Hi! I´ve been playing piano in a restaurant as a background music and I was just wondering what people think about this matter.

What should one play?

My list includes of:

Feelings,
My Way,
Kissing a Fool,
Meggies Theme (from Thornbirds),
Memory,
Misty,
Warum,
New York State Of Mind,
Honesty,
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word,
Blue Eyes,
Moonlight Serenade,
This Masquerade,
Just The Way You Are,
As Time Goes By,
How Am I Supposed To Live Without, You,
Hello,
Solitaire,
You´ve got a friend, and so on.

Comments? Something missing? Thanks for any opinions!

COULD YOU PLEASE SEND ME SORRY SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD AND FEELINGS? THANK YOU MY ADRESS IS SHARONPACE@ONVOL.NET

How about
the second movement of Rach 2

The above suggestion isn`t as stupid as it sounds - ..though you don`t want to draw too much attention to yourself - the chefs never like the musician being too popular! ...you`d need to just have a little arrangement under your fingers that borrowed from the tunes.

People like to hear tunes they recognise...

Perhaps ask people (friends) what tunes they would like to hear... try and get your hands on a fake book and look for tunes you recognise... smoke gets in your eyes, georgia...

Sorry Sharon Pace, I haven´t got those pieces in computer. And by the way, I´m not even sure if have them as sheets either.

Of course I play in restaurants without notes - playing with notes gives a somewhat weak impression of the pianist and it really inhibits improvisation. Not to mention the fact that it discourages people coming over to me and asking for some song to be played.

2nd movement from Rach 2, aye?! My technic is pretty awkward so would I get it played even with my own "easy-to-play"-arrangement?

Hi `piano man`! recently i went to a restaurant and played their piano, and they said they might be looking for someone to play it on a regular basis. I`m only 15, but this seems like a good idea and i have my grade 8. trouble is, the kind of pieces i play are really dramatic and loud- not exactly ideal for in a restaurant! Do you play any Chopin at all?

When I used to play during cocktail parties before receptions, I used to lugg hundreds of pages of music, which usually doesn`t last longer than an hour and a half. Next point, The general population, stupid as they may be, would rather listen to commercial music. Therefore, I reccomend buying the Standards realbook. People like to listen to a lot of the tunes.

Yes, people tend to like listening to recognizable tunes. Thats why I´ve practised over 500 pieces by heart and can play them with improvisations.

Right off the top, Feelings and My Way tend to be overdone. Though I admit, SOME people do appreciate them. I know you`ve thought of Yesterday. Why aren`t you doing it? There must be some reason. Everybody (in the audience) loves it. I think it makes people happy even though it`s sad. They`ll sing every word without knowing the difference. All the same, you`re doing a great job! Strat man Dwight

Of course I play Yesterday too. It was in that section "...and so on"
I was just trying to find out if someone else has exactly the same kind of taste of music. I was eager to see what people think for example: I´m now playing through that list that I wrote. Would you, say, in the beginning of Feelings or Close to You shout to me, the pianist: "Plaah, `nock it off. Who HASN´T heard that one?! Play something new."

I´ve tried playing songs from the 1990´s and 2000´s but no, they don´t seem to work at all.

Please could you give me the emailadress of Frankee (reply 23 november 2004). I play Chopin.
Thanks

Depending on the restaurant theres different sheet music, IF i was working at a CHINESE restaurant u should play something in a oriental style U WOULDNT GO PLAY MOONLIGHT SONATA.

I`ve added lots of Cole Porter or at least some of the more obvious, NIGHT AND DAY, EVERYTIME WE SAY GOODBYE, I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU, I`VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN.

I like playing the old old stuff. People seem to dig it--what they don`t dig much of, at least when I play it, is Andrew Lloyd Webber.