O my other petpeeveHey can you play me a Beetles song?
My mom would say when I was practicing:"Bach makes me nervous, play something different. How about something from the hymnal. Yes, you play something I like so I can sing along."
I have learned over the years to take the comments of non-musicians very seriously. I mean comments about the sound of my music itself, not the sort of remarks mentioned by the above posters. A musically sensitive mind uncluttered with learning can detect things and make observations without worrying about what people think or whether the remarks are in breach of some "higher" tradition or theory. Put another way, a trained musician is likely to be too careful about what he says in case he is thought ignorant, and is more likely to make knowledgeable but indirect and harmless observations. A naive person will come right out and say what he thinks. I find this reaction most refreshing and, just occasionally, it contains astonishing insight.
hah yeah my mum always goes on about me speaking clearly before announcing pieces and taking bows and things which gets annoying. Sure, its true, but after i give it all in a performance, which by my standards, felt so good, to hear nagging about 'you've got to speak louder' is unbalancing.
I have learned over the years to take the comments of non-musicians very seriously.
"What do you do for fun?"--I play the piano. "No, I mean when you don't have to practice, what do you like to do?"--Well, I really like to play the piano."So what kind of music do you play just for fun?"--Well, I really have fun playing classical music...Aw, heck. I don't understand what goes on in any other fields (I'm barely hangin' on in my own), so they probably have the same conversations about people like me.
You share 50% if your genes with ur sister.
Give these poor people a break. Of course they're not gonna know, they are non-musicians. After all, not everyone can have your astounding knowledge of high culture. And God forbid anyone has to ever play Bartok on a 66 key keyboard. What could they possibly have been thinking when they offered to do you what they thought was a favor, pianote? I think there's a thread about musical snobs somewhere...
My brother always introduces me as a pianist, but he says it fast and drops the A and the T. He seems to think this is pretty darn funny.