My Morning Cardio: Sight-Reading Hymns in 5 flats for a Full Church

I was called in to substitute the music director at a local church this morning. My responsibilities included leading the congregation in the hymns throughout the service, and playing music for the prelude, meditation, offertory, communion, and postlude. 

I dug out some beautiful selections that I thought would be appropriate (shout out to my students Taura and Lukas: I included Valse Melancholique and Prelude from Espana) and arrived early enough to get settled, tag the pages in the hymnal, play through the hymns (once each), and circle the spots in the program that I would be playing. 

The first service went well.* While playing I thought that this experience would make a great topic to share and demonstrate how many of the skills we develop in lessons are important for situations in which we have limited time to learn new music. 

A few reminders:

• Be able to play without looking at your hands. Not knowing the music well, I couldn't play any of it from memory.
• Look at (and know) your key signatures. Every hymn was in a different key signature, and it was imperative that I be able to read through without wondering "is that D that's coming up supposed to be sharp?"
• Count! A secure sense of rhythm and a steady pulse is always important, but especially so if you are leading an entire group of people (no pressure, but they are looking at the music as you play).
• Be aware of voicing. Hymns are written in four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass). The piano score has two parts above the text, and two parts below, sometimes making it a challenge to read, as well as to bring out the melody (which must be heard clearly above all the other voices).
• Read ahead. As you are playing, you need to also be scanning ahead to look for upcoming notes, chords, rhythms, etc. that you have to plan for.  Occasionally the bass clef voices are too far apart to be played by the left hand, and thus the tenor part should be added to the right hand. 
• Be ready to improvise a little. I'm not just talking about the few notes I dropped... but rather, since the hymns had as many as 5 verses I would vary the accompaniment patterns, dynamics, and articulations to keep things interesting. In addition, each hymn required a short introduction and conclusion (not written into the music).

After the conclusion of the service a member of the congregation came over to speak with me, and we quickly lost track of time. Soon, it was 10:45; time to get ready for the 11:00 service. I grabbed a bulletin from the front of the church and let out a little gasp. The hymns for this service were all different than the first service. I would barely have time to tag them, and absolutely no time to play through them. I began the prelude while concocting a plan. As the pastor led the church in prayer between hymns, I would look at the next selection and create a mental map of the hymn. This exercised another, very important skill for pianists: 

• Be able to scan the music and "hear" what it will sound like before you actually play a single note. It's sometimes easier said than done, but I tried to get a sense of the melody, harmony, and rhythm. The melody and rhythm was especially important for me as very often the harmony is somewhat predictable - for the most part.
  
• Don't stop. Ever. Keep the music going and keep a  steady pulse, no matter what. Don't go back to correct a note - as doing so will lose the 100 people who are singing with you (or listening to you) and make a small mistake a big one.

The final selection was a hymn in D-flat major (5 flats). Oh joy...

I appreciated all the folks after both services who came over to tell me how much they loved my performance. I resisted the urge to explain what a relief it was that things went well, but instead made an effort to thank them for having me today and wished them a lovely rest of their weekend. :)

*Funny moment: an alarm on my phone (one that I didn't even know that I have!) went off at 8:59am, just as I was finishing the prelude. I finished the piece then dove into my bag to turn it off. I am sure my face turned a nice shade of pink.

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