Busking on a public piano: what to check before you play for tips

Who sets the rules

A public piano is free for anyone to play, but that doesn’t mean anything goes. Three different groups can have a say over busking on one, and the answers aren’t always the same:

• The piano’s owner or host. A station operator, a shopping centre, a council, a library, a café or a nonprofit art project. Many post a sign with playing hours, a time limit, or a note about donations and amplification.
• The venue. A piano inside a station or mall sits on private property, and the building’s own rules about performing and collecting money apply there.
• The city. Many cities regulate street performance, from permits and designated pitches to noise and hours. Rules change from city to city and sometimes from one district to the next.

We can’t tell you what applies where you are, and this page isn’t legal advice. Check your city council’s website for busking or street-performance rules, and ask the venue or the piano’s host directly if you plan to collect tips.

Questions to answer before you play for money

1. Does the sign on the piano say anything about donations? If it says no collecting, that is your answer for this piano.
2. Does the city require a busking permit or licence? Search your council’s site for “busking” or “street performance”.
3. Is the piano on private property? Stations, malls and cafés may need their own permission even if the city doesn’t.
4. Are there limits on time, hours or amplification? A mic and speaker often turn “playing” into “performing” in the eyes of the rules.
5. Who should you ask when it is unclear? The venue’s staff or the organisation named on the piano. Asking first is quicker than being moved on mid-set.

Picking a piano worth performing on

For a casual player, a piano with a couple of sticky keys is fine. For a set in front of people, it isn’t. Before you choose a spot, open the piano in PianoSpot and look at:

• The condition label and the vote count. Start with Great. A piano with many recent upvotes is a safer bet than one with a single old review.
• What players say. Short reviews mention dead keys, a sticking pedal or tuning drift, the things that ruin a performance.
• Type and setting. Filter by Grand if you want the bigger sound, and Covered or Indoor if rain could cut your set short.
• Photos. They show how much space is around the piano, whether there is room for people to stop and listen without blocking a walkway, and where you could put a case.

It’s still a shared piano

The thing that makes busking on a public piano different from busking with your own instrument is that the piano isn’t yours. Other people have every right to play it, including the kid who has been waiting ten minutes to try. A few habits keep you welcome:

• Play a set, not the whole afternoon, and give the bench up between sets if someone is waiting.
• Don’t block the walkway or the piano with your case, stand or speaker.
• Leave the piano as you found it: lid closed or cover back on.
• If something breaks or goes out of tune while you play, tell the host and note it in a review.

Our public piano etiquette guide goes into time limits and volume in more detail.

When a pitch with your own keyboard makes more sense

If the pianos in your city ban collecting, or the good ones are always busy, a stage piano or keyboard on a licensed pitch may be the better route, where the city allows it. You control the instrument, the time and the volume. Public pianos are then a good place to try new material on real keys before you take it out.