Giving up Musical Instruments for Lent

Giving Stuff Up. 
Each year I wonder at the notion of giving something up. It is admirable of course, and can lead to new spiritual depths in the process. However sometimes the giving up of chocolate, grog, or coffee becomes almost a boast in some. One year I had a friend who gave up car travel for Lent. Great. But in reality instead of driving her own car, she constantly pestered her friends and family for lifts increasing their fuel bills and eating into their time. Unless something becomes of the denial, the action becomes a gratuitous exercise.


Why give up musical instruments?
Lent would seem to me to be the best time to have an A Capella Sunday. This is a day where the gathered people sing without instrumental accompaniment, in unison, in rounds and in part harmony. What is A Capella Sunday. 


To my mind the 'denial' of music instruments in worship turns out to be an unexpected trove of spiritual riches which bind the community in new ways. A Capella Sunday takes you out of your comfort zone. Whether you believe Lent is a personal or corporate pilgrimage, a capella singing in Lent nourishes both. 


The key here is access. If people perceive the exercise to be too difficult for them, or as something only the musicians in the community can do, there is something wrong with the approach.The SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT decision you will make is about seating arrangements. MUST READ: A Capella Sunday for seating and preparation tips.


What to Sing?
As suggested previously, the key to a successful A Cappella Sunday is preparation. Another key is repertoire choice. If you decide to have all 4 part harmony pieces led from the front, the message is that they are the focal point. Most people will become disconnected and possibly antagonistic. A Capella Sunday is about participation, and it's about community - NOT performance.


As a guide, I would choose:

• 1 well known hymn sung unaccompanied with assistance of simple drum to keep time
• 1 round or canon
• 1 echo song
• 1 simple 3 part song (usually one male part and two treble parts)

Many of our well known hymns did not start out as hymns at all, but as pop songs, folk tunes, dances and even beer drinking songs. Choosing one that works well unaccompanied is as easy as trying it yourself. If you sing the hymn as you go about your day, you'll notice it takes on its own life, free of accompaniment constraints. Go with it. The pace and mood will be altogether different. For more on this: Revisiting Old Treasures.

Rounds, canons and simple 3 parts songs are relatively easy to access thanks to the prolific and quality resources published by the Wild Goose Resource Group. Among their collections of songs from around the globe are There is One Among Us, Many and Great, We walk his way and Come All you People. There are also many possibilities included in the Altogether series: All Together Now (1980), All Together Again (1983), All Together Everybody (1991), All Together OK (1996), All Together Whatever (2001) and All Together for Good (2007). 


You already have a store of songs in your memory at your disposal. Everybody knows Kum by Yah and Jubilate Deo which are both wonderful for Lent. What's stopping you writing your own words to a round your community knows. Oh come on, you know you want to. While Row your boat doesn't quite do it for me in Lent, songs like Frere Jacques, Oh How Lovely is the Evening (trad German), Within a Shady thicket, Twinkle Twinkle little star all work as rounds.

Use pentatonic hymns and songs like Were you there, Be thou my vision, Kum by Yah, Standing in the need of prayer, and Train is a Comin' oh yeah, which all invite people to make their own harmonies. There is no such thing as a wrong note.

You are welcome to share your 4 songs for A Capella Lent with others via the comments facility on this past. Let us all know about what worked and what didn't. Why you did, or why you'll never, give A Capella Lent a guernsey.

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Percussion Perspective

Contemporary culture puts great store on the latest technology and trends. Paradoxically, the traditional church has a tendency to scorn new ideas, instead clinging to tried and tested practices.This poses particular challenges for contemporarily minded musicians.

An Historical Perspective
Are those highly valued traditions really that old anyway? Pipe organs, for example, were unheard of for the first 1,500 years of Christendom. Prior to that church bands and a cappella singing were the order of the day. And in the early church scholars believe song was predominantly accompanied by percussion instruments.

But those old hymns were written for pipe organ, weren't they?
On the contrary, many of the oldest hymns are settings of old dance tunes, drinking songs, popular songs and patriotic anthems. Be Thou my vision (Slane) is Gaelic and hails from the 8th century (no pipe organs then my friend) and may be best accompanied with tin whistle and bodhran. Many other hymn tunes of Gaelic origin might be considered in the same light. All Creatures of our God and King (Lasst uns Erfreuen) and Praise to The Lord (Lobe den Herren) are thought to have originally been dances from northern Europe (think dancing and singing around a campfire here folks). Famously, Silent Night was written for guitar accompaniment after mice ate through the cathedral organ's bellows. But I digress!

The Trouble with Hymnbooks
Put a song into a hymnbook and you can be sure of one thing: many people will ignore its origin, assume the accompanying instrument should be the organ, and play at cathedral pace. Consequently many of our hymns are inapproprately hyper-harmonised in the traditional mould, diminishing one of the great strengths of our repertoire - global diversity.  God sends us his Spirit hails from Ghana. How many pipe organs do you think there are are in Ghana?

Using Percussion to Enlivening the Singing
Accompanying sung voices with percussion is the most effective way of ensuring the sung words are dominant. The more notes that are played by instrumentalists, the less weight is given to the sung text. Not only does harmonisation alter the mood of the song, but it also tends to slow its tempo or pace. Keep in mind that cathedral pace, neccesarily slow because of the reverberant acoustic in a cathedral, is irrelevent in most worship spaces. 

Advantages of Percussion Accompaniment

1. Most People Can
Most of those who come to worship can tap in time, and by extension will be able to play a simple beat. Fewer people, but still a goodly number, can play a simple complementary rhythm. It doesn't need to be complex. A simple beat on the first beat of the bar can be surprisingly effective. Most people will need to devote their entire attention to their percussion part, and refrain from singing.
 
2. Portability
There is no need for electricity and so percussion instruments have obvious advantages for stations of the cross, carol singing, worship-on-the-move, camps, and worship in the open air. Many larger drums can be hung across the body of their player by drumming straps.
 
3. Inexpensive
OK, so they can be very expensive, depending on what you choose to purchase. Claves, tone blocks and maracas are easily found at reasonable prices. A maraca egg can be bought for just a dollar or two. A quality tambourine or cabasa is a little more expensive, and good quality drums can set the heart rate apace!

However, fairs and fetes, local music shops and e-bay are great places to pick up a bargain. Washboards can occasionally be found in second hand shops - and I'll wager there are plenty of older folks who have an old one lying around in their shed.  Consider making your own instruments for a fraction of the price. Start by acquiring a great drum, the deeper the better, and build from there.

Getting Started - What to Play
I am not a fan of the everyone-pick-up-an-instrument-and-whack routine. We can do much better than that! Rather have two or three well-rehearsed people accompany a song with well-chosen rhythms. One person might simply beat a drum on the first beat of each bar, providing stability to the ensemble. A second could choose a brief and interesting rhythm from the song and play it several times throughout, leaving plenty of space inbetween. To get started, have a gander at my percussion suggestions for using The King of Glory Comes and Praise to the Lord. Better still, find out how to have a full-on A Cappella Sunday.

And another thing...
For drummers, faith communities can be a tough crowd, particularly those with a traditional music heritage. Take a look at this article, The Challenge of Playing Drums in Church by John Schmidli which offers practical solutions to some common pitfalls for young drummers.

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10 Ways to Improve the Church Band by Next Sunday

How's the band sounding? Enliven your musical output by adopting one or more of these ideas.

1. Rehearse before Sunday!
2. At rehearsal get all band members to sing the song before playing - this is a great for getting the right speed.
3. Ask everyone to practise at home before the joint rehearsal.
4. Tune up properly - spend time on this step, until you get it right.
5. Position the band at the back of the worship space, because change is as good as a holiday, and listen to the singing lift.
6. Those who can play while standing, should be standing.
7. Rehearse introductions and endings several times over for each song. Make sure they improve each time you rehearse them.
8. Record the band playing at rehearsal then play it back - ask them how they (personally and corporately) can improve the result. Make sure they act on their own advice.
9. Use stable music stands
10.Don't play the melody - that's the singer's part.

You may also be interested in the short course for song leaders - Songmakers

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6 Sound Innovations for Worship

Music in worship is too often limited to community song. Sound can be utilised in most aspects of the liturgy, although it would be a brave worship leader who detemined to use all of these innovations in a single week! Let's take a look at some common liturgical elements and consider how music might enrich each of them.

Entering - sound effects
Consider how people are greeted as they enter your particular worship space.Are they confronted with the last minute rehearsal of the instrumentalists. If there is music playing, is it merely there for entertainment value, or to fill an uncomfortable silence? Surely not! Sound can help to centre thoughts, and focus our purpose.

Consider how you might help to focus the thoughts of people as they arrive. Instead of music, you may choose to amplify a soundtrack of wind blowing or crackling fire (Pentecost). A journeying theme might be enhanced with the sounds of shoes on gravel, or the sound of crashing waves (calming the storm, crossing the Red Sea), bird calls (celebrating creation), kitchen sounds (Mary and Martha) or crowd noise (Palm Sunday, Christmas Eve, Feeding the 5000). Entering the worship space should be far from ordinary. Engage people with the unnexpected.

Processional
If your community processes bible, water, candle or communion elements, it could be time the shake it up a little. Rather than carrying the elements at waist height, they can be presented more dramatically held above the carriers head. Perhaps a dancer can 'dance' the bible in, or a trumpeter walk the aisle with a solo fanfare. Perhaps the musicians can join the procession with portable instruments, or as a singing ensemle. Each of these possibilities will elicit a different response from the gathered people, and will set the tone of anticipation for worship to follow.

Praying with eyes wide open
Sung prayer responses are very common: following a spoken prayer, the gathered people join in a sung response. Consider too that some songs can stand alone as prayers, and are in fact written in the language of prayer. Perhaps a sung response can be interspersed with images, gestures, dance, or silent reflection rather than spoken words, leaving space for the personal prayers to be offered.

Prayerscape
A prayerscape can be made by providing candles, windchimes, gongs, triangles, large cymbals (with soft mallets) at several points around the worship space. People are invited to make their unspoken prayer by lighting a candle, striking a gong or stroking chimes. Musicians may play some unobtrusive music as people move around the space. Prayerscapes are most effective where varied sound sources are provided at multiple places.

Teach a Song - Proclamation
No I am not about to suggest that the sermon should be sung - never fear ye clergy folk! But have you consider engaging the community in a conversation about song text, its meaning and implications? We can sing songs for years without fully considering what is being espoused. Perhaps we will find, as we converse with others, that the meaning they derive from a song is quite different to ours. These encounters offer opportunity to discuss faith with those we are sitting close to, perhaps being tounched by a line or two we had never considered before. When you've talked about the text, sing the song together.

Create a soundscape
Soundscapes are an effective way of enhancing bible readings. By using sounds to accompany spoken words, they may become more engaging and memorable. More on soundscapes....

You are welcome to share your own innovative ideas with others by reply to this post. Let me know if you use any of these ideas, and what you learnt/gained/experienced by using them.

virtual music barriers

All congregations have virtual barriers when it comes to music. I'm not talking here about musical taste so much as a set of assumptions. For example, some communities limit themselves, closing off multiple possibilities by appealing for an organist, choiur master, pianist or guitarist, rather than being open to the gifts present within the community. 

Take a moment to consider your community. How many people here do you think learned a musical instrument in years past? Probably more than you realise. In my own congregation, I once jotted down 42 people I knew played instruments, let alone those I was to discover later.

Here are some ideas you might like to consider as a starting point to realising greater potential:

1. Find out who learned an instrument as a child or young person.
2. Find out who sings in the shower, or whistles in the shed.
3. Who knows how to play a recorder - the recorder has been widely taught in classrooms for decades now.
4. Who has taught themselves an instrument?
5. Welcome players of tuba, bagpipes, banjo, autoharp, harmonica, african drums, electric guitar and piano accordian into your instrumental mix.
6. Find out who has connections to musicians/artists beyond the faith community.
7. Focus on the missing demographic within your musical leadership
8. Who has an instrument in the attic or under their bed that can be utilised by someone?
9. Who would be willing to contribute musically once a month, or twice a term?
10. Who are the people preparing for music exams? Are there VCE music students in your local community who need an audience? Can they be invited to play for offering, or communion distribution this week?
11. Run a confidence building session for interested parties, and enlist the help of a local music teacher at the congregation's expense.

12. Consider if your musicians are leaving themselves open to a level of criticism no flower arranger would ever be expected to endure.

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Starting a Band (and avoiding instrumental cacophony)

Some years ago I was invited to kick start a new church band in a tiny rural congregation in Victoria. It was a faith community that had previously been dependent on a small organ. When I arrived the prospective band members were waiting. It was possibly the most unusual instrumental combination I'd ever encountered: acoustic guitar, piano accordian, euphonium, pipe organ and clarinet.

Acknowledging the Challenges
The encounter raised some significant musical and theological challenges for me. The musicians were nervous. They had never played together before, and their previous public 'performance' experience could be recorded on one hand. The age-range of the particpants was vast, with the youngest in primary school and the oldest over 70.

Questions pinballed about in my brain as I listened to them talk:
Is it even possible to combine these instruments in a satisfactory way?
Is it possible to include people in musical leadership with such limited experience?
Is the musical result more or less important than engaging these musicians in the church's life, particularly as some had virtually no connection with the congregation in the past?
What is the minimum skill level advisable for participation in musical leadership?
When and how and should we say 'wait awhile' to those learning their instrument?


Getting Started

Learning to sit and wait for answers does not always come easily, but it often turns out to be quite fruitful. I decided to find out what each of them imagined their contribution would be. It is not unusual for the 'musical director' to have quite a different vision to that of the players. Rather than the process being director-driven,  the opportunity was offered for input from others.

We talked about the willingness and availablity of the musicians to rehearse together and to practise at home. They were all willing to work on improving their musical skills.

We explored the notion of being prepared NOT to play. For some songs, the piano accordian and clarinet would team up, for another the guitar would lead, and in the next the organist and euphonium. These various combinations not only enabled variety on accompaniment for the congregation, but meant the musicians only need to practise up one or two songs each week.

I encouraged them to make further connections with their local primary school and to invite participation from those in the school community.

What about you? 
How do you go about deciding who can and can't (yet) offer musical leadership in your faith community? How do you balance the theological imperative to encourage the developments of gifts, with the responsibilities that come with any form of leadership?
How does the musical life in your faith community reflect 'Kingdom' values?
How does your community blend unusual instruments?
Are there any instruments you regard as unacceptable for use in worship?

What to Play
For tips on how to use The King of Glory with a young band click here.

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10 Ways to Fertilise Your Community's Musical Life

This list is a starting point, which will hopefully grow into a much more extensive list. Let's have your ideas.

1. Talk to people, and not just the musicians.
2. Don't make assumptions about which instruments can be included in the music program.
3. Find out what else your current musicians can do: can they play a second or thrid instrument, break-dance, juggle, balance-the-books, give a great massage, grow organic vegetables, fly light aircraft?
4. Run a poll to find out which songs are the community favourites.
5. Postpone the packing up and go for coffee.
6. Insist on rehearsal, resisting the time immediately before worship which impedes creativity or practice.
7. Find out who else plays a musical instrument in your faith community, or who learnt when they were younger. It can be a revelation!
8. Engage the whole community in larger musical undertakings like a sing-a-thon or a singing protest.
9. Use the money raised at the aforementioned sing-a-thon to fund a musical internship for a someone in your faith community. Perhaps a term of lessons for someone?
10. Encourage singing at meetings.

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8 Top Tips for Getting Blokes to Sing

Getting men in your faith community singing can be challenging. Unless a strong singing culture already exists, and a decent number of blokes are present, men often feel their voice is too exposed, and resist singing with anything like great gusto.

Some years back, in my own congregation, the collective voice of men became so reticent, despite their significant number, that I set about trying to identify the problems. After listening to what they had to say, the 8 Top Tips for Getting Blokes to Sing emerged quite effortlessly.

Getting the voice of men going is an ongoing adventure. However, one delightful observation has been that on the week "Blokes Vocals" lead the singing in my congregation, the eyes of the boys shine as they too attempt to lift the roof.

1. Use male song leaders

Chances are your male musicians are not leading the singing, but contribute on piano, guitar, bass or drums, with a female offering the vocal lead. What this can often mean is that men in the congregation perceive the song is "too high" because the songleader is singing an octave above.

2. Check the pitch of your songs

It has to be said, many of our community songs are too high. It seems to be an area often neglected by music publishers. I suspect the key of most songs is chosen because of its accessibility for instruments, or that it sits comfortably for the individual who wrote it. As a rule of thumb, I consider any song exceeding a high D, or E flat at the most, to be prohibitive. Many will even find that D too difficult to handle, especially first thing in the morning.

3. Include songs with male imagery

Consider the text of some of the songs we sing, and you'll understand why they confront the masculine. To use an oldie as an example, "If I were a butterfly" is a phrase no self-respecting 16 year-old man will add his voice to. Just as we have become conscious about using feminine images in worship, so too should we ensure there is music that resonates with men and boys.

4. Use bass instruments in your band

 If your instrumental combination is top-heavy with treble instruments, men may feel unsupported. Try doubling the bass on piano or keyboard, or using other bass instruments.

5. Encourage blokes to sit together

For reasons similar to tip 4, men fell particularly exposed when surrounded by treble singers - this may include their partner and children. If you can devise ways of bunching blokes together, it will bolster confidence and participation.

6. Flush out their favourites

Find out which songs the men in your congregation like. The revelations can help ensure there is at least one winner each time. It may also help to inform new song choices.

7. Get the guys together

In my faith community, a few years back. we decided to get a bunch of guys together to lead the singing one Mother's Day. I enlisted one of our male keyboard players to run the rehearsal, beacause I wanted it to be a men's thing. His main fear was that the outcome would be akin to a footy team singing the club song at the end of the game. Sure, the results are unlikley to be top-notch, but the positives are many.

Whenever our "Blokes Vocals" lead the singing the corporate voice is as uplifting as I have ever experienced. Everyone sings their heart out, with a grin on their face. People regularly report how uplifting iot was, and report shivers down the back of their neck. Yes, it IS that good. "Blokes Vocals" is often enlisted to introduce new songs, as it ensures on the occasions they sing within the community, they will offer a strong lead.

8. Use songs with men/boy's parts

This is one way of getting men and boys linked in to each other's voices. Sing songs with a women/girls part and a men/boys part. Any two-part thing will do. Have a leader for each part up front, and observe the results. If you get a boy to lead the part, most men will make a second effort.  In a standard community song, it is also great to have females sing a verse, and males to sing another.

I'd love to hear what you have tried and tested in your faith community.


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How's the singing at your place?

Community singing is counter-cultural. For most people occasions for such an undertaking can be recorded on a three fingers: "happy birthday to you", national anthems, and football team songs if we are lucky enough to enjoy a victory.

Just 40 years ago community singing was a common source of entertainment at the pub, around the pianola, in the car or school bus, around the campfire, and even in church meetings. These days it is something of a spectator sport.

One wonderful memory I have is of a time my family travelled to Europe in 1980. We were in Wales, and the sun was setting, when a dozen miners walked past our campervan on their way home, singing in four-part harmony at the top of their lungs. Gorgeous.

These days singing, and perhaps music generally, is regarded as a specialist activity to be undertaken only by those with sufficently attractive voice or instrumental proficiency. It is a state not helped by the rise of television shows such as "Australia's Got Talent' and Australian Idol', which invariably invite viewers to pass judgement on another's ability. The church, and perhaps the primary school and kindergarten, are the last remaining bastions of community singing.

In my childhood, I remember the singing in church to have been fantastic, with people, often the men, adding harmony parts to the mix. In many cultures this is still the case.

And yet, harmony parts aside, the confidence of the faith community's sung voice is also less enthusiastic than it might be. I believe this is largely because of a lack of confidence.

Do the people in your faith community sing with enthusiasm? Is there a performance culture, or are all assured of a welcome in the corporate song? How are people welcomed into the song? How is the singing at your place?

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