Wedding repertoire

[Carleton Page]

Does anyone play wedding ceremonies? What pieces do you play. I would imagine Cannon in D, but what else? I have done this a couple of times and have the opportunity to do some more, and want to offer the best possible product! Thank you for any insight!

[John Flynn]

I have a friend, a flautist, who I played church music with for many years. She now makes her living playing weddings and putting together wedding music ensembles. What I learned from her is that no matter what your repertoire, the best tunes for any wedding are what the bride and her mother happen to want and that is a totally unpredictable variable. The key is to be able learn ANYTHING they throw at you quickly and play it well.

[John McCoy]

Stock up on fake books.



== John ==

[John Kelly]

Avoid "Who's Sorry Now?", "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and "Your Cheating' Heart" if you want to get further bookings.

[bobby bill]

We played at a friend's wedding and they waltzed down the aisle to Lover's Waltz: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/...-Waltz/1737239

Truly one of my funnest playing memories.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, various waltzes, O'Carolan Tunes, Movie Themes, etc.

[Carleton Page]

Thanks, Eddie. O'carolan and jesu are great ideas!

[Eddie Sheehy]

Movie Themes I had in mind are: The Lonely Shepherd (Kill Bill), Speak Softly Love (the Godfather), Somewhere My Love (Dr. Zhivago), The Gael (Last of the Mohicans)

[allenhopkins]

From the Ducks Deluxe "Musician Jokes" website:

Dear Bandleader thank you for your letter. I really do think you have an attitude problem, and do want a few requests played if you don't mind. What me and my wife were thinking was:

-Any Keith Jarrett composition from his solo series. Please arrange for full ensemble and nothing in 4/4 please.

-Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dance of the Maya and please have the guitar player play John McLaughlin's solo from the live performance Nov. 16, 1972 at Chrysler Arena. My wife and I were at that show and particularly liked his use of polyrhythmics. If you find it too difficult you can leave out the feedback. Your choice.

-John Coltrane's duets with Pharaoh Sanders. I understand that their use of atonality is not everyone's cup of tea, but my guests are usually fond of high register tenor saxes.

-We thought a little Stravinsky would be nice. We particularly like the Rite of Spring. If you want to use the sheet music it's OK. My husband likes it about 1/4 note = 93 beats per minute.

-Then for the candle lighting ceremony, please learn Frank Zappa's The Great Wazoo. If you want to play it in the original B flat, that would be OK. And yes, cousin Jeannie does want to sing the baritone sax solo. Please don't say no, it would hurt her feelings so.

-Finally, we have built our own musical instruments (It's kind of a hobby with us) and we would appreciate if you would use our instruments. None of them are based upon a 12 tone scale or on common harmonics, but our 5-year-old son tells us it's not really that hard to transpose once you understand the physics.

We would be happy to pay each member an extra $25 for any inconvenience. Thank you and don't be late!

Does that help?