Video: Piano Man + Beat Boxer
Trevor plays piano in the Community Building lobby regularly. Today, he had a friend with him. Unsolicited noise seems to grate against about a million things we value as a culture. We want to sign up for noise voluntarily, control the volume and turn it off when we’re done. Kids who used to walk down the street with a boom box now walk down the street with ear buds. Sharing is not caring, it’s aural assault.
Just this week, I broke my “no complaining on Facebook” rule to rant against the bar whose patio speakers project into my window into the wee hours of most mornings. Sometimes, though, we’re so busy freaking out about the imposition that we miss the breath of inspiration that can come from stopping and listening.
I don’t even like this song. I loved the interlude to my day, though, especially the moment at the end of it when the two guys celebrated their creation, unaware of us, and I turned around to see several other observers wide-eyed and joyful.
So here are my thoughts as the sound of the bells from Gonzaga’s St. Aloysius waft through my bedroom window among the sounds of birds and rustling of cherry leave. I have played that piano, usually after 5 pm and briefly before some meeting in the mezzanine conference room. My guess is this guy is a much better pianist than I. I choose to improvise off of A minor and E major because I haven’t had time (or desire) in recent years to practice and that chord combination conjures up some sense in me of Latin American revolutions. Since I became aware that it is an annoyance (I empathize) I have barely touched that piano and when I do I do so after the meetings when I am the last one left in the building.
I also agree with the irony of this being an issue in the Community Building but to me that irony only takes me to the questions raised in the minds of more people than just me about that word – community – being applied to the “Community” Building. Among others are the lack of diversity among staff, volunteers, and other facility users.
Nevertheless, I can understand how the music can annoy people, especially if it is incessant, repetitive, “not ones style”, etc. I even mentioned the matter of Harpman Hatter vs. Ivory Tickler Trevor and the “public nuisance” they both constitute to some, on the one hand, and the “right to free expression” they represent, on the other. So a suggestion, roll the piano into the Community Building elevator once a week, rotate it to another floor, place a sign “Piano on the xth floor this week. Feel free to come on up!” Share the enjoyment!