Sing for Hope Pianos: Day 11

Hi there! It is Sunday, June 23rd, and I'm going to reflect on Day 11 of the 2013 Sing for Hope Pianos. I didn't write anything on my iPod Touch while I was on my journey that day, so this is all from memory. (Okay, okay, I might borrow some thoughts & impressions from my Facebook photo album!)

Piano #34: Marcus Garvey Park. After working hard, I got to end work early and start playing hard. I took the 1 train to 96th Street and transferred to the 2/3 express train to 125th Street. I walked a little ways to Marcus Garvey Park, approaching it from the north. The piano was easy to spot once I arrived at the entrance. Unfortunately, a sanitation department truck was parked nearby, so the smell wasn't pleasant, but I didn't let that stop me from playing the piano, which was covered by its tarp and locked. Another perk of being a Piano Buddy: If a piano is locked, you can unlock it yourself because you know the code. :)

As I was opening the piano, a man walking in the park shouted, "Hey!" All I had to do was turn around and smile at him, and he kept walking. After all, it was art for all, and the park is a public place. The sustain pedal on the piano wasn't working, but the keys were okay, so I played my core trio. During my first song, a small group of people gathered around to listen for a little bit, and I overheard a man saying that there was supposed to be a sign-up sheet at the piano to play it. I'd never heard of such a policy, and I'm glad there wasn't one. He left with his companions before I could speak to him. During my second song, "Arithmetic," a group of girls walked behind me and one of them said, "I love this song!" I don't think she meant that she knew the song, but she liked the sound and the rhythm, and when I turned around, we exchanged smiles and she danced to the music as she walked along with her friends. During my third song, I noticed there was a man on a bench listening to me, and he was also on his cell phone. He walked up to the piano and held up the phone so the person on the other end could listen. Ah, my first "cellcert" (cell phone concert)! That was fun. When I got up, I closed the lid and put the tarp back on. Another man told me he was listening to me, and I forgot what he said exactly, but it was complimentary in nature.

Locked but not a problem!

Wanted to get more of the park from this angle.

Piano #35: Thomas Jefferson Park. After walking a few more avenues, I took the downtown 6 train one stop to 116th and then had to do even more walking. Haha, I know it's easy for Manhattanites to complain about traveling to the outer boroughs, but sometimes, it's also quite a trek to travel to places on the east side of Manhattan! In my planning, I had determined that taking the bus would have been pointless, but on that hot day, I was wishing for less walking. I eventually made my way to the park and the tarp was covering the piano. The lid was open (like the piano in my neighborhood, it couldn't close shut). The keys were in bad shape, so I only played the chromatic scale. I took several pictures and got chills reading all the quotes on the left panel. While I was taking pictures, a man sat down to play, and he seemed not at all bothered by the keys that couldn't be played. He was still playing when I left a few minutes later. A woman walking her dog commented that she was happy to see the piano open and had seen all the pianos together at the Sing for Hope piano studio.

The goosebump-inducing left panel of quotes.

Parting shot.

Walking west back to 2nd Avenue, I was able to catch the M15 Select Bus Service for a quick ride down to 89th. I walked east once again to Carl Schurz Park. At this point, I realized I was wearing the wrong pair of sneakers (no arch support and worn out heels), as my right knee started hurting, so I had to take it easy. In 2011, I missed the opportunity to look at Gracie Mansion, so this year, I made a point to look at it, but with the surrounding gates, it still was kind of difficult to see.

Gracie Mansion

Composting!

Lots of lovely flowers in the park.

More flowers and a view of the East River.

You can see the lighthouse on Roosevelt Island in this shot.

Piano #36: Carl Schurz Park. As I slowly strolled along the walkway, I was on the lookout for the piano, but it was my ears that got the first sign the piano was near: I heard two people playing "Heart and Soul," which is probably the "go to" duet for street pianos, but in this case, two people were playing it well! (Usually it's just one person playing the two parts one at a time.) When they finished, the father got up from the piano bench and let his daughter play. She was trying to recall "Für Elise" from memory, and I give her props for remembering more and more without the aid of sheet music. Another girl came up to the piano and asked if she could play, and she performed "Hey Jude" and got back-up singers in the form of the father and daughter.  She played and sang one other song, but I didn't recognize it.  When she got up, I sat down to play two songs from my core trio.  A toddler wearing a Superman T-shirt kept running up to the piano to press a key, and his mom would apologize, but honestly it was perfectly fine, and I was hoping he'd get the chance to play.  Another man sat down at the bench after me and started to play.  I took a picture of him, as I realized I didn't take any photos of the piano while I was sitting down.

"Heart and Soul"

Couldn't resist taking a picture of the clouds.

"Hey Jude"

Piano #37: Central Park - Cherry Hill. At this point, I was getting hungry, but I decided to visit another piano first. I was not happy to see the carriage horses being forced to work. Not happy at all. This time next year (if not sooner), I don't want to see carriage horses in Central Park or on the streets of New York, and this fall I hope New Yorkers elect a mayor who will replace carriage horses with electricity-powered, vintage-replica cars. Last year, I saw a small-scale model of one of the vintage-replica cars, and they look really cool. I'd ride one of the cars through Central Park! And, it turned out, that the pianos keys weren't in good shape, so the tarp was secured with ties that do not come undone unless you cut them. I briefly spoke to two teenage boys who had wanted to play the piano just as much as I did, and they lamented "piano terrorism." I mentioned to them that Mother Nature may have been the culprit with the rain, but they were still disappointed. When they left, I touched a few of the playable keys through the tarp, just so I could count the piano on my list of pianos visited/played.

A pretty piano that I had hoped to see and play more of... just wasn't meant to be on Day 11.

Piano #38: Central Park - The Dairy. I walked further into Central Park (toward Bethesda Fountain) and walked down The Mall to get to The Dairy, which I don't think I'd ever been to before. Luckily, I made all the correct path choices and found signage pointing me to the correct location. As I was approaching the piano, I heard someone playing it. "Für Elise" again... I think this is the "go to" solo piece for street pianos. Granted, this is only based on my experiences. :)

I sat down at a bench to listen to the woman playing, and the man who was with her asked if I wanted to play, but I told them to keep playing. The woman got up though, and I was taken aback by how much she looked like Jessica Chastain. Red hair. Same facial features including a cleft chin. I felt like blurting out, "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Jessica Chastain?!" However, there just wasn't a good opportunity for doing so. Instead, I talked to the man, who asked about the pianos, and I told them about the 88 pianos in all five boroughs. The man said he was from the Bronx and asked where the pianos were, so I told him about Van Cortlandt Park (oh yes, he knew Van Cortland Park), Poe Park Visitor Center (he had visited the cottage when he was a kid and hadn't yet visited the new visitor center), and Joyce Kilmer Park (yes, of course, he knew where that was). And I told him there were more but that I hadn't visited those places. (And in fact, I didn't get around to Joyce Kilmer Park this year, but it wasn't part of my plans.) The man and woman stayed a little bit to hear me play one and a half songs. Though I played my entire core trio, they left during "Arithmetic" but asked me what the song was before leaving. When I finished my third song, I got up to take pictures. Oh yes, I was very happy and impressed with the quality of the keys, the presence of a working sustain pedal, and the whimsical beauty of the art on the piano featuring ocean life. And the view from the piano. The covered area served as a nice shelter for this piano!

As I was taking pictures, a man with a Russian accent approached the piano, and asked if I was a pianist. I answered that I wasn't a professional but I had just finished playing. He sat down and played... like a professional! I was impressed, and so was a couple that approached the piano to take videos and listen. They were asking him all sorts of questions while he was playing, and he handled both the answers and the playing with such ease! It turns out he was playing original compositions, and it was a pleasure listening to him and I let him know that before I left.

The man from the Bronx standing next to the Jessica Chastain lookalike at the piano.

The view from the piano.

I love you, Opus!

The well-trained and talented pianist.

Piano #39: Riverside Park - Pier 70. After a dinner break at my favorite falafel cart at Lincoln Triangle, I walked up to 72nd Street and caught the crosstown M72 bus, as I learned from two years ago that it would drop me off close to where I needed to enter the park. Pier 70 is also one of those locations where the pianos have been all three times. The first time, I walked there with my friend Meghan. The second time, I got off the M72 bus one stop too early. The third time, I was a Goldilocks travel pro, and everything was "just right."

The sun was setting as I made my way to the piano, and a man (pictured below) was playing beautiful improvisational music with hints of songs that you'd be able to recognize. Everyone was really impressed with him, and he was one of those pianists that could keep the music going without taking a break between songs or musical passages. I wanted him to keep going, but at the same time I was also itching to play before it got dark and no one else was around. So I asked him if I could play one song, and he smiled and let me do so. There were still other people around. He and one other man gathered at the piano, and when I did the chromatic scale, I was shocked at how many keys weren't working. How am I going to make this work? How did the man who played before me make it work?! I didn't get very far before I was ready to give up, but the man was very encouraging. He told me that once he learned which keys he could play, he enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what to play and that I could change things up, too. For someone who strives for perfection when possible, this was a really great note to take in. By chance, my own "go to" song, "Arithmetic," ended up working out without having to change things up. Some notes didn't get played and the sustain pedal didn't work, but it still sounded fine! When I finished, the other man asked me if I had written the song, and it's always my pleasure to say that, no, I didn't. (I remember this happening at the 2011 piano at Pier 70, too!) The man who had played before me said my voice was well suited for the piano, and he told me to check out Regina Spektor's music because it sounds improvisational. So I will. (As it turned out, the one of two teenage boys I talked to at Central Park's Cherry Hill also mentioned Regina Spektor but in the context of her playing a street piano.) So even though I didn't catch his name, I am grateful to the man who taught me brief lessons about making music even when all is not perfect. This is another one of those inspiring, magical moments that I want to remember and also what makes this public art project so fantastic.

Making my way to Pier 70 at sunset.

The brilliant improvisational pianist.

Stay tuned for Day 12!