To follow up on my bad piano story of August 19 (“Don’t Shoot the Piano Player”), as if deciding on writing about that was an omen, I encountered one of the worst pianos I have been subjected to the following day, August 20.
It was at an Atlanta funeral home, my performance there the unfortunate result of the death of a dearly beloved friend. His wife had asked me to play a couple of songs, one at the outset of the ceremony, one at the conclusion. I had taken my advice from the August 19 blog and visited the funeral home the week before to test the piano. Badly out of tune. I strongly urged the funeral director to get it tuned, and she was kind and cooperative enough to follow through. Ah-h-h, sweet relief; when I arrived it was in tune.
Funny thing, when I sang the opening song of the funeral for one of my best ever friends, the piano was okay. Being 11:00 in the morning, my voice, which is not used to singing until later in the evening and typically with the support of a glass or two of chardonnay, struggled some. But I got through “Nature Boy,” hitting all the high notes if not with great clarity.
But an hour later when I got back on the piano for the completion of the ceremony, an appropriate selection for my friend and most of us there to honor him, “Still Crazy After All These Years,” several of the keys were, basically, dead. Instead of a note, I just heard a thump. How did that happen? A mystery still, except that perhaps I weakened the aging instrument with my first song.
Good news is that no one noticed, or said anything if they did. However, I know I could have sung better had I not been thinking about the keys that were going thud instead of playing their intended notes.