My best friend asked me to play the piano at her mother's funeral, both during the viewing and during the service. She told me the mourners should sing Nadine's favorite hymn, "Shadows", a piece that was written in the 1930s. I found it at the Cyberhymnal website www.hymntime.com/tch/ which has over 9,000 hymns on file, all old time tunes whose copyrights have expired. I printed out the music and found that the song it difficult to play and sing. The refrain was lovely but each line of the verse seems to be one measure too long. I told Norma that there was no way the mourners would be able to sing the song, because not only was it difficult, they would never have heard it before. I suggested a soloist and she agreed.
I finally located my copy of a Reader's Digest collection of favorite inspirational anthems. I marked the pages of appropriate songs with post-it tabs and did my best to practice using an electronic keyboard, since I haven't got a piano. It isn't the same thing though so I went to the funeral home early to practice. I hadn't played since May so I was a bit rusty but it comes back.
At noon, I began to play but just then the soloist came in and we had to practice "Shadows". We had some problems with the verse but finally decided that the only person really familiar with the song was in the coffin so we would wing it. She would sing whatever she wanted to and I would follow.
Then I went back to playing those inspirational anthems when Mary Alice, Norma's cousin came in. She was carrying a guitar case and a couple of harmonicas. She listened to me play for a while then asked me, "Is that in the key of G?" It was and soon she was playing the guitar and harmonica to "Abide with Me".
Through song after song, we jammed along, almost rocking through songs like "Nearer My God to Thee". I wondered what any of the others in the room would think about it.
We wound up with "Amazing Grace," and then the funeral began.
As expected "Shadows" wasn't exactly as printed on the page, but to anyone listening, it likely sounded good.
Mary Alice sang and played a couple of pieces on her guitar and when I found them in my music, I joined in.
For a benediction, I played Meredith Willson's "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You", and the funeral was over. Folks came up to tell me they enjoyed what our band of musicians had done.
Mary Alice and I agreed that funeral was fun. Was that wrong of us?
***************
Don't forget that Wade Peterson and I have our short story collection on an e-book at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Coffee-Fiction-ebook/dp/B009GKEYHK/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348624600&sr=1-3&keywords=Black+Coffee+Fiction
I finally located my copy of a Reader's Digest collection of favorite inspirational anthems. I marked the pages of appropriate songs with post-it tabs and did my best to practice using an electronic keyboard, since I haven't got a piano. It isn't the same thing though so I went to the funeral home early to practice. I hadn't played since May so I was a bit rusty but it comes back.
At noon, I began to play but just then the soloist came in and we had to practice "Shadows". We had some problems with the verse but finally decided that the only person really familiar with the song was in the coffin so we would wing it. She would sing whatever she wanted to and I would follow.
Then I went back to playing those inspirational anthems when Mary Alice, Norma's cousin came in. She was carrying a guitar case and a couple of harmonicas. She listened to me play for a while then asked me, "Is that in the key of G?" It was and soon she was playing the guitar and harmonica to "Abide with Me".
Through song after song, we jammed along, almost rocking through songs like "Nearer My God to Thee". I wondered what any of the others in the room would think about it.
We wound up with "Amazing Grace," and then the funeral began.
As expected "Shadows" wasn't exactly as printed on the page, but to anyone listening, it likely sounded good.
Mary Alice sang and played a couple of pieces on her guitar and when I found them in my music, I joined in.
For a benediction, I played Meredith Willson's "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You", and the funeral was over. Folks came up to tell me they enjoyed what our band of musicians had done.
Mary Alice and I agreed that funeral was fun. Was that wrong of us?
***************
Don't forget that Wade Peterson and I have our short story collection on an e-book at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Coffee-Fiction-ebook/dp/B009GKEYHK/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348624600&sr=1-3&keywords=Black+Coffee+Fiction
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