Play in the ASSembly orchestra/chorus? BCKM Before Canned Kingdm Melodies

mapleaf18

I played violin; it was the only interesting thing to do!

blondie

I played clarinet, piano, and organ as well as developing arrangements for all the instruments. Clarinets and violins are not in the same key. The songbooks are set up for pianos.

Eventually, it became an ego thing too with the orchestras. Brothers competed for the "privilege" of conducting and sometimes you ended up with an idiot that could hardly read music but had "spiritual qualifications."

When they eliminated live music in the halls and relied on records/tapes/CDs, I knew that they had lost their soul.

Blondie

mapleaf18

"The songbooks are set up for pianos"

you got that right! lots of "singing" keys. i remember the saxophones having an especially hard time, ha ha!

and yes, there was a lot of competition for "first chair" as i can recall.

tijkmo

ha...i had forgotten all about this

im way too young to remember orchestras

but even with taped music ...(or the sister on the piano) they still had a choir..i so wanted to be in the choir..i eventually managed it..i think it was in a school in cardiff..(harwardian??)...and it was so disappointing..i thought we would get together and practice and everyone would get different parts to sing and we would work on harmonies..(i could reach the high note in bohemian rhapsody till i was about 18..which interestingly was sung by roger and not by freddie....i should have joined the catholics and been castrati...come to think of it that would have solved a whole host of problems)..but i digress..all i did was sit at the front of the hall with my sister in a few rows that were sectioned off for the choir..and then just sang normally...'conducted' by the inevitable eccentric brother who wore a bow tie....still, my parents were so proud...

we used to have a sister play the piano at our circuit assemblies in ayrshire...freda i think her name was..she had been doing it for years..pretty well too..until it became known that a brother in the circuit played the piano and so freda got the boot...he wasnt half as good..nor was he anywhere near as spiritual..just had a penis..not that that helped him to play the piano...she was none too happy at being ousted either...thats women for you..should have took it like a man

tijkmo

cruzanheart

I never had the "privilege" [gag] of playing in the orchestra, but I did play piano at most of the KH's I attended and at a ton of circuit assemblies until they got the canned music. I was always a nervous wreck, since I'm a perfectionist and HATED making mistakes, but looked on it as my Christian duty since I had that skill. I was pretty good, too, if I do say so myself, but oh, I absolutely DETESTED the pompous, egotistical conductors at the circuit assemblies! They ALL had a Leopold Stokowsky [sp?] complex and I was told numerous times by one of them how much he missed conducting a full orchestra. I was supposed to keep my eyes on him when I played (which never made much sense to me because I had to read the music, damn it!), but I had an old sister tell me, "hon, once you start playing there ain't nothin' he can do about it, so just relax and do what you want." Which I did. That occasionally earned me the wrath of the stabbing baton as the conductor would cease "conducting" the audience and whip the baton in my direction like he wanted to be slicing me up.

And yes, I was a victim of politics! At the last KH I attended before they switched completely to canned music, I alternated with the wife of the PO, who played piano like a truck driver (no offense to piano-playing truck drivers). Even though I played better, she was always the one to play at Memorial. The PO kindly explained to me that people liked her piano-playing better, but that's not what I heard on the street.

I do NOT miss those days!

Nina

tijkmo

nina you reminded me of an incident in my kh

twas usually a sister that played the piano..but one day she was not well so her husband played instead...halfway throught the first verse the brother on the platform stopped him and said...its song number whatever it was..he said yes i know thats what im playing...coulda fooled us

mrs rocky2

Piano and electric organ. Something died when they stopped live music IMHO!

Joyzabel

yes, I used to play clarinet, and could transpose the music straight from the songbook (Bflat instrument, piano is C)

Then I changed to flute (easy to play, no transposing, lol)

Played at the KHs. Loved to play with lots of feeling. Loud when it needed to be loud, soft when it was suppose to. *sigh * oh well.

Now I just play for my enjoyment. And no stupic songs made of all cords.

Play in the ASSembly orchestra/chorus? BCKM Before Canned Kingdm Melodies

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