When we conduct a Chime In experience for a team somewhere, we never know exactly how the participants will react. Oh, sure, initial reactions tend toward excitement (“Oh boy, instruments!”), or disbelief (“We’re going to play music together?! You’re kidding, right?”), or even a cautious acceptance that turns into enjoyment very quickly (“Hey, that was easier than I thought!”).
But what about the time I made that girl cry?!
Let me set the scene for you: my assistant and I were about an hour into guiding them through this musical, cooperative experience called Chime In. They were a pretty musical bunch—it was a team of high school drama troupe leaders–and so they handled the warm-up well (I believe it was “America the Beautiful”). They picked up the second song very quickly as well. I directed them to turn to another set of music, and we started getting the bells ringing…
Let’s pause for a moment and back up a few weeks. When the Chime In staff prepares the music for a gig, we always try to customize the song list for the group. This always means going through our existing repertoire and selecting tunes that would connect with the team, but often it also means working up a new arrangement. In this case the drama troupe had recently put on a production of West Side Story, so I wrote a handbell arrangement of the song “Somewhere” (If you don’t know the song, it’s worth a listen).
Back to the gig. They were playing the third song, according to the process I had just taught them, and since the first goal is, “What song are we playing?”, the epiphany came when several of them suddenly recognized the song. They got it around the same time, and one of the seniors had a flashback to their West Side Story presentations, and began to cry tears of joy as she remembered, and re-lived that amazing time.
So, I wasn’t being mean, and we weren’t trying to force anything. She just had the moment when the light bulb flashed on, and it was a meaningful, emotional experience.
Now we can’t promise this kind of reaction when you do a Chime In gig… but amazing things nearly always happen. People astound themselves with what they can accomplish, even if they have no musical experience. Teams see how they can overcome challenges together, and how they need everyone to play a part for the team to be successful. And yes, we do our best to help you connect with the music.
Wouldn’t you like the chance to bring your team together, and do something amazing? Your group of office colleagues, school leadership, church board, or other team can book a gig, and see what surprises await you.
We’ll even bring the tissues.
Rock On!
– Phil
