20 (New Year) Resolutions for the Church Musician

Most New Years come and go before I've made a decent resolution. This year I am determined to be better prepared. Here is a list of suggestions you might like to run past your faith commmunity, family, actual friends and facebook friends. They are not limited to the institutional church, but extend into everyday.

1. Sing to a child
2. Listen attentively to a child singing
3. Invite everyone you know around for a singalong (just for the fun of it.)
4. Have a fundraising drive to boost the music budget
5. Clean out the music cupboard
6. Buy a new contemporary music source
7. Book a course to extend your skills
8. Recruit a new member to the church band or choir
9. Say "well done you" to another muso
10. Use an instrument you haven't tried before (harmonica, tin whistle, banjo, recorder)
11. Delegate... and trust it will be done.
12. Don't look so busy - leave the packing up until later
13. Sing in places other than the shower, just because.
14. Invite an older person (than you) to play their instrument in worship.

15. Organise an event where instrumentalists of all ages can strut their stuff.

16 Buy a really great drum (toms, djembe, bohran are all great choices)

17. Learn how to drum properly

18. Have a massage, light an aromatherapy candle, breathe deeply. 

19. Learn about and listen to a style of music you don't like

20.Sing an really ancient hymn unaccompanied all the way through.

Got another idea?

What is your musical resolution for 2011?

You may also be interested in Into the New Year: Remembering the Past and Looking to the Future

Advent & Christmas Brainstorm

Perhaps it is the busiest time of year, and yet in Advent and Christmas the most creative ideas come to the fore.

Share what you're planning, or perhaps what you have done in past years, by posting a comment. All ideas are welcome no matter how simple or how grand. you may also wish to scatter thought-seeds around, and invite the embellishment (or otherwise) of others.

Wonderful Singing Moment

One of the best characteristics of this time of year is surprise. Ironically, spontaneity often takes a little organisation, but it is these unexpected moments that memories are made of.

Watch this wonderful Flash Mob stunt performed recently in a New York shopping centre.
Have an adventurous Advent!
Flash Mob - Halleluia Chorus in a Shopping Centre

A Cappella Advent

Keeping a lid on Christmas
For worship leaders everywhere, keeping a lid on Christmas celebrations can feel like holding back the tide. End of year festivities, summer holiday preparations (in the southern hemisphere), extra worship services and activities close to Christmas day mean self-reflection and spiritual preparation often take a back seat.

This year, consider having an A Cappella Sunday during advent. Such an approach can provide a stark contrast in the midst of a busy December lifestyle.

Hints for Selecting A Cappella Songs
I have provided a dozen suggestions as a starting point. Be sure to make at least two selections your community know well. Plan to have one sung in unison, one as a canon/round, one in simple parts, and one for which people can invent their own harmonies (eg: Kum by yah)  I am certain there will be other songs you will recall as you plan. Your suggested additions to this list are welcome and may be made by means of a post comment.

What is A Cappella Sunday?

May I wish you an adventurous advent!

The Beginnings of a List

• Come all you people - Come All You People or All Together Whatever 
• Glory, Glory Glory (Argentina) - All Together OK
• Be Still and know - Come All You People, As One Voice 2
• Jubilate Deo (there are many, including Jubilate Servite by Jacques Berthier to be sung in two part canon)
• Christ the Worker - All Together Everybody
• There is a line of women - One is the Body 
• Children go, I will send you (African American Spiritual)- There are numerous word versions of this song. I have been unable to find the version i learnt as a child, so have provided what I believe are more seasonally appropriate lyrics here. 
• Kum By Yah - Come All You People, and many other sources
• O come, O come Emmanuel (plainsong melody from the 15th century which is wonderful sung unaccompanied, or with a bass drone added throughout) - many hymnbooks.
• The Peace of the Earth (This is a beautiful four part vocal song that might be offered by a quartet as a blessing)- There is One Among Us
• Father bless us as we go - All Together Now, Together in Song

How is the Church Accompanying Song in 2011?
What is A Cappella Sunday?
How to teach a song in 4 steps
View other Advent and Christmas material on this blog

Song: 'Oh God Today' by Craig Mitchell

The supremely talented (and very handsome) Craig Mitchell has provided access to his song, Oh God Today, just in time for Advent. Check out the words, and the manuscript, then listen to the funky band backing provided.

Oh God Today by Craig Mitchell (lyrics and manuscript)

Oh God Today (band backing)

Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star / We know that Jesus came at Christmas

Come Christmas season churches enjoy the interest of people who are not especially regular attenders. Many of these folks are unprepared for a new Christmas repertoire, expecting instead to be singing the oldest of carols.

One of the limitations of the older carols is inaccessibility where young children are concerned. Apart from one or two of the best known ones, the text of these centuries old songs is simply too difficult to read, let alone understand. Contemporary songs, on the other hand, may prove a simpler reading exercise, but the tune may be unfamiliar. Too often participation is hindered.

By using a very familiar tune, and apply seasonal words, songs can become accessible to young children and non-readers alike. Try these two on for size. Twinkle twinkle Christmas star is intended for pre-school children, while We know that Jesus came at Christmas may appeal to 6-12 year old children.

Twinkle twinkle Christmas Star.
Its familiar tune is copyright free (thanks to a young Mozart), and universally recognised.

We know that Jesus came at Christmas
This is set to the tune of See ya later Alligator, by Bill Haley and The Comets from the rockin' 50s.

Find more Advent and Christmas resources

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