Choir Director, moi?
This weekend saw my first time as a choir director with a piano. That was not what I had in mind when I took the gig, I thought it was going to be me playing the piano but not leading the choir. Well, my nerves were at an all-time high. I can get nervous and anxious, but when the time comes, I usually buckle down and the adrenaline kicks in then POW! But, not this time. This time it was a sickening mix of adrenaline and anxiety. Yuckers. I was so nervous about screwing up that I think it made me screw up a couple times. I was also used to looking down (or right in front of me) for the music and the piano had the music above, therefore when I raised my eyes to find my place, I was not looking at the right place and just flubbed once. Eeek! I know, I know, that's why people memorize.
Well, it's over. Phew. I got "good" feedback, but not good feedback. In other words, everyone was like "Oh, that was really nice, great job!" and not "You need to work on the Sanctus." Gah. I was really hoping that Riza would have a chance to really lead the choir instead of being stuck behind the piano, but she sees that playing the piano and leading the choir go hand-in-hand. I disagree.
Regardless, I'm glad that I did it. I've been playing piano (classical, mostly) since I was 7 and competed in a number of competitions up until college. I even won a couple! Since then, I've rented pianos until I bought my current ass-kicking synth with piano expansion pack. 88 keys, weighted, too heavy for me to lift by myself, Roland masterpiece. I get on that thing and I crank out the Debussy, then hit a couple of buttons and I rival The Faint. But while I've performed solo, done chamber music, and done sonatas with clarinetists, I've never played piano for other people to follow: that's a whole lot more subjective and you have to think on your feet when the choir does not come in and it's just messier! I've lead choirs in college with guitar, and that's a whole lot more organic for me. It's easier to cover up mistakes and to delay and work with people than piano. One could argue that I feel this way because I was taught to read music and perform that, not to make it up myself.
So it's a learning curve, and one I hope to keep up. I have been remiss in my music the past couple years and that's a shame. I mean, I haven't even gotten my banjo up and running! I need to do that before I go to South Carolina (wait... won't there be more banjo support out there? How exciting!) I also need to plug it into my computer, as was the plan, and I even have the midi-USB transfer cables and I think I have Cakewalk somewhere... I'd always dreamt of being a one-man Trent Reznor (oh, guess he's just one man, too) and it would be awesome to through something like that together. Of course, this comes right in the middle of everything else. Such is life.
Well, it's over. Phew. I got "good" feedback, but not good feedback. In other words, everyone was like "Oh, that was really nice, great job!" and not "You need to work on the Sanctus." Gah. I was really hoping that Riza would have a chance to really lead the choir instead of being stuck behind the piano, but she sees that playing the piano and leading the choir go hand-in-hand. I disagree.
Regardless, I'm glad that I did it. I've been playing piano (classical, mostly) since I was 7 and competed in a number of competitions up until college. I even won a couple! Since then, I've rented pianos until I bought my current ass-kicking synth with piano expansion pack. 88 keys, weighted, too heavy for me to lift by myself, Roland masterpiece. I get on that thing and I crank out the Debussy, then hit a couple of buttons and I rival The Faint. But while I've performed solo, done chamber music, and done sonatas with clarinetists, I've never played piano for other people to follow: that's a whole lot more subjective and you have to think on your feet when the choir does not come in and it's just messier! I've lead choirs in college with guitar, and that's a whole lot more organic for me. It's easier to cover up mistakes and to delay and work with people than piano. One could argue that I feel this way because I was taught to read music and perform that, not to make it up myself.
So it's a learning curve, and one I hope to keep up. I have been remiss in my music the past couple years and that's a shame. I mean, I haven't even gotten my banjo up and running! I need to do that before I go to South Carolina (wait... won't there be more banjo support out there? How exciting!) I also need to plug it into my computer, as was the plan, and I even have the midi-USB transfer cables and I think I have Cakewalk somewhere... I'd always dreamt of being a one-man Trent Reznor (oh, guess he's just one man, too) and it would be awesome to through something like that together. Of course, this comes right in the middle of everything else. Such is life.