Advice for Playing in Church

thehedge · Regular Member Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 73

Recently, I was asked (again) to play a piece in church accompanying the organist. We worked through a few pieces and selected one which seemed to fit nice. I had a few rehearsals with the organist and all seemed to be going very nicely.

The morning of the service, about 1 hour prior to the service, we went through the piece again and fined tuned a couple of the sections.

The piece I was playing was "Nella Fantasia" frequently referred to as "Gabriel's Oboe" which I was going to be playing during the offertory which is approximately 35-40 minutes into our service.

I played the piece but was not very happy with my performance. Reflecting back on it, I felt that I missed and quickly corrected some of the higher sustained notes and slightly "cracked" one other note towards the end of the piece. The organist said that he didn't notice my mistakes, so others probably didn't either. Probably true but I do know I could have done better.

I basically felt that I was playing tight and that I had not warmed up enough prior to playing which is partially true since my warm ups and run throughs were close to 90 minutes prior to playing during the offertory.

Other times, when I have played during the service, it went much better but in those instances, I was either playing in the processional (which means I had an opportunity to warm up just before) or I was playing multiple pieces during the service which meant there was at max 10-20 minutes between each and thus I was able to stay loose and "warmed up" throughout the service.

What I'm wondering about is how others stay loose and warmed up when playing in a church setting. Given the size of our church, there is no place to quietly warm up once the service starts. (And the pastor would probably not appreciate lip bussing or mouthpiece bussing during the sermon!) I suppose I can recommend to the organist that in the future, if I'm playing to try to work in more pieces as opposed to one smack dab in the middle.

Thanks.

Seymor B Fudd · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 4:10 am Post subject: Re: Advise for Playing in Church

snichols · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 4:54 am Post subject:

You could try practicing that way at home. Do a warmup, put the horn down for 30 minutes, then try to run it straight through. Put it down for another 30 and pick it up and do the same thing. That will at least help familiarize you with the sensation of a big downtime before playing so it's not foreign to you at your service.

The day of, do the same warmup as usual; don't overplay before. Try holding your mouthpiece in your hand to keep it warm. Take some deep, relaxed breaths before you start. Overall, don't overthink it and try to just relax and trust in your playing. It just takes some getting used to. Don't worry about "missed" or "chipped" notes too much either. Just focus on playing as beautifully, musically, and relaxed as you can during the performance.

dstdenis · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 5:49 am Post subject: Re: Advise for Playing in Church

vwag · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 7:17 am Post subject:

Good post, I'm in the same boat. LONG sermons and tough pieces after sermons are tricky. I did start bring my Shh mute and used it when the organ plays after the sermon. Even getting a few notes out at very low volume really helped me. This only works if you aren't front and center and visible.

thehedge · Regular Member Joined: 20 Feb 2008 Posts: 73

Thanks all. Very good suggestions. I will especially try the "set the horn down for 30 minutes and then play" practice method to see how that works.

I do take the opportunity to play when invited and most times, try to think about playing in church as my offering as opposed to performing which often helps during the actual service.

Thanks again.

Don Herman rev2 · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 10:44 am Post subject:

The eternal question. I often end up doing a prelude, maybe playing along on a hymn, then sitting through a choir anthem and sermon before the offertory. If I am not sitting up front with the choir (I usually try to stay off to the side and just be there as needed) I can sneak out with a mute and warm up a little (sometimes just in our cry room). In our church, the choir usually goes to the front pews during the sermon, again giving me an opportunity to sneak out and warm up a little before playing again.

I use a practice mute if I can, and sometimes buzz the mpc just a little into my hand just to get the chops going as the choir is getting up or just right before a I play. Probably bad form, but I have sometimes played a couple-three quiet tuning notes with the piano/organ to settle my chops and nerves just before a solo offertory. People understand we need to tune after sitting so long, and for me it is more about getting the buzz going again than actually tuning.

And yah I'll practice doing a warmup, playing a little, sitting the horn down for 30 minutes and then playing the piece from a cold start. Sometimes you can tweak the arrangement or intro to help. The worst for me are pieces that start on flugel, switch to trumpet, then end with picc. No time to warm them all up!
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cbtj51 · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:15 pm Post subject:

zaferis · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:02 pm Post subject:

Yes, something more stiff about playing early in the day...

Along with the other suggestions, practice mutes, a good warm up, etc...

Get up earlier! Know thyself!
For me, I've asked that we move the "run through/practice" the day of the service to an earlier time. We have a more relaxed time to touch things but then I have time to have a schedule like:

warm-up (at home), go to the church play some notes, rehearse (at least start each solo - playing a little on each instrument) then time to put them down for 30 minutes or so.. coffee, a walk or something away from the instruments.
Then a couple of notes on each horn - tuning with the organ/piano..
Service starts - - fingers crossed - - relax and play music.
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Dan O'Donnell · Heavyweight Member Joined: 01 Jan 2005 Posts: 2287

I find that when I play for Him and not for me...and to Him not to them...I do fine. Pride creates tension which ruins intonation, tone quality etc. Singing the words in my mind while playing helps my phrasing and focus on Him versus them and me. Don't be afraid to use a good volume of air at the beginning of the piece making solid attacks as you "warm up". The rest of the piece will practically play itself.
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cbtj51 · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 3:56 pm Post subject:

Craig Swartz · Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2017 5:48 pm Post subject:

Seriously, most of the issues we (well, I, at least) have had when playing in the middle or late in a church service is just getting the air moving. The problem is rarely the "chops", but for some reason, we get intimidated by the sound we either make or are about to make and hold back on the breath.

My first and usually best advice is for people to breathe deeply 5 or 6 times in the time before you are to perform, then try to relax the shoulders, neck and tongue (really), then take a few more relaxed breaths if it is still a bit shaky to breathe in and out in a continuous motion. If you have been able to perform the piece outside of the venue in rehearsal without difficulty it should not be a huge issue to do so after time off so long as you have the breathing apparatus going when you stand up after a long sermon or long break between playing. The air has to move, and in a flowing, easy manner or nothing else will work. It's the same on all wind instruments.

I also very much agree with Dan as per almost all of my playing, church service, bar jazz group, orchestra or what ever. I've come to realize that it's a damn good thing I was blessed with a fair amount of natural talent as I never really spent a lot of time to get where I've somehow gotten. So, if the performance isn't about me, it usually goes much better. And a little prayer before you perform couldn't hurt, either...

Good luck and all the best.

Dieter Z · Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:27 am Post subject:

david johnson · Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 12:30 am Post subject:

if the building has a balcony, play form there. buzz softly all you want.

Robert P · Heavyweight Member Joined: 28 Feb 2013 Posts: 2596

Spend time really focusing on being aware of what your chops are doing when you play in all ranges and volume levels. By that I mean the totality of the chops - lips, teeth/jaw, tongue/oral cavity. I respectfully disagree that it's seldom about the chops. What you're describing is mostly about the chops. The act of moving air per se is a lot simpler than the details of the embouchure.

Familiarize yourself with what your chops are doing when you're warmed up and rolling. When you set up what are you actually doing? Watch yourself in a mirror and compare what you see to what you feel. I think you'll find your lips are more relaxed when you first place the mp, then there are tensions around the embouchure that form the embouchure for actually playing and it's different in different ranges and volume levels. Try different angles of the horn and see where the sound is best, see where it cuts off.

Observe in a mirror when playing, also make a point of snatching the horn away without relaxing your embouchure and taking note. Be aware of where the tension is, the relationship between the lips and teeth, the alignment and opening of the teeth, pressure distribution of the mp on the lips, the angle of the horn, the tongue, everything. The idea is to gain awareness so you can get to that functional feeling as soon as possible.
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cbtj51 · Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 5:50 pm Post subject:

zaferis · Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 3:07 am Post subject:

With a follow-up..
Now that you've identified this weakness in your playing, build an approach to work on in in your practice sessions.

After a warm-up/routine, put the horn down for 30 minutes then come back and play an etude, as if it were a postlude in church. Don't buzz prior, and don't stop and start over. Start with easier lit. - the Getchell books would be a good source of such etudes.

Periodically throughout the day, pick up a trumpet and play a song/hymn pretending you're in the moment, in church/no warming up.

Cheers
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Ed Kennedy · Heavyweight Member Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Posts: 3187

You are experiencing something that orchestral players deal with all the time. Some wisdom from our pro orchestra bretheren would be helpful.
Think Mozart piano concertos.

cbtj51 · Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 6:04 am Post subject:

TrumpetTAC · Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 4:54 am Post subject:

I have found if I have to play after a looong time off during the service (especially if it is a solo number), I'll ask the organist (or pianist) for a tuning note as I stand up. I also blow some warm air through the horn. I always keep my mouthpiece in my hand during the service.
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