"piano gathering" etiquette?

Jane

So I've been invited to a tentative "piano gathering" at the home of a woman I met at a seminar a few months ago.

I've never been to such an event, and in general have no social skills.

For those who may have such experience, is a hostess gift appropriate? (Such as??? I have no idea of her tastes other than a love for Chopin.) Any other general advice?

ShiroKuro

Jane you’ve already gotten good advice, but maybe I can add a bit.

So one question is the time and the schedule. If it is an evening event starting at 6pm or 7pm, you kind of have to assume food is involved. In that case, I would contact the hostess and ask if I should bring a dish to share or dessert.

If it’s a Sunday afternoon, then I might contact and ask if I could bring some
cookies to share. Something like that.

If the hostess says “nothing is needed,” I might bring flowers.

If you know anyone who has attended before and can ask them? That would be best. But I’m guessing you don’t.

Before we moved I used to attend, and host, piano parties a lot. I really miss them.

I hope you have a wonderful time!!

twocats

Jane the events I go to are either strictly playing or involve a little food and drink afterward, and people are welcome to bring a little something to share. Since nothing was mentioned about food or drink I'd assume it's just playing.

I think it would be ok if you didn't bring anything, but a small something would be a lovely way to introduce yourself to the group!

I hope you have fun 🙂

thepianoplayer416

I've been to gatherings around Christmas where the guests are expected to sing Christmas tunes. Other people would play piano, guitar & other instruments.

Don't know what exactly is a piano gathering. Normally a gathering is a social event where people would socialize like any other gatherings. Some people who are musical would play their instruments while the rest would listen.

macias

@Jane, yes something small is a polite thing, at least around where I live (but not meant as a gift for hostess but for everyone, so not all expense is on host). Like pack of good tea, or chocolate. On such occassions I always make sure it is not something fancy and not some junk I would be afraid of drinking or eating (in short something small which I stand for personally).

pseudonym58

Chocolate sounds good. Then again, chocolate always sounds good! 😆

Jane

Thanks, all, for the suggestions.

I decided against flowers, thinking that might require the overhead of her dealing with a vase.
I didn't know whether there'd be food... thinking sticky fingers on piano keys might be suboptimal, so opted against chocolate or cookies.

I wound up giving her a copy of Charles Cooke's little book "Playing the Piano for Pleasure."

As for the gathering, I had a lovely time.
She lives 160 miles from me, and I overcaffeinated a bit for the drive. (It must have been that, right? And not nervousness at playing for more than three people in what was now the fourth occasion for me since the early 1960s. Right?)

There were seven of us. All but two were people I'd met at the Tonebase "intensive" in L.A. last May.
Our hostess has a 6-foot Yamaha grand.
We each played a bit, then broke for refreshments. During the refreshments, various of us played a bit more in the background.

Much as I'm grateful for my electronic Avant Grand, the action on her piano was like a sports car in contrast to my little pickup truck. Much faster. Much greater dynamic range than what I have, but my uncalibrated touch wasn't able to adjust well enough to take advantage of that. Much louder at full stick than what I'm accustomed to with my headphones at home. Really a nice change of pace.

54 degrees and foggy when I left home that morning at 9:30. 84 degrees and sunny at her house midday. 50 degrees and foggy when I got back home a little before 8PM.

ShiroKuro

Jane It sounds like a wonderful event!

But, 160 there and back, wow, that's a lot!!

More importantly, what did you play?

Jane

I occasionally drive down and back to Culver City to have lunch with an old friend from high school when she flies out to visit her sister, and that's a bit longer drive for a single day. I figure I'm usually good for 400 miles driving in a day (which is what it is from home to Las Vegas for occasional medical software conferences).
Cruise control and an audiobook and it's a pretty mellow trip if I avoid peak traffic times. And driving home it was overcast until it got dark, so I wasn't staring straight into the sun 😲

ShiroKuro More importantly, what did you play?

In the sit-and-play-for-each-other time I played Rach prelude Op. 23 No 4 and the Chopin Berceuse.
In the casual time afterwards I played Chopin Op. 62 No. 1 nocturne. the first half of the Barcarolle, and Rach preludes Op. 23 No. 6 and Op. 32 Nos 5 and 12. Those went better, as I was gearing into the piano.

Surprisingly, my memory held up and I didn't need to break out the iPad.

ShiroKuro

Jane In the sit-and-play-for-each-other time I played Rach prelude Op. 23 No 4 and the Chopin Berceuse.
In the casual time afterwards I played Chopin Op. 62 No. 1 nocturne. the first half of the Barcarolle, and Rach preludes Op. 23 No. 6 and Op. 32 Nos 5 and 12.

That’s awesome!!

Did anyone else play something that especially stood out?

Josephine

Jane

Wow, amazing that you can play so many pieces from memory! Do you play all those pieces often? I forget pieces I memorized so quickly when I start something new.

Jane

ShiroKuro Did anyone else play something that especially stood out?

It was quite a mixed bag.
One guy played Clair de Lune and also played the Berceuse.
Another played a couple of Chopin etudes.
One woman played something by Hovhaness with which I'm not familiar.
Another played the first half of a Chopin Nocturne that she's working on.

Then when everyone moved to SNACKS and various of us descended on the piano in the background, one woman read through a bit of a Beethoven sonata, one guy read through part of the Brahms/Bach Chaconne for left hand, there were a few more partial or complete Chopin etudes.

Jane

Josephine I forget pieces I memorized so quickly when I start something new.

@Josephine, I think I'm going to start a separate thread on this topic.

If somebody who knows you play piano were to say, "play something." Could you? Anything?

I like to play (albeit normally only for myself wearing headphones). I personally think it rather sad to work on learning something, then to drop that in order to learn the next shiny new object. To be dropped in turn.

Back when piano stores existed, I liked to be able to walk into one and try some pianos (until I'd get kicked out), having pieces that I could more-or-less play. Not to a professional standard, to be sure, but not abysmally.

For that matter, the last time @danno858 and I got together in July, I played from memory for close to an hour on his piano until it seemed rude to abuse his hospitality any further.

Of course, it's different for all of us. At my age, I'm not focused on working up to playing something ten years from now.
I spend a bit of time each day playing SLOWLY, DELIBERATELY, FIRMLY through at least one piece that I want to keep alive. Or for something like the Barcarolle, maybe just one section of it. SLOWLY. Often without pedal. Unless it's a part where the pedal is tricky. Or unless I just want to use the pedal.

ShiroKuro

Jane it sounds wonderful!!!