2014 Reading Session Picks: Children's Choir

Last week, I shared some of my favorite (new!) anthems for adult choir. Today, I'm sharing my reading session picks for children's choir!

2014 Reading Sessions: Children's Choir Anthems

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Guide Us, Lord (Mark Patterson)
Unison/two-part Choir with Piano and optional Viola

The text for this anthem is the well-known Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester. Wonderful, reflective piece - would be great for Lent.

Sing for Joy, Sing Together (Mark Patterson)
Unison/two-part Choir with Piano and optional Flute and Finger Cymbals

Fun! Great song of praise for young singers any time of the year.

How Far Is It to Bethlehem? (arr. David Music)
Unison Choir with Piano

Beautiful setting of this lovely tune, interwoven with "Away in a Manger."

I See You, God (Mark Burrows)
Unison/two-part Choir with Piano

Great text and lovely melody - "Who says you're invisible? I see you all around..." Perfect for young, inquisitive choristers!

What Child Is This? (arr. Melissa Malvar-Keylock and Jill Friedersdorf)
Unison, two-part, or three-part Choir with Piano

Simple, but beautiful setting of this classic carol.

I’d love to hear from you:

What are your favorite children's choir anthems?

Teaching Hymns to Children - Part II

Now that we've talked about some considerations for teaching hymns to children, here are a few ideas for hymn selection and ways to incorporate them into worship:

HYMN SELECTION

Range considerations • Choose hymns that fall in a comfortable singing range for children (typically, no lower than D above Middle C and no higher than Treble D)

Repetition and variety • Find opportunities in hymns to teach the children about musical form: AABA, ABA, verse/chorus

Good text • Connect the hymns you choose to an overall theme, Scripture reference, or season of the church year • Give children an opportunity to sing in another language: German, Latin, Spanish, Zulu, Cherokee, etc.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Have children process into the service during the opening hymn 2. Plan a joint choir anthem with adult choir, children's choir, and handbells for a special service (ex. We Gather Together) 3. Create a special music slot for a children's choir anthem before the children's message 4. Plan a hymn festival to celebrate the church's legacy of hymn-singing

How have you used hymns with your children's choir? Have any other suggestions not mentioned here? Please leave a comment below!

Image Credit: personal

Previously: Teaching Hymns to Children - Part I

Teaching Hymns to Children - Part I

Is there value in teaching hymns to children? Are they effective teaching tools? How do you incorporate them into rehearsals? Here are a few thoughts:

Why teach hymns to children?

Church heritage

• Connect the children to the church's history and invite them to be a part of the legacy
• Help develop their identity as a choir. How is a church children's choir different than an elementary school or community choir?

Spiritual formation

• Connect the hymn texts to Scripture verses
• Discuss the meaning of the text and communicate its relevance for today

Music education

• Use hymns to teach children about singing: unison, 2-part, canon, vowels, consonants, shaping
• Identify elements of tonality and rhythm once the hymn is learned: recognition of patterns, phrase structure, meter, melodic lines
• Introduce the children to the various genres of music represented in the hymnal: spirituals, folk melodies, etc.

Considerations

Hymns in rehearsals

• Choose a hymn to use as a gathering or welcome song
• Select a hymn of the month (I tend to use only the first verse)
• Connect hymns to anthems and other special music with a common theme or musical element

Hymns in worship

• Use hymn arrangements as anthems
• Have the children lead the opening hymn for the congregation (from the front or while processing in)
• Give children an opportunity to be active participants in the service

Role in worship

• Children in leadership
• Emphasis on purpose over performance

Check back on Wednesday for Part II of this discussion - hymn selection and suggestions for worship!

Building a Successful Children's Choir Program

So, you want to start a children's choir. Awesome!

Wondering where to start and what to do first? 

Here are a few ideas and suggestions for getting started and building a new choir program, based on my experience starting and directing a children's choir program at a small church in rural Massachusetts.

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

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Building a Successful Children's Choir Program

Getting Started

The first step in building a new program is choosing a rehearsal time and setting age parameters. Will you rehearse during the week or on Sundays? Will you rehearse throughout the school year, or just for a season?

Consider the children you have in your congregation who may be interested in singing in choir. I started out with children in grades 1-6 so that we’d have a group of about 12. If you have enough interest, consider dividing the children into two age groups: K-2 and 3-6.

Once these pieces are in place, then you can start thinking about an overall theme for the year.

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Choosing a Theme

An overall theme can guide your planning, music selection, and activities, and foster engagement among those participating.

For the first year, I decided to build on an idea from a children's choir I had worked with in the past - "The Image of God." The visuals were things like film strips and photographs and each month, we explored a new way that we are made in God's image.

The second year, I planned an "Around the World" theme with music from various countries, flags, passports, and international prayers like Alan Paton’s “For Courage to Do Justice” (United Methodist Hymnal #456):

"Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,
and use me to bring them to those places. AMEN."

Once you have a theme, begin planning ways for the children to participate in worship throughout the year.

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Participating in Worship

One of the things that sets a church children’s choir apart from a school or community choir is the element of spiritual formation. Talk about the importance of sharing music in worship (read more here and here), the difference between worship and performance, and the impact of the message we have to share. Help the children to see that singing praises to God is a true privilege and that they are leaders when they participate in worship.

In addition to a few anthems throughout the year (including a few with the adult choir), you might plan and coordinate the music for the children's Christmas play as another opportunity for them to sing in worship.

Set goals for the program—both musical and spiritual—and begin searching for music.

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Choosing Repertoire

Pull from a variety of musical resources (especially those that are free!): hymnals (consider choosing a Hymn-of-the-Month, which maybe gets incorporated into worship on a day they sing), octavos already in your choral library (unison/2-part or SA), online resources, music you have at home, and a few new anthems that you find through Sheet Music Plus, J.W. Pepper, and Choristers Guild.

Related post: Top 50 Favorite Anthems for Children’s Choirs

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An invitational postcard for our "Around the World" choir year

Getting the Word Out

Next, promote your new program and invite children to participate. Write short announcements in the bulletin and newsletter, post information on the church website, post a flier at the library or gym, and pass out fliers at the beginning of the school year.

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Planning for Rehearsal

As you begin planning for the first rehearsals of the year, try to include several elements of discovery:

• uncover a new symbol somewhere in the room each month (a new picture on the film strip or a new flag)

• collect “stamps” from each country you visit in passports made with copy and construction paper

• fill out scripture cards (if the children look up the month's verse at home, copy it down and bring it back in, they get a piece of candy from the scripture jar—added incentive!)

Begin preparing your choir room or rehearsal space with other visuals like a "Thankful Tree" (the children in my choir loved this so much, we kept it around in the spring and turned it into a "Good Attendance Tree") and a world map where you can mark all the places you travel throughout the choir year.

For fun, pull together a few silly songs and musical games to use as change-of-pace activities: Ham and Eggs (traditional) and Irish circle/line dances when you "visit" Ireland around St. Patrick's Day. I love Madelyn Bridges' book, Sing Together, Children.

In a typical rehearsal, I started with a gathering activity or musical game. We did a few minutes of stretching and warm-ups before singing through the Hymn-of-the-Month. We read the scripture verse, reviewed the Symbol of the Month, and read the opening prayer together.

Next, I reviewed something familiar—a hymn or anthem. Then, we spent some time looking at a new anthem: learning the melody and text and discussing its meaning. By this point, the group was usually ready for a change of pace: a hand jive or clapping activity, a silly song, a musical game, or some rhythm improvisation. Generally, there was time left for one more song or anthem, one more change of pace activity, and our closing prayer.

Related resource: Free Children’s Choir Rehearsal Template

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Singing with Purpose

Consider tying in a mission element. For the "Around the World" theme, Operation Christmas Child was a perfect choice. This gave the children an opportunity to participate in something greater than our church and give to those in need. Together, we packed and shipped over two dozen shoe boxes to children around the world that year.

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Celebrating

How will you celebrate at the end of the choir year? Consider an ice cream party or game night or a special outing or field trip of some kind. 

Our end-of-year celebration for the "Around the World" year was a pizza party. Each family brought a different colored pizza topping and everyone helped make pizzas that looked like flags from around the world. We played a few traditional games from different countries, did a little trivia, and celebrated a year of exciting travel and music-making.

Related post: Four Ways to Celebrate the End of the Choir Year

End-of-the-Year "Around the World" Party Invitation

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Learn how to lead and teach your children’s choir, creatively and confidently.

Join me in Directing a Church Children’s Choir 101,
a 4-week online training program geared specifically toward children’s choir directors in church settings.

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I hope these ideas are helpful as you start your own children's choir program! Have other ideas or suggestions for working with children's choirs? Please share them in the comments!

Around the World: The Party

Remember those “around the world” party inspiration posts I wrote a few weeks ago?  Well, we had our end-of-the-year children’s choir party (international theme) last week and it was so much fun!  First of all, here’s how the invitation turned out.  Isn’t it adorable?!

I created flags as visuals for each of the countries we “visited” this year so I decided to string them together and use them as part of the decorations.  So colorful!

Dinner was homemade pizza made to look like flags from around the world.  Each family brought colorful toppings: onion, pineapple, banana peppers, basil, spinach, green peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, pepperoni, red pepper, and olives.

The finished products (of nine pizzas total): Italy, Ghana, and Canada!

We played a team game where all attendees (age 4 to adult!) could participate (a spin-off of a marble game from Israel).  I had a few musical games prepared but we ran out of time – we were having that much fun!

Previously: Around the World: The Food Around the World: The Decorations Around the World: The Invitations