Sing for Hope Pianos: Day 9

Hello! Today is Saturday, June 22nd, and although I have settled into a nice groove of daily recollections of the 2013 Sing for Hope Pianos, I need to increase the output before my upcoming trip to Denver! Here is Day 9, which took place on a very busy Sunday.

Before meeting up with my friend Beverly at noon for the 3rd National Animal Rights Day in Union Square, I raced the clock and squeezed in one piano. Day 9 was an exercise in patience and flexibility, but it all worked out well.

Piano #28: Astor Place. When I got off the 6 train, nobody was playing the piano, but I ran anyway. I was cutting it that close to noon. I played two songs. The piano sounded good, and I would have liked to have stayed longer to play more songs and take a picture of people resting in hammocks (aka the view from the piano). Instead, I quickly took pictures of the piano and then caught the uptown train at just the right time.

The National Animal Rights event didn't start at exactly at noon, so Bev and I chatted in the shade. We participated in reading an excerpt from the Declaration of Animal Rights, tossed flowers in front of sad photos in a remembrance ceremony, visited the various tables (free food & drink samples? don't mind if I do!), and my favorite part? We did yoga in public! No mats or anything, and the poses & movements were easy enough for beginners, although Bev and I did laugh when we had to lift each other back-to-back with our arms linked. We weren't sure if we were doing the lift correctly, and therefore we laughed. At the end of the class, our harmonious om at the end allowed me to feel the group's connectedness and energy.

During the flower ceremony, there were extremely sad pictures, but then they were replaced with peaceful images of animals as they should be: free to live.

After visiting the various tables and eating a Philly-style empanada with salsa from V-Spot ($5 and worth it), I invited Bev to visit a piano with me near Chelsea Piers, but the M23 bus was taking forever and didn't show up, so Bev headed uptown, and I decided to change up my plans -- again, patience and flexibility were required.

Piano #29: Greeley Square. I took the subway up to Greeley Square and the piano was being played by a man who was part of a larger group. There were also people filming and taking photographs. So I sat down to listen and take pictures and videos of my own. I wasn't sure if I'd get the opportunity to play, but there was a slight lull when friends of one of the dancers came to say hello. The dancer pointed to the piano and said, "This is you!" I then figured that that dancer must also be the artist who designed the piano. Very cool! I tried performing "Arithmetic," but the piano was so out of tune to me that it seemed like my left hand was in a different key from my right hand, and my voice couldn't agree on where to sing, so I just stopped. Ha, not my finest moment, but it was just too messy for me to continue. I tried playing another song from my core trio, but my ears & brain were not having it.

Faces and body parts on the piano that the artist had pointed out to her friends.

When I got home, I learned via Sing for Hope's Facebook that I had stumbled upon Swingin' Sunday at Greeley Square. So when I tweeted one of my photos, I ended up winning a contest! I sent them a YouTube video to share, and they did!

Watch the video below. It's funny -- the piano sounds really good for the swing dancers, but it didn't work for the type of music I was playing!

Piano #30: Hudson River Park - Pier 45. After Greeley Square, I walked over to 7th Avenue and took the 1 train down to Christopher Street. Little did I know, the M8 doesn't run on Sundays, so I had to walk to Hudson River Park, but it wasn't too bad. Off the top of my head, I can't remember if a piano was in this area in previous years, but the area seemed a little familiar to me. Maybe I've been there before, or maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. In any case, it was a nice area and filled with lots of people, but not overcrowded.

I wanted to get a photo of the piano as I was approaching, and then at the same time, so did some other people!

The view of downtown Manhattan.

Wanted to capture the shape the keys were in.  Thought it felt different to play the keys, it was still playable, and that made me happy.

After I finished one song, this boy was eager to play, so I got up from the bench to let him play.

Piano #31: Hudson River Park - Pier 63. To get to Pier 63, I walked back east for a few blocks and then caught the M20 bus to 23rd Street. While riding the bus, I saw two Organic Avenue locations. There was a woman at the National Animal Rights Day event giving out samples of a green juice and coconut water from Organic Avenue. I once again waited and waited for the M23 crosstown bus to arrive, but it was taking forever. My stomach was telling me that it was time to eat something, so I walked to the second Organic Avenue I saw (on Eighth Avenue). It was a "grab & go" store with lots of raw food and drinks. I wanted a coconut water, and though it was pricy, I knew it would be worth it to splurge a little. I also bought a Thai collard wrap with sweet & spicy plum sauce. Upon returning to the bus stop, everyone was still waiting for the bus, and two buses arrived at the same time within seconds of my return! Patience and flexibility, Allison. Patience and flexibility. They were paying off.

I couldn't find the piano right away. I had forgotten exactly where Pier 63 was, and when I arrived, there was a huge yoga festival going on. LOTS of people. It was like a sea of yoga practitioners. Many, many more than those who did yoga at Union Square earlier that afternoon. (I may be biased, but I appreciated my yoga session more because our Jivamukti Yoga instructors had us repeat the word ahimsa, which means "do no harm to others.") So instead of searching for the piano (patience and flexibility), I found a spot to eat my raw meal, which was light and tasty. I walked through the festival and found the stone field with Octvia Upright! Octavia needed a tune-up, but I was able to play one song from my core trio okay, as I didn't have to sing it.

The most adorable piano this year.

Just look at that underbite.

Piano #32: Times Square. Last but not least, I made my way to Times Square by bus and subway. It was Tony Sunday, and I stopped by the Marriott Marquis for a bathroom break. As I stood at a mirror to compose myself, I stood next to a girl wearing a prom-style dress. I asked her if she was going to the Tony Awards, and she turned to me with a wide grin, and said, "YES!" I replied, "That's awesome! Enjoy!" Her enthusiasm for theatre was palpable. (I am giggling now as I write this because I have never been to the Tony Awards, yet I briefly spoke to that girl with reciprocal enthusiasm, as if I had been to the Tonys before. Is that weird? Perhaps it's just a recognized kinship between two theatre fans...)

I went on my way to find the Times Square piano. I saw the crowd in Duffy Square, ready to watch the Tony Awards on a big screen. I thought about staying, but it was hotter than I would have preferred and besides, I had a piano to find! For some reason, I thought the piano was going to be in Duffy Square, but it wasn't, so I asked a Times Square officer where the piano was, and he told me it was by the food stands between 44th and 45th. And sure enough, it was. Nobody was playing when I arrived, so I played and sang one song from my core trio while gazing at the Minskoff Theatre across the street. I saw a man eating empanadas to my left and another man standing to the right of the piano. When I finished playing, the man eating empanadas applauded. I smiled & got up, and he sat down to play something, so I took his picture.

The view from the piano.

I was getting hungry again, so I looked at the menu of the empanada stand, and to my delight, there was a vegan emapanada! Curry with shiitake mushrooms. It was only $3, so I tried one, and it was nice! Smaller than the emapanada from V-Spot, so it was more of a snack than a meal. While I was taking pictures, the man who had played the piano came up to me and showed me his phone -- he had taken a picture of me and offered to send it to me as proof that I was there.

After finishing my empanada, I headed home to check on the piano in my neighborhood, rest, and watch the Tony Awards on TV!

Stay tuned for Day 10!

Pop-Up Pianos: Day 6

Well, well! Since I have a three-day weekend ahead of me, tonight I'm doing a proper blog write-up, as opposed to using and abusing the caption feature. After having no desire to leaving my office building during the work day because of the rain, I perked up when I saw a Facebook update from Sing for Hope that the rain had stopped (yeah, I couldn't just look outside the window?) and that it was the perfect time to play.

Not really sure of where I wanted to play (I haven't been to the obvious places like Times Square yet), I browsed the Pop-Up Pianos website and formed a plan that I would eventually need to end up at a non-piano place, Cocoa V, to use my Groupon, which expires on Saturday. So I chose Little Red Square, which is located at Sixth Avenue and Bleecker Street. They had a piano there last year, so I knew where to go. The blue tarp was covering the piano when I arrived, but luckily I uncovered an unlocked piano. Phew! I started off with "Arithmetic" and then took out my songbook for Missy Higgins' The Sound of White, but when I started to play "Nightminds," the wind kept blowing the pages, so I had to stop and dig out more books to hold it down.  I was interrupted by a guy who asked about the pianos, and I told him it was open to the public and that I was just playing until it started raining again (the clouds looked ominous at the time).  He asked if his friend could play for a couple minutes while he took pictures.  I said sure and let them do their thing, and then they were on their way.

Songbook secured by two others, I played "Nightminds" without a hitch.  In my peripheral vision, I noticed that a woman with a stroller was standing and possibly listening to me.  And another woman in my line of vision straight ahead was standing several feet away, also possibly listening to me.  Or, she could have been observing a one-sided argument from a man and a woman sitting on a bench.  The woman was doing all the shouting.  While I was playing, I was thinking, "Do they have to do that here?"  Anyway... she eventually stopped shouting.  Or maybe it wasn't a one-sided argument... she could have been venting frustrations.  It was weird but very New York-y.

Next up, I played "The Sound of White," and finally, I played a song that I have been wanting to cover (as in, record myself playing on a video) for months.  I gave up on that because every single time I try to do the recording in one take, I manage to mess up something.  That song is "Shadowfeet" by Brooke Fraser.  I haven't been practicing it lately but decided to just go for it. Had a blast in all my imperfection.  After I finished, I stood up and smiled at the woman with the stroller.  Her two little ones were standing around and playing.  I asked the younger daughter if she wanted to play, but she wasn't interested, so I covered up the piano.  The woman said she enjoyed listening to me, and I thanked her.  Yay, Little Red Square!

Piano #15: Little Red Square

I love the smiley-faced notes.

As I was walking north on Sixth Avenue, I was thinking of heading straight to Cocoa V. After all, I had a long day at work, I was carrying a way-too-heavy tote bag, and I was getting hungry. By the time I reached West 4th, I put all that aside and thought to myself, "I could walk to Astor Place." And when I reached West 8th, I thought, "Yeah, I'm definitely not walking. But I could take the bus!" Five short minutes later, that's exactly what I did!

When I reached Astor Place, however, the tarp-covered piano was LOCKED! I was so disappointed. However, the social media team at Sing for Hope is amazing, and they let me know that if I ever came across a locked piano that they could help me out. So I tweeted them, and they did not let me down! I unlocked the piano and was thrilled to play. After "Arithmetic," there was no doubt in my mind what my next song would be. This was the site last year where I got a specific request to play "The Special Two," so I gave a repeat performance to no one in particular, but it turned out that people must've liked it because they gave me money! That was not expected. Seriously. My tote bag is for carrying my sheet music, but one man and one woman slipped money into my tote bag!  I am an unofficial busker. (Hehehe, using the word "busker" makes me want to watch the movie Once.) My final song at Astor Place was "The Sound of White" -- I probably shouldn't have played it because a crucial G key was not working, but people stuck around to listen. They helped me cover the piano back up after I finished. :)

Piano #16: Astor Place

Musically satisfied for the night, I made my way to Cocoa V and got some delicious vegan cupcakes. So good!

Play Me, I'm Yours... Day 13

I set out today with the goal of playing 6 or 7 pianos, and while I fell short of my goal, it was beyond my control... Nevertheless, it was a great day for piano playing.

Still feeling tired and not fully awake, I purchased an iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. If I go for the iced coffee, you know I need it. (And also, I really didn't feel like having a hot tea this morning.)

Just as I did for Day 12, I planned out my route -- lots of traveling and a little backtracking, but it all made sense to me.

Pianos 28 and 29: TriBeCa Park - red piano and brown piano
I took the A train to Canal Street and walked to TriBeCa Park. Had never been there before. When I saw SoHo Pharmacy, I got excited because it was my landmark point of reference from pictures posted on the Street Pianos website. I spotted the pianos from across the street because one was a taller upright. Nobody was playing them, but I walked quickly anyway and sat down at the red upright. I started off with "Arithmetic." Second, I played "Where I Stood." I could tell people were walking behind me, and I overheard someone say "She plays very well." Other people were sitting (and one person was sleeping) on the park benches. After I finished, I ran over to the brown piano to make sure I played it. It was a smaller piano, and the pedal didn't work. I played "Nightminds" on it and then ran back over to the red piano, which sounded much better, and finished my set with "Scarlet." After that, I stood up to take a picture then moved on.

The brown and the red and SoHo Pharmacy in the background

Piano 30: City Hall Park
I walked up to Canal Street and took the R train to City Hall. The photos on Street Pianos website were somewhat helpful in my search for the piano. There was no wide-angle shot, but I at least knew it was by a building. I also couldn't take any aural cues, as nobody was playing. But the piano came into view, and I saw a woman standing at the piano. She walked away just before I approached, and I sat down to play "Arithmetic." I felt a small crowd gather, and when I finished the song, a Filipina woman called out her son's name. I asked her if I could just take a quick picture of the piano, but then she offered to take my picture, so I gave her my camera and played "Where I Stood." When I began to play, a breeze picked up, so I had to stop and pull out more books to hold down the music.

Displeased with myself, I started over and felt much better about my performance. When I finished, a woman behind me clapped loudly and I turned around and said, "Thanks!" I got up and also thanked the Filipina mother who took my picture. She called her son's name again, and he sat down to play a piece I didn't recognize, but it was very beautiful. After he finished playing, I walked a short distance to the 6 train and took it uptown...

Piano 31: Astor Place
The subway exit at Astor Place was exactly where I needed to be to play the piano. A man was playing the piano when I got there, and he was playing the upper half of the piano mostly, and it was badly in need of tuning. Badly. He said he had a tuning wrench in his car, but the piano was locked anyway. A younger guy sat down to play, and a man was going to take his picture, but the guy said, "No pictures." That was the first time I heard somebody say that. Kind of interesting, being that it's public area as well as a public art installation, but the man obliged and didn't take any photos. I asked the would-be photographer if he played the piano, and he said yes. The younger guy didn't play very long at all. Even though I was there before the younger guy and the would-be photographer, I let the would-be photographer go before me because I was waiting to see if Jessica might join me at Astor Place. The would-be photographer told me that he runs a website for street musicians in New York and asked if I would film some video footage for him. I happily obliged. He started to play, and I felt dumb because I saw the red light but only a black screen, and it took some exploration until I realized the cap was still on. Whoops. But the piece was several minutes, so I got lots of footage and moved around to capture a sense of the location, and I also did close-ups of the piano-playing. I hope I did a good job, but I did admit to him that the cap was on the camera for the first bit. He gave me his business card, so I'll have to check out the website and see if the video is posted there. Although he had to meet a friend, he asked if I wanted to be filmed. I said no (since I was going to play "Arithmetic" again), but I asked if he would take my picture, and he obliged. He took shots with my camera as well as his and then took off to meet his friend.

After "Arithmetic," I decided I would attempt "Shadowfeet" for more people than when I played it at Gansevoort Plaza. I had two other piano books holding down the sheet music for the song. I saw a man standing and possibly listening in my peripheral vision. While I was playing the song, a girl asked, "Can you play 'Special Two'?" My ears perked up, and I immediately stopped playing and said, "Yes!" I turned around, and it was a girl most likely in her early teens. She was with a group of friends, and the guys asked if they could play, so I let them. The girl told me that she danced to "Special Two" in a recital, so when the guys finished (it was only about a minute of testing the piano), I sat back down, invited her to sing along (she didn't want to), and started to play. She toyed with the idea of dancing, and once I got to the bridge, I could hear her sing very softly with me. So cool. During the song, one of they guys asked if I owned the piano, and I smiled and said no. I told the girl that she was the only person I'd encountered who actually knew Missy Higgins, and she said she loved her songs. She and her friends took off after the song, and I figured that I couldn't top that. Finally, a request I could and actually did fulfill! I listened briefly to the player who followed me and then walked south to the F train at Broadway-Lafayette so I could get to my next destination.

Piano 32: Seward Park
Based on the pictures I saw on Street Pianos website, I thought the piano at Seward Park was outside, as in on a sidewalk. So when I saw the piano was inside the park, I immediately wondered where the entrance to the park was because the gates I saw were all locked. And I knew the park was open because I could see children playing and people sitting on benches. So I retraced my steps and found an entrance at the south end of the park and walked back to the piano. When I got there, there were flies sitting on the keys, which was gross. The odd thing was that the keys weren't sticky or anything. I waved away the flies and proceeded to play "Arithmetic." The piano worked well for that song, but on the next song, "There's a Fine, Fine Line" from Avenue Q, I discovered several keys weren't working even though I could press down on them. Despite the key situation, I felt I redeemed myself. I decided to both play and sing the song, and to my surprise, it helped me to do that. A few people walking along the outside of the park stopped to listen while I played, and that was nice. A man sitting on the bench reading the newspaper moved to a bench closer to the piano. Also nice. Next up, I was going to play another Josh Groban song, but there were too many nonworking keys that the song required, so I had to abandon the idea of playing that song. Instead I played "Your Eyes" from RENT. I finished up with "Where I Stood" and then took this picture of myself.

Not my favorite decorated piano, but it did have character. Also, a major plus for being in the shade -- you can tell because I'm wearing my regular glasses and not sunglasses.

The Search for More Pianos
I took the F train back to Broadway-Lafayette and then walked on street level to "transfer" to the uptown 6 train at Bleecker Street and eventually made my way up to Madison Square Park where I met up with Jessica and her dog, Missy. We strolled through the park to search for the piano. I had read that the piano was removed due to damage, but you never know... it could have been restored or replaced. Well, it wasn't. It was lovely walking and talking in the park, and Jessica informed me of the naked men statues in and near the park as well as the other statues placed on rooftops. These pictures don't really do justice, but here are a couple:

You can't really see the figures on top of the Flatiron Building in this picture, but they're there.

Said goodbye to Jessica and Missy to make my way north to Harlem Art Park on the 6 train (which was my subway line of choice today, apparently!). I'd read stories of the piano and/or park being locked, and you can add my story to the mix. The park was open, and I was really excited that I was going to have the piano all to myself, but when I reached it, I saw the piano cover. Locked out. Major bummer. I took pictures -- it's a wonderfully decorated piano.

Now that I know where it is and also knowing that it's one of the few remaining, still-existing pianos in Manhattan that I haven't played yet, I have no choice but to return. Time is running out though!

Two days to go. Forecast is in the 90s for Sunday and Monday. Oy. Will try to make the best of it, but I'll just have to factor in the need to take it easy and the need for more sunscreen. If you can believe it, I haven't been burned. Pretty proud of that.

My final goals are to:
1) Play all remaining pianos in Manhattan (4 more that I haven't played) and
2) Play at least one piano in each borough (2 down, 3 to go).

Total Pianos Played By Borough:
Manhattan: 30 pianos
Queens: 2 pianos