*sigh*. I got politely kicked out of the only music store in the central city for kilometers around that actually sells pianos. One of sales clerks came up to me and asked if I was actually interested in an instrument or if I just wanted to play.
DUH I just want to play. I've gotten kicked out of practice rooms at the university -- on an empty Friday evening -- because they are supposedly only for the use of the music pedagogy students. The closest option following that is a single, little practice room in a student dorm that is a 20 minute bus ride from here. You've got to pay something like a €50 key deposit for the room, and even if I take the time to go there when I want to practice, there is no certainty that the room won't already be occupied, which then involves either staying for an indefinite amount of time until the current occupant is done, or waiting for the next bus to take the 20 minute ride back.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem convenient for a non-major pianist to find a "legal" piano to play in Regensburg. (Hey, I majored in piano for 7 years, does that still count for you?) This is pretty disappointing, all in all. If you're a runner, you'd put on your jogging shoes and go run before you've even unpacked your stonking suitcase in a new country. If you're an artist, nothing will stop you from finding some kind of supplies to draw, paint, sketch, whatever it is you do.
I'm a pianist and I'm dying to play. I hadn't touched a piano in weeks. Schumann Impromptus and Mendelssohn Lieder are fading from my mind and fingers. Unfortunately, I'm being turned away at all the doors in the city with a playable piano behind them. So yes, there are far worse things that could happen, or not happen. But the only inconvenience in the magnificent, unparalleled instrument that is the piano is its very poor portability.
And by the way, don't ever suggest to a pianist in this kind of situation to find an electric keyboard to play. It's something like handing a plastic recorder to a clarinetist who couldn't bring his clarinet. Yeah, it could be a top-quality plastic recorder, but would you take it?
1 comment:
Well... even if i repeat myself...for the Xth time... come and visit you-know-what.
Not only do we have a "Klevier" at home, but also a "Piano" at school, that stands in the hallway and no one can play (well...as I went to school, we used to play on it poker , during recess, if that counts :) )
Marcin
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