Tips for the Twenty-FifthNew web logo

 

In celebration of ALCM's 25th anniversary, members share some tips for . . .

 

Planning Ahead

June 15, 2011

 

The summer months can be a fruitful time to look ahead at the coming program year for your church. It can be a time to look at the "big picture" of what you might like to accomplish (learn a new setting of the liturgy? tackle a large choral work? find a way to include your high school sax player?) as well as a time to follow through on some of the more mundane yet important administrative tasks such as organizing the music library and scheduling instrument maintenance.  

 

In this issue of "Tips for the Twenty-Fifth," ALCM members share their thoughts on how planning ahead can renew and revitalize worship and music in your setting. 

 

Choral and Other Ensembles

 

1. Where appropriate, consider the following ratio when selecting music for an ensemble: 1/3 consisting of music used the previous year; 1/3 consisting of familiar music in the library but not utilized in the previous year; 1/3 unfamiliar or new music.

 

2. Be deliberate to select music from various styles, composers, publishers. Strive for a good balance in both selection and demands of repertoire to intrigue the interest of ensemble members while, at the same time, setting them up for success.

 

3. Have a goal for the year regarding the introduction and inclusion of new hymnody and liturgical music. Contemplate ways in which the new material could be creatively introduced so that it is enthusiastically accepted AND subsequently utilized so that it can be "internalized" by the assembly. In setting the goal remember the phrase: "less is more."

 

4. While planning repertoire, give thought to how the words of anthems, hymns, songs, and liturgical music might serve as good resources for devotions at rehearsals throughout the course of the year.

 

5. Reflect on previous experiences and develop specific goals in the upcoming year for yourself and the ensembles; the goals could range from musical to spiritual to rehearsal expectations.

 

Bob Hobby

Director of Music

Trinity English Lutheran

Fort Wayne, IN

Assembly Song

  

1.    Know the repertoire of your assembly and prioritize. The summer months are a good time to do a survey of the worship over the last several years and determine the actual repertoire of the assembly for which you are planning. Once you know which hymns your congregation sings well or has begun learning, then you can begin to chart a course for what new hymns might be taught over the next year. As you assemble a list of hymns or songs that will be newly learned over the next year, prioritize and be realistic. Some experts advise that an assembly can learn about 10-12 new hymns or songs a year. Of those 10-12 new hymns, be certain that they span the centuries, originate from a variety of peoples, places, and tongues, and give expression to the faith in authentic and vibrant ways.

 

2.    Prepare the way with instruments and choirs. Plan instrumental works, such as preludes and postludes for organ, piano, bands, or ensembles on the hymn tunes you wish the assembly to learn. As the melodies get into the communal ears of the assembly, add texts with the singing of some stanzas or the whole hymn by the choir or singers. Hymn anthems can get choirs excited about new hymns and yet challenge them to sing new or different harmonies or textures with the hymn tune. As the assembly hears the tunes and texts sung, they begin to recognize the repertoire as something they have access to. Always teach new hymns to the children's choirs of the congregation. When adults in the assembly see children singing the newer hymns or songs, they can imagine being challenged to learn the hymn as well.

 

3.    Find a forum before and beyond the worship time and teach, teach, teach.Newsletter articles, congregational blogs, websites, bulletin inserts, or other printed or electronic communications can include information about the texts and tunes of hymns and songs to pique interest. Often times, when people learn some historical information about the creation of the text or tune, or something about the author or composer, the hymn will "have flesh on it" and be less static or neutral. A theological reflection on the hymn text or a survey of the biblical foundations of the hymn text might also create interest for some. New tunes can be recorded (with proper permissions) and made available to people through electronic sound files or digital recordings. 

 

4.    At worship, teach the song with your voice alone. At a time before worship or during worship when it seems best and not an intrusion, teach the new song by singing the first phrase of the hymn or song and then invite the assembly to sing the phrase with you. Repeat that pattern with each successive phrase. Resist the urge (if you are primarily a keyboard player) to play the tune and have the people sing the tune after you. Those who do not "read music" will not be able to associate the text with the notes you simply play on the keyboard. They will, however, hear the words and syllables of words as you sing them and re-sound them back as an echo. Teaching a song this way requires that you prepare well and know the phrases of the song well such that you can sing them without accompaniment. 

 

5.    Keep a steady beat and phrase for breathing. Whenever you are leading assembly song, but especially when leading a new song - keep a steady beat. The assembly will rely on your leadership with a steady pulse. When a breath occurs in the song, do not add time to the music for the breath, but include the time for the breath in the steady beat, often times shortening the values of notes and adding rests to be certain the steady beat is not disrupted. Leading new music with a predictable pulse will help the song be sung successfully. If the pulse is erratic, the assembly will not be sure when to sing, and then will sing softer or not at all. Conducting patterns with your hands as used in choral conducting are less helpful to an assembly. Showing the rise and fall of pitches with your hands will be more helpful.

 

Mark Mummert

Organist, Chorus and Choristers Director

Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church

Houston, TX

Keyboard and Instrumental

 

1.    Composer anniversaries:  Use important composer anniversaries as a way to plan for keyboard music during the year.  While nothing in 2011-12 is as significant as a Bach anniversary, you may find some lesser-known composers appropriate for use in church. Some examples: Georg B�hm (1661-1756): partitas or praeludia; Jehan Alain (1911-1940):  Two Chorals, Postlude for the office of compline, 3 Mouvements (organ and flute); shorter works of Franz Liszt (1811-1886).  In 2012, composers include Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), John Stanley (1712-1786), Friedrich Zachow (1663-1712) and the hymn tune writer Johann Cr�ger (1598-1662). Acknowledgement of a composer might be a simple paragraph in the bulletin including something about the composer's life and how he/she contributed to the musical life of the church.    

 

2.    Keyboard/instrument for younger players: Consider pieces that can involve a younger or newer player on keyboard or instrument. Discover the Organ: Organ and One Instrument, especially levels 2 and 3, composed by Allan Mahnke and published by Wayne Leupold can provide a good start with accessible music for both instrument and organ.Sometimes organ hymn preludes can be adapted for a solo instrument, or a second, younger player on the organ to play the melody.  

 

3.    Find new ways for instruments to participate in worship; continue to build your library of hymn-based instrumental music; many hymn preludes have accessible instrumental parts. The Hymn Descants (4 vols.) by S. Drummond Wolff (Concordia Publishing House) offer some possibilities based on hymnal harmonizations. For some newer hymns that were included in With One Voice, look at With Two Instruments by Jonathan Kohrs, available from AugsburgFortress as a download.

 

4.    Large preludes or postludes are oftentimes difficult due to time required in the service (and time to prepare!). Consider planning to play a larger postlude once a month or season for which you could take (and for which you would need) extra time to prepare. You might consider one of the composers in #1 above, settings of hymns that are new to the congregation, or feature music of women composers or composers new to you or the congregation.

 

5.    Finally, take--or make--time to work with other church musicians. We can't attend every recital or hymn festival in our area, but we can plan for certain events, whether recitals or AGO events. Continue to read and to attend workshops. Consider offering an organ recital or hymn festival at your parish in which you might invite other organists or pianists to participate, sharing the load, but also getting input and support (and attendance) from others in your area. This may work best if there is a congregational anniversary or a local event to observe, but this might be a way to observe church festivals that often are overlooked or moved to a Sunday, such as Epiphany and Ascension.  

Steve Wente

Cantor

First St. Paul's Lutheran Church

Chicago, IL

 Handbells

 

While you are going through inventories of instruments and music, tuning pianos and servicing the organ, don't forget that you have some very important instruments called handbells that need some TLC.

1.    Now is an excellent time to assess your equipment situation. Take some time to examine your bells, chimes, mallets, etc., to determine what needs repair or service before the fall program begins. If your budget does not include maintenance costs for your bells, it should!

2.    Polishing cloths are not meant to last forever - neither are the various handbell parts. Make sure you keep a good supply of new cloths, as well as springs, screws, etc., for the bells. Your local dealer should be able to provide these things quickly and at a reasonable price.

3.    Music is also in need of "weeding." Go through your handbell music library and pull those pieces that you know you will never play in church - or anywhere else, for that matter. Come on: you know what I'm talking about! I've done that and it was very satisfying to be able to donate music to different churches, as well as the summer music program at our region's Lutheran camp. Your may also want to file your music by level, as well as alphabetically, especially if you have - or intend to have - more than one choir. Which leads to #4...

4.    Consider what you want to see happen to your handbell program this next year. It is important to think about such issues as rehearsal times and space; the number and the types (youth, children, senior citizens) of choirs; and how you can lead your choir members to develop their talents and commitments. It is especially challenging when your handbell director is a volunteer, but this is an important part of the puzzle that is music ministry.

5.    And, if at all possible, try to attend a bell workshop, conference, AGEHR (now HMA!) convention, or some sort of event involving bells. You are never too old to learn something new and the sheer volume of new handbell music is testimony to the popularity and excitement surrounding this ministry. And if you haven't already done so, take your adult choir(s) to a workshop/festival sometime. They will love it and it will forever change your program!

Donna Hanna

Member Benefits Task Force Member

Durham, NC

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Do you have an idea you would like to see addressed in "Tips for the Twenty-Fifth?" Would you like to contribute to an upcoming issue? Do you have comments on this particular set of tips? Contact us at [email protected].
 

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