Dear Lord,

Help me to play my parts well, have the ability of a virtuoso, and by some miracle to be able to play top C's in pianissimo while the conductor is looking at me menacingly over the top of his stand.. When he gives me that evil eye stare, please give me the strength to not wobble off the note, but play it clean and pure and in tune.

Lord, never let me lose my cool, even when the conductor tells me to scribble out parts that I shouldn't play, only to be questioned the next rehearsal why I hadn't played those parts. Let me always understand where he is starting from, and never let me forget my sharps and flats.

Give me the intelligence of a musical maestro, although my musical education is limited to University band training. Help me to read his mind, follow his beat, and carry out all instructions without explanation. And never let my valves stick, or momentarily forget my fingering.

Let me always know exactly where jobs are being performed, where to park the car so that I don't have to walk a mile and know what time the job finishes. Let me juggle my life around and always be on time, even though we are told to be there one and a half hours early.

And Lord, when the year ends, please give me the foresight not to just finally take a long earned rest during the Christmas break, but to continue home practice right through, so that I don't start the new year like a complete beginner.

I ask these blessings Dear Lord, in the name of band members everywhere.

Amen