“Just get up there and sing. It won’t be that hard,” William said, shrugging his shoulders.
“What do you mean, ‘just get up and sing’? What if they don’t know the key that I sing it in?” she said, looking at him incredulously.
“Tiffany, they’re musicians. They’ll know.” He put his hands up as if to almost physically push her towards the small stage.
She hesitated, looking at the musicians playing. This was as good a place as any to get more experience performing. The restaurant was dimly lit and the few people who were there were too busy talking or eating to notice the music being played. From the looks of it, it seemed as though the musicians were too busy to notice her either. She turned around to sit back down.
“Nope. Go!” William whispered loudly, pointing to the stage.
She gave him a dirty look and turned back around, walking over to the elderly man playing piano. She waited until the group stopped playing completely and turned to the piano player. “‘Willow Weep for Me’? In C?” she said hesitantly.
“In C Major?” the piano player asked, taking off his fedora to wipe his bald head with a towel.
“Yes,” she said, smiling.
“No,” the piano player said, immediately shaking his head.
Her smile turned into a frown as she looked over to meet William’s eyes. What did he mean ‘no’? She saw a look of confusion cross over William’s face as he looked at the pianist. That was the key that she knew the song in and the key she felt her voice fit. The fact that this professional, gigging musician, who’d probably been playing for at least two decades was telling her that the key she had practiced for this song was wrong, made her feel uneasy. Was it the right key or did he just not like the song? Or maybe she had approached him in a rude way, but then, how else was she supposed to say it? What was this guy’s deal? “That’s the key I sing the song in,” she said, standing her ground.
The piano player shrugged and nodded at the other musicians, who started to play.
As she sang through the first verse, she could hear some of the notes that the piano player was playing were off. She looked back to see the piano player grimacing and shaking his head. She finished singing and went around to thank all the musicians. After she was done, she sat back down with William.
“I don’t think he was comfortable playing the song in that key,” William said under his breath.
“Well then he should’ve said that. Not just shoot me down,” she said, shaking her head. She had been nervous enough already, walking up to and performing in a situation she wasn’t familiar with; the pianist’s attitude and response had filled her with doubt. “I don’t have much experience performing at jam sessions. You would think he would be a little sympathetic.”
“Quit acting like a victim. You’ve performed before. There’s really not that much difference,” William said as they walked towards the door.
She could tell she was going to get as much sympathy from William as she had from the piano player, so she let it drop. She knew she wasn’t okay with how the musician had talked to her, regardless of how many years of experience he had or how little experience she had. Either way, she didn’t like being treated like that by anyone. This had been a learning experience.