Just think about it, every week the primary music leader must prepare singing time for both junior and senior primary. She does opening song, closing song and singing time, for BOTH hours. This also involves preparing visual aids and other activities.

In contrast the primary presidencies rotates through sharing time so they have to responsible perhaps once a month. The rest of the time they are off and can sit in the back an gossip.

The primary music leader gets no break.

Then, the primary music leader must deal with the stress of putting together a music program for the yearly primary sacrament program. All the presidency does is simply assign kids to speak.

Not trying downplay others that contribute, but to illustrate some of the discrepancies in the amount of work certain callings involve.

Thoughts?

Your description makes me glad I never learned to play the piano.

Sounds like a horrible position.

And to make it worse, it takes you away from the adult meetings. I had a nursery calling for a couple of years, and the thing I hated most about it was that I did not have hardly any contact with the other adults in the ward.

I would think that would be particularly difficult for a stay at home mother, who had to contend with a bunch of little ones 24/7/365, except for church meetings.

Something I think would be true of lots of women assigned to Primary.

The primary music leader doesn't need to play the piano; she just sings while at Primary. The ability to play piano certainly doesn't hurt, though. This has been the favorite calling of all my sisters and sisters-in-law. They felt that it allowed for more creativity than did any other calling. It was more work, but to them it was enjoyable work. (It obviously wouldn't be to everyone.)

Sister #2 became a special ed teacher and mostly taught special ed. pre-school when she worked. She felt that being primary music leader prepared her for the rigors of special ed. preschool better than anything else ever could have. She lived in a ward that had too few kids for jr. and sr. primary, so she had them all together, and had to hold their attention AFTER sac mtg, class, and sharing time. If she wasn't on, she lost them. Preschool carpet time was easy after that, she said.

Regarding the program, the music leader teaches the songs but doesn't put the program together. LDS Inc. out of SLC dictates every song that is sung and every word that is spoken in that program.

If a person doesn't enjoy teaching kids and isn't comfortable presenting music in front of both children and adults (it takes a bit of ego to be able to do that, as everyone is a critic) she won't like the calling. I think I would have liked it, but I don't think they give that calling to males, though things may have changed and males may be eligible now. In real pinches I was called out of priesthood meeting to play piano for primary, which was obviously the lesser of the two evils (between penishood mtg. and playing piano for primary).

A few years ago i was primary president. We always had 2 music leaders. They took turns the way they wanted to, 1 week on, 1 week off. They were fantastic, IMHO. We, as a presidency, wrote the program. Salt Lake gave us only the songs and the theme. We worked very hard, no time for gossiping in the back of the room. It was my favorite calling. I made it my goal for the kids to love primary. It was gratifying to see them running down the hall to get to primary, laughing and talking. I also loved not going to SS and RS.

The November policy completely broke my heart, I knew that some of those kids would turn out to be gay, or have a gay loved one.

I've been a piano/organ player in many many morg meetings and I've seen the Primary Music Leaders fulfill a very unpleasant task. They have to pre-plan each meeting and then be flexible enough to throw it all out the window and ad-lib the rest of the meeting. I had it easy, once I learned the songs it was easy peasy to play them. So, I am in agreement that the Music Leader had a rough role to play.

Agreed. Pianist is an easy job if you know the songs or can sightread well.

Being the pianist is a really tough job if you have to work on every song. I knew someone who wasn't very advanced on the piano and had to practice super hard every week. They do SO many songs.

I agree. My last calling before leaving the church was primary pianist. My calling felt like a piece of cake compared to the music leaders. All I had to do was learn a few songs, but she had to make visual aids for all the songs they were learning, plus she had to try to teach them all the songs. Screw that! I would take pianist over that calling any day.

Have you ever been in a primary presidency? My TBM wife is currently in the primary presidency, and it is nothing like what you've described. She rarely sits with the other members of the presidency. If it's not her month to do sharing time, she's usually running around finding subs, subbing herself, etc... She's written the entire primary program herself the last couple years. She has weekly presidency meetings, and regular meetings with the bishopric counselor over primary. It's probably not the same in all wards, but the time she puts in for this calling is ridiculous.

The primary music leader can put in as much or as little effort as they want. They can, and sometimes do, just sing the primary program songs straight through for both junior and senior primary...they don't have to prepare a thing. I don't think primary music leader would be anywhere near the top of my list for worst callings.

I think primary callings as a whole, are the most under appreciated of callings. Of course all callings can be tough and the people taken for granted, but primary..urggh. I felt that the primary was at the bottom of the pecking order for getting their needs met; when all other quorums and auxiliaries had fill their leadership and teaching quotas, them primary got to choose from what was left.
Those women, and some men, worked their butts off at appropriately indoctrinating the children and received very little gratitude.

I was a Primary teacher for nearly a decade before leaving the church, so I've observed many Primary choristers.

Most of the time our Primary had two music leaders, one for Junior Primary and one for Senior Primary. Some Primary choristers really prepared for the calling and tried to engage the kids with fun games and such. Some Primary choristers did nothing to prepare for singing time and just told the kids what songs they were going to sing and lead the music. It made music time miserable for the kids and the teachers because the kids were so bored and generally poorly behaved during that time.

I agree with blakballoon that those in Primary callings are underappreciated. Generally the ward's "lesser worthies" get Primary callings...that's why I spent so much time there.

I think Primary is one of the church's worst programs. It's not geared toward children at all. Children are required to be "reverent" and sit still on metal chairs for two straight hours after they've already spent an hour sitting still in Sacrament meeting. Sharing Time generally doesn't involve much participation from the kids. The lessons in the manuals are boring and repetitive. They sing the same six or eight songs over and over again so that they're prepared for the yearly Primary program. Ask just about any kid in the church and they'll tell you that they hate Primary.

So true. I remember being a nursery leader. Another nursery helper and I would take the kids outside, we'd walk around the outside of the chapel, look in the garden beds and find leaves and worms and cool rocks, anything to get them out and pass the time. Then we were told to stop doing that.

I was a primary music leader 4 different times. Sometimes I had a partner. Other times not. When I did have one, often as not they'd just bug out ( I assume to overwhelm) and I'd end up doing all the music. Or I'd play the piano if the pianist was absent without notice and try to simultaneously lead the music.
Every week I came home more spent than after a hardcore hour in the gym with weights.
It IS exhausting. And thankless.
Fuck that calling.

Did Music leader in primary and did nursery. Nursery is the worst thing i have ever done. HATED it, Thankless.