Public Piano

When I was a kid, there was an ice cream parlour with a grand piano in it, and they had a policy that anyone who played a piece could have a free ice cream. So, my piano teacher would organise little field trips where she would take us there and we would play and the nice lady behind the counter would give us free ice cream, and it is a cherished memory from my childhood!

Last year, I tried to recreate that to the best of my ability! We all met at the studio and walked to the nearest public piano. Then each student and teacher played a piece. The piano didn’t play super well, but it was fun to play outdoors! Then we all walked back to the studio and ate ice cream!

Performing in public with strangers walking by feels very different than playing for friends and family! And performing on a piano that isn’t in great condition is good practice for adjusting to the instrument in front of you - especially as pianists, you don’t bring your instrument with you, so you need to learn to adapt and just keep going even if the piano doesn’t respond the way your piano at home does!