First time in about 12 years . . .

[BlueStateSaint]

I've mentioned before that I'm in my local Catholic church's choir.  (The so-called "adult" choir, as we also have a contemporary choir, too.  We act like the kids in my daughter's day care a good deal of the time, though.)  Shortly after Memorial Day (we sang a killer "Battle Hymn of the Republic" for that Mass), I felt the call to do something I had done close to 12 years ago--become a cantor.  For those non-Catholics, that's leading the congregation in the songs and other music throughout the Mass.  So, I told the music director, and she told me about a cantor workshop that was three weeks after Memorial Day.  I showed up, and it was rather apparent that I really don't need the condensor microphones.  (Let's just say that my voice is "strong.")

I actually did well at the workshop.  Upon conclusion, the music director, the new (yay!--long story) choir director, and two of the established cantors stood where I was, and the music director asked me, "So--when do you want to start?"  I replied, "I might as well dive right in to it, and get going as soon as possible."  The MD's daughter, who is one of the established cantors (and has a daughter in the contemporary choir), volunteered with "I'm doing July 4th at 4 PM."  My wife's family has invited us to one of the camps on a lake about 30 miles away that day, so I said, ""Not going to be able to do that one."  The other established cantor then said, "Well, I've got July 5th at 9 AM," and I said, "Sold!" 

Said second cantor is a 20-something single woman, who is a rather pretty woman, and best of all, an elementary school music teacher in one of the local school districts.  Thing is, I've sensed some chemistry going on between the two of us.  She knows I'm married, so it's more as if we are two friends.  But, there's no denying that we . . . well, "make beautiful music together."  (Literally.)

The music isn't tough stuff--"America The Beautiful" as the opening hymn, and "God Bless America" to close.  I am soloing the psalm between the two non-Gospel readings.  It's not a difficult piece (based on Psalm 16), but there's ample opportunity for me to screw it up.  Practicing it, I've missed some of the metrics more than a few times.  Thing is, the MD told me that most of the people won't know that it's screwed up, if I do make a mistake.  Am I nervous?  A tad.  The music teacher has told me that if I sing too loud, she's going to use my left foot as a "brake pedal." 

The thing is, I will know that I screwed up. 

I guess that I have to wait until 9 AM on the 5th.  If it goes well, I'm going to ask the MD and the cantor if they want us to sing together again.  Hey, if it works, I want to do it.  I'm already planning to do a descant/harmony on "God Bless America" this week. 

Getting back to the point of a couple of paragraphs ago . . . yeah, I am a bit nervous.  We'll see how it goes.

[franksolich]

Good luck, sir, but one assumes you're talented enough that you won't need luck.

You'll do good.

[MrsSmith]

Mr Smith has been singing in churches since he was a toddler, and has led music since he was a young teen.  Despite that, he is never able to sleep the night before.  He hears every minor mistake, (and, believe me, the rest of us don't hear them,) and just about drops over when we get home.  Being nervous is evidently a normal part of it, so don't get too stressed about it.    

[BlueStateSaint]

As it turned out . . . it went fine.  The music teacher did get a tad close to the microphones (thus overpowering me), and both my wife and the daughter of the music director said something to me about it after Mass.  But, the music teacher did say that I did pretty good (her adjective was "great," but I tend to be a tad modest--this young woman could make Roseanne Barr sound good!), and we'll be singing together again, next Saturday afternoon for a Sunday vigil Mass.

Yeah, I blew the metrics of the psalm, but I kept right on going and no one was the wiser.  Overall, in baseball terms, I went 6 1/3 IP, 4 ER allowed, but I hung around long enough to pick up the win.

Oh--I slept pretty well last night, too.

[MrsSmith]

As it turned out . . . it went fine.  The music teacher did get a tad close to the microphones (thus overpowering me), and both my wife and the daughter of the music director said something to me about it after Mass.  But, the music teacher did say that I did pretty good (her adjective was "great," but I tend to be a tad modest--this young woman could make Roseanne Barr sound good!), and we'll be singing together again, next Saturday afternoon for a Sunday vigil Mass.

Yeah, I blew the metrics of the psalm, but I kept right on going and no one was the wiser.  Overall, in baseball terms, I went 6 1/3 IP, 4 ER allowed, but I hung around long enough to pick up the win.

Oh--I slept pretty well last night, too.

Well, it sounds to me like you've got it down perfectly.   

[Chris_]

Glad it went well for you!

[BlueStateSaint]

Well, it sounds to me like you've got it down perfectly.   

This takes time, ma'am.  I remembered to keep going and not show too much emotion at screwing up.  I did crack a small smile while I was singing, though, after one of the screw-ups.  I'm pretty sure that either the music teacher I was singing with, or the music director, would have smacked me a good one if I had skipped a beat, and screwed up because I was reacting to something I had done.  My wife would have, at the very least, told them that they were well within their bounds afterward.