Piano bar

Usually the pianist receives a small salary plus tips in a jar or basket on or near the piano, especially from patrons requesting a song.

The pianist determines the type of music, the style of performance, and the general tone of the evening....

The experienced piano bar player knows how to take genial control of most any situation and generally keep the party going.

[2]The American minimalist composer Terry Riley, who worked as a cocktail pianist when younger, later offered this "religious" view of the profession: Having worked for years as a lounge lizard, I was smitten with the insight that the cocktail pianist is signaled out to conduct his ritual of group urban chanting on the themes of love and existence—a kind of medicine man at the ever-present altaric piano, surrounded by his boozy tribe sipping sacraments in the circle of our common misery.

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli also played in piano bars to pay for singing lessons.