Earlier this week, I asked your advice on wearing my cowboy boots for this Sunday’s Fall Festival service.
Today was the day. I wore my boots and was happy with how they looked. However, I wasn’t happy with how they felt when I played. They weren’t horrible, but they just weren’t comfortable.
I’m used to being able to “feel” the pedal with my toes, rather than my entire foot.
I almost felt like I needed to lift my foot (and heel) off the floor to get the desired pedal sound.
But, I didn’t change my shoes. Since I was able to practice with the boots in choir practice, I felt like I would be ok for the service. And it was ok.
Will I play in my boots again? Probably not until next year.
My boots
In other news…I just felt “off” playing-wise the entire morning. Maybe I didn’t sleep well, didn’t have enough caffeine, something. I was just plain tired.
I even got the chords mixed up in “Victory in Jesus” during choir warm-ups. (The songbook has it in the key of F, and my fingers wanted to play in the key of G.)
Thankfully, the Lord can use me in spite of my imperfections. The service overall went great, and we had a fun day of afternoon fall festivities.
Now it’s time for bed. Goodnight!
This post is part of a series I’m doing this month called “On-the-Go Pianist.” Click here to see all the posts!
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This has totally nothing to do with playing with cowboy boots! LOL
However, I have a question for you. Do you have any preferred ways to teach students to play hymns? Are there any books out there, or do you just teach them the chords/inversions, and then…..? Any advice is welcome. I have several students wanting to learn, and I know what I do, but have been less than successful teaching students.
Barb
pianomom@earthlink.net
Barb, this is an excellent question and a subject that is near and dear to my heart. For the moment, I don’t have a book or “method” that I use when teaching hymnplaying. I had excellent classes in college for hymnplaying, and I am using those ideas when I teach.
Of course, chords and inversions are the foundation. Depending on the level of the student, I do use method books (Faber Piano Adventures are my preferred choice), but those are not specifically geared toward hymnplaying. But they do teach the chords and inversions. I also use various worksheets and other handouts for reinforcing the chords and inversions.
There are great hymnplaying instruction books out there, but I haven’t found one yet that I want to use.
Anybody else want to chime in?
This doesn’t sound super fun, but I first have them practice the four parts as written with many hymns. They have to be able to read the chords and know by looking what they are supposed to play. I didn’t realize until college that everything is built off that and it made such a difference for me.
After that… it’s hard to describe. I feel a series coming on for Laurie. = ) By the way, she taught me everything I know about hymnplaying. = )
Thanks, sis! 🙂
About the series…I’ve wanted to do a series on hymnplaying for a while; I just need to get it all straight in my head first. Plus, I’m going through this exact scenario with some students right now, so that is helping me get it straight.
I agree with you about being able to read the chords. Everything is built off of chords, especially in hymnplaying. I love chords!!! 🙂