Learning to Play the Gospel Piano

Recently I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. But unlike normal talks where a topic is given, as the Sunday School President of my ward, I was not given a topic, but rather charged with choosing the topic of my talk. The process of choosing was almost as bad as the public speaking itself! The topic I settled on was learning to play the Gospel Piano. Because of the nature of the talk, I wrote it down before giving it (normally I give a talk with only a few bullet points). But I wanted to ensure I did not come across with the spirit of condemnation but rather encouragement. I want to share the text of my talk with you!

Learning to Play the Gospel Piano: The Importance of Learning ALL the Keys of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite gospel analogies and how it applies to each of us in our individual lives, as well as to our family and our ward.

I will be quoting extensively from President Boyd K. Packer’s Oct. 1971 Address “The Only True and Living Church“
unless otherwise noted. He taught: “The gospel might be likened to the keyboard of a piano—a full keyboard with a selection of keys on which one who is trained can play a variety without limits; a ballad to express love, a march to rally, a melody to soothe, and a hymn to inspire; an endless variety to suit every mood and satisfy every need. How shortsighted it is, then, to choose a single key and endlessly tap out the monotony of a single note, or even two or three notes, when the full keyboard of limitless harmony can be played.”

Learning the notes

Our goal should be to embrace the fullness of the gospel and to learn all the keys of the keyboard. Not just as individuals, but as families, friends, neighbors, and ward members. We all are learning the notes and how to play them together! But there is a danger! In fact, we have two great risks we must overcome while learning all the notes: First, it is the tendency to judge a key as not important and justify skipping over it. Second, it is having a key we single out and pound on to the detriment of the harmony of the song of redeeming love.

Skipping Keys:

Some notes are naturally hit more frequently than others, but that does not minimize the importance of a note. Sometimes we think that because a note has not been played recently (IE a principle has not been addressed in General Conference recently) it suddenly is no longer relevant or important. But that would make as much sense as someone standing up and complaining in the middle of a symphony that E Flat has not been played recently!

This idea has also been refuted by David A. Bednar in Oct. 2020. Elder Bednar taught: “Some Church members opine that emergency plans and supplies, food storage, and 72-hour kits must not be important anymore because the Brethren have not spoken recently and extensively about these and related topics in general conference. But repeated admonitions to prepare have been proclaimed by leaders of the Church for decades. The consistency of prophetic counsel over time creates a powerful concert of clarity and a warning volume far louder than solo performances can ever produce.”

Before I go any further, I want to clearly state that my goal today is to speak with the spirit of positivity and encouragement. As all of us are striving to learn the notes of the gospel, so we can sing the song of redeeming love, we are all on this journey together. If I point out a key that you can play in better harmony, I ask you not to take it as a rebuke or condemnation but rather listen to the Spirit and join with all of us, myself included as we try to learn the notes and play the song of redeeming love. With that preface, here are some common notes I have observed that are often skipped over although each of us will have different notes.

• Food Storage.
• Family Home Evening.
• Fasting.
• Defending our Constitution/Engaging in our Civic Duty.
• Ministering to our Ministering Families in their homes. (As we were charged by Elders Villar and Smith in our Stake Conference last year).
• Belonging to a Brotherhood/sisterhood.
• Learning and Teaching in the Home.
• Defending Marriage and the Unborn.
• Daily personal/family prayer.
• Listening and studying prior General Conferences.

Now you might be thinking, “Some of those keys I know I should do better at, but others are not that important, for example, our civic duty and defending the Constitution.” If you think that, I would like to share a quote that has been repeated in conference by two different Prophets of God (McKay and Benson): “Next to being one in worshiping God there is nothing in this world upon which this Church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States.” David O. McKay, GC: Oct. 1939, Ezra Taft Benson, GC: Oct. 1967 I could share over a dozen similar quotes as recently as 2021 by Dallin H. Oaks on this topic, but this talk is not meant to go into each individual key but to show that some keys are passed over because we know better, but don’t prioritize them. Others because we have been duped by the devil into thinking they are not important.

Hobby Keys

The inverse of skipping over a key is when we find a gospel key that resonates with us and we turn it into a hobby key that we play out of harmony. For example, speaking of the hobby key of Baptism, President Packer taught, “If that key, however, is played alone, without the counterpart key of authority, the fullness and the harmony are gone and it becomes dissonant. And without the key of faith and of repentance, it is meaningless, and perhaps worse, it is counterfeit.” He goes on to teach, “Some members of the Church who should know better pick out a hobby key or two and tap them incessantly, to the irritation of those around them. They can dull their own spiritual sensitivities. They lose track that there is a fullness of the gospel and become as individuals, like many churches have become. They may reject the fullness in preference to a favorite note. This becomes exaggerated and distorted, leading them away into apostasy.”

Some common Gospel Hobby Keys I have found include:

• Food Storage. (notice how for some it is skipped and for others, it is a hobby, each of us will have different keys we need to work on).
• Family History.
• Word of Wisdom.
• Self Reliance.
• Personal Revelation.
• Works.
• Then 2nd Great Commandment.
• Faith in Jesus Christ or even Christ’s love.
• Even just Jesus Himself!

Now, you might be thinking, did he just suggest that Jesus can become a hobby key? Yes, yes I did: When taken out of context of the gospel, at the expense of the harmony of the commandments and principles He taught. Simply focusing on Jesus and ignoring what he taught is a very popular and prevalent hobby key in Christianity, and growingly in the Church today. In Luke 6:46 Jesus addressed this issue in his day, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (See also this amazing conference talk with the same title by President Kimball, “Why Call Ye Me Lord, Lord, and Do Not the Things Which I Say?” GC: Apr. 1975)

I would suggest that each of us has keys we either are skipping over or keys that we have turned into hobby keys. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can learn all the keys and then be able to play the song of redeeming love. President Packer taught, “Think about this matter. More than that, I would urge you to pray about this matter.” As we review our conduct and seek to identify notes we skip or keys that have become hobbies, let us have the faith and courage to ask the Lord to help us identify where we can do better. Let us trust the premise found in Ether 12:27: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

Applying This To Learning The Bagpipes

Now applying this gospel analogy to my personal life, I find it extremely relevant. See, two years ago I started to learn how to play the bagpipes. I signed up for an inexpensive beginners class through UVU’s Continuing Education program. My instructor, Don Smith emphasized the importance of learning to play the notes of the song in the right order, and that it was better to go slow and not skip over any note or embellishment than to focus on speed. The first song he taught us was Amazing Grace. I feel like this completely blends with this analogy, as we learn the keys of the gospel piano we need to learn the notes and practice slowly at first and then build up speed, just as Elder Maxwell taught with our spiritual growth, “It is direction first, then velocity!” (GC: Oct. 1976)

After learning the basics of bagpipes, I wanted to continue to learn so I started attending a band practice held at the Peteetneet in Payson Utah. Every week when I would show up Don, and others, would lovingly ask “What are you working on?” and try to help me. However, I felt self-conscious when I did not practice throughout the week. How could I go to practice and admit I was not doing what I knew I should do? I felt like the worst bagpiper in the band, and I justified not driving to Payson and avoiding the band practice if I had not practiced throughout the week.

But I ran into a problem, it became a bagpipe death spiral. The more I did not practice throughout the week, the more I did not go to band practice, and in turn, the more I did not go to band practice, the more I did not practice throughout the week! Realizing this spiral I made the commitment, that no matter how much practice I had gotten throughout the week, I would go to band practice.

As soon as I made this commitment to go, I found my desire to practice through the week increasing, after all, how could I look at Don, and tell him I had not practiced? But more than that, when I went I realized that this band was a group of people all striving to learn the bagpipes, together. That Don, was there helping everyone, including the people who I thought had it all together. I started to notice I was not the only one making mistakes. But I also found encouragement from others too. One week while feeling bad about my abilities, Joseph (one of the guys in the band) turned to me and declared, “That is the Green Hills of Tyrol! I can recognize what you are trying to play, that is improvement!” It was a small thing, but it meant a lot to me.

With weekly attendance and effort throughout the week, I quickly started to progress and learn additional tunes, Scottland the Brave, Minstrel Boy, Barren Rocks of Aden, etc. But more than the tunes, I started to feel community. I realized I was wanted. instead of a bagpipe death spiral, it became a positive reinforcing loop. Does this mean we are perfect? No, there are still weeks I fail to practice, but I still go. And that effort puts me back on track with a desire to practice during the coming week. Is it all rosy? No. After the Salt Lake Scottish Festival, the band performed poorly in competition and Don had to call us to repentance. Reminding us that He knew we could perform better, but that we would need to actually put in effort and try. The result? In the Payson Scottish Festival, the band took first place in both competitions.

My experience learning the bagpipes is RICH in gospel parallels. From realizing that the natural man in us would have us avoid Church when we are not living up to our privileges, to realizing that the more we attend, even if we are living beneath our privileges, the more we progress. It also stresses the need and value of a community of people with a common goal. We ALL need a spiritual community. So, even if you are struggling with the gospel piano, come join with us! Let us learn together! As we are all trying to learn the gospel piano. Most of all, with a community that strives together, you will feel wanted, and feeling wanted is far more important than merely feeling welcome.
In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.