There’s a community piano in Shrewsbury indoor market. It’s great. All sorts of people use it. Quite often, someone is having a go at a simple tune. Sometimes people bring their sheet music along and entertain the shoppers for an hour or so. Today, it sported a notice, which read, ‘Children must be accompanied by an adult if they wish to play the piano. Failure to do so may result in the piano being removed. Thank You.’
‘Thank You’? Hah! There was no-one around, and I almost whipped out my pen and wrote ‘Meanies’ on the bottom. I suppose I’m not the one responsible for keeping it in tune, but still. As a poor kid, whose mum couldn’t afford piano lessons for me, and who frequently went around unaccompanied, I’d have loved to have had the chance to make some sound on a musical instrument.
Later, I saw three kids playing excerpts from Chopsticks and having fun on the piano. They were unaccompanied. Great!