Recently, a friend of mine was searching for “Finally Home” by Don Wyrtzen in a lower key to sing for a funeral. I was able to point him to MusicNotes.Com
MusicNotes.Com is an online music store specializing in downloadable sheet music. They have over 200,000 songs in downloadable format and over 260,000 music books. If you subscribe to their weekly email newsletter…you’ll receive coupons! All you have to provide is your email address and a password. Prices for their sheet music are fairly reasonable for the convenience of having the music pronto!
A great feature I absolutely love is being able to choose a lower key for the song I want to order…especially for vocal music.
Finally Home is one of those songs with a very wide note range…making it a challenge to sing for the average soloist. The last line of the song contains the highest note of this beautiful song. Not everyone feels comfortable trying to hit this note…so…there is a solution…sing the alternate notes…E flat to C. (shown below on the word “glory”).
As I viewed part two of Christmas at Home highlights…these thoughts came to mind:
The drama and music tips found in the back of the cantata book were very helpful. For example: Possible seating and microphone arrangement for stage. Another great tip: “Whenever the readers are seated, their heads should be bowed. This signifies that they are “out of scene”. (My thoughts: this also keeps the readers from being a distraction while the choir sings).
I almost forgot to mention…we chose not to sing two of the songs in the cantata because they were more suited for a larger choir.
Notice how transitional/background music can be effective (around 8:20 on this video) * This transitional music is not in the cantata book. I just made it up to cover a spot while the singing quartet returned to the choir.
One last reminder…this video contains only highlights of the cantata. The video presents a portion of the songs and drama to give you an overall taste of this “down-to-earth” drama packed with a strong salvation message. There wasn’t a dry eye in the auditorium when we finished this heart-gripping story. A special thanks to Majesty Music for allowing us to share these highlights of Christmas at Home.
We look forward to learning and improving as we seek to share God’s message through music. The more prepared we can be…the more effective our music ministry will be for God’s glory.
About two-thirds of our choir do not read music. Also, several of us have about a 40 minute commute to church making for shorter rehearsals. Therefore, we simplified the music to two parts or unison. Initially, I was to coach the speaking cast… but our other pianist’s husband had to have serious surgery…making it necessary for me to play piano in the beginning rehearsals. I thought the speaking cast did a superb job in spite of the circumstances.
I’ll share one of our stage secrets…one of our playcast members wrote their lines on a card and stuck them to a stage prop for security. It worked great 🙂
Enjoy watching part one of Christmas at Home (highlights)…
All church pianists understand there are those hymns that just need a little dress-up to bring them to life! One of those such hymns is When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. Why the need for a dress-up? Because there are a lot of repeated chords throughout the entire hymn. What can be done to make this hymn sound more interesting? Replace the repetitive bass line with a simple improvising idea.
Click on the following song title to see this improvising idea put to use. The pattern can be seen in the first few measures.
For those of you at a more advanced level..you’ll find a free sample below of what I would play to accompany congregational singing. (I transferred the stepping down pattern to the right hand for the first phrase of the chorus.
Chord substitutions add color to hymnplaying! Here’s an easy chord substitution for church pianists to use.
Scenario: When a I chord is leading into a IV chord…add a minor 7th to the I chord. The minor 7th note is located a 7th above the root (bottom) note of the chord. See the following explanation of the chords before viewing the free pdf sheet of this chord substitution.
Editor’s notes for free pdf sheet on this chord substitution:
Key of F: I chord = F,A,C IV chord = Bflat,D,F I chord with added minor 7th = F,A,C,E flat
Key of G: I chord = G,B,D IV chord = C,E,G I chord with added minor 7th = G,B,D,F natural
*Special note: The substituted chord ( I 7) does not have to contain all 4 notes as you’ll discover in the examples.
Challenge yourself to look for the I (minor 7th) chord already in use throughout the church hymnal. Try applying the above chord substitution in other hymns during I – IV chord progressions. Tip: Use hymns with easy keys at first until you gain confidence with the concept.
It’s so important to have a recap/planning session after performing a Christmas program or any program for that matter. What better time then while it’s still fresh on your mind…to take notes on ways to improve or solve other issues, making for an even better program for next year.
I’ve been taking notes while editing the video of our Christmas program. I’ll share these tips/ideas with you in hopes of helping other church pianists like myself, who help coordinate the plays/programs for their church.
Christmas Program Recap Notes
*Start Early! (start early enough to compensate for missed practices due to revivals or other already scheduled meetings that require extra preparedness for the choir.)
*Did everyone have their cues in order for things to run smoothly? (Sound crew & videographer needs a script to operate efficiently.)
*Have Pastor make necessary announcements before the program to alleviate unecessary distractions during the cantata.
*Video camera should be in a place WELL ABOVE the congregation…such as the balcony…to avoid people getting in way of camera…which can block the view of the performance. Our whole purpose for videoing is to capture memories and to give the choir a chance to truly experience the program as a whole. The video also gives us something to view after the fact to see how to improve.
*Final rehearsal should be scheduled the last Saturday before the Sunday performance. The final Sunday’s rehearsal (the day of the program) should be a brief walk-through of the entire program…allowing ample time before the service begins for choir/cast members to refresh themselves. *Suggestion: Maybe the church could provide some drinks and light snack food for the choir during this short time of refreshment 🙂
We all need to strive to do our very best to effectively communicate God’s message of salvation whether it be through music or drama.
Colossians 3:23 “And whatsoever ye do, do it HEARTILY, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” …Then everything falls into place 🙂
I do plan to post highlights of our entire Christmas program once the editing process is complete.
Our church just performed Christmas at Home last night. The Lord really blessed through this heart-rending story packed with a powerful salvation message.
This particular cantata was done in Reader’s Theatre style…actors face audience as they speak. (Our actors tried to warm up the play by interacting more than the normal reader’s theatre style.) They did a great job for starting a short while before the play. We plan to have our actors memorize their parts for any further programs. Memorizing parts will give them more opportunity to focus on expression and interaction/reaction. So important!
I’m hoping to see them do this one again in full-acting style!
I’ll share a quick story about this particular cantata. Years ago, when my son was around 4 years old…our church in Charleston (Northside Baptist Church) did this play. There’s a scene where the doctor amputates the drummer boy’s leg with a saw. (not literally of course). My son thought it was real. He wouldn’t talk to our friend (the doctor) for the longest time because of this scene. We finally convinced him that the doctor was only pretending 🙂
I received permission from Majesty Music to post the cantata on youtube. Since I’m still in the editing process of the tape…I’m posting several drama highlights from the cantata. You can view them below. The final video presentation will share highlights from the entire cantata.
Another nice Christmas cantata from Majesty Music is Born to Die. I hope to use it for our church within the next several years.
Have a very merry Christmas! I’ll post again sometime next week.
Just sharing a video of one of my newer arrangements entitled: “Angels We Have Heard on High”. This piece was written for the elementary level pianist.
Shelley Roberts, one of my students, played it this year for the Christmas recital.
An upcoming young musician, Joshua Harrison, contacted me a while back about previewing his piano arrangement book entitled: “Christmas Inspirations”. Joshua’s desire is that the Lord be glorified through his playing which is refreshing to hear…especially from a young gentleman 🙂
The book consists of nine Christmas carols as follows:
Joy To The World!
Silent Night
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing!
The First Noel
Away In A Manger
O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Angels We Have Heard On High
O Come All Ye Faithful
I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day
Most of the arrangements are a page and a half and a couple are longer in length…making for a nice collection of short offertories or recital pieces for students.
After clicking on following link…you must click on individual song titles to hear sample of each song…not the book cover picture.
Joshua has generously offered to give away one copy of his Christmas book (pdf format). Simply leave a comment below to enter the drawing. Leave a separate comment if you share the link to this article on facebook or your personal blog…allowing your name to be entered twice!
The drawing will be held on December 19th, 2011 at 10pm EST
The winner will receive his or her free downloadable pdf copy of “Christmas Inspirations” by email from the author of the book: Joshua Harrsion
