When I hear a badly out of tune upright, it makes me think of old cowboy western movies. There's always a man with a funny shirt sitting at one and playing something perky like a ragtime piece. I used to have Maple Leaf Rag memorized. Maybe this is one to re-memorize.

You are right with the Maple Leaf Rag!
If you like to listen to the Maple Leaf Rag played on a stone old upright from 1892 with upper damper mechanism, with my first own tuning attempt (that means, still pretty much out of tune), here it is:

http://www.mindenblues.family-schmidt-m ... leLeaf.mp3

On the same side, another great piece "As Time Goes By" from the casablanca movie, played on this old upright. Please note, I did not perfected both pieces, liked only to show originally the results of my first tuning attempt.

Now, please wish me luck, today evening I will play a bit on the birthday party from my uncle - they requested Chopin (they now I can only play Chopin or Bach ...).
I will play in that order:
- waltz op 69/1
- waltz op 64/2
- prelude op 28/17
- Fantaisie Impromptus op 66
- etude op 25/1

Hopefully nobody finds it strange that I start with the "Les Adieu" waltz. The order is simple, from easier pieces to difficultier ...

This is my favorite waltz. I know it isn't that hard, but it's the first Chopin waltz I ever played in a recital ( I was 12 or 13) and I think it's what hooked me into being a life-long Chopin lover.

Anyway, I enjoyed listening to your Maple Leaf Rag. Makes me want to go downstairs right now and dig out the book.

Good luck at the party tonight. Are you playing all those pieces from memory? Why don't you play Maple Leaf for an encore

Yes, a great piece, and a good possibility to customize with the keyboard action too, with the dynamic playing. Especially with approaching the soft playing on that action.



Thanks, but really, there are flaws in the recording, it was only intended to proudly present my first tuning attempt.



The party and the piano playing went well yesterday evening. I did only play the fantaisie impromptus from memory. However I can play all of them by heart, but had not the courage to play without score. So I more or less stare at the score on such occasions, for the reason to avoid the fear for a lapse of memory.
To perform the Maple Leaf Rag, I would have needed more preparation, and my uncle asked me to play 10 days ago, so I pulled out the score of the mentioned pieces (which I played on several occassions already) and did only a shorter refresh.
But you are right, Ragtimes are really good choice for instance if there is a party in a restaurant with an old upright, even if it smells of stale beer... The piano yesterday was a recently tuned baby grand, so there was no need to fall back to "bad piano" pieces...

for spontanious private performance i love to play the third impromtus from schubert g flat major its a really calm and romantic piece !!!