Church Music

What I Purchased This Summer: New Piano and Organ Books

What I Purchased This Summer: New Piano and Organ Books

What will I play on Sunday?

As all church musicians know, it can be a struggle to find interesting but accessible arrangements that are well-written to play in worship week after week. 

A few years ago, I wrote these posts about some of my favorite organ and piano books:

10 Practical Collections for the Church Organist
Tried-and-True Favorite Collections for the Church Pianist

These collections are still great, but I’ve since updated my own library a bit and come across some new books I thought I’d recommend. So, in case you’re looking for some fresh new music for this year, here are my newest organ and piano books:

A to Z: Must-Haves for Your Choir Room and Rehearsals

A to Z: Must-Haves for Your Choir Room and Rehearsals

It’s back-to-school season, which means it’s time for all things Fall, new school supplies, and the start of a new choir year. 

If you’re a planner, like me, and you like things to be organized, you probably spent some time this summer cleaning out choir folders and boxes, straightening up counters and rearranging chairs, getting the piano tuned, and planning music for the Fall and Christmas. You may have even spruced up your choir room a bit, with a new bulletin board, fresh whiteboard markers, and a blank calendar.

What’s missing?

Well, whether you’re working with an adult choir, a youth choir, or a children’s choir, there are a few things every choir room (and rehearsal) should have. Here’s my must-have list, from A to Z:

New! Online Keyboard Skills Class for Church Musicians

New! Online Keyboard Skills Class for Church Musicians

Music school is great, but if you want to be a church musician in the 21st century, there are lots of things you're left to figure out on your own - things that simply aren't taught in most schools or private studios.

This includes:

  • playing and singing or playing and conducting at the same time
  • accompanying and supporting choral and congregational singing
  • harmonizing melodies (with and without chord symbols)
  • finding cadence points and vamping in the moment
  • creating modulations and transposing at sight
  • improvising transitions and creating musical underscores
  • playing 5-finger patterns in all 24 keys (12 major, 12 minor)

And the list goes on. Where do you start? How do you learn and develop these skills?

If you can relate to any of this, then this course is for you.

,

Non-Salesy Ways to Recruit and Sustain Your Music Ministry

,
Non-Salesy Ways to Recruit and Sustain Your Music Ministry

Growing a church music program is an important part of what we do as directors and leaders. In building a program, we’re building a place where people of all ages and walks of life can come and learn and grow. We’re creating a safe environment for them to explore and discover and feel loved and supported and encouraged.

Most of you likely inherited your church’s choir program and are building year to year on that foundation. Others of you might be starting from scratch—building a program from the ground up.

Either way, we’re always building, right? Trying new things, finding new things to offer, creating new opportunities for people to come and grow in their faith and knowledge of God, learn about music and develop musical skills, and find new ways to connect to worship.

Some of our biggest challenges as church musicians are recruiting people to be part of the ministry work we do and sustaining that ministry for years to come.

Sound familiar? If so, this post is for you!

Today, I’m sharing five effective tips and strategies for recruiting for your church ministry and outlining several things you can do to help sustain your ministry, now and in the future.

2017 Reading Session Picks: Ensemble

2017 Reading Session Picks: Ensemble

When I have the opportunity to sit in on reading sessions, I’m keeping an eye out for any good anthem - whatever the voicing might be. If it has good text, is well-crafted musically and artistically, and is versatile enough to be used more than one Sunday out of the year, I make a note of it.

Everyone has their own rating system for this - some use a check-plus, check, check-minus system, others use smiley faces (with teeth, without teeth, indifferent, sad). To each their own, right?

Anyway, once I get back home with the anthems I saved, I divide them up into piles for easy list-making and cataloging later: Adult Choir, Youth, Children’s Choir, and Ensemble.

I’ve already shared my lists for adult choir and children’s choir; today, I’m sharing a few pieces I think would work well for an adult or youth ensemble. Enjoy!

2017 Reading Session Picks: Adult Choir

2017 Reading Session Picks: Adult Choir

Happy 4th of July week, friends!

I hate to break it to you, but did you know there are only 21 Sundays until the First Sunday of Advent?! I know. It’s true.

If you’re like me, summer is a time of rest and relaxation, but also a time of planning and getting ready for the new church/choir year. I just got back from a wonderful week in North Carolina for the United Methodist Fellowship’s Music and Worship Arts Week. It was a busy few days of worship, rehearsals, seminars, reading sessions, and concerts - so much new music and teaching ideas to soak up!

Eric Nelson was the clinician for the adult choir this year and I loved observing him in rehearsal, watching him conduct, and gleaning his wisdom. One thing he said that really resonated with me was this:

“Our congregations don’t need to be reminded about the brokenness in the world. Instead, we need to remind them, as much as possible, about the beauty and harmony that are possible in the community of Christ.”

I love that.

Celebrating Ordinary Time with Not-So-Ordinary Summer Worship

Celebrating Ordinary Time with Not-So-Ordinary Summer Worship

Summer can often feel like an ordinary, even dull, part of the church year. Choirs are usually on break, and there may be a dip in church attendance.

In fact, the time between Pentecost and Advent, as well as the time between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, is known as “Ordinary Time” in some Christian denominations to distinguish the “ordinary” parts of the year from seasons of celebration (like Christmas) and penitence (like Lent).

But Ordinary Time doesn’t have to mean ordinary worship. Fortunately, there are many creative, musical ways to make the “everyday” season of the year special and meaningful in its own way.

How to Teach A New Hymn or Song to Your Congregation

How to Teach A New Hymn or Song to Your Congregation

You just found the perfect song to sing next month. It has a nice melody and the text ties in perfectly with the Scripture reading of the day and the sermon topic.

But, it's unfamiliar to the congregation.

And your congregation is particularly resistant to singing anything new, especially something not in the hymnal.

What's a music director to do?

How do you go about introducing a new hymn or song to your congregation? How do you teach it in a way that's meaningful and memorable (so they'll remember it next time you sing it)?

12 Easy Anthems for Your Summer Choir

12 Easy Anthems for Your Summer Choir

Summer is almost here! Time for watermelon and slow evenings on the patio, travel adventures and long, early morning walks, a slower pace and simpler Sunday morning services (we hope!).

For many of us, summer means a break from choir rehearsals; but that doesn’t mean they can’t sing during the summer months!

Spend your last rehearsal of the year prepping a few easy anthems to do throughout the summer, then meet for 30 minutes before each service to review parts and get warmed up. Do a pick-up choir once or twice a month, or put together an ensemble one week.

This is a great way to keep people connected during the summer months and a wonderful way for new people from your congregation to see what choir is like without making a year-long commitment.

Related post: The Case for the Summer Choir

I usually try to stick with anthems that are easy and accessible - not too challenging melodically or rhythmically and without a lot of divisi. You may even look at unison/2-part or SAB anthems. If you have a few capable singers that are available to sing one Sunday, pull an SSA or TTB piece and put together a ladies’ or mens’ trio. The possibilities are endless!

Looking for a few suggestions? Here are 12 of my favorite anthems for summer (in no particular order):

Our Music Sunday Service

Our Music Sunday Service

Earlier this year, I wrote a post on planning a music-themed service with liturgy, music, hymns, anthems, and other worship planning resources. (Read it here, in case you missed it.)

This past weekend, we had a Music Sunday at our church and I thought I'd share a copy of our service for those of you looking to do something similar in the future.

We decided to use the basic pattern of worship as an overarching structure: Gathering, Praise & Thanksgiving, Proclamation & Response, Sending Forth. Within each section, we pieced together hymns, music by all our ensembles, and short readings that helped tie everything together.

I tried to find something creative to add to each of the hymns: a modulation up a half step, a harmonization for the last verse, a 4-bar interlude before the last verse, a trumpet fanfare before the introduction, etc.

Overall, it was a great day in worship, and it was so fun to see (and hear) everyone come together in worship and song!

Here is a detailed outline of our service:

Follow along with my creative work and daily adventures: @ashleydanyew

Our July Musician & Co. book club pick is here! 📙 Summer is the perfect time to work on professional development, delve into a new creative project, practice a new skill, or make progress on your goals (especially when it’s 93 degrees out
Jazz and improvisation can be intimidating to teach, especially as a classically trained musician. Jazz pianist and educator @quentinwalston is dedicated to making this easier for all of us. Through his new book, “How to Teach Jazz & Impro
If you’re a teacher, freelancer, or self-employed creative… you’re not just a musician. You’re a small business owner. And yet, most of us were only ever told: “Be the best musician you can be.” That advice may
I’m honored to be presenting at @mtnaorg’s inaugural TEMPO virtual conference this weekend—April 25–26. TEMPO is designed to equip music educators around the world with innovative strategies, insights, and connections to leve
Our April pick for the Musician & Co. Book Club is… 📚 What does it take to build a meaningful, successful career over time? Columbia Business School professor @dorieclark argues that while playing the long game isn’t easy, it&rsq