Piano access

Sweetpea704

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Joined
Dec 20, 2014
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When I was in school, there was a music practice room in every dorm with a piano. I am wondering if there is access to a piano in Chase Hall. My DS took piano since he was in 1st grade. He will often sit down to play and I think he kind of uses it as a way to relieve stress. Just curious. I haven't seen any posts that say one way or the other. Also, he has a Kindle Fire that he keeps his music on. Can he have a Kindle at the Academy? Thanks.
 
There are no pianos in the company common rooms in Chase Hall. Some cadets do have guitars in their rooms, and some have electronic keyboards in their rooms (suggest using it with headphones, and maybe not at all as 4/C, definitely won't as a swab!).

There are cadet music groups which use pianos. And the US Coast Guard Band is based at the Academy. So there are pianos available.

He can have his Kindle Fire as a reader only. The wireless system on campus is a secure military wireless, and as such access is restricted to authorized electronic devices. They are issued to cadets as necessary (like the laptop issued for academic work).
 
There are cadet music groups which use pianos. And the US Coast Guard Band is based at the Academy. So there are pianos available.

I believe there is a piano that's always available whenever Leamy Hall is open, so it's not in Chase Hall, but it is a five minute walk (or less) from any room in Chase Hall. I'd recommend contacting CWO Frenkel, Director of Cadet Bands, for more information and to confirm/deny the existence of this piano.
 
I believe there is a piano that's always available whenever Leamy Hall is open, so it's not in Chase Hall, but it is a five minute walk (or less) from any room in Chase Hall. I'd recommend contacting CWO Frenkel, Director of Cadet Bands, for more information and to confirm/deny the existence of this piano.

I can confirm that this is true, I was a part of a few of the Cadet Bands while I was at the Academy. There is a piano that is always open in the Leamy Ballroom as long as the Ballroom isn't in use. It wasn't uncommon when I was a cadet (only a few short months ago!) to walk in and here someone playing. One of the best parts was seeing the cadets who played, you will definitely be surprised by some of the hidden talents that your classmates will have.
 
One of the best parts was seeing the cadets who played, you will definitely be surprised by some of the hidden talents that your classmates will have.

So very true!

CGA is pretty straight-lined..... so it was always really great to see classmates show what they can do. You're going to school with some very impressive people. You'll figure out that most will be great in the classroom (unless they're me) and they'll be driven in athletics.... and many will show great leadership....

but when their hidden talets come out... it's great.

My roommate from Honduras played guitar. I used to say "Hey man, practice your guitar." And I would just sit at my desk and close my eyes.... such a nice sound.

Another classmate in my company, a female, had a heavenly voice. She didn't perform, but sometimes I'd walk by her room and hear her singing... it was really nice.

I wish I had started playing the five-string banjo sooner. First, banjos make people smile, but it would have been nice to pick at little at CGA, and on my first ship. It's a difficult instrument, but I've enjoyed the last year of learning how to play it.

My advice.... after Swab Summer don't hide your talents (I say after Swab Summer because during Swab Summer life is easier if you're a wallflower... which I was not, sadly). Share your talents with the people around you. They're honestly enjoy it. It makes Chase Hall are far more pleasant experience.
 
There's a few pianos in Leamy Hall, which is, like others have said, a short 5-minute walk from Chase. The Steinway in the main ballroom can only be played after 4:00pm, but the rest are up for grabs whenever (there's at least 3 in the basement, and another one outside the balcony to the auditorium.) People play all the time, and it is really amazing the talent that some of my classmates have! Also, you can keep a keyboard in your room so long as you get it signed off by your company officer. Hope that helped!
 
Alright, maybe that wasn't as funny as I thought. Interesting about when the Steinway can be played. Pull a serial number of it and I'll tell you how old it is.

A hockey teammate of mine gave me a 114 year old Vose and Sons vertical piano. Love it…. although I can't play it.
 
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