Accompanying is something I’m passionate about. Solo performance is not my strong suit; it is important and something I constantly seek to improve in, but it is not my passion. Going on 18 years of being a church pianist in various forms, I’ve come to realize how essential being a good accompanist is. I am no professional musician, so please remember that as you consider my tips 🙂 . However, I have been gleaning ideas and observations from truly professional musicians for years, and I know God has helped me incorporate much of what their examples teach me.

Being a good accompanist is imperative for a church pianist, because the only solo pieces you find yourself performing are usually offertories. Much more often you find yourself playing while others sing or play their instruments. In any given Sunday I accompany no less than 8 songs – and that number can easily jump to 15 or more if I am the pianist at night, too, or if it is cantata time!

My goal as an accompanist varies based on who and what I am playing for. Is it a vocalist? Is this a choir piece? Are we singing the first congregational hymn? What is the spirit of the church this evening? Is this song happy or somber? Does the vocalist need me to keep her on track or do I need to simply follow her? You see, some vocalists need the encouragement of bold playing for them to sing out. Others expect me to match the rise and fall of their own dynamics. When accompanying, it is not your time to shine. I enjoy coming up with variations for song playing, but only to the extent that it doesn’t take away from the vocalist.

Learn to sightread! Do you know how many times I’ve been asked to sight read music?! (Keep reading to find out what pushed me to learn to sightread!) Congregational music is half sight reading, too! My music director in college really pushed me in this area…and I am so grateful he did. He expected me to be able to play the choir music for rehearsal well enough that I was not throwing off the entire choir. Sight reading is something I’ve heard skilled musicians say they “can’t” do – but I beg to differ. We all can if we practice.

For the sake of background, I have a story for you! I remember one time when I was 15 or so, there was a music workshop at our church for young people. It challenged me in my vocal skills but also in my piano skills – because at that workshop, I realized how little learning I had put into my music…instead, mostly to that point I had relied on any natural ability I had. I’ll never forget how embarrassed I was when one of the teachers at that workshop asked me to play the piano accompaniment for the choir music we were learning together. I complied because I assumed I could – however, a few measures in to it I had botched it so badly that he asked me to stop. Yep, that was embarrassing, especially in front of your teen friends. That instance taught me a very valuable lesson, though – that I had better learn to sightread – and to this day I have that instance etched in my memory.

Remember that God says to make a joyful noise – and He also says to do things decently and in order. He desires for us to do our best in whatever we do. Practicing and improving musical abilities us a huge part of doing our best!

Joash Emmaus was born on April 12 at 2:46pm!  He is 21 inches long and weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces.  Lois is thankful to have her little bundle safely in her arms.  I am sure there will be many more photos in the days to come, but for now, here are a few of my favorites. <3

Also, please note that any CD orders placed at this time will not be processed until Lois is sufficiently rested and recovered! – India

Not long after New Year’s I read a blogpost geared towards young wives and keeping the house (while also keeping your sanity!).  One thing the author mentioned was housecleaning and how easily it can get away from us.  She suggested making it a point to clean one thing every single day, and by the end of a month your home will be 30-things’ cleaner!  (This did not include chores that should be done daily like the dishes or making the bed.)

This idea really clicked for me, because I struggle to keep the house as clean as I would like.  Trying to do it all in one day is never a good idea for me because then the next day I am overly exhausted and sometimes in bed the whole day.  So, I had a cleaning experiment and I wanted to share my results with you!

There were definitely days where I didn’t check off the “clean something” on my to-do list, and I chose to not write “clean something” in for my Sundays.  Here is my list of what is truly clean and/or organized right now:

1. Our coffee corner in the kitchen

2. Snack storage shelf

3. Kitchen sink

4. My desk

5. Malachi’s tub mat

6. Shower window ledge

7. Living room side table’s catch-all bin

8. Medicine storage

9. Candle storage

10. Hot water kettle’s interior

11. Bathroom sink

12. Josh’s electric toothbrush

13. Washing machine interior

14. Tub

15. Freezer interior

16. Family game storage

17. My Thirty-One business supplies/products

My list above does not even include the work my husband has been helping me with in preparing Malachi’s room for baby brother’s arrival!  This new habit is something I’ve come to like – I’ve found my house in better order the entire month, and I haven’t felt stressed about the housework.  That being said…this doesn’t mean my house is in perfect order 24/7.  Real life means living in the space God has given you, and real life tends to be messy – but real life also makes for some wonderful, precious memories!

India and I thought it would be fun to share a weekly glimpse of our everyday lives with you.  Some weeks we might chart out a day’s schedule, some special event we were blessed to partake in, or simply some fun pictures of life as wives and mothers.

Wednesday is one of my consistently busy weekdays.  After I’ve spent time with LORD and had my morning tea, I like to look at my planner and think through what needs done that day as well as the next couple of days.  In the mornings I try to do quieter, less physically-involved things like writing notes to people, working on my Thirty-One business, or organizing something in my house.  I do my best to get Malachi down for an earlier-than-usual nap that day, thanks to a very scheduled afternoon and evening!  I also make sure I have a meal ready and packed for us to eat at church later that night.  (Disclaimer: there are weeks where the meal part doesn’t happen because I’m more exhausted than usual – insert Chick-Fil-A or Culver’s 🙂 ).

My husband, Josh, comes home from work, and then about an hour later we head to church, where I do three different piano lessons.  While I’m teaching, Josh carts Malachi around as he does odd jobs around the church.  He either straps Malachi to himself with a Tula carrier, or lets him ride around in his “carriage”, aka wagon!  After this, I usually have about 20 minutes to scarf down supper, and then I go right to quartet practice…I’m (soprano) privileged to sing with my Sunday school teacher (bass), his wife (alto), and our church music director (tenor)!  After we are finished practicing, there are usually just about 10-15 minutes left until the church service starts.  At our church we are blessed to have three regular pianists.  Usually the man who plays for our quartet plays for the Wednesday service, so I have Wednesday night church “off” from playing.  Some Wednesdays I also go over to the church kids’ club to assist with something musically – when that happens, that falls between eating and quartet practice 🙂  After church I often have someone to practice music with as he/she prepares for an upcoming special music song.

Today (Jan 24th) we did not have quartet practice due to two members being ill, so I had a little more time to eat supper!  I also added in an early morning grocery run to my day.  We have two potlucks later this week and I wanted to make sure I was ready for them…not to mention we were about out of food in the house, too!  Sorry, though, I forgot to get a picture of Malachi’s cute self at the grocery store – one of those carts that looks like a car was available, and he LOVES “driving” those as I shop.  He also loves to say hi to whoever we pass throughout the store!

This day of my week is about to get crazier, with a newborn being added in a couple months.  Lord willing I’ll be nursing Joash just like I did Malachi, so fitting in feedings around a schedule like this is pretty daunting, to say the least.  I do plan to take 6-8 weeks off of teaching piano after Joash is born, so don’t worry: I am not completely crazy!  But, once piano lessons resume, hopefully Joash will like being wrapped in the Baby K’Tan as much as Malachi did at that age!