Confessions of a campus pianist

Whenever my grandmother would come to my house when I was younger, she would sit very quietly in the chair in the living room while my sister and later I played the piano. My mother explained to me that when my grandmother was young, one of the things she and her sisters did for fun was gather around and listen to their mother play the piano. And although things have changed and we have lot more in our world to entertain us, I don’t think the fundamental role of the piano has. It brings people together, it entertains, it makes us feel. When I walk by someone playing Chopin’s “Fantaisie-Impromptu” or “Rhapsody in Blue” by Gershwin, besides lamenting my inadequate piano skills, I can’t help but stop and sit and share in the transforming power of a beautiful piano.

Yet, even I know that such lofty experiences often do not happen with campus pianists. I, as anyone, often find myself with the opposite mind, frustrated that this person has invaded my study space with his or her loud and obnoxious sound, even if it is the most incredible rendition of Rachmaninov’s “Prelude in C-sharp Minor” possible. If I am stressed by my work and need to concentrate, I will hate it. So how can the ethics of deciding whether to play the piano be determined, if whether or not the people in the area will get mad is so dependent on factors outside the pianist’s control and knowledge? I think it comes down to the fact that these are common spaces that everyone has the right to use, and respect for others in the space should be the deciding factor.

I think the pianist has some right to play in the space, given that there’s a piano there. The impression I get from Princeton FML is that the pianists are always considered outsiders, either invading it with their offensive sounds or entertaining it with themes from Final Fantasy or the Godfather. Instead, they should be considered rightful users of the space. True, they can play the piano elsewhere, but others can study elsewhere. Here on campus there is a whole range of study spaces, with varying levels background noise and activity. This is not to say that the needs of studying and piano-playing should be weighed equally, but rather that there have to be compromises to determine the extent to which each group can use the space.

Saying that Frist should be for studying, and therefore the piano should never be played, is unfair not only to the pianists but also to the people who enjoy the music. However, saying that pianists should have free reign to play whatever and whenever they want is equally unfair to the people who use that space to quietly study. There are some general rules of ettiquette that make sense to me: for example, that playing after 2 a.m. and practicing on community pianos should be discouraged and that pianists, except in these cases, generally have the right to play softly and quietly. But the gray areas are more difficult and must be figured out in the form of conversation between the pianists and the people who are studying, ideally not in a medium that allows anonymous angry rants.

I think I speak for most pianists when I say that we would genuinely like to know if we are bothering you and that we are, for the most part, not just trying to be annoying. Pianists and students who want to study are not inherently antagonistic: Both simply want to use a common space they have a right to, and more respect on both sides in recognizing that fact could go a long way to a peaceful (and musically pleasant) coexistence in the space.

Luke Massa is a philosophy major from Ridley Park, Penn. He can be reached at lmassa@princeton.edu.