That Public use pianos are annoying and should be removed from station?

[Creambun2]

I was waiting for an arrival at St Pancras recently and was driven mad by the "public use" piano that was there. It was 100% being "used" by French students hammering it to make as much noise as possible and laughing and the occasional toddler tapping keys.

What is the point of these anyway? Or do top solo pianists waiting for the 18.04 to kettering randomly play some Rachmaninoff?

Stations are noisy anyway without adding more!

It's because we are supposed to pretend we are in Paris or something.

There's one at Tottenham Court Road. Sometimes someone good plays. Sometimes it's just plink-plonk. As I don't live in the station it doesn't bother me so much.

It’s nice. Often people play beautifully.

YES. YES. A thousand times YES.

They should all be DESTROYED.

The train is late, you are hung over, you have a shit day at work ahead... and...

plinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonkyplinkyplinkyplonky

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TERRRR-MIN-AAAAAAATE!

Why don't they just shower us with scalding piss and have done?

Someone start a campaign to bring back mimes. At least they're quiet

Public pianos?
Are they some left over thing from the Victorian era?

I say YABU although to be fair I rarely go anywhere near one! But I daresay for some children and adults they don't often get the chance to play on a piano so it's a lovely opportunity for free access.

I am FAR more annoyed by the blokes who get on the tube and randomly start butchering an accordion in your ear and then have the audacity to hold a dog-eared cup out for money. I didn't ask to subjected to that shite, thank you very much, you can fuck right off. Really makes me angry.

Ive heard some really lovely performances on them, love the idea and never at these places long enough for the bad players to be irritating.

Whenever I walk past the one in our shopping mall it's being played beautifully. Ditto last time I went through St Pancras.

upstartcrow on first read I thought you wrote MINES - but yep ship of the abusers of these pianos to dig coal

YABU!

I have heard some absolutely amazing pieces played by people at St Pancras and I would not give the pianos up for anything.

Letting a kid have their first try at a real piano or teenages have a bit of fun with music is a brilliant thing and worth the noise.

There are quieter places in the station if you don't approve!

I see your accordion on the tube, and raise you someone preaching on a bus.
There's nothing quite like sitting down on the top deck of a crowded bus on a monday morning going to work and having someone ranting on about how we are all doomed to burn in the fires of hell if we don't let Jesus into our life.

What a killjoy you are!

John legend played the one in kings cross a while back whilst he was travelling through. You really want to stop the amazing pianists from playing because of a few kids mucking around?!

Dh would ban "chopsticks" anyway.

Ah, miseryguts strikes again!

YABU. It's a huge station. Go and stand in another part of it.

And most people play really nicely. My friend heard someone amazing tinkling on the one in Covent Garden a couple of years ago.

It turned out to be Paul McCartney!

I think they are lovely, we have them oop north too.
Maybe we are just better pianists than southerners.
Tbh though, parents tend to keep their dc away from them unless they can actually play.

YABU. Why shouldn't other people have a bit of fun playing the piano and yes, accomplished pianists do sometimes play a bit of Rachmaninoff on them.

If it was that annoying you could have walked away - if they had pianos actually on a train I might have more sympathy.
I find other noises in public places far more annoying, shouted one sided phone conversations, screaming toddlers, drunks and muzak in shops.

There’s one in the Oracle shopping centre in Reading - maybe I’ve been lucky, but it always seems to be being played beautifully.

I’m not sure a station is the best place for one, people there don’t usually have the time to sit down and play seriously, as they do in the shopping centre.
Like this guy...

I saw an advert for a piano playing app on YouTube with these...

It would drive me insane, my anxiety etc and my dc with autism would be in full melt down and someone clanging around on it

YABU
I was in St Pancras the other day and stopped for a few minutes to listen to some brilliant jazz playing.
Sounds like you walked by at a bad moment, but it's little things like pianos at stations which break up the monotony of life.

I love the pianos. Have heard some stunning pieces.
Some kids play their exam pieces and do their scales which is great.

It’s a lovely idea, and better than hearing people on their phones, or complaining about, well, everything!

They strike me as a bit show-off-y. Either you're shit at piano and want to annoy everyone (i.e. most people), or you're good at piano and you're the sort of beardy hipster twat who is hoping someone will just happen to record them playing and they'll be internet famous. Or at least that's the impression I get of the people the one in Waverly station attracts.

My friend’s dad is a well respected jazz pianist and composer and he played at one of these and apparently accumulated a crowd of well over a hundred!

But generally - yes they’re very irritating and YANBU

There are some miserable fuckers in the world OP, aren't there.....