Brad's Wedding
Yesterday was Brad’s wedding, for which I was asked to play classical guitar and to provide accompaniment for a song during the wedding. For the pre-ceremony classical segment I used my trusty Garcia classical guitar, which was built in Spain sometime during the 1950s. It’s a a lovely instrument and has aged beautifully, yielding a very warm resonant tone. I wasn’t certain what or when to play, so I spent a few days poring over my books to select 30 minutes of material that would be appropriate for the setting. What I hadn’t counted on was playing outdoors with the occasional wind gust, so there were some moments when my music flew off the stand and I had to do my best to either (1) remember the rest of the arrangement or (2) improvise in the same style and key as convincingly as possible. It only happened a few times and I managed to plod along until I could find a moment to rearrange my music stand. Nobody made any “icky” faces at me, so I’m thinking I might have pulled it off 🙂
For the ceremony I was asked to accompany a singer, performing “Beloved One” by Ben Harper. The recorded version of the song is slow and rubato with only a very loose sense of meter. It works fine if you happen to be playing and singing the song yourself, but it’s a little challenging when two people are attempting to stay together on it. I made a slight rearrangement to the rhythmic structure to provide a framework for our performance. For this one I used my Epiphone 12 string, which is a great sounding instrument that I’ve used on at least a dozen recording sessions. The vocalist and I had a chance to rehearse the song before the ceremony. During the reahearsal, she sang quietly but seemed well in tune and ready to perform. During the ceremony she sang with projection and greater volume; her voice was beautiful and I really enjoyed accompanying her.
The ceremony was brief and very personal. I was moved by the honesty and beauty of the vows they had written for each other. And it’s always wonderful to be present for the wedding of close friends. I’m delighted for them both and honored they asked me to be a part of their day.