It’s been a Chapel-filled week here on the blog, so I’m dashing off this quick Lazy Sunday before dashing off to play bass at church:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Tomorrow is my first chapel devotional/lesson of the school year! The headmaster took the first one and gave a powerful sermonette to the students. I decided to build upon the theme of his talk while also incorporating my saxophone.
I recently played the classic hymn “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling” at my old church one Sunday night (you can hear a bass guitar rendition here), and I’ve grown partial to the hymn over the past few years. I’m going to play my alto sax arrangement for the students before launching into my brief devotional.
With that, here is the text of the Chapel lesson I’ll deliver tomorrow:
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I was working on an alto saxophone arrangement of the hymn “Softly and Tenderly” by Will L. Thompson last week, as I am planning on playing it for Chapel this week at school. I’ve always liked the hymn, and I recently attempted it on sax for a Sunday night singing at my old church. While playing it, I realized I was unclear one some of the notes in the melody, so there was a chunk where I was kind of adlibbing my way through.
That being the case, I thought it would be worthwhile to have a version for alto sax as sheet music. This arrangement is really more of a transcription; that is, I attempted to put on paper what I play when I am noodling the hymn on sax. I tried to replicate the various ornamentations that I add on when I play.
Once I had the transcription I wanted, I didn’t grab my alto sax right away. Instead, I grabbed my bass! I played bass with our new church’s praise band for the first time this past Sunday, and I needed to practice some of the pieces for service. Since I had the bass out anyway, I decided to play the alto sax arrangement on the bass!
The result is the feature of today’s post. The typical key for “Softly and Tenderly” is concert Ab major. That puts it in the key of F major for an alto saxophone (for transposing reasons I won’t explain here, because while I think it’s cool, it’s also kind of tedious and boring). So, by playing on the bass (which I think of a concert-pitch instrument, but which technically transposes everything down one octave), I was shifting the key to concert F major (meaning if I played it with a pianist, the pianist would have to play in F major, not Ab major).
See? Kind of tedious. The bass rendition, however, is not:
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Last summer I served as the fill-in pianist for the local United Methodist Church in what became our new town. You can read about that here. Two Sundays ago I was invited to play for the local Presbyterian Church for their annual camp service.
What is a “hedge pianist”? Essentially, it’s a term I’ve coined for a freelance/unaffiliated pianist-for-hire. The “hedge” comes from the concept of a “hedge knight“; the hedge knight is a landless, traveling knight who takes work where he can, hoping his skills will land him in the retinue of some great lord, with all the benefits that come with it. With just his horse, armor, and arms, the hedge knight seeks to prove his skill in tournaments and small conflicts.
Similarly, a “hedge pianist” is a masterless pianist traveling about, taking gigs where they come, with a possible interest in gaining enough renown to land a cushy weekly church gig, or playing Friday nights at an upscale eatery. It’s also just a nerdy (or cool?) way of making playing as a fill-in pianist at local churches sound like I’m some kind of musical ronin roaming about the countryside looking for a piano to play.
Regardless, I had the opportunity to play that role two Sundays back for the local Presbyterian Church. The church has a “camp” service every year in preparation for their Vacation Bible School, and the pastor asked if I could play some hymns and all the usual pieces for High Church Protestant services, namely “Doxology” and the “Gloria Patri.” Naturally, I agreed.
The service was held at a campsite owned and maintained by the Southern Baptist church that Dr. Wife and I attend. It’s a beautiful little spot about twenty minutes outside of town, tucked away among the pine trees. The grounds and buildings are very well-maintained. I had some trepidation that the service would take place outdoors, which would present two inconveniences: the intense South Carolina summer heat, and the wind blowing my music everywhere.
Fortunately, the camp has a commodious (and air-conditioned) chapel, where a responsive Yamaha digital piano waited for me. There was also a delectable fried chicken lunch on the other side of the service.
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The Christmas season is upon us again, which means it’s time for yours portly to dust off some classic posts of yesteryuletide, including this timeless classic about a timeless carol.
My students have their big Christmas concert next Friday, 12 December 2025, and while we’re not playing this carol this year, I will surely be playing it at church soon. That said, this sweet, simple carol will always hold a special place in my heart.
With that, here is 5 December 2024’s “TBT^256: ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and the Pressures of Songwriting“:
For the first time in awhile, I have a proper, full-sized Phone it in Friday with three videos. It helps that I’ve been recording myself playing hymns a lot more.
Here are three recent videos of yours portly playing hymns; each is played on my maternal grandmother’s Kimball piano, which I had moved to the house this summer:
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An old United Methodist Church in a small town about fifty minutes from my home enlisted me to serve as their fill-in pianist this summer at $150 per Sunday morning service. As I’ve had major expenses related to my car, the wedding, and income taxes, I jumped at the opportunity to play piano for this church.
Their regular guy is a child prodigy who is on a tour of Europe, playing and learning piano from the masters. This L’il Mozart (he’s seventeen, I think) has been in Salzburg, Austria, at the birthplace of Mozart. It sounds like something lifted right out of the nineteenth century. Kudos to him.
His success on the piano has translated into some extra cash for yours portly. It’s also been an excellent opportunity to hone my skills. For the most part, the music is mostly hymns, many of which I already know, or with which I possess a passing familiarity. The choral anthem, played during offertory, is usually something a bit more challenging, but I’ve managed to get by fine.
The title of this post suggests that I’ve had some wild adventures or encountered out-of-the-ordinary things, but it’s all been quite tame. No choir floozies throwing themselves at me; no old codgers angrily denouncing my Pentecostal-style piano playing; no invitations to Methodist secret societies engaging in weird masquerade balls.
The life of a musician—especially one who is forty and well past his choir floozy days (thank God for that—and for Dr. Fiancée!)—is rarely as glamorous as the movies and rockumentaries and mockumentaries make them out to be. But it is, nonetheless, filled with worthwhile and, very often, amusing experiences.
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Pickup my newest release: Leftovers III! Use promo code ziggurat to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp! Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Tuesday, 31 December 2024.
My students’ Christmas concert is coming on Friday, 13 December 2024, and we’re playing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” this year a la Frank Sinatra. We’re starting in what I call the “Christmas-Eve-candlelight-service-at-your-grandmother’s-unheated-church” style, then shifting to a groovy swing.
I was thinking about the harrowing, last-minute nature of this song’s genesis while wrapping up Leftovers III, which I was getting done at the wire. Somehow, October got so busy that I let a lot of my composing fall by the wayside, but I managed to wrap up the album in time to release it on Black Friday.
The next week will be similarly busy. Tomorrow night is the school Christmas play, for which yours portly will be running sound. Saturday I’ll be playing Christmas music for a local festival. Sunday I’m rehearsing with my church for our Christmas cantata on the 22nd. Monday is Council Meeting—and on and on and on.
Let’s all take a moment to remember the subject of this beautiful carol, and to reflect on the wonder of Christ’s Birth.
With that, here is “TBT^16: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting“:
My students have their big Christmas concert tomorrow, and while we’re not performing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on this year’s program, there’s quite a bit of pressure to get everything sounding and looking good! Like most folks, I don’t like stress, but it’s amazing how it forces us to get stuff done—and to make it even better!
The story of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is relatable to songwriters, but I think speaks to all of us who have had to create or complete something with a ticking clock and high expectations. “It takes pressure to create diamonds,” they say, and the frantic, last-minute composition of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” is a testament to that principle.
With that, here is 15 December 2022’s “TBT^4: O Little Town of Bethlehem and the Pressures of Songwriting“:
It’s the final week of classes at school (exams are next week, followed by a few days of teacher meetings and the like), but I’m still getting pushed to the limit, it seems.
As such, I tossed together a quick little medley of three hymns, all in the key of G major: “How Firm a Foundation,” “I Am Coming to the Cross,” and “Jesus Saves.”
