Struggles of an Amateur Pianist

March 2006

God in His wisdom has planned that we don't have many musicians in our church. We do have a very good organist who serves faithfully. When he can't be there, our pastor usually can get a substitute organist, a lady from Clarksville who plays beautifully. But if this lady can't come, Pastor calls me and asks if I will play the piano.

I am not a good pianist by any stretch of the imagination. I had piano lessons when I was growing up, but my talent was never more than mediocre. I have no inborn gift for reading music. It has always been hard labor for me. Similarly, I am not particularly good at reading time -- dotted notes, rests, and such. I struggle terribly with unfamiliar music! Sometimes I even photocopy music and use white-out to remove notes that confuse me.

When I have to play for a church service, I often have trouble with one or two of the hymns. I practice dilligently, but when it's time to play them in public, sometimes I do OK and sometimes I make mistakes. But whatever notes I hit, right or wrong, I play on, the congregation sings on, and soon enough we come to the end. 

Over time, I've had a couple of insights about playing for church. I have learned that several other ladies in our church play the piano a little. I would be happy to let any of them play in my stead, but no one else has ever volunteered. That must mean that they would rather endure my efforts than try it themselves.

More importantly, I realized a while back that nervousness is a self-centered emotion. The piano is part of the music, and the music is part of all the worship that is offered to God during the church service. Obsessing about my fears and imperfections is wrong; I should play the best I can, and God will bless the music. I try to keep that in mind.

Tonight I have to play for the Lenten service. Pastor called me yesterday afternoon and since then, I've been practicing. The hymns are "Jesus, Thy Boundless Love To Me" with the Vater Unser melody, "O Dearest Jesus", "There is a Green Hill Far Away", and "Go My Children With My Blessing".

In our hymnal, the first two hymns are one difficult minor chord after another, but I found easier arrangements in another hymnal. If I concentrate on reading the notes, I should do all right on them. The other two are easy enough. A short prelude, the four hymns, the offertory, and a short postlude, and I'll be done. Yes, I feel a little nervous, but I'll be OK.

Hymns on the Piano

January 2006

Today in church we sang a hymn I like a lot -- "Jesus, Priceless Treasure. The melody was written by Johann Sebastian Bach. Some Lutherans complain about the old hymns that we sing, but I like most of them, especially those with gloriously minor melodies. 

 
When I was a teenager, I discovered that I could play on the piano many familiar songs that we sang in church. This worked out well for our little country church as they usually needed somebody to play the piano. Many of the hymns that we sang were written by Fannie Crosby and her contemporaries, roughly between the Civil War and World War I. It was a time when great revivals were sweeping the nation, and new church music was often peppy with easy harmonies. Many of the hymn melodies were written in flats, and I became quite comfortable with that set of chords.

Two decades later in Germany, I started attending Lutheran services and, here in Kentucky, joined the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. In Lutheran services, I heard a familiar hymn only occasionally. Many of the LCMS hymns were written several centuries ago or even earlier.

After a time as Lutheran hymns became more familiar to me, I started to play through the Lutheran Hymnal on the piano. Many Lutheran hymns are written in minor keys and/or sharps, so I eventually learned (am still learning) a whole new set of chords. I am not a master by any means, but I'm much more fluent in Lutheran music now than when I started.

When I started practicing the Lutheran hymns, I became obsessed with them, and I abandoned my old favorite hymnbooks for a long time. A couple of years later, I began playing through one of those neglected volumes, page by page whether or not the hymn name was familiar. To my surprise, many of the hymns that I thought I didn't know turned out to be:

1. Hymns I have learned as a Lutheran, or
2. Unfamiliar words with melodies I have learned as a Lutheran.

About a year ago, I read a rave review that a music professor had written about the new Baptist Hymnal. I ordered the hymnal online, and I agree that is a great hymnal. It has a broad selection of Christian music from various genres, it's easy on the eyes, and it contains good indexes and helpful information like, "This melody in a lower key on page --."

I was interested to find many hymns from my Lutheran experience in the new Baptist hymnal. In fact, I find that I know nearly all the hymns in it -- some from my years in church music before I became a Lutheran, and others from my years in Lutheran music.