By E. Perryman
7.22.18
“You’ll need piano skills as a music teacher,” said my Dad back in the 1980s. In my case, this advice was fairly annoying at the time but did come to pass and came in handy. I took piano for 7 years as a youngster and learned basic music theory. However it was learning chord progressions in various keys with a solid accompaniment figure that has been so valuable over the years with sight reading and accompanying.
So I had a hearty keyboard challenge recently. My normal church gigs over the years have been singing jobs. I play the piano for my elementary music job but piano is my secondary instrument. These skills got a workout as I subbed for a close friend of mine these past two weekends and played 4 Catholic masses.
I discovered the following from being behind the piano at a worship service:
1. You really have to keep your head in the game when you play a Catholic mass. There’s more idle time when you sing a service. When you play, you need to be the moment, ready for the next liturgy or able to make a quick decision about the number of hymn verses.
2. A clean and clear piece of music is very helpful. I guess it is easier to sing without a perfectly organized piece of music but when leading the service with all eyes on you, I was very glad for music with clear notation and legible chord progressions.
3. Perhaps this is for the middle aged crowd, but music can never be too well lit. Cell phone flashlights are boss.
4. Tongue twisters aren’t just for the youngsters. Making sure to sing the correct words while playing hymns is paramount. I almost said the word blanket instead of banquet in one of the pieces but luckily stopped myself early enough.
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