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Playing the organ at weddings


MAB

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The 'organ' music plopped through my letter box after a phone call elicited the fact that she had posted it to me several days ago, but apparently to the wrong address.

 

It's not organ music; it's very pianistic with the bass line in triplets and a vocal part. (sigh)

 

I'm currently re writing it because it is very badly harmonized and I don't want to appear a complete incompetent before the congregation, whether they are listening to me or not. If I had a backbone I would charge extra for this.

Am currently trying to decide if I have the energy to point out that using the (photo) copy would be illegal; perhaps my amendments would lessen my prison sentence; that or offer to do the wedding for free and just charge for helping sweep up afterwards.

 

Hoping she won't like what the old pop ballad sounds like when played on the wrong instrument; big bonus is having a very short aisle- so at least we wouldn't have to endure it for long.

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When appointed to my current position I made it clear, to the approval of all involved, that if asked to play for a wedding I would do so only if music suitable for the organ (picture to the left) and my capabilities were chosen and that I would not play what I still call "pop music". The church uses BCP and The New English Hymnal*** for all services and I believe that there is one wedding about every two years so I don't think that my stand will cause too many issues.

 

*** I don't suppose that anyone has a redundant copy of the full music edition? I pick the hymns and bring the book home so to do. My memory was tested on the Sunday that I drove over to the village with the list but without the hymnal so a spare copy at home would be handy. All expenses paid... Thank you.

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Whilst on holiday last week i was shown a friends wedding video - the happy couple left the church to "jingle bells" ( it was a christmas wedding) played on.......

 

wait for it........

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it's really worth waiting for.......

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.Bagpipes!

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Does anyone have stories of having difficulty obtaining the agreed fee for a wedding? I played one this Saturday, and invoiced the 'middle man', ie the venue who did all the organising, which in this case is a college chapel rather than a church. When I stipulated that I require the fee within one month, they replied that they cannot make any guarentees..... I'm not going to respond to that, but it does worry me.

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Does anyone have stories of having difficulty obtaining the agreed fee for a wedding? I played one this Saturday, and invoiced the 'middle man', ie the venue who did all the organising, which in this case is a college chapel rather than a church. When I stipulated that I require the fee within one month, they replied that they cannot make any guarentees..... I'm not going to respond to that, but it does worry me.

 

Yes, getting your hands on the fee can be difficult sometimes.

 

I played for a wedding, a long time ago, where the fees, this was the standard practice, had not been given to the Priest at the rehearsal. I spoke to the 'Best man' prior to the wedding and got "nothing to do with me, mate!" and the groom was suitably evasive too! The priest, who wasn't beng very helpful, told me that it looked as if this was one I was "going to have to put down as a looser!". I played for the wedding, it was pretty awful, they talked all the way through, the video-man had to be told to go back to his supposedly static position, no one sang the hymns (why do they feel they have to have hymns when no one is going to sing?) which were pretty inappropriate anyway and quite a few of the guests had, very clearly, been in the 'Cross Keys' next door beforehand.

 

I got my fee - but it did involve featuring on a number of the photographs afterwards - and asking the photographer, and the driver of horse-drawn carriage and the chimney sweep if they had been paid - in a not sotto voce voice!!!

 

As I said earlier, I suspect we all have hundreds of stories, some of them almost unbelievable - doctors in A & E will tell you the same!

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