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That's what people walking along Lancaster's downtown streets are likely to think this summer when they come across pianos on the sidewalk with signs inviting them to play a few notes.
"People go up and play a few keys and then look around to see whether anyone will scold them for playing," Craig Welsh said of the initial reaction people had at such an event in Harrisburg last month.
Soon, he said, other people would gather around. Sometimes, they'd wave a friend over, and soon they'd be playing duets.
"It was a lot of fun," said Welsh, founder of the Society of Design and owner of a Lancaster-based design studio.
VIDEO: Craig Welsh explains 'Keys for the City' program
John Gerdy, of Music for Everyone, a Lancaster group that promotes music education, went Welsh one better.
"This is going to be fun," he said, "and we're excited about it."
The Society of Design and Music for Everyone are joining forces this summer to place as many as 20 decorated pianos along the city's streets.
"They will be placed all over the city, and anyone can play them at anytime," Gerdy said.
The pianos, in a program called "Keys for the City," will be in place from May 21 until Sept. 17. Most will be old upright models. When word got out about the project, Gerdy said people started calling to donate them.
"There are not going to be Steinways out there in perfect tune, but they will be functional," he said.
And he hopes people will feel free to use them, whether they bang out "Chopsticks," barrelhouse blues or Chopin.
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said the city had considered doing a temporary public art program, such as those in other cities. In Chicago, there were decorated cow statues along the streets. In Washington, D.C., there were pandas.
Gray said he liked the piano idea brought to him by Music for Everyone because it's interactive.
"This is a piece of public art that is both auditory and visual," Gray, whose administration has promoted the arts to enliven the city, said.
Each piano will be decorated either by sponsors or by the winners of a design contest held by the society.
The piano displayed in Harrisburg last month and at an event at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music on Thursday night is hot pink and black — the colors of the Society of Design — painted to look like "cartoonish" wooden planks. Walsh expects that to set the tone for the design contest.
Gerdy is still seeking sidewalk locations for the pianos. Many of the spots already secured are covered, such as one under the roof over South Queen Street in front of the Southern Market Center.
In locations where the pianos are exposed, Gerdy said, plastic covers will be put over the pianos, along with directions for people to lift the covers from the instruments to play them and to return the covers when done.
Gerdy said there's been concern about damage being done to the pianos.
"We're going to appeal to people's better angels that they won't vandalize them," he said. "They're musical instruments, for heaven's sake."
Walsh said the pianos will be fastened into place with brackets and their casters removed. The tops will be fastened shut. Only the covers over the keys will be able to be opened easily.
Gerdy said there's also been concern about the tuning of the pianos left outside. He said they'll be tuned before they're put into place and periodically during the summer.
"We're not talking Steinways here. It's a street party. We're looking for funky, not perfect concert pitch," he said. "That's not to say that there won't be a whole heck of a lot of really fine music coming out of those pianos all summer long."
The project will kick off May 21 in Lancaster Square at the Music Friday event. There will be other piano-related events during the summer on Music Fridays, the third Friday of each month, possibly including contests in which people try to play songs at every public piano in the city.
In September, at the end of the project, the pianos likely will auctioned off in Lancaster Square.
"All with the goal of raising awareness, but also with the goal of raising money," Gerdy said, "which translates into grants (to schools), which translates into instruments in kids' hands."
Music for Everyone and the Society of Design are seeking sponsorships for the pianos from businesses and organizations. Sponsors, each of which is being asked to contribute $3,000 to the project, will get their logos and web addresses included as part of the decoration.
Anyone interested in contributing may contact Walsh at goodthings@societyofdesign.org or at 898-9000.
"There will be a lot of magical moments around those pianos this summer," Gerdy predicted.
