Unexpected Audience

Today, I ventured over to the church to practice on the pipe organ. Usually I practice at home on my electronic organ. Much to my surprise there were a few people there working on the heating system.

I considered driving away when I saw the vehicles in the parking lot. Up until this time, I have not had an audience when practicing. Only a few family members, my husband, teacher, and cats have heard me play. I decided to go in and practice anyway. First, I saw the head pastor. He assured me it was okay for me to practice even though people were working. I am not confident (yet) in performing in front of others and a very small part of me would have been relieved had he asked me to leave until the worked was completed. So I pressed on to the organ bench!

I felt very self consciousness and nervous when I started out. I choose a softer piece to begin with. I could hear the workers talking with Joe (church member) who was there helping out. After about 10 minutes I realized that they were not paying any attention to me and was able to relax a bit.  I waited until after my unexpected audience left before cranking up the volume. All in all, it was a good practice session.

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Heidi Bender writes about her experiences of learning to play the organ. She started on the adventure in 2009.

She also writes on her website Tons of Thanks, which helps people write thank-you notes. Heidi is also a cat lady who writes at The Joy of Cats.

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