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Breathing Exercises for Choirs of All Ages

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Breathing Exercises for Choirs of All Ages

Breathing is a vital component of singing.

But the way we breathe when singing is different than the way we breathe in everyday life, requiring us to use our respiratory muscles in new and different ways.

The goal when singing is to have breath control and good breath support.

Breath control means being able to inhale quickly and exhale slowly throughout the phrase while maintaining good posture. (source)

Breath support means using other muscles (e.g. abdomen, back) to support the work of the lungs and foster better tone production and the ability to sing longer phrases. (source)

Singing the Psalms: A Guide for Modern Worship

Singing the Psalms: A Guide for Modern Worship

The book of Psalms plays an important role in worship, acting as both a Scripture reading and an act of musical praise. After all, many of the psalms were written as songs. In fact, the word psalm comes the Greek psalmos, meaning "song sung to harp music."

There are many resources available to us today that facilitate singing psalms in worship, including the United Methodist Hymnal (UMH), the Lutheran Book of Common Worship and Book of Common Worship - Daily Prayer, the Anglican Chant Psalter, the Concordia Psalter, and the online Psalter resource, featuring five psalter collections using familiar hymn tunes with recordings and searchable indexes. 

How to Teach Solfege in Children's Choir

How to Teach Solfege in Children's Choir

If you're like me, you first learned solfege from Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. This film classic is still beloved today - it's a favorite among my elementary piano students!

So, why the funny syllables? What exactly is solfege and how do you use it?

First, a little history.

History

Solfege (do, re, mi, etc.) is a method for introducing and teaching understanding of pitch and a system used for sight singing.

Solfege dates back to the 11th century and the work of music theorist Guido d’Arezzo. There are two primary solfege systems: fixed do and movable do.

In fixed do, syllables are assigned to pitches (e.g. do = C). In movable do, syllables assigned to scale degrees (e.g. do = 1st scale degree of major scale).

17 Instrumental Collections for the Small Church Ensemble

17 Instrumental Collections for the Small Church Ensemble

Instrumental ensembles are a great way to include and involve instrumentalists from your congregation and add a new dimension to worship services throughout the year. But, what if you don't have enough players to create a traditional instrumental ensemble (wind band, brass ensemble, woodwind quartet, orchestra, wind quintet, string quartet, etc.)?

Instead, you have violin, flute, trombone, saxophone, and ukulele. Can those instruments really play together as an ensemble? Where do you find music for that instrumentation?

Don't worry - I'm not going to suggest you write your own!

The solution? Flexible arrangements.

Prayers for Choirs: No. 8

Prayers for Choirs: No. 8

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.'" - Isaiah 6:8

It's a hymn many of us know by heart:

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?I have heard you calling in the night.I will go, Lord, if you lead me.I will hold your people in my heart.

But what does it really mean to follow where God leads, to hold God's people in our hearts? What does it mean to respond to this Call on our lives?

Responding to the Call means reaching out before holding back. Giving before expecting to receive. Listening before speaking our mind. It means risking our own self-image, reputation, security, and comfort to help meet the needs of others. It means loving with the kind of love God shows us every day.

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Sing with the Saints: Worship Planning for All Saints' Day

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Sing with the Saints: Worship Planning for All Saints' Day

The word saint stems from the Greek word for "holy" or "set apart" (source). In Catholicism, saints are an esteemed group of believers who have been canonized (posthumously) for their good deeds on earth. In the Protestant tradition, the word saint is often used to refer to any believer, as it is throughout the New Testament (source).

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." - Ephesians 4:11-12

All Saints' Day is November 1 each year, but it is celebrated in the church on the following Sunday. Some congregations honor the memory of those lost in the past year; others seek ways to honor and celebrate the work of God's saints in the church, in the community, and the world today.

My Step-By-Step Process for Rehearsing a New Anthem

My Step-By-Step Process for Rehearsing a New Anthem

How do I teach this anthem to my choir?

It's a question we've all asked ourselves at one point or another. And truth be told, the rehearsal process for a church choir can be a bit ambiguous. It's sort of like working with a school choir, except they're volunteer adults and you probably have a mix of ages and levels (some might not even read music). Oh, and you need to have something ready to sing every Sunday.

What's a choir director to do? How can you teach something effectively and meaningfully in a short amount of time?

My secret weapon? Start early. I try to give myself plenty of time to introduce, rehearse, and polish an before singing it in worship, so I often introduce it at least four weeks in advance.

I like to spend several weeks working on an anthem in rehearsal - not because it takes the choir a month to learn something new but because it allows us to focus on different elements each week. You'll notice below that my process for rehearsing the anthem is different each week. This keeps our rehearsals varied and interesting - working on several different anthems (in different stages) in rotation each week.

Spies, Shepherds, and Starry Nights: Christmas Musicals for Children's Choir

Spies, Shepherds, and Starry Nights: Christmas Musicals for Children's Choir

We've all seen it: Children dressed in sheets with rope belts and felt beards, carrying shepherds' crooks and reciting the oh-so-familiar lines of the nativity story. 

The Angel Gabriel, with a halo made of twinkly lights and holding a cardboard star wrapped in tin foil shares the good news. 

Mary and Joseph enter as everyone sings "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and let's not forget the darling 3-year-olds dressed like lambs with felt-ear headbands and cotton-ball-covered shirts.

There's no denying it - children's Christmas programs are pretty adorable.

There are dozens of children's Christmas musicals out there, with topics ranging from the Wild West to outer space to the 1950s, most with some sort of modern spin on the original Christmas story. 

Some include production notes with ideas for set design, staging, and costumes. Others can be put together in less time with just a small group of children. Many include familiar carols of the season along with original music.

5 Ideas for Creating Meaningful Advent Services

5 Ideas for Creating Meaningful Advent Services

Advent is a time of waiting. Preparation. Anticipation. Expectancy. Hope. We retell the story we all know by heart. We reread the prophecies and remember the journey - the years of waiting, the sense of unknown.

We light candles and sing ancient songs and dwell in the moments of darkness before the season of light, holding on to hope and promises yet to be fulfilled.

This is the essence of the Advent season, for me.

How can we convey this in worship? How can we make this season more meaningful? How can we capture the quietness, the sense of wonder, the shimmering light in the midst of darkness in our Advent services? 

Here are 5 ideas: 

How to Write Your Own Choir Christmas Program

How to Write Your Own Choir Christmas Program

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a music director asking for ideas and suggestions for a Christmas program for her small adult church choir. 

I had already planned to write this post sometime later this month, so I thought I'd share my thoughts and ideas now, in case some of you have the same questions. 

Also, I'm using this post to kick-off a mini "Christmas in August" series, so grab a cup of hot chocolate (or iced mocha) and enjoy!

The first step in planning a Christmas program, I think, is choosing a format. What kind of Christmas program will this be? What resources are available to you? Who will participate? 

Here are three formats you might consider:

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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