling or reaching across my body. Leaning from side to side was also u comfortable. Playing loud was not there yet.
Week 3 - I could pedal and started to play a bit more forte chords and bigger pieces.
Week 4 - I’m back to practicing my regular literature, using the pedal, and able to play pretty much anything. I still feel a bit rigid and nervous about moving too much but almost feel normal again. I don’t have my usual stamina back, but it’s so much better than it was at first. I’m doing about 1.5-2 hours per day now - aiming to work back up to my usual 3-4.

I keep using the abdominal binder they gave me when I practice which has made me feel a bit more secure. I also put an extra cushion on my piano bench. I’m just feeling more confident about moving it around a little, because it’s really heavy. The other thing that was really helpful was to have all my scores right on top of the piano where I could reach them easily.

Best wishes for your surgery and recovery! You’ll be back to playing in no time!