More Than Music - Why Aren't People Singing?
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Updated 2015 presentation from a Musicademy training day workshop with Tim Martin. Get over 40 free lessons from Musicademy http://bit.ly/1pQDyUF
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More Than Music - Why Aren't People Singing?
- 1. Copyright © www.musicademy.co.uk W h y a r e n ’ t p e o p l e SINGING? and other common problems
- 4. W R O N G w o r d s o n s c r e e n Train people well Teach songs and skills Practice is important
- 5. Range Key Wrong W i d e Average range = A – D Men’s power is at the top Women’s power is in the middle
- 6. Copyright © www.musicademy.co.uk A Bb B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A Bb B C C# D D# E F F# G E D G B E Good congregational range Female – strong in the middle (and lower) Male – strong at the top (and middle) ( ) A D
- 7. O c t a v e j u m p Pick a key that works Options : Drop the leap Middle key, no leap
- 8. LOUD q u i e t v s B A N D T O O …
- 9. a concertby any other n a m e
- 10. INVOLVEMENT v s A T T E N D A N C E
- 11. DON’T KNOW P e o p l e songsthe X X X t o o m a n ysongs n o tteaching t o o l i t t l estrategy
- 12. CHOOSING THE WRONG SONGS Theologically suspect Choosing by key Choosing only by theme
- 13. o r n o r e p e a t s ENDLESS REPEATS
- 15. T u n eT i m e B a n db a d o u t o f o u t o f
- 16. g e t people TALKING
- 17. T O S I N G NOT G I V E P E R M I S S I O N
- 18. PLAN FOR GOOD FLOW X ZY and tell people where you’re going
- 19. GOOD LEADERSHIP Choose what you say carefully
- 20. QUESTIONS ?
Editor's Notes
- When people don’t sing often the leaders can blame it on the congregation – as if it’s a spiritual issue. Most of the time it’s not… Much more practical…
- Where once most people would have had hymns books (and sung parts), singing has diminished in society – particularly in education. People are not confident in their voices – lots of people believe that they can’t sing and therefore they sing very quietly or not at all. Singing can be very exposing – it’s not something that happens in ‘polite’ gatherings other than church services. Where we do see singing it tends to be tribal e.g. sports or concerts However, choirs are on the rise and lots of people do enjoy singing, there are just obstacles to overcome. Demo not knowing when to come in before next slide. Start song in a the middle of a bar… 10,000 reasons
- Importance of clear introductions – regular length, not too long (2-4 bars, 8 at most) - DON’T feel you need to do it like the album. Play ‘He is faithful’ mp3. Using eye contact and body movement when coming in. Band (or leader) need to be clear on where the 1 is. Andy strum all 8ths and/or 16ths – no sense of light and shade. Random strumming/piano playing.
- Get kids to do it… Musicians can have a go… ?Get a song in ProPresenter and try it. Demo giving cues to jump around sections It’s all about listening…
- Andy demo where to find notes on guitar Consider notation Size of congregation also important – a bit more latitude with larger groups
- Crown him – Tomlin – one that just doesn’t work Sometimes a song can only really go in one key
- Examples – Here for you, Cornerstone
- People need to be able to hear themselves… Band being too quiet exposes the congregation – it’s a difficult balance but the congregation need to be integral to the sound you’re making. Dynamics also important – make sure you don’t always sing on mic…
- For sung worship to be truly corporate the congregation must be integral to the sound you make.
- Can be because the voice is taken away from the congregation – i.e. all the important things happen from the front ‘Professionalised’ music (either band or choir) can disempower the congregation All elements of the service being totally front led breeds passivity Also a culture of ‘we go to church’ rather than ‘we are church’ Responsibility for this is largely with those leading rather than the people Change in culture is slow and you need to be prepared to fail
- Guidelines for song rotation – few enough that they get sung regularly. Depends on how many songs you sing on a Sunday but generally about 80-90 is plenty. Teaching songs is good but don’t over-teach… Make sure that new songs used regularly to begin with – 2-3 weeks in a row, leave a short gap (1-2 weeks) then sing again. Don’t introduce too many new songs. No more than one per month Do sing new songs or the repertoire can get boring
- Good theology in our songs is important – they’re what people remember Choosing by key or theme can be useful but also overused Too much adherence to a theme can lead to theme-itis! – songs which have a certain word but don’t necessarily flow together, aren’t known or are simply naff. Key is fine provided there’s still a good theological flow – often there isn’t! Think about the movement in worship – what are we saying about God? How might we respond to this?
- Sometimes it’s good to repeat – it can help us reflect/respond and drive truth deeper Too many repeats can leave people wondering what’s going to Best not to plan this too much but to get it right in the moment – you can tell when people are bored!
- Sometimes leaders think (usually subconsciously) that by ‘reproducing’ what they see on the big stage they’ll achieve the same results – both responses and numbers… When what we see isn’t what we’re expecting we can be thrown and this doesn’t help the process of leading. Also, it’s not usually possible for most churches to reproduce what they see at concerts or huge churches. It may not even be desirable…
- Importance of rehearsal and tuning, playing simply but well – Tim and Andy to add some basic groove teaching… WE CAN COME BACK TO THIS IF WE NEED TO
- People are sometimes more prepared to sing when they’ve had a chance to hear their own voice Many ways to do this: Prayer with each other (small groups/families etc.) Open prayer All praying aloud at the same time (either extempore prayers where everyone says something different or some kind of liturgy) Reading verses of Psalms Interacting/asking questions
- May sound counter-intuitive but it can work! However, it’s more about giving other ways people can engage – using the words for meditation, allowing words to lead you toward Bible passages, praying etc. Expecting involvement and response is good – it makes people think. Often singing will be the easiest option and more people might take it!
- People respond better when there’s a clear flow and they know where the service is going. Often we keep things a mystery when we would be better to outline the journey of the service (more on this after lunch…)
- E.g. Bad introductions – folksy or preaching a sermon Examples of a good welcome…