Class Updates September 1st
Dates to Remember
- September 8—Lunch at Road Kill after class.
- September 14—Spaghetti Dinner at Railroad Unit at 5:00 p.m.
- September 18—George’s Creek Adult Day Care at 11:45 a.m.
- September 22—Potluck luncheon at Jeanne Otto’s after class (not confirmed).
- September 29—Fall Quarterly at Midland Fire Hall at 1:00 p.m.
- October 5—Final Spaghetti Dinner of season at Railroad Unit at 5:00 p.m.
- October 6—Executive Committee Meeting at Oscar’s at 12:30 p.m.
Class Updates
10:45 – Easy Play Music
Text: Personally owned copies of various hymns/gospel songs
Ellie went over the upcoming dates as shown above and on the Keyboard Classroom white board.
She stressed the next gig at George’s Creek on September 18. Please send Ellie titles for the program in advance so she can take care of that. Also, she reminded people to encourage others to join us for the Fall Quarterly at Midland. People have begun paying Rosie Morgan, the treasurer, for their meals at $10 per. Please take care of this responsibiity as soon as possible.
Ellie made an announcement based on the email received from Ron Klinetob, regarding paying for class lessons in the future. All those who have not been granted Lifetime Lessons for free will pay as requested; however, they are wondering if they could pay by the lesson ($2.00) rather than for ten lessons inclusive.
She invited everyone to attend today’s Executive Committee Meeting and to give their input into the items being discussed from the agenda. Fifteen people attended the meeting.
Today was the final lesson of the Gospel Workshop, and we had two special numbers. Bill Ewing has rewritten the song Come To Jesus in Easy Play format. Ellie had played a rendition of this song from a disc one day in class and had provided anyone who wanted a copy of the song with one. It is a gorgeous song and was Bill’s contribution to today’s class. He was the first player today and one of only two individual performers because the majority of the class was ensemble playing of songs we have focused on during the Gospel Workshop. Bill played on the Century Lowrey Organ, the song Come To Jesus. He used no automatic rhythm, just the Easy Button, and he transposed in several spots during the song. He used the Organ Voice in the right hand and activated AOC for his excellent performance. Great project for you, Bill—setting that song up in easy play format. Many thanks!
The second special number for today was an organ/harmonica duet by Rosellen Morgan and Ellie Batchelor. Ellie had given Rosie a copy of This Is The Day, and she practiced the number during the week. Ellie also practiced on the harmonica, and they played the duet in class today on the Star Dust Lowrey Organ for all the students. Thanks, Rosie. Excellent performance!
At this point, we went to the ensemble playing for the rest of the class session. Everyone got to an organ and we were set to play Heavenly Sunlight, All Blessings Flow, and The Old Rugged Cross. Rosie Morgan and Diane Lynch were playing the lead organs, and Ellie counted the group in, giving them the downbeat. The group did wonderfully today and each individual shows marked improvement in ensemble playing. The song The Old Rugged Cross was a bit rough. People had trouble staying together on this song. Ellie had been emphasizing the importance of note values when several people are playing simultaneously, and she was counting out the rhythm and reviewing the note values for the quarter notes and half notes and dotted half notes, etc. On The Old Rugged Cross, she asked the group to read the lyrics together, keeping the time as indicated to the best of their ability. We actually ran out of time and had to stop, though, before we perfected this number.
For class next week, we will return to Book #135, All Around The USA as our text for September and October; on November 1st we will begin the Christmas Workshop. For the class on September 8, please select one of your favorites from Book 135 to play in class for all to hear. We will then assign specific numbers of focus songs for the following classes.
We will have lunch next week at Road Kill Cafe in Artemas, PA. Carpooling seems to be a smart thing to do for that activity.
Thanks for attending class today and have a great week. Enjoy the lovely weather we’re having right now!
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