John's coat-hanger concerto

After reading the task brief, John is asked by Alex if he has any musical prowess. John says that he “dabbles” with a bass every five years or so, but that it normally ends with the bass being sold on Ebay again.

John gathers some supplies so that he can make a musical instrument, first attempting to stretch a rubber band around the handle of a basket, but this produces no discernible pitch.

John then spends some time tuning an actual guitar, which he then uses as an aid in tuning the rubber band to the desired pitch. He then stretches multiple rubber bands around a giant wooden coat-hanger (likely the same one previously featured in a series 7 live task), which tightens them further, and provides some higher pitches.

John is then seen performing his classical tune, plucking away on his facsimile harp while pulling unsure-looking faces at Alex. At the end of his performance, he raises both hands up, seemingly unconvinced by his own attempt.

In the studio, Greg says he’d felt like a proud father watching John perform, given how hard he was trying to get the piece right. When John explains how he had used the guitar to tune his coat-hanger harp, Alex shared that John had said, during the process, that “the notes will reveal themselves”.

It is revealed that John had been attempting to play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

John is awarded 4 points for his effort.

(Written by M3 / Andres Sanchez and proofread by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by David Fuller)