Are you ready to ignite the joy of the holiday season through song? Join us, hosts Greg Thomas, Dorian Johnson and Mietta Stancil-Farrar, as we unwrap the significance of singing during the Christmas holiday, community singing and the hymn of the week, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". We dive deep into the biblical references of this beautiful hymn, unearthing its rich connections to Old Testament prophecies. This beautiful hymn isn't just for Christmas - its timeless message brings comfort and hope all year round.
Our CRQ prompts a length offering on the role of technology in choir rehearsals. You might be surprised by the power of simple tools like MP3's, YouTube, and today's digital technology. We share our own experiences, successes and challenges, and offer advice on how to incorporate these tools into your own choir practices. From familiarizing your choir with new hymns, to fostering a sense of community, technology offers a wealth of benefits. We also discuss a variety of software and apps that can bring your choir rehearsals into the modern age - offering everything from digital songbooks to rehearsal scheduling.
In the final segment of our podcast, we challenge you to think about the power of technology and song in engaging the younger generation in the church. Greg then takes us to the "Thought of the Week" as he reflects on the role of singing in the Christmas season and how our worship should be shaped by the life of Christ - His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection and His return. We explore biblical passages that command us to praise God through song, and encourage listeners to keep Christ at the center of their Christmas celebrations. So, forget about the hustle and bustle of the season, and join us in a celebration of joy and song. Let's make this Christmas about the true reason for our worship - Christ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyRxyu1YzhA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb6biETgTBo
https://www.ronimusic.com
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anytune/id415365180
http://www.deepdishdesigns.com
https://www.easyworship.com
0_UqPsJzS35JOl50e5HeMWUqyzFQNv5AcUT9OZseZjRREaAqDrEALw_wcB
https://www.planningcenter.com
Perpetuating and Promoting the Christian and Positive Idea Through the Medium of Music and Other Arts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Season 1, episode 29 of the Choir Room Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm Greg Thomas, your host, and I'll soon be joined
by my co-host, dorian Johnson.
Welcome to the choir room, beit a stance of farar, and whom
we like to call the fourth wheel, coleman Smart.
This podcast is a production ofMetro Music and Arts, whose
purpose is to perpetuate andpromote the Christian and
(00:32):
positive idea through the mediumof music and other arts, and
this podcast exists to advanceand encourage two long-time
traditions in our society thatseem to be dwindling away, and
that is choir and corporatesinging, and we hope to revive
the excitement and joyexperience with singing in a
choir and corporate singing, aswell as inform and educate the
(00:53):
listener on all things singingand all things choir.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed to the podcast, we
encourage you to do so.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, we ask you to give us a fair
and honest review of the contentthat you're receiving here.
Join the choir room Facebookpage and engage in conversation
there, and then finally stay upto date with what's happening
with Metro Music and Arts bysending the words subscribe in
(01:16):
the subject field to mail atMetroMusicDashArtscom.
It is the holiday season andeverybody wants to be chipper
and cheerful, and many aretrying to do so, but it is a
difficult time for a lot ofpeople for different reasons,
and so we'd like to believe herein the choir room that singing
is just one outlet andopportunity for you to embrace
(01:37):
the joy of Christmas, thecelebration of the birth of
Christ, and not get into thediscussion on whether this is
actually the Christ's birthday.
We all understand that, but ifever there was a time when
people needed to smile, neededto rejoice, needed to sing,
needed to express some joy andfeel good about something or
even themselves, this is theseason, with multiple wars
(01:59):
around the world, conflict hereon the homeland, protests,
people in disagreement andfighting crime on the uprise
inflation.
Listen, there's enough to bringyou down to the pit.
Let's choose to celebrate thebirth of Christ together.
Let's choose to encourage oneanother, to bring joy to the
hearts of minimum and boys andgirls, and we just believe here
(02:19):
in the choir room that singingis one way to do that.
In the background, you've beenlistening to my composition
Carol of the Christ, which issandwiched between Carol of the
Bells and oh Holy Night, sang bymy dear friend, carla Christine
.
Enjoy the rest of it and singalong while you are driving in
your car or walking down thestreet, or maybe you have to jam
, I don't know.
I don't know where you listento this podcast, but if you're
(02:41):
listening, enjoy, sing along.
Get somebody else to sing withyou, I tell you.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
When Christ was born.
Oh night, oh night divine.
Oh night divine, oh nightdivine.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Welcome to the choir room.
Dorian has our hymn of the week.
Thanks, Greg.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
After the fall, god pronounces judgment on Adam and
Eve and a curse upon the serpent, and we read in Genesis 315.
I will put enmity between youand the woman and between your
offspring and her offspring.
He shall bruise your head andyou shall bruise his heel".
So, even in the midst of man'ssin, the grace of God is shown,
(04:43):
and not only is not instantlydestroying Adam and Eve for
their disobedience, but he alsogives the promise of a redeemer,
one who would come and whowould crush the head and destroy
the power of the serpent.
This promise of a redeemerwould further develop throughout
(05:05):
the Old Testament, and that iswhat we see in this week's hymn
of the week.
O come, o come, emmanuel.
Some time ago, coleman'sthought of the week pointed us
to the Advent season, and thisclassic hymn, written and
believed to be the 12th century,is a standard hymn of
(05:27):
expectation sung at thebeginning of the Christmas
season.
The hymn has been modified manytimes throughout history, and
the version that istraditionally sung is attributed
to the 1861 translation of aGerman manuscript from 1710.
Each of the five verses pointsto Old Testament references to
(05:50):
the Messiah.
In verse 1, we see O come, ocome, emmanuel, and ransom
captive Israel that mourns inlonely exile here until the Son
of God appear, pointing us tothat prophecy in Isaiah 7 and 14
, where the prophets saystherefore, the Lord himself will
(06:11):
give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shallconceive and bear a son and
shall call his name Emmanuel.
And then this prophecy ispointed to in Matthew, chapter 1
, verses 22 and 23, where weread all this took place.
All of the events surroundingJesus' birth took place to
fulfill what the Lord had spokenby the prophet.
(06:32):
Behold, the virgin shallconceive and bear a son, and
they shall call his nameEmmanuel, which means God with
us.
In verse 2, we read O come, ocome, great Lord of might, who
to your tribes on Sinai's heightin ancient times did give the
(06:54):
law in cloud and majesty and awe.
This verse points us to Exodus19, where the Lord from Mount
Sinai gave the law to Israel.
We read in Exodus 19, verse 16,on the morning of the third day
there were thunders andlightnings and a thick cloud on
(07:17):
the mountain and a very loudtrumpet blasts, so that all the
people in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought the peopleout of the camp to meet God and
they took their stand at thefoot of the mountain.
Now my Mount Sinai was wrappedin smoke because the Lord had
descended on it in fire.
The smoke of it went up likethe smoke of a kiln and the
(07:38):
whole mountain trembled greatly.
And as the sound of the trumpetgrew louder and louder, moses
spoke and God answered him inthunder.
The Lord came down on MountSinai, to the top of the
mountain, and the Lord calledMoses to the top of the mountain
and Moses went up.
In verse 3, we sing O come, orod of Jesse, free thine own
(08:02):
from Satan's tyranny, from thedepths of hell, your people,
save and give them victory orthe grace.
Now, speaking of the origin,the earthly origin of Christ
from the rod of Jesse othertranslations say from the branch
of Jesse and points us toIsaiah 11-1, where it says there
(08:24):
shall come forth a shoot fromthe stump of Jesse and a branch
from his root shall bear fruit.
Verse 4, o, come, thoudayspring, from on high and
cheer us by thy drawing night,disperse the gloomy clouds of
night and death's dark shadowsput to flight.
We read in Malachi 4, verses 1and 2, for behold, the day is
(08:48):
coming, burning like an oven,when all the arrogant and all
evil doers will be stubble.
The day that is coming shallset them ablaze, says the Lord
of hosts, so that it will leavethem neither root nor branch.
But for you who fear my name,the Son of righteousness shall
rise, with healing in its wings.
You shall go out leaping likecalves from the stone.
(09:12):
And then, upon the birth of Johnthe Baptist, zachariah's father
says this in Luke 1, 78-79,because of the tender mercy of
our God, whereby the sun riseshall visit us from on high to
give light to those who sit indarkness and in the shadow of
death, to guide our feet intothe way of peace.
And then the last verse says socome, o key of David, come and
(09:38):
open wide our heavenly home,make safe for us the heavenward
road and bar the way to death.
Above Key of David, once againreferring to Jesus' lineage in
Isaiah 22, 22, we read and Iwill place on his shoulder the
key of the house of David.
He shall open and none shallshut.
(09:58):
And he shall shut and noneshall shut.
And each one of these verses arefollowed by the chorus which
simply says rejoice, rejoice,emmanuel shall come to you, o
Israel.
And indeed we rejoice because,in the fullness of time, christ
(10:18):
did come and if Christ'sincarnation John 1, 14 tells us
and the word became flesh andwealth among us.
And we have seen his glory.
Glory is the only Son from theFather, full of grace and truth,
and as Christ has come, as died, as resurrected and ascended,
we also look forward to that daywhen we will rejoice, when
(10:41):
Christ will come again, not inweakness and humility but in
glory and power, and in thatsecond coming we will be brought
into the blessed presence ofour God, who will be fully with
us and we will be fully with himfor all eternity.
Welcome to the fire.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And he has been in high gear in preparing that
ministry for the Christmasholiday and you know how
important that is to a lot ofchurches.
We welcome and need hisperspective and can't wait for
him to get back here after theholiday.
In the meantime, us old catswill hold it down.
Ah, mia, that's going to comewith our CRQ.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Thanks, greg.
Here we are this evening withour CRQ, and our CRQ this
evening is very interesting.
Question is tonight in whatways do you use technology in
your choir rehearsals?
In what ways do you usetechnology in your choir
rehearsals?
Well, here we go.
I come from a different era.
(11:55):
Let's just start there.
I come from a different era.
Now, maybe Greg or Dorian I'mcertain that they have a
different perspective of this.
The most technology I've everreally used in a rehearsal was a
CD player, really, and that's.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Now what's that?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yeah, that little thing it was.
It looks like a little smallrecord, a little small record
that you put inside a littlesurround apparatus and it plates
music for you, and I can evensay tape.
We use tapes at that time aswell.
So I wasn't very, or I have notbeen very, explorative when it
(12:41):
comes to technology.
I'm somewhat of a purist and Ijust depend on the organ, the
keyboard, if that's available,and that's pretty much all I did
.
But I am smart enough to knowthat we have evolved quite a bit
yeah, quite a bit, in music now, and I noticed that there are a
lot of directors, choirdirectors, musicians, that are
(13:03):
really using a lot of technology.
I'm not opposed to it, as amatter of fact, I love all of it
and I think it has its place.
It's very, very helpful For me.
It's challenging because andthis is not an excuse, but it is
an excuse because I'm not amusician, okay, I don't play an
instrument.
(13:23):
I don't often deem it necessaryto use a whole bunch of
technology.
I just pretty much rely on myear and being able to convey
what I hear to the vocals, muchto my shame.
I need to do better.
I need to do better.
So I think that it has itsplace.
(13:46):
It is very useful and it wouldhelp, of course, enhance, I
believe, any music ministry.
If you have those toolsavailable to you, I don't think
it much of it should not be offlimits.
Use as much as you can.
You talk with someone to findout what best suits or what's
best fitted for your particulargroup, and then you work for
(14:08):
them there.
What say you, fellas?
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Well, I don't have a choir, but I will say, from time
to time, as a congregation,we'll sing a hymn that we
haven't sung before, that's lessfamiliar, or we'll sing like a
contemporary hymn that justpeople may not know, and so
(14:35):
sometimes we'll like send a linkto YouTube.
But sometimes I will actuallytake a recording and I'll sing
over it and then I'll send itout to the congregation and tell
them we're going to sing thison Sunday.
Just familiarize yourself withit and we'll praise the Lord
with it.
On.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Sunday.
So you send it to the entirecongregation, wow.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Interesting To the members at least that are on our
email list.
Yeah, just to say this is ahymn we haven't sung before.
It's going to be unfamiliar,but familiarize yourself with it
, at least with the tune beforeSunday and it'll be part of the
worship service.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You know, I never would have thought to send it to
the entire congregation and Iguess, again, context is
everything, but I think thatalso solidifies.
It speaks to the whole idea ofcommunity and corporate worship,
corporate singing, causing theindividual to feel like they're
part of something bigger thanjust themselves.
(15:37):
It may not be going to thechoir, but then it is the choir.
The congregation is that choir.
They are that aggregation ofsingers.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
And so are you.
When you do that, Dorian, I dohave a question for that.
You do that.
How many?
Do you know how many peopleactually listen?
Do you get a?
Can you tell if they?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I can tell sometimes, because it's interesting there
are certain hymns that peoplejust shy away from.
But yesterday we saying howgreat they are in the service
and the people almost blew theroof off the place.
So you can tell, like certainhymns that people feel more
(16:24):
comfortable with versus thosethat they feel less comfortable
with, and so that's why we takethat extra step sometimes and we
don't do it often, but we willtake that extra step and we'll
just send out an email sayinglook, we're seeing this hymn.
These are the lyrics.
There's a recording of it ifyou'd like to listen to it, and
there have been times where youcan tell that that folks have
(16:45):
actually listened to it and havecome ready to, ready to sing it
.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
That's something because I've always I now I do
that I'll send music tomusicians when it comes to,
because I serve at two churches,and so I serve at two churches.
At my, at the first church thatI serve at, it really is
basically congregational singing.
For the most part, they don'thave a choir.
There's no praise, so it's justme and the people in the
(17:12):
audience, so I'm having a balldoing that.
That's new for me.
I had to learn how to do that,because I've never had to do it
like that, but I have sent themusic to the musicians that are
there but never thought to sendit to, because they are choir,
choir people in the audience,believe it or not.
So they singers in the audienceto send it to them.
(17:35):
I will now, though.
Thank you, dory.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So hey so tech.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Technically, the technology is it's email, it's a
computer, it's email and a linkto YouTube.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Maybe, and it may be a recording from my phone, if
I'm recording on my phone andthat's that's really it.
It's real low, it's real lowtech, but it's still tech.
It's still tech.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Technology in it.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I'm finding musicians now there, the musicians that I
work with.
They say, ok, this is a song, Ineed a reference, and I'm
thinking you mean to tell meyou've never heard this before.
Never heard.
And so I have to sit, find areference, which is now YouTube.
Our old faithful go to YouTube,send that out and then, oh, ok,
and I have.
(18:28):
But I will say I have themlearn it in its original form
before we gospelize it, and youknow we do with our hands, right
.
So, and I send them the mostobscure I guess I'll use that
word because they've never heardthat version.
They usually hear it in churchand we have double-clapped it
(18:48):
and we have run it, you know,four or five times.
And so when they get it in itsoriginal, they're like oh, so
that's what it sounds like.
This is what I say.
Learn it this way before we putour spin on.
That's my thing.
Okay, got it, got it.
I got it now.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Well, there you have it.
You have cassette players andCD players.
All right, for those of you whodon't know what those are, you
can go online and look it up.
But I can concur with Miata.
I've used CD players andcassette players, and many disc
recorders as well, to teach thechoir.
Well, to give the choir areference, to give the musicians
(19:30):
a reference, especially if itwas something a little more
complicated for the choir.
They did better when they had areference, when they got a
chance to hear what it wassupposed to sound like.
That made the teaching a loteasier a little later.
Now this is in the absence ofsheet music.
If we didn't have it, which wasusually the case in gospel
music, if you were doing gospelchoir Hymns very different.
(19:50):
So today we can go online andpull up just about any song and
in fact, probably find some ofthe sheet music for free out
there.
I think the person asking thequestion is using technology in
more ways than they probablyrealize.
If you're learning songs andlistening to them in your car or
at home, you're usingtechnology.
(20:11):
You're using a computer, theinternet, some device to play it
on.
Now I think the question islikely referring to how we use
technology for teaching and orlearning in a rehearsal setting.
And so, again, like Mienalluded to CDs and cassette
players back in the day.
Today we've got the, you knowthe internet.
(20:32):
We've got YouTube.
You can download files that youor purchase music, and you
should purchase it.
And let's be clear If you'resending MP3s or sending files
out to your choir memberswithout permission, you are in
violation of copyright law.
Now you can send a link fromYouTube and tell people to
listen to that.
That's fine, but you should notbe sharing files and that's a
(20:55):
whole nother podcast right there.
But let's make it clear that onthis podcast we like to do
things right.
So don't send MP3 files to yourchoir members or your church
members and tell them to learnsongs through this file.
Now, now you can.
There are ways in which we usetechnology and you get licenses.
You know you can go throughCCLIO, you can use CCS or some
(21:18):
of the other copyright licensingorganizations that are out
there and get permission foryour church or your organization
or your choir to distributerehearsal files.
You can, we can.
You know we probably shouldcover that sometime later, but I
don't want to get too far intothat right now.
Now before the iPad or beforethe Windows Surface and some of
(21:38):
the other tablets that are outthere, we used to use a pad
called the Music Pad Pro Ibelieve it was called I can't
remember the name of the companywho came out with them, but
these were about 12 by eight anda half, 12 by nine inch tablets
, pretty thick, before thetechnology changed and they
became slimmer and smaller.
But that technology is advancedtoday with the tablets and you
(22:02):
can now download lyrics sheets,you can download charts, you can
download MP3s and attach thoseto the charts and use those in
rehearsals as well.
For learning and because thistechnology can be used on
multiple platforms PC and Mac,your Android or your iPhone
choir members can now use theirdevices to sit there with charts
(22:24):
in front of them or lyrics infront of them.
Now that in and of itself hasreduced the amount of time
necessary to teach new songsthat have a lot of lyrics.
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, I mean,now you've got the lyrics in
front of you.
Now choir members looking, youknow, with their heads down
looking at their phones.
It's not always beneficialeither, especially when they're
supposed to be looking at youand learning.
(22:44):
I think when you use properly,it is a great time saver.
Oh yeah, miata, you mentionedthe band, the musicians, and
we've got technology now wherethe band doesn't even have to
show up.
I mean, you can almost replacethem and it's sad with
pre-recorded tracks and a lot ofpeople are using tracks and
rehearsals because they can'tget musicians to come to the
same rehearsal as the choir isin, and sometimes that's not
(23:07):
always feasible, I understand,but at some point they need to
come together.
Now, having said that, thetechnology by itself is nothing
without software.
Now, having said that, I'mgoing to mention some software
that I've used over the yearsthat people can download on
their devices their phones,their tablets and I'm not going
to go into the details of whatthe software actually does, but
(23:28):
you can go check them out.
This software has completelyreplaced songbooks.
That means paper and copies.
You'd never have to do thatagain.
Everybody's got a phone,everybody's got some kind of
device in.
This software works on it.
So this is free advertisement.
We're not getting paid for this, nor are we endorsed by any of
these companies.
Deep Dish Gigbook is one of themthat you can get on the App
(23:49):
Store.
I've used it to completelyreplace all paper copies.
It allows me to set up bindersand the individuals to set up
binders on their own devices.
Lyrics for songs.
All we did is provide a centrallocation for all of the PDF
files of lyrics and the choirmembers were able to go there
and download those into Gigbook.
Now you can use Gigbook to setup binders for each choir or set
(24:13):
up binders for specificservices or events, special
occasions, etc.
Great application, inexpensive,no subscription.
Okay, I try not to use softwarethat requires me to have a
subscription and pay for it overand over and over again.
So that's not a learningapplication as much as it is a
(24:33):
file-aid application.
But if you want to learn musicand sometimes you have to slow
things down to learn them, thisis both for musicians and
singers.
There are two of them that I'veused over the years.
One is called Easy Slowdownerand that's by Ronnie Music,
r-o-n-i Musiccom.
I think it's still available.
In fact, I saw an update for itrecently.
(24:53):
Ronnie Music has an applicationcalled Amazing Slowdowner which
allows you to slow down themusic and change the pitch if
you need to in order to hearcertain parts.
Rehears slower, rehearse faster, and it does that without
changing the pitch of the song.
Now there is a pitch control inthat application, should you
(25:14):
want to change the key to a song, but this allows you to
rehearse it, slow it down, learnit a lot faster.
It does introduce a little bitof digital artifacts when you
slow it down or speed it up, butnot terrible, all right.
So amazing slow down is oneanother one that does a similar
thing and more is Called anytune.
I think it's called yes, it'sany tune, and you can find that
(25:36):
again at the Apple store anytune.
It also works on Android, Ibelieve.
Check that one out.
That one does probably twice asmuch in terms of features, then
the amazing slow down on one,but those two are Really good
for learning new music by ear.
If that's what you're doing nowwhile teaching the choir, if
everybody is looking down attheir phones Because they're
(25:58):
reading the lyrics, that's notgonna work out well for you.
And so if you're wondering ifthey're playing Angry Birds or
if they're reading the lyrics.
This other option is One that Isuggest, and that is that you
project the lyrics on something,whether that's on a wall or a
portable screen, depending onwhere you're rehearsing, and or
if you're in a choir room andyou've got you know screens
(26:21):
there, then you can project themon there.
A lot of churches today you usetwo different applications.
One is called easy worship andanother one is called pro
presenter.
You can choose one, each one ofthose, either one of those.
Now they are a lot moreglorified than just, you know,
presenting lyrics.
Most of these applications areused during church services and
(26:41):
other events, but if you have itfor your church, that means you
likely have a site license or alicense for your church to use
it, so you might as well use it.
Use it in rehearsal.
The challenge with this is thatyou're gonna have to assign
somebody to run that computerduring rehearsals, but it
certainly takes the strain offof the choir director, who's got
(27:01):
to tell people to look up, orthey're singing into their laps
and so you're not fully hearingthem in rehearsal.
So those two applications aremuch more involved than just
lyrics.
But again, if you have it, thatmeans you have a site license.
You might as well use it now.
The application that is beingused the most and I had to think
about it, I couldn't rememberthe title, that's why I didn't
mention it earlier, and Iprobably should have is planning
(27:23):
center.
Planning center is where allroads meet In terms of
scheduling singers, schedulingmusicians.
If you do song lists, planningcenter is used for that.
There are other apps out thereas well, but planning center is
the most popular one.
I do suggest you do some study,do some research and check out
some other ones, but planningcenter is by far the most used.
(27:46):
It is subscription based and itallows you to schedule singers,
your musicians, your song lists.
If you're into that, you canschedule your technical team.
I mean, it's a scheduling beastSpecifically designed for
churches, and so that's planningcenter.
You can go check that out.
Now again, we are not paid orendorsed by any of these
(28:09):
applications, but we will putthat information in the show
notes and you can do your ownresearch and find out what works
for you in your context.
Now, the other way that you canuse technology and rehearsal and
this is the easiest way is thatthere are apps that come with
your device if you have aniPhone, or the notes application
or the Pages application ifyou're on an Android.
(28:33):
I'm sure there's a note takerof some type of recorder as well
on both these devices some kindof note taker or some type of
recording application.
And so I encourage people to.
If you can't write the lyricsand you can't get the lyrics to
the choir members, certainlyhave them record rehearsals so
that they can go back andrehearse on their own time.
But take advantage of thetechnology, because everybody
(28:53):
has it.
They've got a mobile phone,they've got some type of tablet
that they can use.
That makes the teaching easyand the learning easy.
Now, keep in mind this is themost important part about
implementing technology intoyour choir rehearsals Is that
the more technology youintroduce into rehearsal, the
more technical support You'regonna have to provide, and so
(29:15):
make sure that you've got peoplewho are technologically savvy
and can help the ones that arenot.
It's the last thing you want inrehearsal to have to stop and
help somebody with their phone.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
My, my flip phone.
It won't flip.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
That's interesting because I'm thinking, I'm
listening to you, greg, and I'mthinking, okay, now that all of
that stuff sounds that's awesomeand I guess in the the more
tech savvy churches that worksLike that's a beautiful thing.
But then I'm thinking about thesmall church that don't have
(29:57):
half of what you're talkingabout, not even.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
I understand what?
Speaker 3 (30:04):
where does that leave them now?
Do they do they?
Are they now?
Or should they now be Forced orpushed prompt into seeking out
some of those apps and some ofthose avenues to enhance?
And it doesn't have to be a lotof money, but at least inquire
(30:26):
and take some time and researchit out and invest a little bit,
because I think sometimes andsome of our churches, especially
the smaller churches and Idon't know who the listening
audience is tonight but in oursmaller churches they don't
wanna pay for nothing.
I don't know if you've everbeen in a situation where you it
(30:53):
tickles me really bad it's beenin a situation where you're
working in these churches andsometimes and I love pastors
sometimes pastors don'tunderstand what is needed, what
can be better for their musicministries or music departments.
If they would just invest two,three more dollars and they're
(31:13):
in the top of that.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
You know, in a lot of cases that's really all of
these.
It's three more dollars.
I think if the church doesn'tplan to invest in technology,
it's gonna be behind and you'llstart to see the young people
dwindle away, and not justbecause it's not technologically
savvy, but churches who don'tmove and invest in technology
(31:37):
really ultimately begin to shunthe young people who are,
because they're the ones sittingthere in the pews with their
iPhones or their iPads, theirBible applications, etc.
And so you gotta remember thatthis generation is the most
technologically savvy generationin the history of the world.
They have access to moretechnology than we've ever had,
and those are gonna be the oneswho are gonna know how to get
(32:00):
those lyrics on the screen anddownload those apps and get your
phone working right and emptyyour cash and clear your memory
and all these other things.
So utilize that, because thenthat's a road in for even that
generation to get involved inthe ministry of the church.
And so, for technology, we'renot going backwards, we're only
moving forward and it's going toadvance and it's advancing very
(32:21):
quickly.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Welcome to the Kwaya Room.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
As we're in the beginning of the Abbot season,
leading to the celebration ofthe birth of Jesus Christ, the
gift to the world, the reasonfor the season, during all of
the hustle and bustle that comeswith this season, I want to
challenge you to take severalmoments out of your day to
remind yourself why you shouldbe singing during this season in
particular.
(32:51):
Now, singing in generalrequires thought.
You don't just open your mouth,but you think about what you're
singing and you think upon thatwhich you are singing.
You have to think about yournotes, you have to think about
pitch, you have to think abouttiming.
And singing also requirespractice.
You know the old adage if youwant to get to Carnegie Hall,
you've got to practice, practice, practice.
(33:11):
And so it requires thought, itrequires practice, but it also
awakens feelings.
You know the feeling you getwhen you hear your favorite
Christmas carol, your favoriteChristmas song, or you smell
your favorite Christmas smell.
There's a feeling that comes.
Well, singing does the samething.
It awakens feelings andsometimes you'll feel the bass,
(33:31):
you'll feel the strings, you'llfeel the chord progression.
It awakens feelings.
And then, lastly, sometimessinging will produce emotions.
It'll produce emotions thatperhaps you weren't feeling
before you started singing.
See, in the life of a believer,singing is a direct response to
the faithfulness of God, to thework of Jesus Christ.
Our song, therefore, is aresponse to God for what he's
(33:55):
done.
It is a response to God forwhat he's doing.
It is a response to God forwhat we hope and believe that he
will do.
That's called praise andadvance.
And this kind of singinginvolves your physical, your
psychological, your emotionaland your spiritual being.
We are, by nature, spiritualbeings, and so singing is our
(34:15):
innate response to God.
Now, if you've listened to thispodcast for any length of time,
you know that we often speakfrom a Christian and biblical
perspective as it relates tosinging.
Now you may be singing aroundthe Christmas tree or rocking
around the Christmas tree.
For you it may be frosty talesand jingle bells, it may be
shopping lists and Christmasgifts and Friday sales and
(34:37):
chestnuts' males.
Now, I'm not knocking any ofthat, but I can tell you that if
any of that comes before thetrue reason for this season, you
will be left depleted at theend of this season and longing
for another Christmas holiday,because things are going to go
back to your normal aroundJanuary 2nd and for many it'll
happen December 26th.
(34:57):
In our previous episode, ourfriend keep getting reminded us
that we were created to sing,commanded to sing, and we sing
because of Christ.
Look at it this way Christ isthe who of this season, and His
birth, life, death, resurrectionand second coming is the why we
sing.
The who and the why directlydetermine how we sing or how we
(35:21):
worship.
In Exodus 15-1, I will singunto the Lord, I'll sing unto
Jehovah, for he hath triumphgloriously the horse and the
rider he hath thrown into thesea.
That's what he's done.
1 Chronicles 16-9 says Singunto him, sing praises unto him,
talk ye of all his marvelousworks.
That's what he's done.
(35:41):
That's what he's doing.
Psalm 33-2, praise the Lord withthe heart, sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrumentof ten streams.
That's your how.
And verse 3 in that same Psalm.
Psalm 33 says Sing unto him anew song, place skillfully with
the loud noise.
There you have more of your howwe should sing.
And so Christ is the object ofour celebration, he is the
(36:05):
object of our singing, he is theobject of our worship, and so
we sing in worship unto himbecause of his finished work.
That is our why.
And so how should we do it?
We should do it with the loudnoise.
We should do it daily.
We should do it consistently.
We should do it intentionally.
We should do it skillfully.
Do you have to be aprofessional?
(36:26):
Absolutely not, but give it thebest that you have and make
this season about the truereason.
Join us again next week as wecontinue this thought and
remember, if ever we put themessenger before the message, we
have failed to present anunblemished gospel.
Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Season 1, episode 29 of the Choir Room Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm Greg Thomas, your host, and I'll soon be joined
by my co-host, dorian Johnson.
Welcome to the choir room, beit a stance of farar, and whom
we like to call the fourth wheel, coleman Smart.
This podcast is a production ofMetro Music and Arts, whose
purpose is to perpetuate andpromote the Christian and
(00:32):
positive idea through the mediumof music and other arts, and
this podcast exists to advanceand encourage two long-time
traditions in our society thatseem to be dwindling away, and
that is choir and corporatesinging, and we hope to revive
the excitement and joyexperience with singing in a
choir and corporate singing, aswell as inform and educate the
(00:53):
listener on all things singingand all things choir.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed to the podcast, we
encourage you to do so.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, we ask you to give us a fair
and honest review of the contentthat you're receiving here.
Join the choir room Facebookpage and engage in conversation
there, and then finally stay upto date with what's happening
with Metro Music and Arts bysending the words subscribe in
(01:16):
the subject field to mail atMetroMusicDashArtscom.
It is the holiday season andeverybody wants to be chipper
and cheerful, and many aretrying to do so, but it is a
difficult time for a lot ofpeople for different reasons,
and so we'd like to believe herein the choir room that singing
is just one outlet andopportunity for you to embrace
(01:37):
the joy of Christmas, thecelebration of the birth of
Christ, and not get into thediscussion on whether this is
actually the Christ's birthday.
We all understand that, but ifever there was a time when
people needed to smile, neededto rejoice, needed to sing,
needed to express some joy andfeel good about something or
even themselves, this is theseason, with multiple wars
(01:59):
around the world, conflict hereon the homeland, protests,
people in disagreement andfighting crime on the uprise
inflation.
Listen, there's enough to bringyou down to the pit.
Let's choose to celebrate thebirth of Christ together.
Let's choose to encourage oneanother, to bring joy to the
hearts of minimum and boys andgirls, and we just believe here
(02:19):
in the choir room that singingis one way to do that.
In the background, you've beenlistening to my composition
Carol of the Christ, which issandwiched between Carol of the
Bells and oh Holy Night, sang bymy dear friend, carla Christine
.
Enjoy the rest of it and singalong while you are driving in
your car or walking down thestreet, or maybe you have to jam
, I don't know.
I don't know where you listento this podcast, but if you're
(02:41):
listening, enjoy, sing along.
Get somebody else to sing withyou, I tell you.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
When Christ was born.
Oh night, oh night divine.
Oh night divine, oh nightdivine.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Welcome to the choir room.
Dorian has our hymn of the week.
Thanks, Greg.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
After the fall, god pronounces judgment on Adam and
Eve and a curse upon the serpent, and we read in Genesis 315.
I will put enmity between youand the woman and between your
offspring and her offspring.
He shall bruise your head andyou shall bruise his heel".
So, even in the midst of man'ssin, the grace of God is shown,
(04:43):
and not only is not instantlydestroying Adam and Eve for
their disobedience, but he alsogives the promise of a redeemer,
one who would come and whowould crush the head and destroy
the power of the serpent.
This promise of a redeemerwould further develop throughout
(05:05):
the Old Testament, and that iswhat we see in this week's hymn
of the week.
O come, o come, emmanuel.
Some time ago, coleman'sthought of the week pointed us
to the Advent season, and thisclassic hymn, written and
believed to be the 12th century,is a standard hymn of
(05:27):
expectation sung at thebeginning of the Christmas
season.
The hymn has been modified manytimes throughout history, and
the version that istraditionally sung is attributed
to the 1861 translation of aGerman manuscript from 1710.
Each of the five verses pointsto Old Testament references to
(05:50):
the Messiah.
In verse 1, we see O come, ocome, emmanuel, and ransom
captive Israel that mourns inlonely exile here until the Son
of God appear, pointing us tothat prophecy in Isaiah 7 and 14
, where the prophets saystherefore, the Lord himself will
(06:11):
give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shallconceive and bear a son and
shall call his name Emmanuel.
And then this prophecy ispointed to in Matthew, chapter 1
, verses 22 and 23, where weread all this took place.
All of the events surroundingJesus' birth took place to
fulfill what the Lord had spokenby the prophet.
(06:32):
Behold, the virgin shallconceive and bear a son, and
they shall call his nameEmmanuel, which means God with
us.
In verse 2, we read O come, ocome, great Lord of might, who
to your tribes on Sinai's heightin ancient times did give the
(06:54):
law in cloud and majesty and awe.
This verse points us to Exodus19, where the Lord from Mount
Sinai gave the law to Israel.
We read in Exodus 19, verse 16,on the morning of the third day
there were thunders andlightnings and a thick cloud on
(07:17):
the mountain and a very loudtrumpet blasts, so that all the
people in the camp trembled.
And Moses brought the peopleout of the camp to meet God and
they took their stand at thefoot of the mountain.
Now my Mount Sinai was wrappedin smoke because the Lord had
descended on it in fire.
The smoke of it went up likethe smoke of a kiln and the
(07:38):
whole mountain trembled greatly.
And as the sound of the trumpetgrew louder and louder, moses
spoke and God answered him inthunder.
The Lord came down on MountSinai, to the top of the
mountain, and the Lord calledMoses to the top of the mountain
and Moses went up.
In verse 3, we sing O come, orod of Jesse, free thine own
(08:02):
from Satan's tyranny, from thedepths of hell, your people,
save and give them victory orthe grace.
Now, speaking of the origin,the earthly origin of Christ
from the rod of Jesse othertranslations say from the branch
of Jesse and points us toIsaiah 11-1, where it says there
(08:24):
shall come forth a shoot fromthe stump of Jesse and a branch
from his root shall bear fruit.
Verse 4, o, come, thoudayspring, from on high and
cheer us by thy drawing night,disperse the gloomy clouds of
night and death's dark shadowsput to flight.
We read in Malachi 4, verses 1and 2, for behold, the day is
(08:48):
coming, burning like an oven,when all the arrogant and all
evil doers will be stubble.
The day that is coming shallset them ablaze, says the Lord
of hosts, so that it will leavethem neither root nor branch.
But for you who fear my name,the Son of righteousness shall
rise, with healing in its wings.
You shall go out leaping likecalves from the stone.
(09:12):
And then, upon the birth of Johnthe Baptist, zachariah's father
says this in Luke 1, 78-79,because of the tender mercy of
our God, whereby the sun riseshall visit us from on high to
give light to those who sit indarkness and in the shadow of
death, to guide our feet intothe way of peace.
And then the last verse says socome, o key of David, come and
(09:38):
open wide our heavenly home,make safe for us the heavenward
road and bar the way to death.
Above Key of David, once againreferring to Jesus' lineage in
Isaiah 22, 22, we read and Iwill place on his shoulder the
key of the house of David.
He shall open and none shallshut.
(09:58):
And he shall shut and noneshall shut.
And each one of these verses arefollowed by the chorus which
simply says rejoice, rejoice,emmanuel shall come to you, o
Israel.
And indeed we rejoice because,in the fullness of time, christ
(10:18):
did come and if Christ'sincarnation John 1, 14 tells us
and the word became flesh andwealth among us.
And we have seen his glory.
Glory is the only Son from theFather, full of grace and truth,
and as Christ has come, as died, as resurrected and ascended,
we also look forward to that daywhen we will rejoice, when
(10:41):
Christ will come again, not inweakness and humility but in
glory and power, and in thatsecond coming we will be brought
into the blessed presence ofour God, who will be fully with
us and we will be fully with himfor all eternity.
Welcome to the fire.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
And he has been in high gear in preparing that
ministry for the Christmasholiday and you know how
important that is to a lot ofchurches.
We welcome and need hisperspective and can't wait for
him to get back here after theholiday.
In the meantime, us old catswill hold it down.
Ah, mia, that's going to comewith our CRQ.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
Thanks, greg.
Here we are this evening withour CRQ, and our CRQ this
evening is very interesting.
Question is tonight in whatways do you use technology in
your choir rehearsals?
In what ways do you usetechnology in your choir
rehearsals?
Well, here we go.
I come from a different era.
(11:55):
Let's just start there.
I come from a different era.
Now, maybe Greg or Dorian I'mcertain that they have a
different perspective of this.
The most technology I've everreally used in a rehearsal was a
CD player, really, and that's.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Now what's that?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yeah, that little thing it was.
It looks like a little smallrecord, a little small record
that you put inside a littlesurround apparatus and it plates
music for you, and I can evensay tape.
We use tapes at that time aswell.
So I wasn't very, or I have notbeen very, explorative when it
(12:41):
comes to technology.
I'm somewhat of a purist and Ijust depend on the organ, the
keyboard, if that's available,and that's pretty much all I did
.
But I am smart enough to knowthat we have evolved quite a bit
yeah, quite a bit, in music now, and I noticed that there are a
lot of directors, choirdirectors, musicians, that are
(13:03):
really using a lot of technology.
I'm not opposed to it, as amatter of fact, I love all of it
and I think it has its place.
It's very, very helpful For me.
It's challenging because andthis is not an excuse, but it is
an excuse because I'm not amusician, okay, I don't play an
instrument.
(13:23):
I don't often deem it necessaryto use a whole bunch of
technology.
I just pretty much rely on myear and being able to convey
what I hear to the vocals, muchto my shame.
I need to do better.
I need to do better.
So I think that it has itsplace.
(13:46):
It is very useful and it wouldhelp, of course, enhance, I
believe, any music ministry.
If you have those toolsavailable to you, I don't think
it much of it should not be offlimits.
Use as much as you can.
You talk with someone to findout what best suits or what's
best fitted for your particulargroup, and then you work for
(14:08):
them there.
What say you, fellas?
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Well, I don't have a choir, but I will say, from time
to time, as a congregation,we'll sing a hymn that we
haven't sung before, that's lessfamiliar, or we'll sing like a
contemporary hymn that justpeople may not know, and so
(14:35):
sometimes we'll like send a linkto YouTube.
But sometimes I will actuallytake a recording and I'll sing
over it and then I'll send itout to the congregation and tell
them we're going to sing thison Sunday.
Just familiarize yourself withit and we'll praise the Lord
with it.
On.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Sunday.
So you send it to the entirecongregation, wow.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Interesting To the members at least that are on our
email list.
Yeah, just to say this is ahymn we haven't sung before.
It's going to be unfamiliar,but familiarize yourself with it
, at least with the tune beforeSunday and it'll be part of the
worship service.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
You know, I never would have thought to send it to
the entire congregation and Iguess, again, context is
everything, but I think thatalso solidifies.
It speaks to the whole idea ofcommunity and corporate worship,
corporate singing, causing theindividual to feel like they're
part of something bigger thanjust themselves.
(15:37):
It may not be going to thechoir, but then it is the choir.
The congregation is that choir.
They are that aggregation ofsingers.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
And so are you.
When you do that, Dorian, I dohave a question for that.
You do that.
How many?
Do you know how many peopleactually listen?
Do you get a?
Can you tell if they?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I can tell sometimes, because it's interesting there
are certain hymns that peoplejust shy away from.
But yesterday we saying howgreat they are in the service
and the people almost blew theroof off the place.
So you can tell, like certainhymns that people feel more
(16:24):
comfortable with versus thosethat they feel less comfortable
with, and so that's why we takethat extra step sometimes and we
don't do it often, but we willtake that extra step and we'll
just send out an email sayinglook, we're seeing this hymn.
These are the lyrics.
There's a recording of it ifyou'd like to listen to it, and
there have been times where youcan tell that that folks have
(16:45):
actually listened to it and havecome ready to, ready to sing it
.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
That's something because I've always I now I do
that I'll send music tomusicians when it comes to,
because I serve at two churches,and so I serve at two churches.
At my, at the first church thatI serve at, it really is
basically congregational singing.
For the most part, they don'thave a choir.
There's no praise, so it's justme and the people in the
(17:12):
audience, so I'm having a balldoing that.
That's new for me.
I had to learn how to do that,because I've never had to do it
like that, but I have sent themusic to the musicians that are
there but never thought to sendit to, because they are choir,
choir people in the audience,believe it or not.
So they singers in the audienceto send it to them.
(17:35):
I will now, though.
Thank you, dory.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So hey so tech.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Technically, the technology is it's email, it's a
computer, it's email and a linkto YouTube.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Maybe, and it may be a recording from my phone, if
I'm recording on my phone andthat's that's really it.
It's real low, it's real lowtech, but it's still tech.
It's still tech.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Technology in it.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
I'm finding musicians now there, the musicians that I
work with.
They say, ok, this is a song, Ineed a reference, and I'm
thinking you mean to tell meyou've never heard this before.
Never heard.
And so I have to sit, find areference, which is now YouTube.
Our old faithful go to YouTube,send that out and then, oh, ok,
and I have.
(18:28):
But I will say I have themlearn it in its original form
before we gospelize it, and youknow we do with our hands, right
.
So, and I send them the mostobscure I guess I'll use that
word because they've never heardthat version.
They usually hear it in churchand we have double-clapped it
(18:48):
and we have run it, you know,four or five times.
And so when they get it in itsoriginal, they're like oh, so
that's what it sounds like.
This is what I say.
Learn it this way before we putour spin on.
That's my thing.
Okay, got it, got it.
I got it now.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Well, there you have it.
You have cassette players andCD players.
All right, for those of you whodon't know what those are, you
can go online and look it up.
But I can concur with Miata.
I've used CD players andcassette players, and many disc
recorders as well, to teach thechoir.
Well, to give the choir areference, to give the musicians
(19:30):
a reference, especially if itwas something a little more
complicated for the choir.
They did better when they had areference, when they got a
chance to hear what it wassupposed to sound like.
That made the teaching a loteasier a little later.
Now this is in the absence ofsheet music.
If we didn't have it, which wasusually the case in gospel
music, if you were doing gospelchoir Hymns very different.
(19:50):
So today we can go online andpull up just about any song and
in fact, probably find some ofthe sheet music for free out
there.
I think the person asking thequestion is using technology in
more ways than they probablyrealize.
If you're learning songs andlistening to them in your car or
at home, you're usingtechnology.
(20:11):
You're using a computer, theinternet, some device to play it
on.
Now I think the question islikely referring to how we use
technology for teaching and orlearning in a rehearsal setting.
And so, again, like Mienalluded to CDs and cassette
players back in the day.
Today we've got the, you knowthe internet.
(20:32):
We've got YouTube.
You can download files that youor purchase music, and you
should purchase it.
And let's be clear If you'resending MP3s or sending files
out to your choir memberswithout permission, you are in
violation of copyright law.
Now you can send a link fromYouTube and tell people to
listen to that.
That's fine, but you should notbe sharing files and that's a
(20:55):
whole nother podcast right there.
But let's make it clear that onthis podcast we like to do
things right.
So don't send MP3 files to yourchoir members or your church
members and tell them to learnsongs through this file.
Now, now you can.
There are ways in which we usetechnology and you get licenses.
You know you can go throughCCLIO, you can use CCS or some
(21:18):
of the other copyright licensingorganizations that are out
there and get permission foryour church or your organization
or your choir to distributerehearsal files.
You can, we can.
You know we probably shouldcover that sometime later, but I
don't want to get too far intothat right now.
Now before the iPad or beforethe Windows Surface and some of
(21:38):
the other tablets that are outthere, we used to use a pad
called the Music Pad Pro Ibelieve it was called I can't
remember the name of the companywho came out with them, but
these were about 12 by eight anda half, 12 by nine inch tablets
, pretty thick, before thetechnology changed and they
became slimmer and smaller.
But that technology is advancedtoday with the tablets and you
(22:02):
can now download lyrics sheets,you can download charts, you can
download MP3s and attach thoseto the charts and use those in
rehearsals as well.
For learning and because thistechnology can be used on
multiple platforms PC and Mac,your Android or your iPhone
choir members can now use theirdevices to sit there with charts
(22:24):
in front of them or lyrics infront of them.
Now that in and of itself hasreduced the amount of time
necessary to teach new songsthat have a lot of lyrics.
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, I mean,now you've got the lyrics in
front of you.
Now choir members looking, youknow, with their heads down
looking at their phones.
It's not always beneficialeither, especially when they're
supposed to be looking at youand learning.
(22:44):
I think when you use properly,it is a great time saver.
Oh yeah, miata, you mentionedthe band, the musicians, and
we've got technology now wherethe band doesn't even have to
show up.
I mean, you can almost replacethem and it's sad with
pre-recorded tracks and a lot ofpeople are using tracks and
rehearsals because they can'tget musicians to come to the
same rehearsal as the choir isin, and sometimes that's not
(23:07):
always feasible, I understand,but at some point they need to
come together.
Now, having said that, thetechnology by itself is nothing
without software.
Now, having said that, I'mgoing to mention some software
that I've used over the yearsthat people can download on
their devices their phones,their tablets and I'm not going
to go into the details of whatthe software actually does, but
(23:28):
you can go check them out.
This software has completelyreplaced songbooks.
That means paper and copies.
You'd never have to do thatagain.
Everybody's got a phone,everybody's got some kind of
device in.
This software works on it.
So this is free advertisement.
We're not getting paid for this, nor are we endorsed by any of
these companies.
Deep Dish Gigbook is one of themthat you can get on the App
(23:49):
Store.
I've used it to completelyreplace all paper copies.
It allows me to set up bindersand the individuals to set up
binders on their own devices.
Lyrics for songs.
All we did is provide a centrallocation for all of the PDF
files of lyrics and the choirmembers were able to go there
and download those into Gigbook.
Now you can use Gigbook to setup binders for each choir or set
(24:13):
up binders for specificservices or events, special
occasions, etc.
Great application, inexpensive,no subscription.
Okay, I try not to use softwarethat requires me to have a
subscription and pay for it overand over and over again.
So that's not a learningapplication as much as it is a
(24:33):
file-aid application.
But if you want to learn musicand sometimes you have to slow
things down to learn them, thisis both for musicians and
singers.
There are two of them that I'veused over the years.
One is called Easy Slowdownerand that's by Ronnie Music,
r-o-n-i Musiccom.
I think it's still available.
In fact, I saw an update for itrecently.
(24:53):
Ronnie Music has an applicationcalled Amazing Slowdowner which
allows you to slow down themusic and change the pitch if
you need to in order to hearcertain parts.
Rehears slower, rehearse faster, and it does that without
changing the pitch of the song.
Now there is a pitch control inthat application, should you
(25:14):
want to change the key to a song, but this allows you to
rehearse it, slow it down, learnit a lot faster.
It does introduce a little bitof digital artifacts when you
slow it down or speed it up, butnot terrible, all right.
So amazing slow down is oneanother one that does a similar
thing and more is Called anytune.
I think it's called yes, it'sany tune, and you can find that
(25:36):
again at the Apple store anytune.
It also works on Android, Ibelieve.
Check that one out.
That one does probably twice asmuch in terms of features, then
the amazing slow down on one,but those two are Really good
for learning new music by ear.
If that's what you're doing nowwhile teaching the choir, if
everybody is looking down attheir phones Because they're
(25:58):
reading the lyrics, that's notgonna work out well for you.
And so if you're wondering ifthey're playing Angry Birds or
if they're reading the lyrics.
This other option is One that Isuggest, and that is that you
project the lyrics on something,whether that's on a wall or a
portable screen, depending onwhere you're rehearsing, and or
if you're in a choir room andyou've got you know screens
(26:21):
there, then you can project themon there.
A lot of churches today you usetwo different applications.
One is called easy worship andanother one is called pro
presenter.
You can choose one, each one ofthose, either one of those.
Now they are a lot moreglorified than just, you know,
presenting lyrics.
Most of these applications areused during church services and
(26:41):
other events, but if you have itfor your church, that means you
likely have a site license or alicense for your church to use
it, so you might as well use it.
Use it in rehearsal.
The challenge with this is thatyou're gonna have to assign
somebody to run that computerduring rehearsals, but it
certainly takes the strain offof the choir director, who's got
(27:01):
to tell people to look up, orthey're singing into their laps
and so you're not fully hearingthem in rehearsal.
So those two applications aremuch more involved than just
lyrics.
But again, if you have it, thatmeans you have a site license.
You might as well use it now.
The application that is beingused the most and I had to think
about it, I couldn't rememberthe title, that's why I didn't
mention it earlier, and Iprobably should have is planning
(27:23):
center.
Planning center is where allroads meet In terms of
scheduling singers, schedulingmusicians.
If you do song lists, planningcenter is used for that.
There are other apps out thereas well, but planning center is
the most popular one.
I do suggest you do some study,do some research and check out
some other ones, but planningcenter is by far the most used.
(27:46):
It is subscription based and itallows you to schedule singers,
your musicians, your song lists.
If you're into that, you canschedule your technical team.
I mean, it's a scheduling beastSpecifically designed for
churches, and so that's planningcenter.
You can go check that out.
Now again, we are not paid orendorsed by any of these
(28:09):
applications, but we will putthat information in the show
notes and you can do your ownresearch and find out what works
for you in your context.
Now, the other way that you canuse technology and rehearsal and
this is the easiest way is thatthere are apps that come with
your device if you have aniPhone, or the notes application
or the Pages application ifyou're on an Android.
(28:33):
I'm sure there's a note takerof some type of recorder as well
on both these devices some kindof note taker or some type of
recording application.
And so I encourage people to.
If you can't write the lyricsand you can't get the lyrics to
the choir members, certainlyhave them record rehearsals so
that they can go back andrehearse on their own time.
But take advantage of thetechnology, because everybody
(28:53):
has it.
They've got a mobile phone,they've got some type of tablet
that they can use.
That makes the teaching easyand the learning easy.
Now, keep in mind this is themost important part about
implementing technology intoyour choir rehearsals Is that
the more technology youintroduce into rehearsal, the
more technical support You'regonna have to provide, and so
(29:15):
make sure that you've got peoplewho are technologically savvy
and can help the ones that arenot.
It's the last thing you want inrehearsal to have to stop and
help somebody with their phone.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
My, my flip phone.
It won't flip.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
That's interesting because I'm thinking, I'm
listening to you, greg, and I'mthinking, okay, now that all of
that stuff sounds that's awesomeand I guess in the the more
tech savvy churches that worksLike that's a beautiful thing.
But then I'm thinking about thesmall church that don't have
(29:57):
half of what you're talkingabout, not even.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
I understand what?
Speaker 3 (30:04):
where does that leave them now?
Do they do they?
Are they now?
Or should they now be Forced orpushed prompt into seeking out
some of those apps and some ofthose avenues to enhance?
And it doesn't have to be a lotof money, but at least inquire
(30:26):
and take some time and researchit out and invest a little bit,
because I think sometimes andsome of our churches, especially
the smaller churches and Idon't know who the listening
audience is tonight but in oursmaller churches they don't
wanna pay for nothing.
I don't know if you've everbeen in a situation where you it
(30:53):
tickles me really bad it's beenin a situation where you're
working in these churches andsometimes and I love pastors
sometimes pastors don'tunderstand what is needed, what
can be better for their musicministries or music departments.
If they would just invest two,three more dollars and they're
(31:13):
in the top of that.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
You know, in a lot of cases that's really all of
these.
It's three more dollars.
I think if the church doesn'tplan to invest in technology,
it's gonna be behind and you'llstart to see the young people
dwindle away, and not justbecause it's not technologically
savvy, but churches who don'tmove and invest in technology
(31:37):
really ultimately begin to shunthe young people who are,
because they're the ones sittingthere in the pews with their
iPhones or their iPads, theirBible applications, etc.
And so you gotta remember thatthis generation is the most
technologically savvy generationin the history of the world.
They have access to moretechnology than we've ever had,
and those are gonna be the oneswho are gonna know how to get
(32:00):
those lyrics on the screen anddownload those apps and get your
phone working right and emptyyour cash and clear your memory
and all these other things.
So utilize that, because thenthat's a road in for even that
generation to get involved inthe ministry of the church.
And so, for technology, we'renot going backwards, we're only
moving forward and it's going toadvance and it's advancing very
(32:21):
quickly.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
Welcome to the Kwaya Room.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
As we're in the beginning of the Abbot season,
leading to the celebration ofthe birth of Jesus Christ, the
gift to the world, the reasonfor the season, during all of
the hustle and bustle that comeswith this season, I want to
challenge you to take severalmoments out of your day to
remind yourself why you shouldbe singing during this season in
particular.
(32:51):
Now, singing in generalrequires thought.
You don't just open your mouth,but you think about what you're
singing and you think upon thatwhich you are singing.
You have to think about yournotes, you have to think about
pitch, you have to think abouttiming.
And singing also requirespractice.
You know the old adage if youwant to get to Carnegie Hall,
you've got to practice, practice, practice.
(33:11):
And so it requires thought, itrequires practice, but it also
awakens feelings.
You know the feeling you getwhen you hear your favorite
Christmas carol, your favoriteChristmas song, or you smell
your favorite Christmas smell.
There's a feeling that comes.
Well, singing does the samething.
It awakens feelings andsometimes you'll feel the bass,
(33:31):
you'll feel the strings, you'llfeel the chord progression.
It awakens feelings.
And then, lastly, sometimessinging will produce emotions.
It'll produce emotions thatperhaps you weren't feeling
before you started singing.
See, in the life of a believer,singing is a direct response to
the faithfulness of God, to thework of Jesus Christ.
Our song, therefore, is aresponse to God for what he's
(33:55):
done.
It is a response to God forwhat he's doing.
It is a response to God forwhat we hope and believe that he
will do.
That's called praise andadvance.
And this kind of singinginvolves your physical, your
psychological, your emotionaland your spiritual being.
We are, by nature, spiritualbeings, and so singing is our
(34:15):
innate response to God.
Now, if you've listened to thispodcast for any length of time,
you know that we often speakfrom a Christian and biblical
perspective as it relates tosinging.
Now you may be singing aroundthe Christmas tree or rocking
around the Christmas tree.
For you it may be frosty talesand jingle bells, it may be
shopping lists and Christmasgifts and Friday sales and
(34:37):
chestnuts' males.
Now, I'm not knocking any ofthat, but I can tell you that if
any of that comes before thetrue reason for this season, you
will be left depleted at theend of this season and longing
for another Christmas holiday,because things are going to go
back to your normal aroundJanuary 2nd and for many it'll
happen December 26th.
(34:57):
In our previous episode, ourfriend keep getting reminded us
that we were created to sing,commanded to sing, and we sing
because of Christ.
Look at it this way Christ isthe who of this season, and His
birth, life, death, resurrectionand second coming is the why we
sing.
The who and the why directlydetermine how we sing or how we
(35:21):
worship.
In Exodus 15-1, I will singunto the Lord, I'll sing unto
Jehovah, for he hath triumphgloriously the horse and the
rider he hath thrown into thesea.
That's what he's done.
1 Chronicles 16-9 says Singunto him, sing praises unto him,
talk ye of all his marvelousworks.
That's what he's done.
(35:41):
That's what he's doing.
Psalm 33-2, praise the Lord withthe heart, sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrumentof ten streams.
That's your how.
And verse 3 in that same Psalm.
Psalm 33 says Sing unto him anew song, place skillfully with
the loud noise.
There you have more of your howwe should sing.
And so Christ is the object ofour celebration, he is the
(36:05):
object of our singing, he is theobject of our worship, and so
we sing in worship unto himbecause of his finished work.
That is our why.
And so how should we do it?
We should do it with the loudnoise.
We should do it daily.
We should do it consistently.
We should do it intentionally.
We should do it skillfully.
Do you have to be aprofessional?
(36:26):
Absolutely not, but give it thebest that you have and make
this season about the truereason.
Join us again next week as wecontinue this thought and
remember, if ever we put themessenger before the message, we
have failed to present anunblemished gospel.
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