Music Spotlight! (Sunday, October 31, 2021)
Prelude and Offertory Music provided today by guest artist, Chaz Privette, on guitar! He will play "Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1" and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," both by J. S. Bach, as well as an arrangement of the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy."
For those of you who may be interested in knowing how I came to be a classical guitarist, here's my story. I grew up in a home where music was very important. My mother was a singer and shared her talents with me and my eight siblings. I remember falling to sleep on her lap as she sang lullabies to me. My father loved classic rock-n-roll, folk music, and jazz and played all those styles quite proficiently on his acoustic and electric guitars. Naturally, I wanted to play along. So when I was five years old, my mom and dad bought me my first little guitar. It was a ¾ size, steel string acoustic guitar. My dad tuned it up and I was ready to learn. I spent the first several years playing along with my dad. He would teach me a chord and I would practice it. He loved to show me how to play the fast licks at the beginning of many popular classic rocks songs. This drove my mom crazy! I would begin to play the introduction of a really great tune and, just as she would be ready to start singing along, I would stop playing and change songs!
By the time I was twelve years old, I had learned bits and pieces of several songs, and could strum lots of chords, but had never learned to play anything all the way through. One day while I was riding in the car with my mom, she challenged me to learn one entire piece of music. So I made up my mind to take on the challenge. I walked into the kitchen a few days later, where my mom was making dinner and said, “I have decided to learn one whole song all the way through. What would you like me learn?” She looked at me with a big smile on her face and without hesitation said, “Bach!” I am sure my face revealed my surprise. I hadn't really thought about playing Bach before, but I loved listening to his music. I said, “How can I do that?” Then she said, “Well, you have to learn, I suppose.” So I set out to do just that. I borrowed a music theory book from my mom titled "The Rudiments of Music " by Ottman and a classical guitar method book from my dad called "The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method – Volume 1." After having learned some basic music theory, I opened the guitar method book to the first page and worked slowly and steadily through it and eventually all the way through volume 2 as well. I devoted several hours of my day to practice. By the end of that year I was able to play all the songs in both volumes all the way through.
But, that wasn't enough for me. I now had a vision for my future. In 2016, I was given the wonderful opportunity to study under Dr. Stanley Yates, Professor of Music and director of guitar studies at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He has worked diligently and patiently with me, helping refine the talents God has blessed me with. I will forever be grateful for being able to study with such a remarkable guitar maestro and monumental teacher. Under his instruction my technique and artistry has improved tremendously and my classical repertoire has expanded to include pieces by Villa-Lobos, Leo Brouwer, Agustin Barrios Mangore, Fernando Sor, and many other wonderful composers. Now my Mom can listen with satisfaction as I play for her all of the movements of Bach's First Cello Suite (arranged by Stanley Yates).
Our One and Done Choir piece today is a setting of Psalm 23 by Paul Zach, a contemporary worship artist from Charlottesville, VA. He has written and recorded with The Porter’s Gate, The Silver Pages, and also releases music under his own name. Paul’s strength is writing songs for the church to sing together that are both simple and beautiful. (Read an interesting interview with Paul Zach here.) If you haven't heard music by The Porter's Gate, check out this playlist. You will fall in love with their folky, funky sound and relevant yet timeless lyrics!
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