MTC Week #10 - We All Have a Part to Play

March 9, 2014 - Near the end of a good Chorale rehearsal this past Tuesday, Ryan Murphy asked for volunteers to sing a tenor solo which was part of one of the movements in Dona Nobis Pacem. My first thought was that there would be maybe one or two who wanted to try. But as all of the hands shot up, I sat there in awe thinking how interesting that was. I leaned over to the guy next to me to get his take on the phenomenon and he was just as surprised as I was. Each person who had raised their hand was able to stand up and try singing the solo--some with more success than others. Even some baritones had raised their hand, eager to give it a try. 

Whether a soloist or a choir singer,
everyone is important

At first I thought, "What's wrong with me?" That's the last thing I'd want to do. Granted I'm a bass and the part was not for me, but even if it had been a bass solo, I wouldn't have wanted to try out. It dawned on me though that we each have our own part to play (from a choir and just from a general life perspective). How would it be if we were all the same? Are those who sing solos any better than those who don't? Are those who are outgoing, energetic, and full of social finesse any better than those who more reserved and content to fulfill their roles in life in the background? Of course not. Just as a song melody wouldn't be as wonderful without accompanying harmonies, or just as an orchestra wouldn't be as wonderful without each instrument contributing to the overall sound, life itself wouldn't be as wonderful without individuality, uniqueness, and diversity. 

Be content with your talents. Seek them out, strive to be better at them, but be content. As Hebrews 13:5 says, ". . .and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." And as Alma 29:3 says “be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted.”

Choir School on Thursday was a refreshing change of pace! First we had the overall producer of Music and the Spoken Word come in and tell us much of what goes on behind the scenes to create that program each week. As part of that, he showed us a five minute clip of the Tabernacle Choir singing various songs and the camera zooming in on people not being very responsible singers. Singers getting WAY too much into the music, people having blank stares, singers talking to other singers during performances, singers holding up their folders too close to their faces, singers looking directly at the camera, etc. etc. It was all staged and very exaggerated and therefore quite hilarious to watch! Like a Mormon Tabernacle Choir blooper reel.... But it made its point! After that, we had the make-up coordinator speak to us about how to do makeup for the performances. And yes, she was speaking to the guys as well. Fortunately for us guys, the most we usually need is some powdering to keep that shine off our faces and foreheads. 

Lastly, we split into three smaller groups and had some guest conductors come and work with us to perfect a couple of hymns. We only had about 30 minutes to do it and then we came back into the main room to listen and critique each other. The point was not only to see how quickly we could get a hymn put together (one that many of us hadn't sung before), but to see how responsive we could be to conductors we hadn't been worked with before. It was an educational experience.

I'll leave you with a fun little musical exercise should you wish to give it a go. We were learning about intervals the other day and the task was to identify which song went with each interval string of numbers. For example, the sequence "87654321" goes with our Christmas favorite Joy to the World. If you sing the first part of that song, you can see it goes down the scale one by one. 

Can you recognize which of these interval strings go with which hymns?

314358765

33332125677765

11232345

That's it for this week. Until next time, God be with you.

PS: The new six-song compilation (EP) "HE IS RISEN" was released this past week on iTunes and deseretbook.com. If you listen really close, maybe you can hear me! (not likely, but it's kind of cool to be part of an official recording) I think I'll join my wife in saying that "In the Garden" is my favorite track.