Okay so I'm the pianist in Relief Society. Sometimes it is kind of an embarrassing job.
I usually know ahead of time what the songs are going to be. If I'm not super familiar with it, I try to go to the church and practice it during the week, so I don't make a complete fool of myself while playing. That doesn't always happen, and I don't know every song in the hymnbook, so every so often I look at a song and think "Whelp, it's right-hand only accompaniment today." I'm classy like that.
And then sometimes, I do know the song, and I've played it before, and it is NOT HARD. Think for example "Sisters in Zion". Or a song I know really well like "I Know that My Redeemer Lives". And I totally goof up a section. Why did I just bomb two random measures in the middle?
I think I psych myself out, and then my mind has a spasm, and then suddenly I can't play.
Yup. This is awkward, and a long walk from
the piano bench to my seat at the end of the song. I kind of just want to go sit in a
closet and pretend nothing happened and no one saw. But of course everyone saw because I'M SO STINKIN' TALL!
5 comments:
When I was in college my roommate was leading the music in sacrament meeting. When she went to sit down after the hymn was over she was walking down the aisle and totally fell, hard.
When you biff it on the song just remember my roommate Heather and think that while you may have figuratively fallen on your face, at least it wasn't literal. I know what you mean though about screwing up and it is embarrassing.
I played in primary for a few years and then de facto in RS for about a year, until we finally got someone else to admit they played the piano and could have them called to do it...I would practice and practice and always mess up. I did do right hand only sometimes too. I just decided that if no one would admit they played the piano then they had to deal with how I played.
I decided in our ward, when I was over the Sunday portion of RS, that the pianist got to choose the songs instead of the chorister. That way you can choose songs you can play.
To quote the mother of a friend of mine: "Don't worry about what others think about you, because they usually don't." We are all too busy thinking about ourselves. Love you.
You are so stinkin TALL! Everyone can probably see your face over the piano while you play. So you're facial expression doesn't get hidden when you mess up.
I can totally relate. I've had my share of mishaps at the piano in RS and Primary. When I was Ward Organist the chorister would pick the most obscure hymns in the hymnbook and because no one knew the songs, and thus weren't singing, my mistakes were very noticeable. You just keep going and smiling.
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