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My
Background Information |
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When I did get my piano, I was very disappointed at first,
because it didn’t play by itself like the one in my class. I soon found out that it would take a lot
of learning and practicing to be able to play the piano, after I started
taking lessons. However, when I
finally learned the fundamentals, I couldn’t keep away from the piano. I would excitedly run home from school
everyday and play my favorite
pieces. The piano had taken over my
life, and I loved it. As a teenager, I would lull my father to sleep on Sunday
afternoons playing the hymns. I would
imagine that I was playing the organ for church like our ward organists at
that time—Robert Manookin and Verena Hatch.
Eventually, I got the opportunity to play a small organ for Junior
Sunday School and the piano for MIA.
When I was 10, I even played a short hymn for Sacrament Meeting during
the Primary Presentation. That was
probably the most frightening experience of my young life, as I tried in vain
to keep my nervous leg from jiggling on the pedal as I played. I remember the tremendous sense of relief
when I was finished. While attending BYU, I was asked to accompany a male quartet,
who sang for various church and college activities around the county and
state. I also played background music
for a BYU fashion show, as well as served as Relief Society pianist and
substituted for Sacrament Meeting for my BYU ward. When I got married in 1970, I missed not being able to play as
much, since I didn’t have access to a piano.
My parents told me that once we got our own home, I could have the
piano. So, I was left piano-less. When my oldest child was a baby, I was called to be the Stake
Relief Society organist—although I told them I didn’t know how to play the
organ. The Stake Relief Society
president said that I could play the piano for our meetings until I did learn
how to play the organ, and suggested that I contact our ward organist,
Douglas Bush, to get help. The thought
of playing the organ scared me to death.
It seemed like such a complicated instrument to play, and so, because
of my fears and also because of the demands of having a new baby, I didn’t
take organ lessons at that time. Later, when my oldest children were small and we were living
in an apartment, I would walk with them (we didn’t have a car at the time) to
my parent’s home to practice for Primary, since I was the pianist--a position
I held in different wards for about 12 years. In 1981, when I was expecting my fourth child, I was asked by
our stake if I’d like to take a six-week organ course. My first thought was to turn down the
offer, but then a little voice told me to tell them I would take the course. I didn’t know what I was getting myself
into, and I had no way to practice, since I couldn’t get into the church to
practice. So, I got creative. I made myself a “pedalboard” out of paper
strips and placed them on the floor.
The only keyboard I had was my daughter’s toy organ that she got for
Christmas, which only had about an octave and a half. So, after placing the “organ” on our
kitchen table, I would practice with one hand and then the other, and then
try to get my feet to hit the right strips of paper on the floor. I was determined to learn how to play the
organ. When the course started, there were about 7-8 of us. When the course ended, there were only two
of us who stuck it out. I went to
D.I.’s to find some kind of shoes I could use to wear to play the organ. They weren’t the best, but they worked. As part of the course, we were to play for Sacrament
Meeting. This was a terrifying moment
for me, and brought back my fears as a ten year old, but my teacher, Geoffrey
Myers, quoted the scripture to me that “If ye are prepared, ye shall not
fear.” This helped. I have always tried to apply that
principle. |
I learned a lot from that course, but I wasn’t given the
opportunity to play the organ for six years.
Then in 1987, when Douglas Bush was in our stake presidency (this was
ironically in a different stake than
the other one where he was our ward organist), the new Bigelow tracker organ
was installed in our chapel through his efforts. Since our organist had moved, I was first called to be ward
organist in January of 1987, before the organ was completely installed. There was just a huge whole in the
wall. I felt that this would be a
temporary situation, and that after the organ was completed, a real organist
would be called. That never
happened. At the time, my husband and I began playing background music for weddings. He plays the acoustic guitar, and I played
our Casio, which at the time we thought had great sounds. Wanting to provide a better sound in
Sacrament Meeting than just using a piano since the organ hadn’t been
finished, we got the permission of the bishop for me to play my Casio using
the organ sound. One Sunday, a member
of the bishopric came up and asked me if this was the new organ. I just kinda chuckled inside. As I watched, week after week, the Bigelow tracker organ being
completed, I became acutely aware of the responsibility that was soon to be
upon me, and I was overwhelmed. It was
a beautiful instrument, and I knew the expectations were high from the
members in my ward to play it well, because of the sacrifice they and other
stake members had made to raise funds to build it. After not touching an organ for more than
six years, I could hardly remember which pedal was which, let alone know how
to use the stops. Therefore, feeling very inadequate in my calling, I sought to
upgrade my skills. I was fortunate to meet Carol Dean, who became my organ
teacher. She eventually encouraged me to become a member of the Utah Valley
Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Starting in 1990, I began serving
as Secretary / Newsletter Editor and now maintain the chapter website. Through my association with AGO, I have
been able to meet many wonderful organists. I hope this web site will be a helpful resource for you. --DeeAnn Stone
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