Being Better: Introduction
At any rate, most organists work in isolation. There is no daily interaction with a group of similarly-trained colleagues, no opportunity for a promotion within the company, no environment bolstered by interactive creativity. At the core, an organist pursues daily tasks of work and study in a vacuum. Enthusiasm, especially of the unbridled kind, must be sustained purely by an inner drive; in fact, it must be produced and distributed in prodigious amounts to congregants and clergy. And in this environment, it is simply too easy to plod along, doing the same thing as last week, doing as little as possible to squeeze by in one more week, with a promise to try harder next week.
My intention for the “Being Better” posts is to suggest a checklist of concrete action items. For most church musicians, it has been a long time since we’ve had regular instruction, and these checklists are intended as a check-up. I’ve done most of these things; some are on my to-do list. Here are a list of upcoming topics which reflect the variety of areas which we combine to do our job:
– instrument checklist
– practice discipline
– organization
– congregational relationships
– pastoral relationships
– institute new weekly habits
– rethink the role
– professional standing
– know thy repertoire
– talk it up: announcing programs