What really toasts my biscuits about this church

[JohnsonJones]

Well, here's a different side of the coin.  I was called as the Pianist for the Priesthood when I was 18.  I could play the piano, but I wasn't all that great at playing the piano.  Hence, I played at a speed I could in order to play the song.

You ever heard Ye Elders of Israel like a funeral dirge?

[Maureen]

1 hour ago, Just_A_Guy said:

...It's the same problem that plagued the Keira Knightly remake of Pride and Prejudice a few years back--you came away from a Jane Austen film with the impression that the actors and writers didn't really like Jane Austen very much.

So true, you can't tell that story in only 2 hours.

M.

[Backroads]

My mom, sisters, and I have this horrible habit of singing the hymns at the pace we believe, in a quiet voice, irregardless of whatever the conductor and organist are doing.

It's fun.

[Sunday21]

7 hours ago, Backroads said:

My mom, sisters, and I have this horrible habit of singing the hymns at the pace we believe, in a quiet voice, irregardless of whatever the conductor and organist are doing.

It's fun.

 Must visit your ward soon!

[pam]

If only congregations could sound like this:

 

[NeuroTypical]

Sunday we had a piano solo of "If You Could Hie to Kolob" that brought me to tears.  My foot is still tapping today.  Absolutely knock-your-socks-off beautiful and impactful. 

[Guest]

15 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

Well, here's a different side of the coin.  I was called as the Pianist for the Priesthood when I was 18.  I could play the piano, but I wasn't all that great at playing the piano.  Hence, I played at a speed I could in order to play the song.

You ever heard Ye Elders of Israel like a funeral dirge?

I've played most of my life, and I guess my feeling is, if you can't play it to speed, pick another hymn.

[JohnsonJones]

1 minute ago, Eowyn said:

I've played most of my life, and I guess my feeling is, if you can't play it to speed, pick another hymn.

I didn't get a choice on what hymns were to be sung, that was the chorister (or who ever was conducting at the time) choice.

I would have loved to play Choose the Right every time we sang, but for some reason no one else wanted to do that.

[BeccaKirstyn]

Oh I know that pain all too well. It is one of my biggest pet peeves. I used to have the sacrament pianist calling for a long time so I got my way with how fast the songs were played, but I sadly moved wards and someone else has that calling. And they don't understand the meaning of "fast tempo". 

[mordorbund]

16 hours ago, Backroads said:

My mom, sisters, and I have this horrible habit of singing the hymns at the pace we believe, in a quiet voice, irregardless of whatever the conductor and organist are doing.

It's fun.

Come to priesthood opening exercises with me (there's no exercising, we just call it that to keep it exclusive). I've been threatening for years to sing the hymns the way the young men are leading but never had the courage to follow through.

[mordorbund]

6 hours ago, pam said:

If only congregations could sound like this:

 

The great thing about congregational singing is that you can still participate no matter how rotten your voice. The bad thing about congregational singing is that this principle also applies to your neighbor.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

Come to priesthood opening exercises with me (there's no exercising, we just call it that to keep it exclusive). I've been threatening for years to sing the hymns the way the young men are leading but never had the courage to follow through.

I didn't have to threaten.  I was in a ward where the kid conducting in PH was very young and not-at-all-musically-inclined.  He also seemed to have some kind of mental disability or social disability.

He was so far off of any sort of rhythm AND he was so extreme in his movements that we couldn't help but notice.  We all sang in a very uncertain pace that kept changing.  But no one else volunteered.  And they had some rule that only a volunteer from the YM would be allowed to lead. (this was priesthood opening exercises.)

Edited March 21, 2017 by Guest

[Guest]

You know, I have never really liked singing in general (something that used to vex my elementary school music teachers), and about 80% of the time I sing hymns like some of the young men (in that I am not actually singing at all).

Does that make me a bad person?

Edited March 21, 2017 by DoctorLemon

[mordorbund]

10 minutes ago, DoctorLemon said:

You know, I have never really liked singing in general (something that used to vex my elementary school music teachers), and about 80% of the time I sing hymns like some of the young men (in that I am not actually singing at all).

Does that make me a bad person?

Of course it doesn't. [Looking sternly down my nose at DL] You already know why you're a bad person.

Edited March 21, 2017 by mordorbund

[Guest]

Just now, mordorbund said:

Of course not. [Looking sternly down my nose at DL] You already know why you're a bad person.

That is very Dolores Umbridge of you.

[Guest]

[Guest]

On 3/21/2017 at 7:49 AM, pam said:

If only congregations could sound like this:

When I was in Afghanistan, the primary base in Kandahar had a full chapel as a multi-denominational building.  The LDS service was at 10:00am, I believe.  Each week, we had about the size of a small ward there.  

There was a particular spot in the chapel that had the best acoustics.  When I sat there, I could hear every part coming together perfectly. Many men knew separate parts.  With only 5 or 6 females in attendance, the altos were under-represented.  Everyone who sang performed the melody, tenor, and bass really well.

I believe we sounded like a professional choir.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Guest

[LadyGator]

What sort of bugs me is when the person conducting has no idea how to conduct. Being a band geek who knows how to play and follow the conductor, when they don't have a clue it is bothersome to me. 

[BeccaKirstyn]

1 hour ago, LadyGator said:

What sort of bugs me is when the person conducting has no idea how to conduct. Being a band geek who knows how to play and follow the conductor, when they don't have a clue it is bothersome to me. 

Sorry that you're going to get the brunt of my rant about this, but this is due to an incident today during our choir practice. I think we put WAY too much pressure on people in their callings to do them "correctly". I'm currently the choir director and I have NEVER done anything like it in my life. Sure, I play piano but I don't know the proper way to conduct nor do I always do it correctly, yet I got the calling anyway. I try my hardest, but that doesn't stop the people who do know how to conduct properly from correcting my every error, and most of the time it is not in a generous and polite manner. I usually just brush aside the comments, but today I had a moment of "okay, this is a voluntary calling for a church I love but I'm ready to throw in the towel". We are all just people coming to church to hear the word of the Lord and these smaller and insignificant parts of church (e.g., conducting, the piano playing, the teachers who aren't great at teaching but are worthy to do it) are just there to help the "machine" work so to speak. I am guilty of judging and being irritated by these things myself, so I'm not excluding myself from this rant. I think we need to step back sometimes and stop focusing on the little things we like to pick at, and focus on the bigger picture of why we go to church and why we have callings that people aren't always "perfect" for. It is to feel the spirit, to come to serve, and to learn of Christ. 

TLDR; let's all just enjoy church for the actual purpose of what it is for. 

[LadyGator]

@BeccaKirstyn I do appreciate that people try their hardest, and know it's voluntary, it was merely the ramblings of a distracted band geek. 

[BeccaKirstyn]

2 minutes ago, LadyGator said:

@BeccaKirstyn I do appreciate that people try their hardest, and know it's voluntary, it was merely the ramblings of a distracted band geek. 

Oh yes, of course. It just sparked my rant that I had brewing in my head all day after that incident. Nothing against you. 

[wenglund]

On 3/21/2017 at 6:49 AM, pam said:

If only congregations could sound like this:

 

I am kind of glad they don't because I may not get chills down my back from listening to exceptional performances like this. When the exceptional becomes commonplace it tends to lose its impact. If all artist could paint like Rembrandt, who would care about Rembrandt? The value of art would decline, just as it would were all rocks diamonds. We need the contrast. We need the painful caterwauling to fully appreciate the joyful and transcendent sounds.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by wenglund

[anatess2]

12 hours ago, LadyGator said:

@BeccaKirstyn I do appreciate that people try their hardest, and know it's voluntary, it was merely the ramblings of a distracted band geek. 

 

12 hours ago, BeccaKirstyn said:

Oh yes, of course. It just sparked my rant that I had brewing in my head all day after that incident. Nothing against you. 

This is how the Church gets all of us working in our little cog in the big machine - We are instructed not to judge but we are also instructed to magnify our callings or help somebody else magnify their callings.  Just because it's voluntary doesn't mean it is not worth doing the right way. 

<rant> And this is my rant after a weekend of a disappointing scout activity where the leaders have no clue what they're doing and the children have no interest because it's just a mess of an activity.  And on Sacrament Meeting they had the RS sing a song for Intermediate Hymn but because we were traveling the past 2 weekends, I didn't know about it, I didn't know what song we were singing, and I didn't wear my contacts nor bring my reading glasses, so I decided to sit it out and enjoy the women singing which got me several comments about my being a "rebel"... then my kid was asked to play for the Stake Priesthood Meeting - the morning of the event which gave him zero time to practice, putting a lot of pressure on his shoulders to not make too many garish mistakes that could cause some people to lose their connection to the Spirit... 

Whether the calling is the very important contribution to Sacrament Meeting Music (think of the valuable part of the MTC on general conference) or the very important contribution to the scouting program (the process by which young men are prepared for the challenges of being in the world - whereas the priesthood quorums prepare them for the challenges of being not of the world)... church callings should be treated as something of even a higher responsibility than someone's paid job even when it is voluntary.  After all, God called us to the calling and we answered Yes.  I would hope God doesn't have to pay us for us to strive our very best to do a calling the right way or help somebody struggling with their calling with all kindness and compassion to teach them how to do it the right way.</rant>

Don't mind me.  Church stuff just didn't go too well for me this weekend.  Good thing Sacrament Meeting happens every week so I have a chance to do better.  And it's conference!  Spiritual food desperately needed.

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by anatess2

[my two cents]

9 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

church callings should be treated as something of even a higher responsibility than someone's paid job even when it is voluntary.  After all, God called us to the calling and we answered Yes.

Have felt this way for a long time and it's nice to see I'm not the only one.

[estradling75]

1 hour ago, my two cents said:

Have felt this way for a long time and it's nice to see I'm not the only one.

Last I checked... God called me to be a husband and father and provide for them...  Thus my employment is part of that calling... And I consider my calling as husband and father to be a higher priority calling, per the guidance and direction of the scriptures and leaders of the church, then any other calling they might extend

Edited March 27, 2017 by estradling75