How did you get your Mason BB to fit in the elevator?

(Now's your turn to insert something related to pianos, pianists, piano music etc...)

"Come on, play the one that goes 'G G G Eb' "

"Can you play Clair De Lune?"

"Wait, was Mozart the deaf one?"

"What do you charge?"

Ah, the life of a freelancer...

"Oh yeah, I know that guy--he's CHOP-in, right?"

Is piano really that hard to play?


That's how i called him few years ago:)

Related to that:

"What do you do during the day?"

"I wished I never gave it up"

"I always wanted to learn to play"

"Who's your favorite composer?"

"What college are you going to attend?"

"Don't your fingers get tired?"

"How are you?"[/b]



No, it's not music related... but I'll get rich a lot faster! :p

"Why are you taking lessons?"

Followed by, "I thought you knew how to play."

When I play Scriabin 8-12: "How do you improvise like that? pentatonics?"

no joke. :-(

"Why are you bothering with lessons at your age??" (51) Sad but true, I've been asked more than once.

Haha! I know the feeling. I'm incredibly busy for 20 hours a week (3pm-7pm, M-F) and incredibly flexible the rest of the time. People will ask when I'm free for rehearsals, and I'll say "any day before 3pm." Oddly enough, that seems to be fairly restrictive for the average musician these days...

"Do you play the piano as well?"

Answer: Not nearly as well!

Can you play in the Hall of the Mountain King? Rondo alla turca? Fur Elise?

And another I like a bit more: How do you move your hands that fast?

LOL, as a church organist, I generally substitute for the Anglicans, Lutherans and the Christian Scientists. If I had a pound for every time the ladies have asked just what my faith is...

Cannot they tell by the way I'm dressed?

How do you dress?

How do Anglicans, Lutherans, and Christian Scientists dress?

Unfortunately, this is lost on me.

I think you edited your post... I momentarily saw what you originally said, or perhaps I dreamt. I'm hallucinating, too little sleep.

If you were planning on saying "how is it possible someone your age could know so much", well you have a point. Go with that Daniel, and don't apologize, okay?

It's not about how they dress, it's all about how I dress. (LOL!)

Slacks and blazer for the Lutherans and CS. Full three piece suit with braces larded with heavy metal (crosses and stuff) for the Anglicans. It is all great fun, but I'm truly in my element... and my elemental beliefs.

I love it.

Debbie, is their implication that at our age we ought to be capable of teaching ourselves ... or that we're too old to be learning new stuff?

It's sad either way ... but at least you could look at the former as a compliment in disguise from those who equate age with wisdom; the latter is just plain ignorant!

Steven

Yep, these are it.

And then there is this exchange:

Them - "What kind of music is it that you play?"

Me - "Classical"

Them, eyes widening - "You mean like Bach and stuff?"

Me - "Uh-huh."

Them - "Nothing else?"

Me - "No, nothing else. Just classical."

Them, as they flee, in a fit of fear and loathing - "That's really ... uh ... (choking) ... nice. I'm sure it's really very relaxing for you."

Me, to the vacant space where the questioner was located just a moment earlier - "Relaxing??"

"Can you play the theme from 'Cheers'?"

"That was all right but could you play it in the dark with coloured lights on your fingers ?"

"What do you think about while you're playing ?"

"How old were you when you started to play ?"

"Can you play that one which came on television last year ? Can't remember how it goes, but tell you what, I'd know it if I heard it."

"can you play that song by Beethoven or is it Mozart, you know, the one that eveyone knows, is it flur de lee?"

Zac

Steven,

I've taken it both ways, depending on who I was talking to. My mother certainly thinks I should be able to teach myself, after all they paid for two years of lessons in the 60's - LOL. From a couple of co-workers I thought it was more the flavor of "can't you find anything better to do??" HOWEVER, I've also had tons of support and cheerleaders in the mix. I always just tell people I'm doing it for me and because it's something I've always loved, even when faking my way through limited music during my adult life.

Debbie

Where did you get your shoes?

(What are you doing looking at my feet?)

(Could this be a trick question or is there something wrong with my feet?)

(Oh, the student is wasting time and distracting me, wants to make conversation, I get it.)

(I could smile and say they come in 3 colors at Macy's, but they only have size 5-9 in women's, no big foots.)

(No, don't say that, someone might get upset, but you can think that!)

(Or try, the left one came from Nordstroms in Seattle, and the right one came from San Francisco - they sell you different size shoes for feet that are not the same size, you know. The shoes don't even have to be in the same cities! Isn't that great of them....then they have to find someone to buy the pair you left behind.) (Amazing service!)

(That's just to make quick conversation you understand, and you shake your head up and down the whole time you are talking.)

"Beethoven's fleur-de-lis" is a very funny malapropism. I've never heard that before!

Steven

You are sssssssooooooo lucky you can play the piano.

(As if luck has anything to do with it ).

Kathleen

"Classical music? I hate that stuff."

"Can you play the Beatles?"

"Are you going to be a music major?"

"Why do you bother practicing that long?"

I edited it because I realized that it wasn't piano-specific.
For clarity's sake, I am very often asked "how old are you?"

The follow-up question of "how" is one that I have ceased to answer because it is long, complicated, and just too much work for such a frequently asked question.

Piano? What for? Why do you bother?
ok, if you like it.... and when do you finish your studies? Can you play concertos yet? NO??? You've been studing for a WHOLE YEAR and you can't play a concert yet? You're loosing your time and your money!


*sighs* Sometimes I don't bother to answer....

:rolleyes:

When I bring my scores to school:

"Do you play piano?" (Captain Obvious to the rescue)
"Did you have any teachers?"
"Do you play at a church?" (In the Philippines, owning a piano often means that one of the family members play an organ synthesizer at a church)
"What kind of music do you play?" (Quite a dumb question)

and other q's not worthy to post.

Well then at least I wasn't hallucinating after all. :rolleyes:

I have a great knowledge (okay, IMHO) of Anglican Church music, and I do get the "age" question on a fairly regular basis.

Otherwise, Daniel, you seem wise beyond your years, and your analytical approach to music is a marvel. Good on ya...

Can you play the "Minute" Waltz in a minute?

Steven

How long have you been playing?
2 years.

Wow, thats impossible.
Yeah, but I practice a lot.

Wow, you're really talented.
3-4 hrs a day and you can be talented too.

Okay.. *shakes head in disbelief*

[off-topic]

Christian Scientists are the ones with pocket protectors.

"How do you remember all those tunes???"

(I have 60,000 lead lines copied on the cuff of my blouse...)

I hate it when I get asked to play piano man or great balls of fire, not classical but it gets asked a lot.

After I play for someone, they usually say:

"Wow, I wish I hadn't given up my piano lessons when I was kid."


best wishes,
Valerie

"Can you teach me to play something?"

OK. That's funny!!

- them: can you play piano man (or ben folds)?
- me: i don't take requests
them: oh

or

- them: how much do you practice?
- me: not enough

or

- them: Hey! Piano man!
- me: *sigh*

or

- them: how long have you been playing?

or

- them: why didn't you major in law?

me (dumbfounded): uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.........sure?

I frequently get "Why didn't you go into music?" How I answer depends on who asks.

I study musicology. Very few are aware of its existence and even fewer know what it is, hence I always get the same three questions:

1. Oh, you're studying musicology? So, which instrument?

Considering that the German term for musicology is "Musikwissenschaft" (literally: musical science), I think this is a quite silly question, as if you'd ask a linguist whether he prefers to write poems or prose...

Once I've explained that musicology is mainly about studying musical theory and history and doesn't involve learning an instrument, the second question follows:

2. So you'll be a music teacher then?

... No, music teachers attend the conservatory where they study musical pedagogy.

Question No. 3 then actually makes sense:

3. What do you do then when you've finished your studies?

Oh, if only I had a dollar for every time...

That's obvious, isn't it? You do research, write learned articles and books, teach other musicolologists (with apologies to Peter Schickele).

Scottish pipers may have it worse than pianists.

A friend of mine has lost count of the number of times he's been asked "so, what do you wear under your kilt?"

His answer: "shoes and socks".

I've been asked:

"Can you play THE FIFTH?"

"The fifth what?" I ask.

"Ya know the fifth by Beethoven"

His fifth what? I ask.

"Ya know THE FIFTH"

"Sorry I don't know which fifth. He wrote 32 sonatas for piano, 5 sonatas for cello, 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, so which fifth do you want?" I answer.

"The one that goes ... YA, YA YA, Dummm"

"Oh that one sorry I can't play that one because it's written for orchestra and I play the piano", I tell him.

"Oh" and he walks away.

John

You only play classical? Why don't you play REAL music?

Variation: Don't you play any music with words?

Serious observation here:

The vast majority of people generally can't comprehend the combination of talent,practice, and training that goes into becoming an accomplished musician. So we really need to be sensitive to this when we engage in these conversations.

For instance, I've had many people say to me that they wish that they had kept taking piano lessons so that they could play like I can. Well, at least in my opinion, the vast majority of them could have taken 30 years of lessons and not been true musicians. I'm not being an elitist here. I'm just telling the truth.

I always just say that there are things I wish I had stuck with, such as golf. But, the truth is, I played a ton of golf, and I never could have been as good a golfer as I am a pianist. While I used to be able to break 85, that's like being able to play an easy Beethoven Sonata. A "scratch" pianist can play the Waldstein. Which I can, leaving aside the damned octave glissandi.

The bottom line is that we need to recognize that most folks don't really understand. So don't be rude. Just smile, evaluate their level of understanding, respond appropriately, and move on.