I can hear you over there, you know

Practicing over someone else’s noise has not gotten easier for me. In fact, it has become one of those most dreaded tasks I have. Chalk it up to any number of things:

My Type-B personality and its attending allergy to confrontation to ask someone to quiet down so I can work.

Or to the echoes of my childhood and adolescence, when people would insist I play something for them, then they would start chatting with each other from the very first notes, instantly turning me into muzak.

Then there was the wedding coordinator, who would bring engaged couples into the church during the week to show them around and explain how weddings go in the space. I would usually stop practicing, lean over around the console, and say sarcastically, “Uh, don’t let me interrupt!”

Then there was the clergy, who would walk the guest clergy through the chancel during the prelude (of all times) to show them the ropes.

Then there was (still is) the cleaning and maintenance crews, who come in and vacuum, hammer nails, paint, or change light bulbs with cherry pickers. Then their two-way radios squawk, or they start chatting amongst themselves.

And I would never survive in Europe, trying to practice in some church that is practically Tourist Central!

But wouldn’t all this set you off on some level, too? Consider it: I bring someone into your office while you’re working there, and I start up a conversation with them that neither applies to nor includes you. We don’t even acknowledge you. It’s the same thing. The only difference lies in the size of the room.

I’m not looking for a solution here yet. I’m still looking for a diagnosis. Is it that a church or concert hall is considered a public space and that someone practicing is considered to be using only a small part of it? Is it an over-assumed myth that a person playing the organ can’t hear "quiet” conversation in the back row? Yes, it’s a large room, and it is apparently a foreign concept for one person to need the entire space, undisturbed. But it is true. I do need the whole room, for I am listening to the whole room as I work, which means that I can hear you back there, especially your sibilants.

Now, about the solution to this: as it is when entering any room where someone is already working, you either remain absolutely quiet, or you apologize for interrupting and ask if you can stay to __________ . For the record, I will always say yes to such a polite request. It doesn’t bother me at all to take a break and a short walk until you’re finished. But you will acknowledge my presence and existence beforehand! It's more about respect than entitlement to the room.