Have You Ever Played a Forbidden Piano?

[Mr. Nightime]

One evening when Cheryl was in the hospital, in the ICU. I needed to just get some healing time. It was the middle of the night, and the hospital had a Yamaha baby grand with the MIDI module on it up on the second floor. Perfect shape, perfect tune. They would use it during the day to supply the soothing music for the Heart Center lobby.

 

I looked at it, and the keys were exposed, so I sat down and just started playing. One of Cheryl's favorite songs is "Over the Rainbow", so I played that song. I'm in the middle of the song, when I see a security guard coming my way. I thought I was going to get in trouble for playing this forbidden piano. I figured, whatever, and continued playing, finishing the song.

 

The guard looked at me, smiled, and said, "sounds really good", then walked away. Just what I needed at the time.

 

Quite a few years ago, the band I was in did a tour of Germany, Holland, and Belgium for the US Department of Defense. Like a USO tour, paid for by the DoD

 

We went on a tour of the castle in Heidelberg, and the tour guide found out I was a keyboardist, and set out in search of the keys to get me into the Organ room to play their pipe organ. He did not have any success, but a couple days later we were in Prum Eifel Germany. Across the square where we stayed for a couple days was a beautiful church. It had a Baroque era pipe organ. Our tour coordinator was a local legend opera tenor, and got us a tour of the church, and the organ. The church organist was there, and played, then invited me to play.

 

I am definitely NOT a classical player, and this was not the type of instrument that you just play a few blues licks on, so I just improvised something. After ward, the tour coordinator asked me who wrote that piece I had just played. His jaw almost hit the floor when I told him that I had, on the spot.

 

Those 2 events will always stick out in my mind as important examples of not shying away just because something has been deemed "Forbidden".

[Synthoid]

Back in the 80's, I worked for a commercial photographic studio and we were often invited to special events held by the Chamber of Commerce. Some were quite "hoity toity."

 

I remember one or two being at the Hotel DuPont, another was a short cruise on the river... and one in particular was held at a local DuPont estate which had been turned into a museum (Hagley Museum). Anyway, this event at the estate was held inside a restored stone "barn." It had a spiral staircase in the foyer with a baby grand piano sitting there. Our group had to wait there for a few minutes, so I sat down and started playing the piano. A few business associates came over to listen. Unfortunately my repertoire wasn't very extensive but it was fun noodling around for awhile.

 

 

 

[Moonglow]

Several years ago I was at a reception in a hotel room after attending a government-sponsored contractor training in Indianapolis. Folks were heavily consuming alcohol, including the counselors and director who conducted the training. They knew I played, but no piano, so a couple of the drunken counselors stole this rather seasoned spinet piano (Im not sure from where) and wheeled it down the hallway and into the room. After those extensive efforts, I really had no choice but to play...

[RandyFF]

Some years ago I was a regular dancer at what's called 'Contact Improv'. It's a very unusual and even revolutionary type of dancing insofar as you're always touching the other person, and there's no set moves, you make it up on the spot with your partner, so you're always 'listening'. The end result is you're slippy sliding around each other, even on the ground, doing lifts, etc. Done well, it's the kind of thing you've seen acrobats do with each other, quite exhilirating. You'd think it'd be sensual, but surprisingly it's more electric than sexy if you follow me.

 

Anyway, with Contact Improv it's often/usually done WITHOUT music, because most music, esp dance music, has beats that you're entrained to follow, and because you're making up this dance on the spot with your partner, listening intently with your body to their moves, you don't want to have to be in sync with an external beat. So when I'd go to a Contact Improv dance jam, and there was an old upright there, I knew it was a 'forbidden piano', but wanted to play it anyway.

 

Turns out that I instinctively knew how to play with/for this crowd. Turning my head so I could follow the dancers on the floor, I would play tinkly New Age style improv keys, with cascading runs that slowed and sped up like a babbling brook. I LOVED playing for such an audience, they were so responsive, I've always been good at tuning into group energy, and this was a perfect place to do that and play piano. I was asked to play at a special session, like a mini workshop, with more dancing of this type.