Mettle to the Pedal

Day 45

I am grateful for chances to try new things, or reach new accomplishments. I've "played" the organ many times before. Well, it seemed like many to me. I was called as one of the 3 organists in my home ward during the two years I lived at home a few years back. I learned "sticky fingers" and such, but never tried foot pedals. They boggled my mind and I was often too pressed for time to practice the hymns I needed to play, never mind figuring out the pedals with that.

Well, for our branch conference choir number, we were asked to sing "Love One Another." So the choir director and I picked one that was a little different from the typical, but not hard to teach the choir members. It wasn't until a week or two into practicing it that I noticed the accompaniment was for the organ! And it didn't look ridiculously hard, but still....pedals. If I weren't going to try the pedals, I could just play the piano. But it sounded awful without those sustained bass notes.

So I have spent every spare moment near an organ practicing this song. About 3 weeks ago I made a break-through with the pedals. It was so exciting! But I still had trouble evoking the beauty of the piece on the organ at our church building as opposed to the one where we attend Institute. And playing in front of others occasionally brings about nervousness. And with me, one little mistake tends to lear to others....

Yes. Needless to say, I did not play the piece perfectly. You know, I rarely do. Some days it upsets me. Some days it doesn't. It didn't bother me much today. Just upsetting to know that I played it perfectly last Tuesday. But, of course, no one was there to hear it. Oh well. I may have made mistakes, but overall the number went quite well.

And I felt so happy and accomplished for playing my first organ piece with pedals.