Category: LDS Church Music

Following a Take-Charge Conductor

2/15/2020

Some personalities you just don't want to contradict. They come across with such a take-charge demeanor that you cannot help but follow as they lead.

This lady may be small in stature, but she is tall in spirit. I have visited my daughter's ward several times now, and each time, I have been fascinated by this wonderful conductor. She doesn't seem to have had any real formal musical training, and yet she feels and leads the hymn-singing from the heart. The members in this small ward really have no choice but to follow her. They don't dare NOT sing. (I get the impression that she would go after them personally if they looked down in their books too much or just didn't participate.)

Besides, you just never know what she will ask of the singers. Sometimes she signals the accompanist to drop out leaving the singers unaccompanied. Sometimes she indicates that the congregation should all sing the melody. Sometimes she insists on extreme pianissimo or fortissimo to enhance the meaning of the text. (You don't want to be caught singing forte when she just indicated subito piano!) This conductor really cares about the congregation and how they join in the singing. Clearly she wants them ALL to have a unifying and spirit-filled experience singing the hymns.

A music leader who knows what she wants to have happen and isn't afraid to do all she can to make it happen really exemplifies what it takes to be a good conductor. Her enthusiasm is what makes her conducting irresistible. She actually believes that the congregation will follow as she directs. She internalizes the music herself so that she hardly watches the music. She keeps eye contact with people in the congregation and the accompanist. What she doesn't know about formal conducting technique, she makes up for in can-do attitude. And she simply exudes LOVE --- love for the music, love for the message, love for the people, love for the Savior.

What works better than that? People respond to LOVE. They can't help themselves. As a conductor, be that person who loves what you do and transmits that love to your congregation. Engage them in the moment. They won't be able to resist joining you in singing the hymns with enthusiasm.

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Impressions of a New Hymn

2/10/2020

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The lyrics were crafted in solid hymn text meter and rhyme scheme. They supported the main theme throughout three verses, though could have used more poetic devices. The melody had some good ideas and some unifying repetition, but it lacked word painting and a general sense of being unique and appealing. The harmonies and voice leading did nothing to help create a definitive mood and they rarely followed standard musicianship practices such as smooth voice leading or engaging chord progression. Unfortunately, this hymn needs revising.

Good hymn writing takes skill and patience. Writing a strong melody that is memorable and matches the lyrics but stays in a tight meter and form is downright difficult. Add to that, creating an underpinning of harmonies with an interesting chord progression (which cannot be too predictable) following all of the rules of proper voice leading, then the task becomes even harder. And in the end, the hymn just has to be enjoyable to sing. Good hymns are difficult to write.

The hymn mentioned above was submitted for review by a young composer who clearly had some good ideas, but the execution was somewhat immature. It was obvious, looking at the manuscript, that the composer was a pianist. He made some classic mistakes in part writing that pianists don't see as problematic because they are not singers, or at least they don't think to test out their product by attempting to sing each part. Basses really don't like singing awkward jumps of strange intervals. Altos really hate being stuck on E flat for measure after measure. Tenors feel confused if suddenly they don't get their own pitch notated in the score or if their part crosses over the alto or bass notes. And if the melody is not gratifying to sing, you lose the entire soprano section (or most of the congregation). Sometimes a line is a "garbage part" - meaning that the singers must jump to random notes to fill in the missing harmony with no thought of satisfying melodic movement that makes sense. Good melodic writing and voice-leading are not only acquired skills but take a lot of work and a dose of real talent.

It can be baffling to contemplate why we like what we like and dislike vehemently what doesn't work for our ears or our hearts. Some of our favorite hymns are deceptively simple. The melodies seem like they just always existed because they fit the text so well. The meters, rhythms, rhyme schemes, motives, and word painting all come together so seamlessly that they are always thought of together. And how can a melody so interesting and beautiful be underpinned by just three chords? 'Tis a puzzlement, for sure!

I do hope that the young composer will take more time to study part-writing for SATB Mixed Chorus so that when he revises his hymn, it will work beautifully.

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Upstrokes and Downstrokes

1/29/2020

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What exactly is the role of a Church congregational singing conductor? Why do we need someone to wave their arms around when the audience just follows the organ anyway?

Unfortunately, many people have this view that the person who stands up in front of the congregation and waves his arms around serves no real purpose at all. Maybe they have just never sung under the baton of an inspired conductor. Maybe they just never look up at the conductor to take in what they are doing. Maybe they just refuse to sing in any case and check out altogether.

The Church Music Conductor does have a real function. That job is to UNITE the group in singing praises to God. The conductor shares a yoke with the accompanist -- the conductor keeps track of the tempo, dynamics, flow, breathing and interpretation so that the organist can focus on her playing. Ideally, the conductor sets the organist at ease and keeps the congregation working harmoniously together.

How is that done? What are all of those UPSTROKES and DOWNSTROKES about anyway?

The DOWNSTROKES are indication of when the beat happens. Just like tapping your toes or bouncing a ball in time to the music, the downward motion speeds into the ICTUS or the exact instant of the BEAT. Musicians call these downstrokes DOWNBEATS.

But a DOWNBEAT cannot happen unless it comes from a higher position. Rather than letting a ball simply drop, bouncing a ball or swinging a bat or getting ready to jump takes a preparation movement in the opposite direction. The force of the jump or swing or bounce comes from the power in that PREPARATION. That is the same with the UPSTROKES in conducting. Musicians call these UPBEATS or REBOUNDS or CUES or PREPARATORY Beats.

Much information is conveyed in how the UPBEAT is articulated -- the TEMPO, the FEEL, the BREATH, the DYNAMIC. For example, a long UPBEAT (accompanied by powerful hands and a big breath by the conductor) usually cues the congregation to come in singing LOUDLY. A gentle small hand motion (and light breath) on the UPBEAT usually cues the congregation that they are to sing SOFTLY.

For the novice CONDUCTOR, try experimenting with planning your CUES. You will be amazed at what you can do by just varying your UPSTROKES and DOWNSTROKES.

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Impulse Conducting

1/27/2020

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The organist was already having trouble before the conductor joined in. When the conductor took over, she exaggerated the 4/4 time by heavily articulating each beat in her beat pattern. Maybe she felt that she needed to "help" the organist play more accurately. (But she really made the organist more nervous and self-conscious.) The audience did their best to stay interested in the singing, but I noticed some people around me breaking ranks and dropping out. As the four verses progressed, the music dragged slower and slower. It was a blessed relief to come to the last cadence.

Conducting or playing with an IMPULSE on each beat can be exhausting!

Once on a very enjoyable TED talk by Benjamin Zander, he explained about IMPULSE playing. He demonstrated first how a young beginning student plays the piano. (He played a Mozart piece giving the same hesitant, heavy accents on EACH NOTE.) Then he said that the child would sound like this the next year. (He demonstrated playing the same piece giving the impulses on EVERY OTHER BEAT.) Next he said that if that same student practices for about two more years he would sound "something like this." (He played the piece again giving one IMPULSE ONCE PER MEASURE.) Then he said that unfortunately at that point, the child would most likely decide to give up on lessons altogether. "But had he stuck to the lessons, eventually he would have sounded like this." (He demonstrated playing the same piece with ONE IMPULSE PER PHRASE.)

The goal -- whether conducting, playing or singing music -- should always be IMPULSE BY PHRASES. Find the arc in the musical line that defines the dynamic and articulation. It is NOT that hard. We naturally do that when we speak. Why not look ahead in the lyrics or notice the shape of the melody to find where the natural impulses should be? While there are some hymns that do not "paint the words" very well, most do. The marriage of engaging melody and powerful lyrics should be celebrated and sung or played accordingly.

Consider, for example, the woeful plight of the hymn "How Great Thou Art." Sung with IMPULSES ON EACH NOTE (the way I have most often heard congregations murder it) makes the hymn feel like a funeral dirge dragging slower and slower to its final phrase demise. However, if it is sung up tempo with through-phrasing and fluid lyric arcs, this hymn is powerful and wonderful to sing.

"Hope of Israel" can be a joyful hymn to sing, but not when it is marched with IMPULSES ON EACH NOTE. Singing with gusto and trying to accent each beat can be exhausting and feel like slogging through the mud. But, if conducted by phrase, giving dynamic impulses where they belong on just the important words and notes, the singers can have the stamina to march with power all the way to the end!

Conductors -- give the congregation a treat -- don't just conduct by IMPULSES, use impulses to CONDUCT by PHRASES!

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Cheerful Praise and Thanksgiving

11/25/2019

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One of the most hopeful, praising, thankful texts I have ever found is "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" by W.W. Phelps 1792-1872. In the 1985 L.D.S. hymnal, this upbeat, cheerful text is paired with a very plodding hymn tune in duple meter while anyone who reads the text separately from the music will instantly see that the meter needs to be in triple. Besides that, the melodic phrases don't match the imagery in the text. So, a few years ago, I decided to write a 3/4 melody for this text and make sure it supports the word painting.

Yesterday, my home ward choir sang this piece, in the SSATB version. We have an unusual choir because we have many fine singers in every section, plus several renown music professors, instrumentalists, composers, solo singers, and choir conductors. (Living close to BYU campus does have its perks.) The performance went well, and I was pleased. (What a nice Birthday present to me!)

The program listed not only the song title, but had my name credited as the composer. So after the meeting, many people came up to me and gave such ecstatic comments about our performance. Most of them said things like, "I recognized the text, remembering that it was in our hymnal, but I didn't recognize the melody." One man said, "I had to look in the hymn book just to make sure! Wow! Then I realized that you had put that text to a whole new melody. That hymn really needed a facelift and you did it! The words came alive! Well done."

Later in the evening the sweetest thing happened. About 25 of us were gathered for a noisy family birthday celebration dinner in my house, when unexpectedly, the doorbell rang. A bunch of kids ran to answer it, so I went too. A neighbor and two of his sons (ages 13 and 10) were standing there holding out a plate of cookies. One of the boys said, "We really liked your song today in Church, so we made you some cookies. Thank you. That really made our Sunday."

I don't think I have ever had a more tender and sincere compliment from young boys! I was really touched.

Enjoy "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" SSATB with Piano accompaniment.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Disappointing Music Reading Workshop

9/1/2019

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The other day I attended a Music Reading Workshop. The attendees were each given a packet of titles that we would look at and sing through. As I perused these pieces, I was hopeful to find something new and interesting for my Church Service Missionary Choir to sing for Christmas. At first glance, I saw a few Christmas titles. So I was anxious to get to them in the sing-through.

But as we began singing, I grew concerned about these new songs and arrangements. I knew the ranges and limitations of my current and former choir members. These new pieces demanded some very strange requirements of the singers. The Altos would be very happy because they regularly got to sing low G's and F's below Middle C and rarely jumped up towards Treble C. However, the Basses often had to jump from singing down on the lowest notes of the Bass staff to suddenly sing up on Middle D or E with no preparation, even. (You try jumping the interval of a 13th and nail it every time!) The Tenors jumped all over the place to sing as low as the basses and high as the Altos. Then I was blown away when the Sopranos were to sing with the Altos below Middle C on low F's and G's and in the next verse sing up in the stratosphere above the Treble staff. (Sopranos don't like singing below Middle C, ever, but then in the next song jump up to High C above the Treble staff? Crazy!) Hadn't these composers taken any classes in part writing for choral singers?

This chart gives vocalizing ranges, not comfortable singing ranges for the typical choral singer.

Generally, common writing practices allow for each choral part to span no more than one octave and a fourth, with rare exceptions. These songs at the Workshop required the singers to have virtuoso comfort ranges of more than 2 octaves each (with the exception of the Altos who rarely sang a span of more than one octave). And the songs were mostly contemporary sacred popular tunes -- not even in sacred style where the trained singer could show off their classical chops!

Suffice it to say that I would never consider any of these pieces for my choir. My Basses complain at having to sing anywhere near the top of the Bass staff. My Tenors don't like to sing low notes. Neither do my Sopranos. Okay, my Altos would have been delighted to actually see written low F's in their music, but they are happy to sing any notes between low G and Treble C. Guess I will continue to look around for good Christmas songs for my group. In the meantime, I have some great tried and true songs we can learn. "Hear the Angels Singing" SATB by Lloyd Larson is upbeat and fun. So is "Good Christians All Rejoice" 2-Part by Beryl Red. These pieces maintain decent ranges for all of the voice parts. And I just love the piano accompaniments for both pieces. They come highly recommended!

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Of Phrases and Cut-Off's

7/15/2019

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Musicians appreciate musicianship. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to conduct the congregational singing at Church. I was a last minute substitute for my friend who had suddenly gotten very sick. So, I reported early for Church, put the hymn numbers up on the board, spoke briefly to the organist to discuss tempo and conducting matters, then looked in the program and noticed that the first talk and the musical number were unchanged from two weeks before. I next spoke to the Bishop about maybe changing the musical number to an intermediate hymn by the congregation and adding a very short closing hymn. (I also mentioned that the kid who was listed in th program as the first speaker might need an explanation and a reprieve.) From there, the meeting proceeded as I would have thought was routine and appropriate.

After the meeting, I got many interesting comments from passers-by in the halls. One famous and celebrated vocalist who happens to be a member of our congregation forcefully grabbed my hand in his and said, "You directed phrases with feeling! It was remarkable! Your tempos were perfect." Another fine flautist in our midst caught up with me to say that he enjoyed watching because I indicated breathing and cut-off's. Another singer said, "It was so enjoyable to follow you through the many fermatas, because we could!" An alto friend said, "It was wonderful to watch you conduct because I knew your every move had a purpose." The organist found me later and said that he had a new title for me, "You are the Tempo Queen." He explained that he could very easily follow me through these hymns that were long, had contrasting sections and many fermatas, and that the tempos we felt together were spot on. Other people also gave me the normal compliments such as, "Oh, you had such lovely hand movements" or "Your smile made me want to sing." (But these comments were not from musicians, just nice people in the congregation.)

   Later in the day, I conducted a newly formed choir of young Church Service Missionaries. We were gathered at a Devotional meeting where a famous artist who specializes in painting scenes from Christ's Life and Mission would be the Guest Speaker. Our "choir" which was very small, just nine people, was making its debut performance. (I decided to stack the deck a bit by asking my son and daughter and her husband to help fill in our ranks. So, we actually had 12 singers for the performance.) We sang "Come We that Love the Lord" as the Opening Hymn and "Lead Kindly Light" just before the talk. I had arranged these hymns so that they could be sung in just 2-parts or more parts depending on the numbers and abilities of our participants (who I had not met until the few rehearsals prior to the performance).

   Once again, I got some interesting comments. One young new Church Service Missionary ran up to me as I was gathering the choir folders after the meeting. He said, "This choir is not going to sing again unless you let me be in it!" (I actually knew him, and we laughed and I said that of course I really needed him to sing with us.) Another young Sister Missionary also begged me for information on how she could join the choir. Other comments were from people who said how much they enjoyed the choir's singing or how beautiful the songs were. But the musicians' comments were much more specific. "I could tell you had to do pretty simple music with this group, but you made it sound elegant!" "I knew that you must be singing along because you had fewer females than males, but I could only hear a blended sound." "I think the choir members felt your confidence in them because I never saw you actually look down at the music. You drew the performance out of them."  "Boy, I wish our choir director could be as clear with phrasing and cut-off's as you were! Here you took these few kids that had never sung together before and had them looking and sounding so professional. Well done!"

   Clearly, paying attention to phrasing and precise cut-off's make a huge difference in the sound and confidence of the group. I confess, it was validating to get such compliments from my peers!

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Sing-Along with the Tabernacle Choir

6/17/2019

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One of the messages for the Adult Session of our recent Stake Conference was "Ministering in a Higher, Holier Way." Our visiting Area Authority Elder Foster got up midway during the meeting and announced that we would next be singing a special musical number together. And because it was not a very well-known hymn, we would be singing along with a video by the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. He explained that this hymn was a favorite of President Thomas S. Monson's and that it beautifully detailed the theme of Ministering. He also mentioned that we should not worry because he made sure the lyrics were included on the screen.

President Thomas S. Monson

Once the music started, I recognized the hymn and the performance. The video was taken from the 85th Birthday Celebration of Thomas S. Monson (Golden Days 1:21:30) and I had been there singing in the Choir! I remembered how this hymn had not been in our hymnbook since the Deseret Sunday School Hymnal of 1908. I wondered if anyone in the congregation would recognize it besides me. Sure enough, the congregation dutifully tried to sing along for the first verse. That's the verse that is in a normal range. Then came the chorus with a couple of octave jumps up in the melodic line. Then came the verse that the men sing alone, then came the modulations to much higher keys. Soon I noticed I was singing the high notes by myself. The people near me were slinking down in their chairs or looking sheepishly around to see if anyone else was singing --- besides me, of course.

"If the Way Be Full of Trial, Weary Not" is a wonderful hymn by John R. Sweney. Other, more familiar hymns he wrote are "There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today" and "The Lord Is My Light." He was famous not only as a hymn-writer but an enthusiastic choral director. Also, he was known, as someone who could really make a congregation sing. But I decided that it really helps if the congregation actually knows the hymn and the arrangement to get them to sing out.

Later, I had the opportunity to thank Elder Foster for including that sing-along during the meeting. I told him that I thought it was such fun to sing with the choir again and mentioned that I had been in that video as a former Tabernacle Choir member. But I wondered why he chose that unfamiliar hymn to use for our congregation. He said that it was the message he wanted to use for the theme of his talk. He would have just played the video for people to listen to, but understood that if they felt like they were to participate they might actually read and internalize the words better.

Well, I hope that was what happened. I am not so sure judging from the comments I got. I think I may have been a big distraction. One man came up to me and asked if I was a professional singer or something. I told him that I just happened to know that hymn arrangement because I had sung in that video. He said, "I knew it! You had to have been in the Tabernacle Choir. My wife was right. She said that was the only way you would have been able to sing like that." Distraction or not, I still enjoyed singing that wonderful hymn!

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Hymns for the New Hymnal

3/6/2019

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Be it known that I do not think of myself as a hymn writer. I have spent way too much time taking existing hymns and stretching their melodies and harmonies and creating new settings for them to ever be confined by such a tight musical form. However, when the call came out for submissions of original hymns for a new Hymnal, I wondered if I maybe could write a hymn.

After studying various texts and many, many hymns, I decided to look at some anthems I had already written to see if they could be pared down to bare essentials so they might fit the tight hymn form. (This exercise seemed so backward to me!) Let me share with you what I discovered.

When my oldest son came home from his mission, I wanted my ward choir to sing something special when he gave his talk. I wanted to do something original and started studying General Conference talks. While reading a talk by Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley about missionary work, I was struck by this quote: "For this is the joy of which angels sang when they sang at the birth of God's son...Press forward with faith and endure to the end 'til the work of the master is done." This became the impetus of the entire anthem.

Four verses and a contrasting section later, "Go Forth in the Service of God" was ready for the choir to learn and perform. It was sung again for the Stake Conference that year with the special emphasis on Missionary work. One of my friends encouraged me to enter it in the Church Submissions contest that year. So I did, but I decided to enter it in the Hymn Text category. I can't help feeling that if I had left out the words to the contrasting section (that were not the same meter as the hymn verses) it would have garnered a prize more than a Special Recognition.

So, now I have lined up the verses by stanza in hymn style and left out the contrasting section. The hardest part was leaving it the same for each verse with no modulations, melodic or harmonic variations, no soprano descant, and no exciting accompaniment on organ and piano. Tough! But, I submitted it anyway.

The other submission was a new setting to an existing hymn text by W.W. Phelps. "Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth" has such a cheerful message. I had always felt sorry that it was matched with a stolid, boxy 4/4 hymn tune. I actually entered the SSAA choral version in the Church Submissions contest and it won and Award of Merit. So now, I created a 4-part hymn version in 3/4 meter leaving out the fun choral stuff but hopefully leaving the essence of the upbeat message.

There you have it --- my hymn submissions.

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Writing New Hymns and Primary Songs

9/7/2018

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So many people of my acquaintance are talking about submitting new children's songs or hymns for the new editions of the Primary Songbook and LDS Hymnal. There is quite the buzz!

When I was in college in the late '70's, there was also a buzz going around about submitting hymns for a new hymnal. Many of my musical friends were writing new texts and setting them to music or finding existing hymn texts and crafting new tunes to go with them. I actually don't know if any of their hymns were submitted, but I do know that none of them were included into the 1985 hymnal.

I asked the General Music Chairman once what the committee's criteria was for choosing hymns or children's songs to go in a new songbook. He didn't give me any real guidance, only that the songs would have to be award winners in the Music Submissions contest held yearly. Wonder if that will be the case as they work to create these new music collections? Elder David B. Haight came to our Stake Conference back when the 1985 hymnal was still pretty new. We were preparing to use a few of the newer hymns as part of Stake Conference. He had an interesting reaction. He said that he oversaw part of the selection process of the 1985 Hymnal. He was so tired of the straining and stressing over the new hymns that he asked if we would just sing some of the old familiar tunes. It must be a monumental task to choose the hymns and songs for use throughout the entire Church!

My sister has been after me to write a new baptism song for years. She said recently that this was my chance to write a good one and get it submitted. Since she obviously had particular ideas, I asked her to get me started with words and concepts for the song. We were out to lunch with friends and she immediately whipped out her phone, wrote out a few lines and emailed them to me. Five minutes! That is all it took her to come up with these words. She has been in charge of Stake Baptisms for children for many years. She has often thought that we needed a song about keeping the baptism covenant.

I made my first covenant today
I chose to live the Savior's way
My heavenly brother I will serve
His blessings I will try to deserve
The Hioly Ghost is my constant guide
I will feel his warmth daily by my side
I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ
I love my Savior Jesus Christ

So, using these concepts as a starting point, I went home and wrote her a new song. Here's what I came up with. Please tell me what you think.