Musical Meet-ups

ShiroKuro · 2024-09-12T13:52:54+00:00

Some of you may remember that I've commented in various threads here how much I wish I had piano friends and casual opportunities to play for and/or with fri...

ShiroKuro

I suggested something I’ve already played 😅

It’s been several years but it’s super easy and I just played through it and it should come back into my fingers quickly.

The cello part is divine, and the piano part is so simple that it’s a piece to really enjoy the sound.

I also have a few pieces to suggest that I have either played before or that I know I can bring into my fingers quickly.

Anything else, and yeah, I probably it need weeks or months depending on the difficulty level!

ShiroKuro

Ok I’ve been working on this piece, and the cellist has been working on her part as well.

I was thinking that is been so long since I played with another musician, last time was pre-pandemic, it’s really good I picked this easy (and familiar to me) piece to start with.

I have a few other pieces to suggest we work on, but just getting used to playing with another person again will be the first order of business.

thepianoplayer416

Recently a new ensemble group started across town that focuses on Baroque music. During the first rehearsal we were asked to re-tune the instruments to A=415 instead of 440 to give an authentic Baroque sound. The 1 instrument we don't see very often is a recorder along with violins, violas, cellos, transverse flute. The 1 instrument we don't have is a harpsichord.

When it comes to music performance, I attneded a church fundraising event yesterday with an hour of Gospel music. A lot of singing on top of various instruments including keyboard, guitar & drums. The congregation joined in the singing. Different phrases in a song were repeated many times in an improvised manner. Each time the singing would get louder and more exciting. When singing traditional church hymns you'd do the verses of a song in order just once.

Next is an upcoming piano solo performance in my area for students who wanted a chance to perform in public. It's a small group up to 20 people at most. Anybody from an absolute beginner can participate. The program is not decided ahead of time. During the performance, students would take turn going to the piano and announce the piece(s) he/she is about the play. The last time I went to a gathering, some people played pieces above their level. Instead of playing a piece through they'd hesitate in certain places and restart certain sections. A gathering like this is not for showing off your technical abilities or how good you can perform. It's a chance for people to play in front of an audience to get rid of performance anxiety (stage fright).

ShiroKuro

Wow, @thepianoplayer416 Those all sound like wonderful events! I don’t think there are those kinds of events around here… reading your post makes me want to move! 😅

BUT! I’m meeting with the cellist this Friday, so hopefully we will start playing together, and maybe this will help me get connected to other amateur musicians.

BTW re the piano solo performance you described, who organized it? And what kind of venue is it held at?

Sgisela

ShiroKuro I think you’ve mentioned that you live in a place with a good music school and that you take lessons with someone who’s affiliated with the school. I have to imagine there are other adult students like you — and I’m wondering if there’s a way to find those other students and see if there is interest in getting together to play. It seems to me like a lot of adult learners like opportunities to share with other people who share this interest— although perhaps in a more casual/friendly setting than a full-on recital.

thepianoplayer416

ShiroKuro

The solo performance is organized by "Canadian Piano Society". Since Canada is a big country, the group is specific to just 1 city. The group is on Facebook. There is a website "meetup.com" that posts social gatherings in the area including single dance parties, hiking, nature walks, etc. The piano group probably started shortly after the C-19 lockdown here. The meeting place is in an office building in a large room used by an Unitarian church. We are there 4x /yr (1 meetup every 3 months).

There is no rule what pieces we can perform. Some would play Classical, others would play Pop or Jazz improv. Not everybody plays with sheet music. Last time there was a young performer (probably in elementary school) playing some beginner /lower intermediate pieces with his parents in the audience.

Music in church is more common. However, not everybody is into Christianity or religion in general. Traditional hymns tend to be in SATB (soprano, alto, tenor & bass). Gospel music is mainly singing on top of chords so there is improv along the way. The choir leader would decide the vocal range suitable for the singers and the guitar & keyboard would fill in in certain keys by ear than by sheet music.

ShiroKuro

Sgisela I have to imagine there are other adult students like you —

This is my assumption as well!

and I’m wondering if there’s a way to find those other students

Believe me, I've been trying!

And yes, I work at a public uni with a pretty famous and highly regarded music school. But oddly, I feel like that makes it harder to be just a generic adult piano hobbyist... Everyone is pro level, and the music school has so many music related events, that maybe that's why it feels like there are fewer community-level things going on. Also, although the music school offers community music lessons and various activities for adults for stringed instruments, they don't have anything for adults and piano-related things, only for high school aged and down. This really surprised me, but I think it may be just that their resources are 100% in use.

For comparison, before we moved here, I worked at a uni with a small, not famous, music department. They offered lessons in all instruments to the community, and there were more music things happening in the community not connected to the uni.

So what I'm experiencing may be like the paradox a person encounters moving to a major urban metro city and having a hard time meeting people or making friends, while the person in a small town has a much easier time getting connected to the community.

Oh and re my piano teacher, he got his PhD in piano here, and he is currently teaching at a community music school while his wife finishes her PhD in violin here. The community school where I take lessons does recitals for kids, and I have the impression that they don't have many adult students. I have asked my piano teacher but his other students are all kids and his wife's contacts are all through the university (IOW top level, future professional musicians).

Now, of course we've only lived here for a little over a year, so I hope I'll find some piano friends over time. And I'm really looking for to meeting the cellist this week. So I haven't given up all hope! 😃

ShiroKuro

Shoot! My tuner was just here (fixing a buzz on middle C, thank you!!) I should have asked him about hobby pianists and community music activities.

Next time!

ShiroKuro

Thanks for the info, @thepianoplayer416 ! That gives me some ideas about where to look around here. I've checked meetup.com a few times but never found any piano activities there.

ShiroKuro

Our meetup has been postponed. 🙁
The cellist's availability changed. But! looking on the bright side, assuming we can reschedule, I'm going to recommend we add a piece (we already have one that we were planning to play together at the first meeting)

Fingers crossed!

ShiroKuro

Ok, we're back on!!

I'm meeting the cellist tomorrow!! Yay! We have two pieces we'll work on, and maybe pick a few more.

Also, my teacher connected me with a local group (actually run by students in my uni's music school) that performs several concerts a year at a retirement center. I am going to play in the concert at the end of November! I'm so excited!!!

Now I have to pick my pieces for that. I can do up to 15 minutes of music.... I think I may need to make a thread just about that...

Pallas

ShiroKuro I am going to play in the concert at the end of November! I'm so excited!!!

I'm excited for you! Wow!

thepianoplayer416

I'm attending a piano meetup this Sunday. I haven't been performing piano pieces in public for a while. The last time was last November playing "What a Wonderful World" in a store with an untuned piano.

Not sure how many will be at the event. A month ago whan I signed up there were only 4 names on the list. The repertoire is totally open and announced by each performer at the event. I've picked 2 Bach pieces including my arrangement of a Chorale in Cm and "Sarabande" from French Suite #3 in Bm. I worked on both pieces before and know them reasonably well.

This is not a competition but a chance for people to gain confidence playing in front of others starting with a small audience up to 20 at most. Some will be playing from the score while others improvise. Nobody is judged so mistakes are allowed.

ShiroKuro

thepianoplayer416 This is not a competition but a chance for people to gain confidence playing in front of others starting with a small audience up to 20 at most. Some will be playing from the score while others improvise. Nobody is judged so mistakes are allowed.

Sounds wonderful!!

Next week, I will get more information about the event I'm playing at, but I don't think it's like what you're describing, which to me sounds like a "music for musicians" kind of event. Maybe some day I can find one like that -- or make my own!

thepianoplayer416

ShiroKuro
Today practiced the 2 pieces I'm planning to perform for just over an hour. I performed pieces on violin before but not very much on a piano.

A few years ago I was at a Christmas gathering. At least half the people in the room said they took music lessons for a few years but nobody was comfortable playing a tune on the digital keyboard in the room. I've given it a lot of thought. I've always feel there is a disconnect between what people learn in the classroom and what they should be able to do supposedly, In a typical workplace, if you say you took Spanish classes, the manager expects you to be able to communicate with customers in Spanish than the fact that you took Spanish for 10 years. Apparently some people who spent years learning music and even took conservatory exams but performing in front of others is still a challenge.

I also met music students who performed before. Some would stick to pieces assigned by their teachers. I don't have problem playing my own pieces the way I feel they should be performed. The upcoming event on Sunday gives me the opportunity to showcase my playing and to share my passion for music with others.

Sam

Make your own if there is not one around you. I made one, which started really small and gradually grew over the years. We are in our fifth year. We meet monthly, go from house to house, and have one formal recital in the fall in a local church. We don't have any rules, collect no dues or fees, and allow any type of music.

Our monthly meetings start at 3PM, and we each play one or two pieces. We bring food to share after playing. It is all very low key and a lot of fun. We even have some people who do not play and just come to listen. We average about 10 or 12 people each month, but when we started it was only 4 or 5. We do not advertise or publicize our events in any way - it is all friends telling friends.

I also belong to another, much more formal, group that has dues, rules, and a more intimidating atmosphere. They meet monthly in a piano store (one reason for the dues), have one Zoom meeting a month, and one meeting in a home every month - so very active. And also periodic concerts and other events.

If you are in Georgia, either north or south of Atlanta, and want to join us - send me a PM.

Sam

ShiroKuro

Sam Make your own if there is not one around you.

I would love to do this. The group you started sounds exactly like what I want. But it’s kind of hard to get it started without at least one other friend who plays. That’s why I reached out to the strings teacher, because she’s the only music teacher I’ve found so far who specifically caters to adults. And through her is how I got to connected to the cellist I’m going to go meet today. Hopefully meeting her and doing the retirement home concerts will help me start to get to know more musicians.

I would also be happy to be part of something like the dues paying group you described, but so far I haven’t found something like that and there’s not a big music store (or even a small music store) here in town. I’ve been wondering if there’s a church with a nicely maintained piano that would let a group like that rent the space. So again, hopefully I can make a few more connections and then help things grow from there.

I think the big thing is bringing together people who play, because we are each other’s best audience, for one thing. For another, I’m wondering about playing at the retirement center… what I mean is, the people who attend may not be interested in the kind of music I’m playing, and I’ve been thinking about the question of “who this event is for”… Is it for them, the audience? Or for us, the musicians? It seems to me that the answer to that question should inform the way you choose what to play. Ideally it could be a bit of both, of course. But I’m going to talk to my piano teacher about that today.

ShiroKuro

thepianoplayer416 I do think piano students should be encouraged to make performing for others part of their piano study, although not everyone wants to do that.

But for adult beginners (or people who started as adults) it can be hard to play when you feel like the expectation is that you’ll play at a professional level. I think that’s what stops people from playing casually when there’s a piano and someone says “why don’t you play?”

But on the other hand, if there’s even one person brave enough to make the first move, then it makes it easier for everyone else.

I hosted my program at my house a few weeks ago (so about five profs and 10 grad students from uni). Someone asked me to play, so I did — far from perfectly but it was fine. Well after that, all the students who had played when they were younger wanted to try the piano. I found a book that had some pieces they knew and several of them poked around at the piano together, it was charming. And probably they were encouraged by my normal (i.e. not professional) level of playing.

Pallas

ShiroKuro But on the other hand, if there’s even one person brave enough to make the first move, then it makes it easier for everyone else.

I've been thinking about creating a piano meetup for North Shore MA, as I feel intimidated by the seriousness of the Boston group. In my limited experience, people have seemed impressed at the courage it takes to start learning as an adult. I was very nervous at my recent "recital," but for the most part I don't have a problem playing in front of people, because I always say I'm a beginner. I haven't had anyone respond with anything but admiration for the hard work that goes into studying. And honestly, if anyone ever sneered, I would not respect their opinion. I think some of us bring our critics around with us in our heads, and we'll rarely find them among regular people. When we do, they should be easy to ignore, as they're either ignorant of what it takes to learn, or they're insufferably arrogant and not worth trying to impress anyway.

I'm trying really hard to take my own advice, but I still feel nervous. So this comes from a place of understanding and empathy for those of us with shaky hands on the keys.

ShiroKuro

Pallas I've been thinking about creating a piano meetup for North Shore MA, as I feel intimidated by the seriousness of the Boston group

You should definitely do it!

Pallas I think some of us bring our critics around with us in our heads, and we'll rarely find them among regular people.

Exactly!

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