Help! I Am In Trouble!

oldman said:
We have three organists in our church. One is going to be out of the state this year for Candlelight Service. The other two are sisters and just found out they both have COVID and one is being admitted to the hospital. That leaves us without an organist for Candlelight Services on Sunday night.

I played organ in a play the church put on about 10 years ago, so they called me last evening. I immediately went into shock. The organ that is used for the CL Services is located in the main sanctuary and is fairly new. It has 3 manuals, plus pipes and foot pedals. I asked them if they could call one of the other churches and ask to borrow one of their organists, but they seem to all have excuses why they can’t lend us an organist.

I have been practicing since 9 this morning until 2:30 this afternoon. They are asking me to play eight carols. Today’s practice didn’t go so great. I never played an organ with 3 manuals, but have played with two manuals. My wife said maybe the choir will drown out the organ. I doubt that will happen. The pipes are easy. That part hasn’t changed. The really slow carols are OK, like “Silent Night,” which will end the program, but the upbeat tempo carols like, “O Come All Ye Faithful” was troublesome.

I don’t have an organ at home anymore and I also got rid of the piano. I guess I will spend most of the afternoon tomorrow at the church practicing. I’m hoping that someone finds a real organist before tomorrow night.
Click to expand...
Maybe just play top or bottom chords on the difficult parts; keep it simple.
 

Widow of Vietnam Vet said:
That is Nice!!!! And I bet , Oldman, you will sure do fine!
We sang many carols at church this AM, with piano back yp and tonight is the Candlelight service with piano carols.

Our organist had to move in with her son far away, about 3years ago, due to many disabilities she had and no one has played our organ since.

Our earliest service has drums, guitar, (s) sometimes, and a clarinet or Flute.

There are 3 people who play the drums, but, one of them, our church secretary, heard I was a drummer and she let me play the drums after a service ended. People were still in the lobby and they heard a loud Military March!
I threw in a few ratamacues, and controlled the high hat with my feet but they use the drum sticks for that.

As soon as I sat down , to play ,she realized I had been a serious drummer because of the way I held the drumsticks.
But so far they haven't needed me to sit in, because she and the two young members, love playing them and they all do a pretty good job.

I always played with two snares, at home, and used the brush for many songs-and someone took me to hear Buddy Rich in person many years ago, and he asked me what I was writing as he played- I was in the front row but didn't think he noticed. I handed him a few blank music sheets, on which I filled in some of what he played (tablature) and he autographed the music sheet (maybe 1965 I think?) and told me he never learned how to read or write drum music. He was fabulous.

It is odd for me, and I am grateful , that this forum opens up so many memories for me. And many others!!!!!
Click to expand...
You played the drums?Thats really cool and nice that you offerered to help out.
 

Last edited:
A few days ago, I found my recorders (alto & soprano). I thought I'd play myself a few Christmas tunes and sat down with the sheet music and put a recorder to my mouth, then realized I had forgotten the fingering! It's been several years since I played and found out it's like high school French - unless you use it, it's gradually forgotten. I played a few songs and fumbled around, but it's gradually coming back.
 
oldman said:
We have three organists in our church. One is going to be out of the state this year for Candlelight Service. The other two are sisters and just found out they both have COVID and one is being admitted to the hospital. That leaves us without an organist for Candlelight Services on Sunday night.

I played organ in a play the church put on about 10 years ago, so they called me last evening. I immediately went into shock. The organ that is used for the CL Services is located in the main sanctuary and is fairly new. It has 3 manuals, plus pipes and foot pedals. I asked them if they could call one of the other churches and ask to borrow one of their organists, but they seem to all have excuses why they can’t lend us an organist.

I have been practicing since 9 this morning until 2:30 this afternoon. They are asking me to play eight carols. Today’s practice didn’t go so great. I never played an organ with 3 manuals, but have played with two manuals. My wife said maybe the choir will drown out the organ. I doubt that will happen. The pipes are easy. That part hasn’t changed. The really slow carols are OK, like “Silent Night,” which will end the program, but the upbeat tempo carols like, “O Come All Ye Faithful” was troublesome.

I don’t have an organ at home anymore and I also got rid of the piano. I guess I will spend most of the afternoon tomorrow at the church practicing. I’m hoping that someone finds a real organist before tomorrow night.
Click to expand...

Oldman - Don't worry too much about your playing. The more you worry the more you could make mistakes. An old friend of the family used to be an organist in his hometown. When my mother passed away my sister asked him to play the organ at her funeral. All went well for the first hymn but then he had to play two more tunes and things took a turn and he slipped up on a couple of notes. Nobody noticed and we all thanked him very much for his contribution.
 
Time to lighten the mood.

A piano player at a Nudist Colony is taking requests from the crowd. A man yells out...

"Hey! Do you know your balls are hanging through the wicker chair!??"

To which the pianist replies...

"No. But if you hum a few bars, I'll try my best. "
 
Widow of Vietnam Vet said:
That is Nice!!!! And I bet , Oldman, you will sure do fine!
We sang many carols at church this AM, with piano back yp and tonight is the Candlelight service with piano carols.

Our organist had to move in with her son far away, about 3years ago, due to many disabilities she had and no one has played our organ since.

Our earliest service has drums, guitar, (s) sometimes, and a clarinet or Flute.

There are 3 people who play the drums, but, one of them, our church secretary, heard I was a drummer and she let me play the drums after a service ended. People were still in the lobby and they heard a loud Military March!
I threw in a few ratamacues, and controlled the high hat with my feet but they use the drum sticks for that.

As soon as I sat down , to play ,she realized I had been a serious drummer because of the way I held the drumsticks.
But so far they haven't needed me to sit in, because she and the two young members, love playing them and they all do a pretty good job.

I always played with two snares, at home, and used the brush for many songs-and someone took me to hear Buddy Rich in person many years ago, and he asked me what I was writing as he played- I was in the front row but didn't think he noticed. I handed him a few blank music sheets, on which I filled in some of what he played (tablature) and he autographed the music sheet (maybe 1965 I think?) and told me he never learned how to read or write drum music. He was fabulous.

It is odd for me, and I am grateful , that this forum opens up so many memories for me. And many others!!!!!
Click to expand...
What wonderful stories, @Widow of Vietnam Vet!! It is fantastic you are so talented and can share your talent with others. I also liked the Buddy Rich story.
 
Widow of Vietnam Vet said:
That is Nice!!!! And I bet , Oldman, you will sure do fine!
We sang many carols at church this AM, with piano back yp and tonight is the Candlelight service with piano carols.

Our organist had to move in with her son far away, about 3years ago, due to many disabilities she had and no one has played our organ since.

Our earliest service has drums, guitar, (s) sometimes, and a clarinet or Flute.

There are 3 people who play the drums, but, one of them, our church secretary, heard I was a drummer and she let me play the drums after a service ended. People were still in the lobby and they heard a loud Military March!
I threw in a few ratamacues, and controlled the high hat with my feet but they use the drum sticks for that.

As soon as I sat down , to play ,she realized I had been a serious drummer because of the way I held the drumsticks.
But so far they haven't needed me to sit in, because she and the two young members, love playing them and they all do a pretty good job.

I always played with two snares, at home, and used the brush for many songs-and someone took me to hear Buddy Rich in person many years ago, and he asked me what I was writing as he played- I was in the front row but didn't think he noticed. I handed him a few blank music sheets, on which I filled in some of what he played (tablature) and he autographed the music sheet (maybe 1965 I think?) and told me he never learned how to read or write drum music. He was fabulous.

It is odd for me, and I am grateful , that this forum opens up so many memories for me. And many others!!!!!
Click to expand...
iu
 
Most everything went fine. The “Little Drummer Boy” proved to be a challenge because I wasn’t aware the choir and not the congregation was going to sing along with it. There are different sheets of music for the choir, but like someone suggested, I kind of faked a few bars.

The “Christmas Canon” with the children’s choir was the hit of the evening. Afterwards, all those who participated in the service were served some eats and nonalcoholic drinks. The Lay Person handed me an envelope, which I thought was a card or thank you note, but contained 3-$100 bills, which I quickly returned. I wasn’t about to accept any pay and I was never aware that we paid our organist so much money.

I spoke with the Pastor, who said they gave it to me because it was a last minute request and the stress was probably more than they could imagine. I also learned that we don’t pay our organist that much money. I feel better now that it’s over.
 
Widow of Vietnam Vet said:
That is Nice!!!! And I bet , Oldman, you will sure do fine!
We sang many carols at church this AM, with piano back yp and tonight is the Candlelight service with piano carols.

Our organist had to move in with her son far away, about 3years ago, due to many disabilities she had and no one has played our organ since.

Our earliest service has drums, guitar, (s) sometimes, and a clarinet or Flute.

There are 3 people who play the drums, but, one of them, our church secretary, heard I was a drummer and she let me play the drums after a service ended. People were still in the lobby and they heard a loud Military March!
I threw in a few ratamacues, and controlled the high hat with my feet but they use the drum sticks for that.

As soon as I sat down , to play ,she realized I had been a serious drummer because of the way I held the drumsticks.
But so far they haven't needed me to sit in, because she and the two young members, love playing them and they all do a pretty good job.

I always played with two snares, at home, and used the brush for many songs-and someone took me to hear Buddy Rich in person many years ago, and he asked me what I was writing as he played- I was in the front row but didn't think he noticed. I handed him a few blank music sheets, on which I filled in some of what he played (tablature) and he autographed the music sheet (maybe 1965 I think?) and told me he never learned how to read or write drum music. He was fabulous.

It is odd for me, and I am grateful , that this forum opens up so many memories for me. And many others!!!!!
Click to expand...
I can’t even read drum music sheets, let alone play ratamacues.
 
I want to thank everyone for their well-wishes of my premiere organ concert (lol). It went better than I hoped it was going to go and my wife said she also received compliments of “how wonderful your husband played this evening.” I think luck had a little something to do with it. I really did consider using Murmur's suggestions, but when I tried it, it didn’t sound very good.

I don’t want to be in that position again. What surprised me was that I was told other churches were also looking for an organist for Christmas Eve. I looked to the Heavens and thanked my parents for making me practice. My mom was really the organist player in the family, but I would go along to the church with her on Thursday evenings to practice the hymns for Sunday. That’s where I learned to play the chimes and use the pedals.

The piano playing came rather quickly. About three years. I wasn’t a concert player, but I did pretty good for a sixth grader. Now I’m thinking about maybe buying a piano. I was thinking maybe a really nice trade in. My wife said I should try to get an all white wood, but I prefer a mahogany or maple baby grand piano.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top