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 10 in Pictures

Piano #34: New York Public Library/Bryant Park

The piano sounded pretty good listening to other people play.  While I was playing, I found it difficult to hear with the traffic going by.

Piano #35: Greeley Square. Hello Miss Piano decorated by Isaac Mizrahi.

Play Me, I'm Yours... Day 10

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to play the pianos today, especially since I won't be able to on Thursday due to a prior commitment. I knew I needed to return a couple items to the Mid-Manhattan Library branch as it has extended operating hours. So I planned my pianos accordingly.

Piano 19: Greeley Square - Pedestrian Area on 33rd Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway
I made my way to the brown and barely decorated piano. There was a crowd standing and sitting, listening to the man playing. And wow, he really could play. Everything from Bach to Joplin to the Charlie Brown theme song to "Stairway to Heaven" and back to classical pieces.

He has been playing since the age of 4, and his fingers could fly. A girl standing next to me looked eager to play the piano, so I asked her if she was waiting. She said maybe, and I understood. I half jokingly and half seriously said, "Me too, he's so good that I don't want to be the one to follow him!" And she agreed! Luckily there was a buffer. The man who made the most requests asked for a business card so that he could take lessons. I asked the man at the piano if the other girl and I could play and he graciously got up. The repeat requester, who was there before me, squeezed in an original song written for the witch in Hansel and Gretel. It was a very clever song with witty lyrics! After he got up, I played "Arithmetic." Yes, I play it a lot, but it was too breezy to use sheet music. After I finished, the girl who was waiting with me clapped, and then I got up to let her play, but she didn't want to play any more! It's a shame because I would have stayed to listen...

#20 Herald Square: Broadway and 34th Street
So I walked up a block to Herald Square where two women were sitting at the piano. They were there for quite a bit, but everyone was sitting in chairs and not completely paying attention... Or, at least they were not clapping after she played an extremely fast version of "Maple Leaf Rag" or "My Heart Will Go On." After they wrapped up, I took to the piano. From listening to the previous player, I was worried about the pedal. Sure enough, it wasn't working properly when I started to play "Nightminds." That bothered me, so my concentration broke a little. Also, another D key was stuck! The same key as the Riverbank State park piano. Thus, the ending of that song got lost, which is a shame because it's my favorite part of the song to play. No clapping followed, but that was all right with me. I felt as if I were playing for myself at that piano -- I just happened to be surrounded by strangers. I closed my Missy Higgins piano book and began to play "Arithmetic" from memory. Despite the lack of the pedal, it was still fun to play. I opened my eyes more while playing the song and looked around at the people sitting in Herald Square and even glanced up at the billboards & surrounding buildings and soaked it all in. Towards the end of the song, a little girl came up to my left and listened. She lingered at the piano when I finished the song, so I asked her if she knew how to play the piano. She shook her head. I asked her if she'd like to learn to play and she gave a big nod. So I stood up from the chair (no bench at this piano), and invited her to sit down. I tried to think of a song I could teach her, and the first song that popped into my head was "Mary Had A Little Lamb." Now, that song holds significance for me...

When my mom initially asked if I wanted to learn to play the piano, I refused. She didn't pressure me after that, but it wasn't long until I went into my brother's room and played the keyboard in there for the first time. I plunked out the keys to "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and absolutely loved discovering that on my own. And then I told my mom I wanted to take piano lessons. I think I was 6 years old...

Back to my lesson at Piano 15. It actually took me a few tries to remember how to play the song again, haha! I was playing in the wrong key and clearly, my 6-year-old self was a lot smarter than my 26-year-old self. I was making it too complicated with a sharp and knew that couldn't be correct. Finally, I got it right, and then I instructed the little girl to place her right hand on the piano and showed her where to begin -- on the E key. I then asked her to follow along with my fingers, and she was very good at producing a solid sound out of those keys with such tiny fingers! I should also mention that we sang along together, too. She made a fine duet partner. :) After that, I suggested that we sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." I played the melody in my right hand, and we sang together. She loved it so much that we sang it twice. I tried to think of other songs to sing. I asked her if she knew "Three Blind Mice," but she shook her head no. So then I asked her if we could sing our "ABC's" and she was very enthusiastic! Again, we did it twice, and I messed up the second time (not the actual alphabet portion!), but we finished strong. I thanked her for singing and playing with me, took a picture of the piano, and then walked away to return my materials to the library.

My "student" and duet partner is the girl in blue.

Total Pianos Played By Borough:
Manhattan: 18 pianos
Queens: 2 pianos