I recall being given opportunities to be in-service. Adults in my church gave me chances to accompany at about age 12. They encouraged me enough that I developed a desire to be better and that kept me practicing. They also taught me about worship music, the place it has in church services, and about how to choose music music to set different moods. I have been providing inservice training to a few students who I think will want to participate as accompanists and even organists in their churches as they get older. I start with teaching simplified hymns. As soon as they have learned three of them, I have them play prelude with me. I provide an accompaniment on the organ which helps them feel safer and I modulate between the different keys in the hymns. We practice together at the church the night before and this gives me opportunity to instruct and give them some insight into the organ as an instrument.This Sunday, Miss M. was able to play for 10 minutes with me. I know she felt pleased with her playing and the adults gave her kudos for serving others in church.
Speaking of organ playing Laura Lowe has some great things to say about the need for organists. Do you see a need to provide this kind of inservice?
What an inspiring post! It's so important for students to get hands-on experience and see how they can use their musical abilities to serve others. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, my church has an organ, and a member of our congregation plays the organ on one Sunday a month. I'm not trained to play the organ, and I probably should learn someday!