Ten Things I Learned at the Organ Workshop

1. I need to perfect the bench slide.
The pros just drop the shoulder and do an all out dive onto the bench, gliding smoothly to the center and ending poised and ready to play. The amateurs like me hop up, shove/scoot, shove/scoot, shove/scoot, and then stand (furtively, on the pedals, to straighten out the skirt) sit, settle, and glance at the feet. It’s graceless. I’ve gotta change.

2. Hymns rock!
Or at least they do at the Organ Workshop. Tonight’s hymn sing was terrific, especially when the Vocal Beauty Bootcamp folks came in on the descants. The organist, Daniel Kerr from BYU-I, was incredible. Over the week Tams and I have become used to the wild free improvisations on the “unison” verses, but one of the Vocal Beauty Bootcamp people sitting directly in front of us found some of Dr. Kerr’s wilder pyrotechnic episodes shocking.

3. Dave Chabot may have been the original co-founder of the organ workshop.
I’ve heard nearly every one of his amazing techniques described in detail this week. He could have been the poster child for our “Creative Hymn Playing” class, except that I think we were told ten times to clear our stylistic choices with the priesthood authority before playing. His stylistic choices were never cleared in advance and always seemed to come straight out of left field and THWAP Brother McCann in the side of the head.

4. Organists tend to be tactful.
Even when you miss five out of the six notes in a playing exercise. Or ask stupid questions in theory class. Or fall from your tandem bike for no discernable reason whatsoever.

5. BYU is on top of a hill.

6. All the good restaurants are at the bottom of that hill.

7. Many calories consumed in tasty but overly-indulgent dinners can be burned off on the ride home.

8. Ice Cream is a drug in Utah.
This isn’t really something I learned…it’s something I remembered when I saw our cute BYU Creamery assistant devoutly assembling our hot fudge sundae. It had nearly a half-gallon of ice cream, a quart of hot fudge, artistically applied whipped cream, pralines, and three cherries. Both of T and I together couldn’t finish it off. It was billed as having “two scoops.”

9. There is no Temple access from Wymount Terrace.
But you can get over the fire gate and pass a tandem bike (FZI: candy apple red Diamondback) over the fence to your waiting sister if you’re really determined to bike around the Temple grounds.

10. I love the organ. It’s my instrument. No news here I guess, but this week has been a chocolate mint brownie to a dessert starved soul.