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Re: Wind Instruments in Church

Author: jimk
Date: 2007-08-30 19:36

I play in my own church several times a year and have played in a few others. Most of the time it has been solo clarinet with piano accompaniment, but sometimes alto sax with piano. My latest project has been a clarinet trio - all three of us are adult amateurs from three different churches. On one occasion I was the visiting soloist at a church and played a duet with one of their high school students.

When I first started playing in church I agreed with your statements about when in the service to play, though music directors have coaxed me into playing in place of choir anthems, too. This has especially been the case when I've been the replacement special music so the choir could have a Sunday off. Depending upon the church tradition, it might be appropriate to play softly during Communion.

Consider the arrangements published by www.washingtonmusic.org. I have bought quite a few pieces from their library. One of the most unexpected challenges of playing in churches has been the lack of a common tradition of Christian music - some of the popular music in a traditional Southern Baptist church would be unknown to a United Methodist congregation and vice versa. I always review music with the music director well before the service where I will be performing. I am confident at least some of the people at a church service are expecting to hear something they recognize as church music (though my own music director keeps telling me to be less strict on this).

Consider extra long preludes before special services such as Christmas Eve. Our youth bring in their non-churchgoing friends to do brass quartets and such during an hour long prelude featuring five or six different groups. Some of the groups are instrumental, some are vocal. Yes, people actually come to church an hour early on Christmas Eve just to listen to the music.

I think it is important for the music director to specify early on in the preparation how much is wanted. I think of music interms of duration, mood (I'll play a jazzy piece as an offertory, but not a prelude), and complexity of performance (both complexity of the piece and the number of people to be involved)(sometimes an a capella soloist is exactly what is needed). I wish the music directors would ask for "3-5 minutes of upbeat music during the offering that can begin seconds after the pastor finishes the sermon" rather than just leave it up to me to guess what is wanted.

Post Edited (2007-08-30 19:41)

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Wind Instruments in Church new

allencole

2007-08-30 17:29