I posted this at PW's Piano Forum, but I hope y'all don't mind if I post it here too. If you're bored with football, give it a read.

The problem with owning a well-maintained piano...

... is it makes it a lot harder to play poorly-maintained ones! :P

The alternative thread title for this is: Recital report.

So, I tend to get the shaky-hands whenever I play for other people. I've always been this way, and over the years I've learned a lot about it and developed some techniques that help me minimize it and most of the time, I don't train-wreck when performing. (Note I said most of the time...)

I attend a yearly music party at the home of some dear friends. This year's music party was about 2 weeks ago. The husband plays classical guitar, they don't play piano but they have an old grand piano. They do not take very good care of their piano (although I don't think they realize that). The party is always massive, this year there were over 30 people there, over half are musicians who will play during the party. And about half of those who play are professional musicians to boot. The piano is in a sort of long room that's on the narrow side, so the audience stretches out behind the tail on one side and behind the keyboard on the other. The curved side of the piano, which would normally be where the audience goes, only has enough space to accommodate accompanists.

So, the party is always packed and I always ask to play early in the program because the longer I wait, the shakier I get. Plus, I don't like to play after the music teachers and professional-level musicians.

My violin friend and I planned to play two pieces (we've performed them a few times already, and recorded them, and are very comfortable with both pieces).

However, this year, the host decided he was going to have people play in a totally random order, and stuck us dead in the middle of the 2.5 hour long program, right after some of the pros.

So, our turn comes up, the first piece starts with a pick-up note in the RH, the D next to middle C. The left hand comes in next with an arpeggio that starts at D2 (two octaves below middle C), and that creates a theme that continues through the whole piece.

Well, I play the opening measures, and then when my left hand goes back down to that D2, I realize that the key never returned after I played it, it's stuck down. So, besides the fact that I'm already shaky, this really throws me and my hands really start to shake. I try to continue playing, but that note is one of the most important notes in the whole piece and it is totally throwing me off, not only because it won't sound, but because my hand keeps going down there automatically.....

There two other problems with this piano that I always know to expect, but can never adjust to in the middle of a performance situation. The first is that the piano sounds so out of tune that I always have an out-of-body experience because the tactile information and the visual information (where my hands are in physical space on the keyboard) does not match the sounds I'm making. So I always feel like I'm playing wrong notes, even though I'm not.

The second problem is that the piano shakes. I know that some other pianos do as well, but I don't understand why this one seems to wobbly. It is definitely the worst, shakiest piano I've ever encountered. So that makes me, already shaking, more shaky.

So these two problems (out of tune-ness and wobbliness) were on full display this time, when a new problem arose. They have a small desktop lamp on the side of the music desk which was turned on. I don't know if it wasn't plugged in properly or what, but as the piano was swaying and shaking (under the force of my not-very intense playing), the lamp started to turn on and off.

So here I am, D2 will not return, the piano feels like it's going to collapse, and the light is going on and off like there's a poltergeist in the house.

Somehow, though, I made it through and kept things together (and as long I do that, my violin friend always plays nicely).

So the first piece ended. One of the other guests reaches over and wiggles D2. Ahh, so everyone saw it (and they were all stifling their laughter!) Actually that did make me feel a little better, at least everyone on that side of the room knew what I was contending with!

At this point, we need to start our next piece. For this piece, the trick is I need to not start off too fast. And the tempo is all on me, I play for 8 measures before the violin comes in.

But rather than clearing my head from the last piece and setting the tempo, I was furiously thinking through the music and trying to remember whether I need D2 at all in that piece. Remember, at this point, I am totally disoriented because of the swaying piano and the distorted visual/aural information. I could not get in my head whether I needed that key or not!

Finally I figure out that I don't (hurray!) but now I'm feeling like we're taking too long to start our piece (boo!) and remember this is a huge party so I don't want to slow things down because there's a ton or performers waiting to play after us.

So I start the piece at a clip, about 3 times as fast as we have ever played it. Because of course I did. Oh my. I should have just stopped and started again, but while I was trying to decide whether or not to do just that, the violin comes in. Too late!

So I shake my head and resolve to continue on. Except, something odd happens. The piano is shaking and swaying, and my hands are shaking like a magnitude 10 earthquake, and I've just shaken my head. Well, now I cannot stop shaking my head. And we're playing about as fast as I have ever played in my entire life.

I realize that if I stop shaking my head, I will probably be unable to keep up and my hands will fall out. So I just keep shaking my head back and forth, sort of in time with the insane clip of the tempo I've set for us. So there we are, playing like a speeding rocket, and here I should add that violin friend is keeping up with me because she's a superhero.

And oh my, it's working, it's going well. I'm shaking, my hands are shaking, my head is shaking, the d*mn piano is shaking, the light is turning on and off. But we're playing through it, the music is moving forward. Way too fast, but forward. We're going to pull it off! We are pulling it off!!

Until suddenly we aren't. My mind goes completely blank. I have no idea where we are in the music. And wouldn't you know it, we don't have rehearsal marks written in this piece. So I whisper (although, we're surrounded by people close enough to reach out and touch us, so everyone can hear),
me: "where are we?"
her: "it's your part"
me: "it's all my piano, the piano has no rests."
her: "it's almost at the end"
me: "I don't know how to end it.
her: "just pick a spot"
me: "it's never going to end is it? this is never going to end."
(everyone in the entire house is now quietly but hysterically laughing btw)
me: "start at measure 137"
her: (counting frantically b/c although measure 136 is marked on my music, it's not marked on the violin part)
Us: jump back in at 137, at the same insane pace, 40 measures later and we're done!

We never played it that fast before, and I hope we never play it that fast again. You might not be surprised to hear that lately I've been thinking that some day I may decide not to play at this dang piano party, I always struggle to play that instrument but this year was by far the worst.

For comparison, we played for friends at my house yesterday, on my piano. On my recently regulated, nicely tuned, lovingly maintained, solid and not wobbly Yamaha C2. And wouldn't you know, it went pretty well.

Yesterday I played one solo piece, and we played the same two violin-piano pieces again, perfectly fine performance, nice tempo, neither myself nor the piano were shaking, and a lovely time was had by all.

The moral of the story: when you own a really nice, well-maintained piano, it may be somewhat challenging to play a wobbly poltergeist-possessed out-of-tune piano....

Alternative-alternative thread title: I really do play better at home.

Yesterday, no wobbles.

I've always been impressed with the ability of some professionals to adapt to a piano.

When I worked at the high school, Awadagin Pratt came for an early morning recital/interview using the choir room. Instead of the well-prepped 7' Baldwin SF we had on stage, he was to play on the well-worn (but at least in tune!) 6' Baldwin. He didn't have any time to play the piano before he arrived, and it was so interesting to me to hear him change how he played to get more out of the instrument as he worked through the first piece!

I guess the only thing I could suggest would be to try to get some time alone with the piano a day or so ahead and play in a non-stress environment before performing??

Maybe you could tactfully suggest to the host that if they are going to continue hosting yearly 2.5 hour long concerts with professional level musicians, they may want to consider putting some money into at least tuning the thing and making the keys not stick. Oooof.

quote:

I've always been impressed with the ability of some professionals to adapt to a piano.

Ron, same here! I know there are multiple ways that people describe the differences between pros and amateurs, but one of them definitely has to do with the degree of cognitive burden that the activity places on the person. When I'm playing, the cognitive burden is such that I don't have left over resources to attend to other details, or problem-solve things that are coming up as I play. And when performing, the extra burden of nerves magnifies everything and probably maxes out all of my pianistic cognitive resources. I can't focus my awareness on anything else.

I compare that to when I'm teaching or giving a research presentation, IOW activities where I am "performing" in front of others but I am also the pro. First of all, I have tons of cognitive resources left over. I can be paying attention to the clock, to where I am in the room (so I can move around without bumping into things). I am gauging the level of understanding of the "audience" ... I'm thinking ahead in my presentation... I can also make note of the room, any problems that may arise, unexpected noises and so on, and make any changes/adjustments needed as I go, all without losing my train of thought etc.

When I'm playing piano, I don't have any left over cognitive resources! It's so interesting to think about it that way.

BTW,

quote:

try to get some time alone with the piano a day or so ahead

Ron, this is really hard, for this family, when they do these music parties, their daughter and her family (their grandchildren) come for the weekend, so the house is already full well before the party even starts. And I wouldn't want to impose by asking to show up several days in advance to practice...

The other thing is, that idea sounds so "diva-ish" ... like, I'm not that good of a musician to be so demanding! Which is funny, because it is actually the fact that I am not that good of a musician that means I need that very sort of activity.

Lisa,

quote:

Maybe you could tactfully suggest to the host that if they are going to continue hosting yearly 2.5 hour long concerts with professional level musicians, they may want to consider putting some money into at least tuning the thing and making the keys not stick.

Yeah, you know, I keep waiting for them to realize this! The problem, I think, is that they are much older, and the wife doesn't play any instruments. But the husband, who does play (classical guitar), is getting rather hard of hearing and he's a little forgetful. So one, I don't think he can hear how really bad it is. And two, I think he forgets that he needs to deal with the piano tuning.

I did once ask who their tuner is, and wouldn't you know, he's a guy I used once who was so bad that I never used him again! So last year, I gave the husband contact info for another tuner who I was using at the time, he is better but not super pricy, and then I also gave contact info for the person who is now my tuner because he is really, really good (he's the one who did my regulation and voicing). But I doubt they contacted either of these tuners.

Oh, also it's just not a very good piano. It's maybe 5... well, I'm not sure how long it is, but my grand (5'8") is definitely bigger.

No, wait, I forgot the real problem (at least in my estimation). It's hard to explain, but they have one of those double sided fire places, and basically the piano is right in front of that (OMG, I know). And it's a regular wood-burning fireplace, and they use it all winter long (even when it's not that cold). I think they make of point of using it whenever they entertain (because they think it makes for a nice atmosphere, I don't know). Anyway, whenever we go there in fall or winter, I always choose my clothing carefully because I know we will go home smelling like a wood fire! Bu the point is, the temperature fluctuates very dramatically in there, and when the fire is burning, it also gets super dried out. It's a pianist's nightmare, really!

So, to get back to your suggestion, I did try to mention the piano tuner thing once, but at this point I kind of feel like it's a lost cause unless I want to be really blunt, which I don't!

In the end though, these "trainwreck" performances end up being very enlightening for me, and I do think it is helpful in terms of slowing getting better at performing. Believe it or not!

Does your school have "practice room row"?

Perhaps you could scout around for the worst pianos on campus to go spend some time playing before you are going to perform somewhere? It might give you more time with challenging pianos to practice that skill?

quote:

"practice room row"

We do, actually! This is a really good idea, because one of the problems I had was just feeling totally disoriented, between the shaking and then feeling like my hands were in the wrong place on the keyboard when they weren't, it was just the sound was so off.

Our university pianos, unfortunately, would probably be perfect for that! :P

My tuner likes to rant about how terrible it is that our university doesn't take care of its pianos. He takes care of the pianos at a nearby private college, but he says my uni takes the lowest bidder rather than prioritizing quality. And it shows in the pianos.

OTOH, the pianos he takes care of at the private college are always really well-regarded....

Your story made me laugh and cry! Glad you made it through.

SK,
If you play the university pianos be sure to take a shaky light.
I think you were the hero of the day and most of the people laughing realized that.

quote:

And it's a regular wood-burning fireplace, and they use it all winter long (even when it's not that cold). I think they make of point of using it whenever they entertain (because they think it makes for a nice atmosphere, I don't know). Anyway, whenever we go there in fall or winter, I always choose my clothing carefully because I know we will go home smelling like a wood fire! Bu the point is, the temperature fluctuates very dramatically in

These people are a lost cause!

You should start hosting your own piano parties.

I like Ron's idea of playing the school pianos. It should help in future.

Sounds like the party is a blast though, and you wouldn't want to miss it. Kudos for powering through the hilarious challenges!

quote:

If you play the university pianos be sure to take a shaky light.

piqué

quote:

These people are a lost cause!

And:

quote:

Sounds like the party is a blast though, and you wouldn't want to miss it.

Yes on both accounts!! I have met other musicians thanks to this party, and it was actually one of those meetings that first got me the opportunity to play with someone else (a cellist, who sadly moved away), which taught me that that's a thing I can do, and led me to my current violin-partner. So the connections I make at this annual party make it all worthwhile.

And I do dearly love the couple who are the hosts, and wouldn't dream of risking offending them.

quote:

You should start hosting your own piano parties.

I already am, although mine are much smaller! The photo above is from our Saturday party, we had 8 guests.

Since I got my new(to me) grand piano, well actually since I had it regulated, we have been entertaining a lot more and I've played for others probably at the pace of about once a month! It's really wonderful!

That's terrific!