Brass & Woodwind (Horn Sections) players in UK Churches

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Permalink Reply by Paul James Conner on January 24, 2012 at 9:05am

Seriously? 0 Replies? We have no UK Brass or woodwind players left in UK churches? I knew we were a dying breed, but didn't realise extinction had taken place!

Shout out if you are still there!

Paul

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Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on January 25, 2012 at 10:29am

There are plenty in the Salvation Army but I'm not sure I've seen any of them online here.

I think one of the challenges is that the perfect player for church should be an excellent improvisor, able to play entirely by ear or work from concert pitch songbooks and be content to not play all the time. Unfortunately that doesn't mesh too well with how most worship groups seem organised in practise, without the level of scoring and rehearsal time that might be required.

Wulf

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Permalink Reply by martyn burt on January 25, 2012 at 1:56pm

We have a guy in our church who is a brilliant trumpeter/cornet player, but he spends so much of his time playing for one orchestra or another, usually one of the big London orchestras (BBC phil, London phil etc).  It is difficult to get him to do anything as he can never commit in advance and the 'gigs' he gets are his income! 

 

However, we have used him for a few 'specials' such as when we have had baptism and confirmation services and some carol services. 

 

He can do any of the 'worship group' stuff, but just cannot commit to a regular slot.

 

Along with most other people I know, he is not a 'worship afficionado' so is unlikely to be on this site either.     

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Permalink Reply by Michael Letus on January 26, 2012 at 12:58am

Wulf writes:

"I think one of the challenges is that the perfect player for church should be an excellent improvisor, able to play entirely by ear or work from concert pitch songbooks and be content to not play all the time."

That's how I started out. There's little to nothing with horn parts in it, so finding your own place is pretty much a necessity. Having a collection of percussion instruments and (more importantly) knowing how to use them effectively can make the 'horn guy' an important part of any team instead of an occasional novelty. In my case our lead guitarist left so the sax is the only real lead instrument we have most of the time.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Letus on January 26, 2012 at 1:01am

Paul writes:

"We have no UK Brass or woodwind players left in UK churches?"

I'm sure they're out there, but very few are on this site as it's mainly worship leaders here. If I were in the UK I'd be thrilled to get together. I've a brother in Dunstable, but that doesn't help much.

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Permalink Reply by Paul James Conner on January 26, 2012 at 9:58am

Thanks for the reply guys. You all confirm what I already suspected. I get paid to play with soul bands, big bands etc but it is not my main job. I can ad lib in any key and play with or without charts, but all that comes with experience. In the worship team I play with, I rarely play any melody, don't play all the time and sometimes don't play at all. Horns should be used as the icing on the cake, at build up or climax moments etc. 

I am passionate about bringing this into church worship and would be happy to arrange and score born section music for modern worship songs. If you know people that are not on this forum but would be interested in exploring possibilities, I would love to connect with them. 

Blessings

Paul 

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Permalink Reply by Toni on January 26, 2012 at 10:48pm

Shame you're not a bit further South Paul - I'm sure we could find a place to play together occasionally.

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Permalink Reply by Paul James Conner on January 27, 2012 at 6:46pm

Hi Toni,

I am used to travelling all over the country for gigs, so a meet with other likeminded musos could be organised in the future I'm sure. What do you play?

There is a good Pro Christian Sax player down Oxfordshire way - a Mark Wiseman. Do you know him?

Paul

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Permalink Reply by Toni on January 30, 2012 at 1:18pm

Hi Paul,

I'm a guitar player (isn't almost everyone?) and I seem to play pretty much worship only these days. I don't know Mark, though there's just a chance I may have met him about 12+ years ago. A chap called Andy Boxall arranged a worship event with some of us local guys and brought in a bunch of his friends who were professional musicians (Ben Castle was the only one whose name I can remember).

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