Tag Archives: Pianos I have played

Second thoughts about a new job, new friends, new town

It will be different this time, she told herself. You are going to a town with a bit of culture – a few events. Oh, not the big time mega concerts found in Denver or Dallas or Salt Lake City, no. But there will be theater and art and live music at all the dining venues and once or twice a year a symphony will come through. First, it would be advantageous to find a job. A fun job. A job that incorporated all the things she loved to do. So she made a list: Visit train and check on job. Visit music stores as soon as possible. Go to all musical and theater events now playing in the area and make yourself known and useful. Make friends. Find people with similar tastes. Accordingly, she opened a bank account the first time she was in town and listened carefully to the advice and connections of the friendly banker. She left with a check register and a list of all the non-profits supporting music and the arts. Shakespearean theater was on the bill for that weekend, but tickets were sold out. Good sign. The second time she was in town, she went to a saloon and acquainted herself with the music of a top-notch turn of the century old-timey champion piano player and resolved to hone her chops.

Adam Swanson, Old-Time Piano Champion, entertains at the Diamond Belle
Adam Swanson, Old-Time Piano Champion, entertains at the Diamond Belle

The third time she availed herself of a Choral Society concert. By then, people were no longer shaking hands. By the time she settled the following week, concerts were being cancelled right and left and public quarantine was in effect. The library closed. Dining venues offered take-out only. Oh well, at least she is more accustomed to being alone than most people. She still sees folks on the hiking trails, they wave, they keep their distance. She smiles. She goes home to her piano. Open window piano music, anyone? And please maintain a 10-foot personal space distance on the patio.

Ten feet puts you outside the window
Ten feet puts you outside the window

At a Public Piano in Moab: The one that got away

In the end, even the most introverted of us long for connection. True connection is rare. It is fleeting. You want it to go on forever. You may yearn for a lifetime commitment of feeling connected, but it is often only a glance – perhaps a moment – or three or four minutes – or a well turned phrase – a pun between strangers – a single dance in the ballroom of life – a bit of music and harmony.

I scheduled a stop in Moab – intentionally – to play the public piano my friend said was installed outside the MIC. Incredibly there was a vacant parking space not 30 feet from the piano. I shouldered by backpack purse, locked the car, proceeded to the bench, which was securely chained to the console, and took a practice run of the keys. The g” was totally stuck – not good for a piano girl who chronically plays in the key of “C”. A bit out of tune. Tinny. But public pianos are ideal for making lemonade out of lemons. I dropped into Mandolin Rain, taking full use of the multiple, unsynchronized strings to tremolo the octaves. On the berm directly in front of me, a mom and a few children in a playgroup looked up momentarily and then the kids returned immediately to rolling in the grass. 50 yards away a middle-aged man lounging on the lawn readjusted his position. Three coeds walking on the sidewalk started circus strutting and giggling to the music. I realized I must be giving it a bit too much swing, so I pulled it down to mellow for the next selection and went with Roger Whittaker’s Last Farewell, dwelling in the lower range. It was a rather lazy, sunny afternoon, about 3:00 pm on November 8th and time for me to be moving on down Highway 128 for Grand Junction so I launched Unchained Melody as a finale.

From my peripherals a tall blond woman about my age approached. She began dancing and vocalizing in the manner of Maria getting lost in the Sound of Music. For a moment I tried to follow her as she seemed to be channeling Whitney Houston and I Will Always Love You, but she was really extemporizing about her love of the canyons. “Just play whatever you want,” she said, “and I’ll sing.” For the next three minutes I improvised and she extemporized. We took a musical safari over red sandstone and rivers and mountains all buttressed and cross-bedded with I, and IV, and V and vi and runs and passing tones and flourishes. It was Moab and it was magical. She sustained a high note. I followed her up the scale and made a grand pause. Waiting, waiting, for the perfect moment of her breath. Glissando. Final chord. Cut-off. I popped off the piano bench and high-fived her. We introduced ourselves. She is Sharon. I am Cherry. Obviously same generation. Shared love of music and hiking in the great outdoors.

She mentioned a video contest was underway for this public piano and asked if I would film her. I took up her phone. She sat at the bench and vocalized once again, accompanying herself with a few basic chords. “That will be a winner,” she said. For her sake, I hope it is.

But I will always savor the memory of the video that got away – two strangers spontaneously improvising in perfect synchrony in their love of musical expression and Nature at a public piano in Moab.

The public piano at the MIC - The Red Pearl upper right
The public piano at the MIC – The Red Pearl upper right

 

 

Sharon from Montana at Public Piano in Moab
Sharon from Montana at Public Piano in Moab