The Blog
Engaging, practical ideas, helpful tools, and creative
strategies to help you lead and teach with confidence
One of the most creative parts of worship planning is finding unique ways to incorporate music into your services. From introits to benediction responses, prayer responses, moments of transition in between things, and even underscoring.
Handbells are a great way to do this!
When I directed bell choirs, I loved coming up with creative, meaningful ways to include handbells in worship, beyond the traditional prelude or anthem slot.
Musical underscoring in worship (traditional and contemporary) is a creative way to elevate spoken texts, connect musical elements that may be separated by reading or prayer, or highlight a drama or moment of prayer in the service. Today, I'm sharing a step-by-step guide to creating your own musical underscores for worship using handbells.
No one could have predicted what 2020 would look like. Who could have imagined the things church musicians around the world would find themselves doing this year?
Figuring out how to teach music via Zoom
Recording parts for home practice
Creating a virtual choir video of some sort
Navigating the world of online worship
Marking 6 feet of distance with masking tape
Reading research articles about aerosols and air ventilation
It’s hard to believe it’s been almost four months since the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the United States (along with the rest of the world). In its wake, we watched as everything shut down, plans were canceled, and everyone stayed home.
Now that things are opening again (with new safety protocols and limitations in place), many music directors are turning their attention to the fall: Will we be able to gather in person again? If so, what will that look like?
If you walk into an elementary classroom, you might notice that everything is color-coded: signs and charts on the wall to labels on bins to pieces of tape marking certain spots on the floor.
This is because colors are easy for most young children to recognize and differentiate between.
But in music, our baseline is black and white, the colors of standard notation. When first introducing music-reading, it can be challenging for young students to recognize patterns and organize the content visually when everything is black and white.
For this reason, color can be a helpful tool when teaching music literacy and developing music-reading skills. “When we use color in a systematic way it can help students retain information better than just using black and white.” (source)
Over the years, I’ve written several posts geared toward smaller, beginning handbell choirs:
“But what about those of us with more established groups?” you might be saying. “What about intermediate-level repertoire?”
That’s where today’s post comes in.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year - back-to-school season, that is!
Even though I’m not a student anymore, as a teacher, I love the fresh-start feeling that comes with a new academic year (including new school supplies!).
And the same is true in church settings when choir and ensembles start back up.
But getting back into that weekly rehearsal routine after a long summer hiatus can be challenging, and making sure you’re prepared and ready for that first week back can be a daunting task, particularly if you procrastinated on some of those things on your summer to-do list:
Easter is a joyful day in the church year. It’s the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection and victory, the gift of new life, and the hope of everlasting life to come.
All of this makes Easter the perfect time to pull out all the stops (no pun intended). From handbell acclamations to soaring soprano descants, brass ensembles to triumphant fanfares, there are lots of things you can do to help bring Easter to life in your worship services.
The good news is, Easter is more than just one day - it’s a 50-day season.
It’s kind of like celebrating your birthday all month long.
That’s why I’m excited to share with you Four Pieces for Easter - a digital collection of four pieces for 2-3 octave handbells (12-21 bells) designed to add a creative element into your worship services, both on Easter Sunday and in the season that follows.
