weddings & performing...

last week (1 nov) i had a wedding and i was playing for it.

'We Will Dance' by Steven Curtis Chapman during the matrimonial ceremony and a few songs during the dinner.

was used to playing 'I'll be Here' cause its used often and a slightly easier tune and style to play. 'We Will Dance' was slightly challenging because i had to emulate the plucking of the guitar and there's the piano and also the strings background. well, i set that standard upon myself so that the character of the song is preserved. the dueters (ronald & kim) and i practised the song a few times at their home but i hadn't fully adjusted and figured it out yet. one week before the wedding, we came together with jocelyn (dancer) and it was really touching. they are married and we know them and i was telling them how they should be looking into each others eyes and holding hands while they're singing (cause a part of the lyrics is, '.. and i'll take your hand and hold you close to me...). it was beautiful.
we were joking that our goal is to make the bride cry. hearing from various corners, they said she did.

wasn't worried about 'We Will Dance' but was worried about the 'dinner songs' due to the lack of practise. its pretty much less than 10 times going through the songs with the vocalists. maybe just 5 times. plus complication with instruments had me only getting to adjust to the keyboard on the day itself. of course, not an ideal situation but was quite a test to how i could adapt to it. my strength is the 'jim brickman pianist', not the keyboards.

during dinner, from various corners again, they didn't hear anything wrong and the sound of the keyboard blended well with the guitar and vocalists. phew! that's a big relief, though i wasn't fully happy, cause i know where the slight mistakes were and also i know i could have done better. oh well, the perfectionistic melancholic side in me....

another issue i had to tackle with was the fact that (okay.. got to be careful with my words here..) i was playing secular songs. not that there's anything wrong about it, but i always try to hug,feel,identify,understand the song that i'm playing so that the song, as a whole, is played out. its easier with Christian songs, but slightly harder with secular songs cause one, i wouldn't know whether there's hidden meaning in it and two, there could be lines that i don't agree with.

well, its a song about love and relating and God gave us many ways of expressing what is love in different types of sentences. not all love songs need to have the name Jesus in it. though conservatives would be arguing that this is 'soft-talking' or explaining away and that all songs should have the name Jesus in it, or it would be meaningless.

i'll remain neutral unless there's really a need to voice out.