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I've just been asked to play background music for a reception, something "light and soft". I was thinking of some Debussy, maybe, or some tinkly jazz ballad type song.... Suggestions? It's for Sunday so I guess I should make up my mind fast.

Play some Satie
Gnossienes and Gymnopedies are perfect pieces for Happy hours. Make sure you practice them. Even though they look incredibly easy. There is something very confusing about them.

As for Debussy, I'd play the Suite Bergamasque, because it's famous, and educated people might recognize it and be interested.
And if I were advanced enough, (which is definitely not my case). I'd pull off the Arpeggio etude and the Octave etude. Although you might get some eyebrows with the latter. I think they sound prefect for this kind of occasion.

Background music ?

Why not just improvise the whole time ? Don't have to prepare then - just sit down and see what comes out. Make sure you go through a variety of styles, ignore everybody and enjoy yourself. Chances are nobody's really listening so no sense worrying and busting yourself. If they do ask questions, tell them it's by Bach or Liszt or better still, somebody or other fictitious.. chances are they wouldn't have a clue, and if they do you've made a musical friend.

Have some fun.

A few Chopin waltzes maybe? Certain Schubert Impromptus perhaps? Or maybe some New Age music?

Hi Okat,

It sounds like you have some good selections and the people here have made some wonderful suggestions as well. The only thing I can add is that it would probably be a good idea to brush up on some of the more popular tunes because you will likely be getting some requests from the guests. Try not to stress out too much though, because as Ted says, most people will not be paying that much attention anyway. :rolleyes: Good luck & let us know how it goes.

Lyn

Improvise?! That stesses me out more than learning a few pieces would. My improv is usually either pathetically simple (ie. I V IV chords) or very atonal. I'm not sure I'm ready to inflict either of those styles on the general public right now.
But thanks for the suggestions. I've picked out some Chopin nocturnes/preludes, Debussy, Schubert, Schumann, plus some jazz standards. I did try out the Satie Gnossiennes, but for some reason they give me the creeps.

Any sugeestions for light music before a wedding. Classical, pop, stupid wedding ballads, a mixture...what would be appropriate.

PS I am not getting paid enough to practice a whole lot for this so I am hoping to pull out stuff I know or can easily read with minimal practice

Hi, Rachrach:

I had the same problem come up last summer... bought book called something like "Beautiful Music You can Play."

It was one of those jobbies that has about 100 popular songs/tunes/ouvres (e.g., pop, movie themes, TV themes, etc.), somewhere between $15-$20. Worked out just fine, and it was easy enough to sight read with a little faking. Be sure to get a book that's easy enough for you to sightread...

I spent about an afternoon flipping through and familiarizing myself with the pieces beforehand, and it all worked out fine. (I am such an outcast that I didn't know the names of many of the songs or the movies they came from, so a lot of my familiarization was actual discovery, "Oh, I've heard that, so THAT's what it's called."

They're still pretty fun to play.

Good luck!

Nina

Hi Rachrach,

Some very good selections that aren't overly difficult are works from Mendelsson such as Song Without Words Op.53, No. 1, Venetiansches Gondellied Op. 19, No. 6, Venetiansches Gondellied Op. 30, No. 6, On Wings of Song, Carl Bohm's Calm as the Night, Bach's Prelude in C, WTC, Arioso. If you would like a little more difficulty, there's Beethoven's Moonlight 1, Brahm's Intermezzo, Op. 118, No. 2, Debussy's Clare de Lune, Liszt's Liebestraum. Some very nice processionals include: Pachelbel's Canon in D, Bach's Air from Suite in D, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. I've been performing for weddings for years and I find that the above pieces are usually received very well by the audience. I generally steer away from pop or the "stupid wedding ballads" that you mention, unless for some reason the couple really wants them. I also incorporate wedding hymns into my program such as The Lord's Prayer, Ave Maria, The Wedding Prayer (Glascow), etc. There's a lot more I could mention, but this should help give you some ideas. Good luck.

Lyn

thanks for all your suggestions....
I have so many more ideas now!!
rach

An interesting thought occured to me as I was browsing through this thread that I would like to share/discuss with you.

Now, in posting this point, I am not fingerpointing or insulting anybody, but I would like to discuss this point a bit. Maybe this should be the subject of another thread, as it does little to answer Okat's original question - if you think so, lets start one.

I find it intriuging when pianists who have impressive repitoires become absolutely "baked" when asked to improvise.

Any thought on just how much of a pianist someone really is who is not comfortable with improvisation? Is it enough to interpret a classic to perfection and be considered a virtuoso, when you could not take a simple chord pattern and improvise a bit of music from it? Without the ability to improvise, is a pianist a pianist?

Is interpretation or improvisation true musicality?

What do you think?

Jamie

Samejame:

I think it's the same as many things in life - just habit, what you are taught when young and who influences you. Improvisation's getting to be nearly everything to me musically these days. But let's face it, there are many fine players, most it seems, who do not have the slightest urge to create something of their own. I knew several such people in my youth - a few of them now have international careers as concert pianists, professors of music and so on. Of course we all used to talk together about music and I remember asking them, "Do you never experience this overpowering desire to just sit down at the piano and create your own sounds ?" They really didn't. It wasn't just a matter of learning how to play acceptable things within chord schemes; they could have done that. Anybody can learn that particular skill with practice; it isn't true improvisation. The deeper underlying creative impulse was simply absent.

It's a mystery to me, to be quite honest. I cannot understand how pianists can live without doing this all the time - they must be terribly frustrated. And yet maybe they look at me and say, "He's just wasting his time - why doesn't he play properly ?"

The simplistic answer to your last question is that both musicality and improvisation mean very different things to different people - but that's tautologous and gets us nowhere.

samejame asks:
It is not an either/or situation. It is a matter of what one chooses to focus on and spend one's time practising and learning.

Firstly, my little "gig" went fine. It was kind of a wierd situation because going into it I was nervous, but I actually felt a sense of freedom while I was playing because I wasn't the centre of attention. I actually enjoyed playing for people. A few people even complimented me-- which was nice. But there was this one lady who came up to the piano and stared a me while I played an entire piece, which wasn't so nice.

As for Samejame's question: In my experience, to be able to improvise fluently, one has to have full command of the instrument, which is what being a pianist is all about. The "perfect" musician should be just as comfortable improvising as he would interpreting another's work. Personally, I would like to become a stronger improviser so that I could actually play for people. But there are other people I know, solid musicians, who would much rather play someone else's music. It's certainly much safer that way.

I second Gymnopedies. Its so soft and light and beautiful.