London Street pianos - Entry 1
Tuesday 30 June - Piano #1
While wandering through Leicester Square gardens with Daryl (a former work colleague newly arrived to London), we stumbled across my first London street piano. I knew the street pianos were coming to London but I hadn’t paid attention to timing, and thus have missed the first 2 weeks of it - boo!
Never mind, I’ve discovered them now. The piano was decorated with musical theatre motifs, which rather appealed to me. A simple book of laminated sheet music (traditional folk music, The Beatles songs and other recognisable tunes) was a wonderful addition to the piano.
I sat myself down, uncertain as to what to play. I started with half a verse of ‘Joyful Joyful’ from Sister Act 2 (half a verse was all that I had learnt to play). Someone nearby mentioned that they had watched the show the other day and requested that I sang along, so I did. I then paged through the sheet music and sight-read a couple tunes, including one I’d never seen before. To my delight, one of the old ladies sitting nearby started singing along. This is what the Street Pianos were intended to do - bring people together, get people interacting, who may not have otherwise.
I had to finish with a show tune, so I did: Music of the Night from The Phantom of the Opera. Sure it was a tacky number, but very appropriate. Once again I was asked to sing along, so I warned everyone that this song was not really written for a female singer. I sang a little before giving up to the piano solo. Afterwards I relinquished my piano stool to a round of applause and the next eager performer.
My performance evoked a curious response from Daryl, who complimented my playing and singing. He confessed that he hadn’t previously thought very much of my singing around the office, but having now heard me in the above contest, was rather impressed, and no longer believed that he’d beat me at karaoke/sing-star.
Piano Rating:-
The piano was not in great condition and has been dubbed an ‘OAP’ (Old-aged pensioner). Quite a few keys were missing across the entire keyboard, making playing anything rather frustrating. However in such a great location, and with all of the musical theatre logos pasted to it, it sure had great character!
I didn't have my camera with me so I can't put up a picture of the piano, but here's a link to the website if you're curious. Also, I think I feature in one of the photos there...
http://www.streetpianos.com/london2009/pianos/leicester-square