Music for the soul

I can play basic bass on the guitar. Dr. Lim asked if I would like to play for his church on Resurrection night over the Easter weekend. Having shied away from many activities, I decided that I should take it as a challenge, and at the same time, shore up my confidence as I had only played in public once (on drums) some 38 years ago!

I was given 9 song sheets (lyrics with chords) and I borrowed a hand-phone to record intro, verse and chorus of the hymns. Problem with this was that just as I was familiar with a tune, I had to listen to the next. There was also the problem of the right order eg. some hymns start with verse, some with chorus; while other variations made it confusing too. I tried my best to familiarize with the tunes and even drew tabs next to lyrics for just in case I need to refer.

We were supposed to be half an hour early at 8.30pm to get the equipment ready. For my first time luck, the lady who was holding the key to the cabinet where the bass amplifier was kept, was late, unusual it seemed. She came just before the service started.

Dr. Lim confirmed the order of the hymns and I waited and waited as there were the usual sermons and other rituals. A projector was used to project the lyrics on to a large screen for the convenience of the parishioners. As soon as the first hymn was up, the Indian singer standing next to me gestured that it was not among my lot! What a start to my debut. Dr. Lim was too embarrassed to face me. He played rhythm guitar regularly for the church and he had no problem because he had with him all the hymns. Soon I was just guessing and played along. The second hymn, again, was not on my list. Fortunately, the rest were and I gained confidence as I played along.

It was quite interesting in that apart from the usual sermons, we had Tamil hymns sung by Indians, accompanied by their organist, and there were Mandarin hymns sung by Chinese, accompanied by their organist too.

At the end of the service, we started to pack up. I had the long bass guitar slung over my shoulder while doing so. I did not notice another rhythmist’s guitar resting on a bench. My guitar neck just swung the other guitar down and its neck bounced thrice on the floor! It was because of the rounded back of the guitar, which made it bounced and I could see the hurt expression on the owner’s face. When I apologised he put on a brave front and said it was ok as otherwise there won’t be any new guitar. It was a really embarrassing end to my debut as a church bassist.

It was actually an eventful day as I had a practice session earlier in the afternoon, playing drums with another group at Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Club, again, for the first time. The former Liaison Committee Chairman, a keen musician, was trying to convince Kenny Yap to start a resident band. Truth be told, a few years ago, I tried to convince them to have facilities for jam sessions. I am still for jam sessions as I could not stand practising over and over again just to get it right. To me, it takes the fun out of playing music.

For the practice session, I had to dismantle my drums kit and carried them from first floor of our adjoining house to the car. Before that, I had to get the two dogs to the other side before I could drive the car out. At the club, I had to carry the drums to the stage at the end of the hall and set them up. Similarly, Leong had to transport 3 amplifiers (of different sizes) from his house, using his jeep which he uses for hunting. Honestly, I don’t think I like the idea of doing it again. So it could be the first and last time for me, unless the club provides the equipment and I am there for jamming only, not as part of a resident band. It has to do with my limitation as a musician as well. I must admit I enjoyed and cherished the experience.

We actually had TK Ong who played a Hawaiian instrument. He came all the way from Taiping and went back by the 4.00pm bus, another point which is less than encouraging for the purpose of forming a resident band.