My Musical Musings Blog | betsyleebaileymusic.com - The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey

Putting on the Armor of God

10/2/2023

In Ephesians 6:11-18 the Apostle Paul teaches "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Two songs that I have written help us incorporate this idea of putting on the Armor of God into our daily lives.

"Put on the Whole Armor of God" is a children's song with a martial flavor. I wrote it for my Cub Scouts years ago. We were preparing to perform at a pack meeting. Our theme was "Knights of the Round Table." Our activity was jousting. The boys made their own helmets, swords and shields.

I really wanted them to sing a catchy tune that had a better message than just battling each other in a mock tournament. I was thrilled by how much they enjoyed learning this song. They sang out with gusto. They really seemed to absorb the message of how to prepare to fight the fiery darts of the adversary by putting on the whole armor of God.

The other song I wrote for the Youth. "By Small and Simple Things" comes from a quote in Alma 37:6-7.

"6.Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."

The lyrics compare how very small things can bring about great things such as how a small helm can steer a great ship or how small strokes can create a beautiful painting. Our small actions can also bring about great things. Showing obedience in reading the scriptures daily can help us feel the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Doing good and serving gladly we will follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. We can prepare each day by putting on the whole armor of God.

Thinking Big, Possibly Too Big?

9/25/2023

Some hymn arrangements were definitely written for large choirs. For example, think of a piece that has the 1st Soprano section holding a note high above the Treble staff for 8 measures at the end while the orchestra does the play out big finish. Yeah, well that doesn't exactly work well for a small 12-15 voice Ward choir with only a piano for accompaniment.

And what about the arrangements that start out pretty straight forward, possibly in unison for the first verse, then suddenly split into 4-part Men or 8-part full choir. That doesn't work so well for a group with only 4 Basses, 1 Tenor, 5 altos, and 2 Sopranos.

Sometimes even with a "bigger" group, or a small group with "bigger" voices, the balance just doesn't work out right. Sure those pieces that are performed so well by the Tabernacle Choir or a fine College Choir seem fun to pull out for a Ward or Stake group. But should you? Really?

There is quite a temptation to think big when planning for a special event such as Stake Conference or Christmas. A choir director who knows there are some great voices in her ward or stake might feel that "certainly, if I choose some grand choral works I will attract those singers to come." Realistically, though, people have issues in their lives that sometimes make it impossible for them to support even the most worthy projects.

And even if some of those good singers say they will come up from the audience just for the performance (because they already know the song or they can sight-read well), they don't really contribute to helping the group be cohesive. Plus, there is merit in having those good singers at rehearsals to help the stalwart singers feel more confident.

My advice is to make sure you have the SUPPORT you need before you choose the music. Once you reasonably can judge your REHEARSAL attendance you can responsibly select music to suit your group.

As an audience member, I would much rather hear a simple hymn or arrangement sung well-blended with the Spirit than hear ambitious music done poorly.

Updates on the New LDS Hymnbook

8/28/2023

Many people have been wondering when the new LDS Hymnbook will be coming out. After attending some classes presented by members of the Hymnbook Committee at BYU Education Week, I have a new appreciation for how much time it has been taking. Apparently, over 17,000 hymns and Primary songs were submitted. The committee said that they have reviewed each and every one of them. However, there is no way that many new hymns can possibly be included in the new hymnbook!

They told us that each hymn or song has been quadruple-blind reviewed by at least 130 top-notched musicians. They had to narrow down the selection to roughly 500. From those, they have enlisted help from translator/poets and musicians from countries all over the world who can identify the hymns and Primary songs that could be most successfully translated into their languages. The goal is to publish the new hymnbook simultaneously all over the world in all the possible languages at the same time --- they are projecting sometime in 2026.

Those of us who attended the classes got a close-up peak at the process of TRANSCREATION --- a new term the committee coined. Because of the many differences in languages --- including numbers of syllables per word, cultural idioms, languages that are tonal, and some that are read right to left NOT left to right --- there are HUGE problems fitting words to music across so many languages. The translators must have the poetic gifts to create hymn lyrics that fit the tunes as well as convey a similar message as the original hymn given the musical constraints.

Suffice it to say that I have little hope for the chances of any of my submissions to be considered. However, they will very likely be listed on the new SACRED MUSIC app. Look for them there, if you are interested.

Go Forth in the Service of God - Hymn (original)
Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth - Hymn (new tune and SATB setting)
My Baptism Covenant - Primary Song (original)
Live By the Light of His Love - Primary Song (original)
Lord of All - Christmas - Primary Song (original)
How Far Is Heaven? - Primary Song (original) about Temples
Put On the Whole Armor of God - Primary Song (original)

Special Musical Numbers

8/6/2023

The summer months can be particularly hard for a Ward Music Coordinator to find Special Musical Numbers for Sacrament Meetings. So many musicians go out of town or have other commitments during the summer that make them unavailable.

I have heard of some pretty creative solutions, though.

A family I know volunteered to sing in their ward. They had to do something very simple, but what they came up with was quite successful.

Some wards do InstaChoirs where they ask anyone who wants to join in to just come up and sing a hymn from the hymnal.

Then I heard of a Ward that had all of the men just stand up in their places and sing "Ye Elders of Israel."

The Primary children sometimes get asked to try out one of the songs they are preparing for their Sacrament Meeting Presentation later in the year.

Sometimes, one of the youth is available to play a piano or other instrumental solo.

We've had trouble in our Ward with the speakers getting very long-winded. This summer we've had to nix the Intermediate Hymn completely more than once. I wonder what would have happened had we also prepared Special Music for those days.

I am always glad when Fall comes around again and people are more willing to prepare Special Musical numbers for Church. I especially love having the choir sing. Only a few more weeks....

In the meantime, here are a few 2-Part Mixed Hymn Arrangements that have been used successfully for a family or small group or even a duet.

"Abide with Me 'tis Eventide," "Come Follow Me," "Count Your Blessings," and "Israel, Israel God Is Calling."

The Days of '47

7/24/2023

The Days of '47 is a holiday in Utah celebrating the Pioneers first entry into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. We honor those pioneers who pushed across the plains hoping to build a new community in the batten mountain lands west of the current United States. Those early Latter-day Saints had been kicked out of the USA for their religious beliefs. They were being persecuted and oppressed and by moving west hoped to find a place where they could practice their religion in peace and safety.

We honor those early pioneers for their courage and endurance. We also honor today's pioneers who believe in God and also push forward with faith to practice their religious beliefs.

Several years ago I was asked to write a song to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Baltimore Maryland Stake. The Stake President requested a song that would recognize the faith of the early pioneers of the Church as well as capture the strength and spirit of the new pioneers who are currently building the kingdom of God in the Baltimore area. There are many converts in the Baltimore area who are first generation members and truly new pioneers. The inspiration came in an instant. Of course, they were "Building on a Legacy of Faith" of those who went before, but they were also forging onward in new territory with new challenges and new triumphs.

"Building on a Legacy of Faith" may be sung to commemorate the efforts of the early Pioneers of the Church as well as to celebrate the many new pioneers throughout the world in our day who are bravely pressing on, ever seeking Zion.

It is a stirring Pioneer Anthem as well as a wonderful Missionary Anthem. These words exhort us to continue onward:

"Serve the Lord. Trust His word.
Make known His wondrous works in all the earth.
Learn of Him. Call upon His name.
Prepare for the day when Christ will come again."

"The time has come to stand a little taller,
To demonstrate our faith in the living God.
To do the work of His Beloved Son, our Master,
To follow in the ways that our Savior trod."

"Building on a Legacy of Faith_____
Ever moving forward; ever seeking Zion.
Servants of our God, working hand in hand,
Ever building on a legacy of faith."

Too Dramatic for Worship Service?

5/17/2023

When is a song -- solo, small ensemble, or choral piece -- deemed too dramatic or long for Sacrament Meeting?

I noticed a thread going around about this question. They were talking about having a professional singer sing "O Divine Redeemer" by Charles Gounod for Stake Conference. There was an opinion that it was too long and too dramatic for use in that service even though it was expressly requested by the Stake President.

Years ago, I sang that piece at least once a year for some worship service or another. Always by request. I think nowadays that the "public" is used to very simple Christian "pop" songs that don't take too much preparation or ability to perform. On the other hand, "O Divine Redeemer" takes a lot of skill and musicianship not to mention a voice with an expanded range to be able to sing it well. If done well, it is beautiful and powerful. If done poorly, it is very painful to listen to.

Yes, that piece is dramatic and yes it is over 3:00 minutes long. Yet, if it is sung well, it is a masterful sermon and testimony served with gorgeous music! Too bad that we have fewer and fewer trained singers and accompanists who could pull off a good performance of such a magnificent piece.

As far as it being too dramatic for Conference goes, it doesn't seem any more dramatic than singing "Master the Tempest is Raging," "I Stand All Amazed," or "I Know that My Redeemer Lives."

As far as it being too long? It isn't longer than singing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" -- all 7 verses, or even shortened to only 4 verses.

I for one, would rather hear a beautiful rendition of "O Divine Redeemer" than any number of the Christian "pop" songs we hear so often, usually done poorly.

Another dramatic hymn we sing regularly is "The Lord Is My Light." This has been a favorite hymn of mine since the day I heard my uncle John Thompson give a testimony about it, then sing it. He was visiting our ward one Sunday while I was in high school. He had the most marvelous heroic tenor voice. This arrangement is a salute to my wonderful uncle John who always said that some of the most powerful sermons are taught through sacred songs and hymns.

Such a Strange Day

5/8/2023

This weekend was between semesters for the college professors who live in our ward. We live very close to campus, so it is understandable that many in our Ward Family are associated with the University. It was still a surprise, though, that for Testimony Meeting we barely filled half of the chapel with a very few in the gym. (We usually fill up most of the chapel and the overflow into the gym.) At choir practice we had five singers. We usually have between 20-25 singers. In Primary we had about half of the children, and only two regular teachers and the Primary President. The other teachers were substitutes.

The Chorister in Sacrament Meeting picked three unfamiliar hymns. Usually, our congregation, that is packed with Music Professors and other people who love to sing, does rather well singing the hymns, familiar or not. But this Sunday, we were quite weak. However, we did have something fun happen. Our organ was just refurbished, and after weeks of only having a piano, it was exciting to hear our fabulous organist play "coronation" music as we left the chapel for Sunday School.

In Primary, we sang "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" which was a favorite song for all of us older teachers and subs. So we were sad when the music leader told us not to sing for one of the verses. She wanted to hear just the children --- all 13 of them --- sing. That didn't go over very well because the kids didn't know the song as well as we older folks did. We loved singing a Primary song we actually knew!

Then in choir practice, we had 2 sopranos, 1 tenor, and 2 basses. I am still scratching my head wondering why our choir director decided to hand out an SSAATTBB piece for us to sight-sing through. I went ahead and sang alto so we would at least have four parts.

It was such a strange day at Church!

Perhaps the Choir Director should have had a plan in place to let us sing something we could have managed better with just 2 parts. Here are some options for those strange days that happen from time to time.
Easy 2-Part Mixed Chorus

But the Organ Bench is Backwards!

5/2/2023

Sometimes disasters happen! Seasoned musicians can usually turn their lemons into lemonade, but what happens if an inexperienced person is faced with the same challenges?

My daughter was in charge of Stake Conference music last weekend. They live in an area where distances are great and Stake-wide participation in choirs is very difficult. This go around she decided to try forming a Women's chorus.

She hoped that she could bypass the problem of not getting enough men to sing SATB and hopefully get support to do some nice SSA pieces. The two rehearsals garnered enough support to balance the sections, but they still were a small group. My daughter usually leads the choirs but this time she needed to accompany. She found someone else to conduct who fortunately was also a trained musician.

The problems started at the Saturday night adult meeting. Unbeknownst to her, the audio/visual equipment for the Zoom was set up in between the piano and organ right where the choir conductor usually stands. That meant that during the meeting the conductor would have to stand right at the knees of the Stake Presidency to lead the choir, but what else could she do? The men even took out one of the pews for the choir. They also left some stacked chairs and equipment debris in place of the pew that made it awkward for the choir to negotiate getting into the choir seats and impossible for the organist to gracefully get from the organ to the piano without walking in front of the General Authority visitor!

My daughter did not know about all of these problems because the Leadership meeting had gone 30 minutes over time. She was faced with trying to address these issues in the same 10 minutes that she was supposed to be playing prelude. And as if these troubles weren't enough, the Visiting Authority also decided to change the hymns that were to be sung and wanted to use the big screen for a video during his talk. Well, the screen when dropped would fall right into the laps of the choir!

When she finally got things on the way to being dealt with, she hopped onto the organ --- only to be surprised that the organ bench had been replaced BACKWARDS! As she was playing, she realized that there was no place to rest her feet! She had to carefully dangle her legs during rests so she wouldn't accidentally play unplanned pedal parts!

Imagine if an inexperienced musician had been faced with these challenges! My daughter was able to deal with these problems because she was a seasoned musician and very capable. But it wasn't fair! Obviously, the people setting up the Zoom equipment did not think about how their "efforts" would disrupt other people's efforts down the line.

I'm sure my daughter made everything look like things were normal, but the heightened anxiety didn't allow her to enjoy the meeting!

Building a Church Choir

4/22/2023

Not many of us as Church Choir Directors have the luxury of directing large well-trained groups. Most of the Ward and even Stake Choirs are less than 25 voices, and even then, are not evenly balanced. What then do we do to compensate?

Of course, we try to recruit as many singers as possible. But sometimes getting a large group together is just not possible. Time, travel, distance, other commitments, family distractions, limited rehearsal space and scheduling, etc. --- there are always good reasons for people NOT to support choir. The trick is to figure out ways to help singers WANT to support Choir.

1. Get to know your possible singers. Find out their needs, time constraints, and desires. (Become their friend.)
2. Learn about their family situations that might play into when you might best schedule rehearsals. (Provide babysitting?)
3. Find out what styles of music they gravitate towards and how hard they are willing to work to perfect the singing.
4. Interview them about their musical abilities -- sight-reading skills, flexibility with singing parts, singing solos, etc.
5. Be sensitive to the needs and abilities of your accompanist. Choose music accordingly.

Armed with this information, you can make a plan. You will then be able to guess the level of difficulty you can use when choosing music. You can judge how many rehearsals it will take to reasonably learn the music. And you will be able to look for songs that will be appealing to the group.

It may be tempting to choose pieces that you sang in college with your a cappella choir or that you've heard the Tabernacle Choir sing. Be sure to check if those pieces could work for a small group. Many of those songs were written for hundreds of voices and full orchestras! The vocal parts may start out fairly simple but then suddenly break into a 4-part Men's section!

The trick is to have a selection of good stuff! Have a few pieces that are easy to learn in maybe one or two rehearsals. (Easy 2-Part Mixed Chorus) Then have a couple of challenge pieces or songs for a holiday coming up that might take longer but are really worth learning! Those are the pieces that the good singers will want to come for! Plan your rehearsals to always be working on several pieces and looking ahead to the harder things. Try to sing as often as possible.

Be patient. It takes some time to establish a good group.

Here is a piece that sounds more sophisticated than it really is. If you have a good accompanist with medium level skills, try this 2-Part Mixed Chorus arrangement of "Abide with Me 'tis Eventide."

Sermon on the Mount

4/7/2023

The other evening, I watched the Hollywood epic "Ben Hur." I was impressed by how reverently the movie depicts the scenes with Christ. The audience never sees His face. The audience never hears His voice. It only shows other actors reacting to seeing Christ's face or repeating His words. The powerful music helps the audience imagine for themselves the face and voice of Jesus. The words that are quoted are from what we call the Sermon on the Mount.

I'm sure Jesus gave this Sermon many times because these are the teachings of His doctrine (John 8:12, Matt. 16:25). No wonder, when Jesus appeared to the Nephites on the American continent, He also gave this sermon to them (3 Nephi 15:9).

Although this song is not precisely an Easter song, it expresses the teachings, doctrine, and majesty of Jesus Christ. "Live By the Light of His Love" actually compares some of the different words used in these separate accounts that are interesting. In the New Testament, while he was was still with the people, Jesus says, "I am the Light and the Life, come follow me." When he visited the Nephites, after His resurrection He says, "I am the Law and the Life, look unto me."

The song also gives ways that we can look unto Him and follow Him.

I have also created a shorter, slightly simplified version of "Live By the Light of His Love" for Primary children.

At this Easter season, may we look unto Christ and follow his ways. May we live by the Light of His Love.

The Music of Betsy Lee Bailey copyright 2020