Music in a restaurant is an important part of your branding. It helps set up your restaurant ambiance and encourages the customers to stay longer. However, choosing the right piano piece to appeal to your customers might be a bit difficult because you have to satisfy a large number of people with different interests.
This article has thus been written to guide your choice of selection for the right piano piece that your customers can easily blend into as well as the factors that make the selection process easier.
Factors to Consider While Selecting Piano Piece for a Restaurant
There are endless lists of beautiful piano pieces from the great classics of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and so on to the new piano pieces that keep getting better every day.
But as beautiful as these pieces may be, while some people consider the slow pieces to be a perfect piece of art, some may consider them too boring.
Here are some factors to consider for selecting the right piano piece for your restaurant.
- Day of the week
- Clientele
- Time of the day
- Type of restaurant
- Boss instruction
Day of the week
The day of the week is the first thing that can easily influence the selection of a piano piece in a restaurant.
This is because it is generally understood that most of the customers visiting the restaurant from Monday till Friday are people who just want to retire and relax after the day’s work.
Therefore, for these kinds of days, it might be better to consider piano piece selection from light jazz and classical collections that are soothing and help the customers relax better.
See below for the list of best light jazz and classical pieces.
Clientele
The customers are the biggest stakeholders in the decision-making for the selection of piano pieces to play in your restaurant.
The kind of customers you have will determine the kind of piece that will be appropriate. The simple rule is to ensure your selection is from a list of pieces that your clientele can easily relate to.
For a restaurant with a stable clientele it will be easier to decide what to play such as soft background piano for the retirees and veterans, light jazz that is not too loud for clientele that includes mostly  couples, and if your customers are mostly youth, upbeat rock might appeal more to your customers.
Time of the day
Playing upbeat and fast jazz straight up in the morning may not be a very smart move. Different time of the day is another factor that could greatly influence the piano piece selection.
The reason for this is in consideration for the mood of the customers and the clientele at this different period of the day.
For example, most of the visitors that eat in and sit more at the early hours of the day are mostly retirees and veterans who might find a soft piano piece more appealing. However, Night customers are mostly youths and unmarried persons who might want some action in the piano.
Type of restaurant
The type of restaurant you run or you are employed to play a piece in is another factor that should also be considered.
The restaurant theme could easily influence the kind of people that patronize it. Hence, the kind of piano piece that can be expected in this kind of restaurant will be about the theme.
For example in a club-bar-themed restaurant, pop, rock, and techno piano pieces are not out of place. However, in an ethnic-themed restaurant, cultural and contemporary jazz will be most appropriate.
Boss instruction
As a freelance pianist, the number one factor that can influence your piano piece selection in a restaurant is the instructions from the restaurant owner.
No matter how motivated you can feel, following the instructions from the boss will be most important. Most often, the instructions might not be what piece to play but would rather be the tempo of the delivery.
Apart from being a guide that ensures that your piano piece fits into the restaurant theme, it can also help you make a good piece selection without having to think too much.
List of Pieces to Play in a Restaurant as a Pianist
A good piano piece you can play in a restaurant is dependent on good delivery and how well the customers in the restaurant show they enjoy it.
Some of the best pieces you can play as a Pianist are divided into 4 parts being Soft Jazz, Country Piece, Upbeat Piece, and Classical piano piece.
This is because they easily bring out the vibe and accommodate the customers in the restaurant without disturbing conversation. These pieces are listed under the following subheading.
Soft Jazz
- Blue space – Oakwood station
- Seven falls – Hara Noda
- Be my love – Keith Jarrett
- Blue in Green – Sarah Florence
- I’ve never been in love before – Ted Lightfoot
- The nearness of you – The Sunday Duo
- Gentle Rain – The Blue Green
- Like Someone in Love – Dennis Rowland
- The colors of Leaves – Daniel Lundback
- Moon River – Lucina Chase
Country Piano
- San Antonio Rose – Vance Nichols
- Carina in my mind – Christopher Phillips
- Take me home country roads – The O’Neill Brothers Group
- Blue eyes crying in the rain – Jason Coleman
- We’ve got tonight – Planoworks
- God bless the USA – John Data
- Forever and ever, Amen – John Livingston
- Valentine – Jim Brickman
- All my hope – Sam Anderson
Upbeat Piano
- Illumination – Jennifer Thomas
- Wait for me – Luca D’alberto
- Debut – Melanie Laurent
- The Forest – James Spiteri
- Night Waltz – Angus Macrae
- Vita Nuova – Roberto Cacciapaglia
- Messenger – Helen Jane Long
- Bird in Captivity – Ilya Besherli
- Victory Within – Ian Wong
- The Landing – Justin Harivitz
Classical Piano
- Sonata No.14 “Moonlight” – Beethoven
- Pavane, Op. 50 – Gabriel Faure
- Gnossienne No.1 – Erik Satie
- Nocturne No.19 in E-Minor – Chopin
- Fantasia No.3 in D-Minor – Mozart
- “Was Mir behagt, ist Nur die muntre Jagd” cantata, BWV 208: 9 – J.S. Bach
- Piano Sonata No.16 in C-Major – Mozart
- Piano Sonata No.3 in B-Minor – Chopin
- Eroica Dance – Martin Stadfeld
Conclusion
When faced with the choice of what piano piece to play in the restaurant, the list is almost endless. However, before selecting any piece to play, your clientele as well as the theme you are trying to portray should inspire your choice of selection.
This article has thus helped you highlight some of the best pieces you can choose when next you have to pick a piece.
