Wednesday, January 16, 2013

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 38 Music lessons

Today I learned another valuable lesson in music.

I printed out the score for the song "Joy To The World" that the arranger has been working on for me.  That means that I can see note by note what each instrument is doing along with my piano parts.

Horns, Oboe, Piccalo, Strings, Timpani....they all add so much to a song in the right places.

But I noticed something as I was listening and reading.  There are places where he took away my piano parts and let other instruments carry the ideas.  Then there are places where he is having me play something a little different than I originally played.  This gives interesting contrast to the piece of music as opposed to me doing everything.

Aha.  It's like living in community with other people.  Sometimes, we need to back off and let someone else take the lead and have their moment to shine.  Marriage, church, friends, parents, children, work.  In all these various communities, we each have a part to play and sometimes the best part is silence.  Let someone else speak.  Take time to listen to them.

You never know what unforeseen lesson you'll get from a piece of music while working on a Christmas CD.

Score for "Joy To The World"



2 comments:

  1. I can imagine how surprising this must have been to you. I loved your recording, so it's surprising to me also that some of your parts have been given to others... It must have been a little difficult for you to deal with at first, and yet you came out of it with a wonderful lesson for all of us. Thanks, Frances!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was only a short-lived disappointment. I think it will make for a great 'live' experience when people can see the other instruments play. I can always play it solo whenever I want to. : )

    ReplyDelete