Being adaptable in performance

[galonia]

We all know things can go wrong during a performance, and that we have to pick ourselves up and keep going.  I have just witnessed a classic example!

I was at Midnight Mass, and the pianist played the introduction to Silent Night.  Then the congregation and the choir started singing.  However, the choir was singing heaps faster than the congregation, plus the pianist realised she had started in the wrong key, so it was now impossible for the vast majority of the congregation to reach the high notes.

So at the end of the first verse (which was rather hard to determine, because it depended on whether or not you were in the choir!) - she changed keys to bring it back to a more sensible pitch.  This totally confused the congregation, which ended up singing at a pitch somewhere between the original and the new keys.  I almost dropped my candle and set the church on fire because it was rather funny.  The poor pianist started changing all over the place to try to match the key in which the congregation was singing.  It was a total disaster.

For the last verse, the choir waited for the congregation to catch up, then basically belted out the final verse as loud as possible, forcing the congregation to come to their key.

I never knew Music Ministry was such fun; I think I will sign up (I've always refused to do anything musical at church, and only attend one Mass a year where there is singing, which was tonight).

Merry Christmas everyone!

[faulty_damper]

So how did the pianist adapt?  Or did he adapt all over the place?  So adaptable, he's now know nas the musical chameleon - no one can ever find which key he plays in, and when they do, he changes it.

[galonia]

Yes, I think the moral of the story is, make sure you start in the right key!!!

[jason2711]

lol i remember when i had to play hymns at a church service for harvest a couple of years ago.  Just a few hymns, which i had looked over twice, but this was made a lot more difficult since the keyboard i was playing on was in the dark, and i couldn't read the music, forcing me to make much of the music by ear, making many mistakes.... hehe