Playing in a pit orchestra

I have now learned a little something about playing in a pit orchestra.  The very first thing I learned was that it is hard to find a tenor banjo player, and even harder to find one that can read music.  Since I have the only local music store, Synthia Smout visited me to see if  I could give her the name of this rare breed.  The only one I knew was

unavailable.  I later learned there is a massive rolodex with musicians up and down the valley, but the tenor banjo player list was rather short.  This is how I came to be in the pit orchestra for the theater production of "Chicago" at Washington and Lee University.

There are many things  I should have done!  However, if I had, I probably would have never done this show! I should not have assumed that in two months I could be proficient enough on an intrument I'd never played to play dozens of chords while also trying to watch a conductor,  change tempos, change keys, etc.  I should have downloaded the music or got a copy of it so I could hear how all those notes fit into the grand scheme of things.   I should have practiced way harder than I did beforehand.

When I saw the music for the first time and went into panic mode, I should have known my first instinct was correct.  This would be hard...really hard.  However, had I done any of those things, I would have bailed.  I am really very glad I never bailed!

After my first humiliating, mortifying, and embarrassing practice with the other twelve seasoned performers who all seemed to know what they were doing, I went home, downloaded the music, and spend every spare moment practicing with a metronome.  One song was played at 200. I had to start at 40 to play it perfectly and work my way up.

The end of story?  I cannot believe how much I learned in such a short amount of time!  I put in some 9 hour practice sessions...before the rehearsals.. in those 11 days from first practice to last performance, and it was encouraging to see how focused and hard practices  really do pay off!  I wasn't perfect by the end of it, but I was at least a contributing member to the background accompaniment.  I also got to play the guitar, mandolin, and uke.  I had to learn uke, but the similarities to guitar helped.  The guitar was a piece of cake, and the mandolin was easy...as long as I came in at the right time!  There was lots and lots of counting!

IT was really amazing to get to play with those other musicians, and Barry Kolman , the W & L symphony conductor, was amazing for not booting me out after the first practice!  I was told from countless people how great a show it was  AND how good the music was! 

Music is such a great world! Jump in there and be part of it.  All it takes is a litte practice!