P
Phemie
Guest
Odds are good that those pieces were originally written for the piano, and not for the guitar that usually accompanies them in many parishes.
- Status
P
Phemie
Guest
We’ve had accordion at our church.
B
BartholomewB
Guest
I didn’t know they had to be specially made. I thought you just put the strings on the other way around?
Do they make reverse keyboards for left-handed pianists? I read somewhere about a store that sells left-handed saxophones and clarinets.
J
JButky
Guest
It’s not the instrument, It’s how it’s applied. An instrument by itself is dead. It only becomes a voice through the musician who speaks through it. Again, the question is how the musician utilizes the instrument appropriately for leading worship in song. The instrument itself is not the problem.
C
CRV
Guest
You say despise, I said dislike. There’s a big difference between them.
I sincerely wish I could play the piano, and love listening to it. As a child I can remember there being a piano at church until it was replaced with an organ, and how my best friends mother wasn’t too sure about playing it, but that was over 50 years ago.
I had hoped that you could see the distinction between how people see you and how they see the piano being used for Mass as being separate. I was trying to show respect for you and your feelings by clearly making the distinction in the way I worded and emphasised my words.
It’s obvious you are very passionate about and dedicated to the piano. If that is all a church has then it is what it is. Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t prefer things to be different and my personal preference is just that. It isn’t a personal attack on the person playing piano/guitar/bongos /drums/tambourine, just the instrument being used.
Again I said dislike. You say hate. Hate is such a strong emotion and is not how I see the piano and certainly not how I see pianists.
I sincerely wish I could play the piano, and love listening to it. As a child I can remember there being a piano at church until it was replaced with an organ, and how my best friends mother wasn’t too sure about playing it, but that was over 50 years ago.
I had hoped that you could see the distinction between how people see you and how they see the piano being used for Mass as being separate. I was trying to show respect for you and your feelings by clearly making the distinction in the way I worded and emphasised my words.
It’s obvious you are very passionate about and dedicated to the piano. If that is all a church has then it is what it is. Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t prefer things to be different and my personal preference is just that. It isn’t a personal attack on the person playing piano/guitar/bongos /drums/tambourine, just the instrument being used.
Again I said dislike. You say hate. Hate is such a strong emotion and is not how I see the piano and certainly not how I see pianists.
B
BartholomewB
Guest
It was somebody else, not you, who said “despise”:
C
CRV
Guest
Perhaps. I understand the point you’re making. I respect your opinion to which you are entitled as am I, but I prefer organ to piano for Mass.
P
Phemie
Guest
What parish with a flute student hasn’t?
B
Beryllos
Guest
I would love to hear a well-played accordion at Mass. Proponents of the organ point to its alleged similarity to the human voice, and I think the accordion, with the right technique, could be similar to the voice.
J
JButky
Guest
You can, but it is just a hedge to do. The construction of an instrument has many parts that aid in it sounding and operating properly. Classical guitar is easier to play backwards because the low tension on the strings does not require a compensating bridge for proper intonation. Not to mention bracing and other factors that aid the strings in resonance are built with the strings in a certain position. You can’t just mirror image the strings and leave the rest of the instrument the other way. It will work, but it’s not the best.
Instruments generally are not left handed or right handed, Guitar is an exception because it was easy to change the direction of strings. When it messed up the ideal acoustically, and there were enough people mistakenly doing it out there, some makers finally gave in and built the whole thing backwards for those who learned it that way. As an instrument maker and designer, I grieve seeing an instrument mutilated from its design. I’m sure guitar makers felt the same way and eventually built guitars backwards because they couldn’t stand people playing their instruments strung backwards. So they made them for those people.
Last edited:
J
JButky
Guest
Yes, we all have our preferences. But I pray that someday you experience a musician who can express themselves through this instrument and change your mind. I play both at Mass. And I play them both differently (as required) even if it’s the same hymn or music. Depending on what the music is, and the talent of the musician, that musician can make many choices as to what that hymn sounds like. Most people don’t realize this but musicians understand this and try to use whatever their talents are and make it acceptable for Mass.
Just be thankful for the music you have. Preferences aside.
A
Angel_Bradford
Guest
I imagine a lack of trained organists has a lot to do with it as well.
T
TheLittleLady
Guest
@Peeps
If you ever want to move south, get a hold of me. I will talk you into our lovely community (where we PAY our pianist and organist and need another one sooooooooo much!) ETA and we have an amazing loft that holds the concert grand piano, organ and could easily seat 50 people. The acoustics, oh, heaven.
If you ever want to move south, get a hold of me. I will talk you into our lovely community (where we PAY our pianist and organist and need another one sooooooooo much!) ETA and we have an amazing loft that holds the concert grand piano, organ and could easily seat 50 people. The acoustics, oh, heaven.
Last edited:
G
Gertabelle
Guest
Gertabelle:
I didn’t know they had to be specially made. I thought you just put the strings on the other way around?
Do they make reverse keyboards for left-handed pianists? I read somewhere about a store that sells left-handed saxophones and clarinets.
Thanks @JButky for jumping in with your expert experience!
My first guitar was a Fender acoustic. I still have it some 35 years later, though I rarely play it. When I needed to have it changed to a left-handed version of itself, I invested about $150 to have the saddle replaced. The saddle is not placed on the instrument perpendicular to the strings, but at a slight angle. And unlike a cello, the saddle and bridge are not freestanding (i.e., held in place by the tension of the strings), but rather they are attached to the body of the instrument.
So no, you can’t just switch the strings on the guitar and call it left-handed. It would never be able to be tuned properly.
Personally, I thank God for all those people mistakenly playing the instrument backwards, if that’s why we have the option of a left-handed guitar. :+1:t4:
I don’t play left-handed by accident, but because I had an accident that mangled my left hand nine years ago. There’s no way I could manage the fingerboard with my two functioning fingers, so “left-handed” – which ironically means I play the fingerboard with my right hand – is the only way I could continue playing the guitar.
Sadly, I had to give up flute and clarinet because they both require ten functioning fingers.
G
Gertabelle
Guest
Sounds amazing! If only I could relocate, I’d be tempted to by that offer!
B
babochka
Guest
Why is this? I am Byzantine and we don’t use any instruments at all, but when I attend Mass at a Latin Rite Church, the accompaniment is almost always piano. Occasionally a guitar is used and it can be done well. So why do some people say that only an organ is acceptable, and some say that a piano is acceptable as well. Why do you draw the line at a guitar? How about a flute or harp? I have been impressed with the sound of trumpets at an Easter Mass. How do we determine that some instruments are appropriate and others are not? Is there specific teaching from the church that inform your opinion. I’m not talking about the style of music oh, just the instruments that are used.
Last edited:
B
babochka
Guest
My left-handed, fiddle-playing son tells me that this statement is incorrect. He says that nstruments are all right-handed and lefties just have to learn to make awkward adjustments, thereby increasing their skill level.
J
jimXroberts
Guest
I am a member of a large parish and we have 6 Masses over Sunday and the Vigil. One has traditional music (plenty of plainchant and Palestrina) with a chorale accompanied by an organ. One has guitars and a choir singing 1970s “folk” music. The millennials think both are classical music. Another Mass has a modern setting together with hymns led by yet another choir. Whether they use an organ or piano depends on who is available to play.
B
babochka
Guest
V
VanitasVanitatum
Guest
I was having a string ensemble in mind like violins, violas, and cellos. I wasn’t talking about the guitar. But aside from that, it looks like you’re right. I had a specific style in mind when I was talking about, so I forgot about some alternatives.
Last edited:
- Status