0:00

Welcome to the Choir Room

0:02

. This is episode 37

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of the Choir Room Podcast .

0:07

Welcome to the Choir

0:09

.

0:09

Room . I'm Greg Thomas , your

0:11

host , and I am joined by my co-hosts

0:13

, dorian Johnson Welcome

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to the Choir Room Mieta

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Stanza-Farrar and who we like to call

0:21

the fourth wheel , coleman Smart . This

0:24

podcast exists to promote and encourage

0:27

to long time traditions in our society

0:29

that seem to be dwindling away , and

0:31

that is choir and corporate singing

0:33

. We hope to revive the excitement

0:35

and joy experience with singing in a choir , as

0:38

well as inform and educate the listener

0:40

on all things singing and all things

0:42

choir . This podcast is a production

0:45

of Metro Music and Arts , whose purpose is to

0:47

perpetuate and promote the Christian

0:49

and positive idea through the medium

0:51

of music and other arts . If

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you haven't done so already , we ask that you subscribe

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to this podcast by writing the word subscribe

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in the subject field of an email and

1:01

sending that to the choir room at metromusic-artscom

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. And then do us a really big favor like

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the podcast , send us your comments

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and then share with a friend or family

1:11

member or colleague and tell them you're

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in the Choir Room .

1:16

Welcome to the Choir Room .

1:18

Appropriate for this Easter week , where Christians

1:21

all over the world are acknowledging Holy

1:23

Week and , of course , resurrection Sunday

1:25

, or as it is commonly known as

1:27

Easter Sunday . I was reminded

1:29

the other day of this song that we recorded

1:32

during the shutdown of 2020 . I'm

1:34

in one location . My dear friend Misty

1:36

Quinn is in another location , a song

1:38

written by Kurt Carr and that we've done many

1:41

, many times over the years . It was so

1:43

necessary during the pandemic , as we were

1:45

all separated from each other . You probably

1:47

know how difficult it can be to record

1:49

a song that is rubato in its

1:51

timing and tempo , but yet we managed

1:54

to pull it off . Now . We've shared it on this podcast

1:56

before and we thought we'd share it again during this

1:58

Easter week . Here's Misty Quinn and yours

2:01

truly in two different locations

2:03

in 2020 .

2:10

The shed blood of Christ

2:18

still has

2:21

miraculous power . We can't forget God's

2:24

sacrifice . He

2:32

saved this world with

2:34

his son's life . God must have agonized and grieved

2:37

to watch his child suffer and bleed , but he knew

2:39

the blood that his son spilled

2:41

there Would save the

2:43

world from her despair

2:45

, so that two thousand

2:48

years ago God put

2:50

his power in

2:52

the throne and

2:55

the sin

2:58

of the world could

3:00

not pollute it .

3:03

Seers at time

3:06

could not delude

3:08

it . Jesus

3:11

still

3:14

washes

3:18

, the

3:21

blood still

3:26

cleanses . After

3:31

all these years

3:34

, the blood

3:36

still has

3:39

miraculous

3:41

power .

3:50

Miraculous power

3:52

. So

3:54

if you need healing for your life , you've tossed and turned and prayed

3:57

all night because the doctor

3:59

said to you that there

4:01

was nothing he could

4:03

do . My friend , no matter

4:06

how you feel , keep saying

4:09

by his stripes , I'm healed . That's

4:11

when the blood will take control

4:14

.

4:14

Let his healing virtues

4:17

flow

4:20

.

4:20

Jesus , the

4:23

Lord , is covering

4:25

you Every

4:28

sickness , demon devil

4:31

has to move , still

4:33

washes

4:35

. Thank God , the

4:47

blood still

4:51

cleanses . After

4:55

all these years

4:57

, the

5:00

blood still has miraculous

5:07

power .

5:19

Welcome to the choir .

5:22

Dorian has our Easter hymn for this week

5:24

. Thanks , Greg .

5:26

This week's hymn of the week is

5:29

Christ , the Lord is Risen Today

5:31

. This hymn was written

5:33

by Charles Wesley in 1739

5:36

, which is the year after his

5:38

conversion , and was one of

5:40

the over 6,500

5:42

hymns that he is credited with writing . After

5:45

each line of the over 6,500

5:47

hymns that he is credited with writing , after each line of the hymn , there is

5:50

a tag that says Alleluia , and this

5:52

tag was actually added by

5:54

an unknown author in the 19th century

5:56

, probably to fit the commonly

5:59

used hymn tune that this hymn is

6:01

sung to , which is called Easter Hymn . One

6:04

might call this hymn the original Matthew

6:06

28 , which is based

6:08

on Matthew 28 , verses 1

6:10

through 10 . But all throughout

6:12

the hymn there is an underlying

6:15

reference to the very specific

6:17

reference that we see in verse 3 , and

6:19

that is to 1 Corinthians 15

6:22

, verse 55 , which says

6:24

O death , where is your

6:26

victory ? O death , where

6:28

is your sting ? The whole

6:31

hymn is in present tense , reminding

6:34

us that Christ being alive is

6:36

just as true today as

6:38

it was that first resurrection

6:41

Sunday . This

6:43

hymn begins with the declaration of

6:45

Christ , the Lord is risen today

6:47

. The second line says

6:49

sons of men and angels , say , reminding

6:51

us that both men and angels testify

6:54

to our risen Lord , it

6:56

calls all to raise your

6:58

joys and triumphs high , and

7:01

then to sing ye , heavens and earth

7:03

reply high

7:09

. And then to sing ye , heavens and earth , reply . The second verse points us to the vanity

7:11

that came with the stone and the watch and the seal that sealed in

7:13

christ in that tomb . It

7:16

says vain , the stone , the watch , the

7:18

seal . And it says christ

7:20

has burnt . Burst the gates of

7:22

hell . Death in vain

7:24

forbids his rise . Christ

7:26

has opened paradise

7:29

. The third verse

7:31

points us to our glorious

7:33

King's living . Forever

7:35

, as it begins , lives again , our glorious

7:38

King . And then that reference

7:40

to 1 Corinthians 15 , 55

7:42

, where O death is now thy

7:45

sting . Once he died

7:47

our souls to save , where

7:50

thy victory , o brave

7:52

. And as Charles

7:55

Wesley begins to point us from

7:57

not only the resurrection but

7:59

to our future hope , we're

8:01

told in verse 4 , so

8:04

are we now where Christ hath

8:06

led , following our

8:08

exalted head , made

8:10

like him . Like him , we rise ours

8:13

, the cross , the grave , the skies

8:15

, reminding us that Christ's death

8:17

was our death , his being

8:19

buried in the grave was our being buried

8:22

and his resurrection is

8:24

our resurrection . And

8:26

as we end this glorious hymn , we

8:29

end once again with praise . Hail

8:32

the Lord of earth and heaven . Praise

8:35

to thee by both . Be given Thee

8:38

we greet triumphant . Now hail

8:41

the resurrection thou . Now hail the resurrection thou

8:44

. The one who said I am the resurrection

8:47

and the life lives

8:56

forever . And we , as the ones who have received the benefits of his great sacrifice and the justification

8:59

that comes with his resurrection , do

9:01

indeed owe him all glory

9:03

, all honor and all

9:06

praise , as we remember his

9:08

glorious resurrection all

9:10

around the world .

9:12

Thanks , dorian . Always appropriate

9:14

and certainly , uh , particularly

9:16

appropriate for this easter week . Now

9:19

mietta has our crq thanks

9:22

, greg .

9:22

Here we are this week with our crq , and

9:25

the CRQ this evening is what

9:27

do you do with singers that won't sing

9:29

out ? What do you do with

9:31

singers that won't sing out

9:34

? Well , I'll

9:36

start it off briefly . I

9:39

thought about this question and I'm like Coleman now

9:41

. And I'm like Coleman now . Context

9:43

is everything .

9:44

I've made an impression on you guys

9:46

.

9:50

Yes , a lasting impression . We're going to run that context being

9:52

into the ground Right .

9:54

I love it , though . I do love it , and I thought

9:56

about it and I didn't want whoever

9:59

submitted this question to think

10:01

that when you sing

10:03

out or the louder you sing

10:05

, the more effective you are , and

10:08

that is just false

10:10

. I have this saying

10:12

that I've had for years now

10:15

in my rehearsals that

10:17

sing what you weigh . I might have made this statement

10:19

sometime before Sing

10:21

what you weigh .

10:23

I heard that the first time I heard it and I thought well

10:32

, just kind of sit with that for a minute .

10:34

And I would often say to the women if you

10:36

, if you weigh 220

10:39

pounds , I need you to sing like

10:41

you are 220 pounds . Before

10:45

we leave any service

10:47

, I need them to have to renovate the back

10:50

wall . That's what I want . I want the girth

10:52

, I want the volume

10:54

, I want all of that . Now there are songs that

10:56

will require that , but not every

10:58

song requires that . So

11:01

I wanted to preface this by saying that

11:03

just because you sing loud doesn't

11:05

necessarily mean that you're very effective

11:07

in doing so . Um

11:10

, when you , when you have

11:12

singers that are a

11:14

little lighter in vote in their vocal , um

11:17

, the one mistake we often

11:19

make , we we put everyone

11:21

in these little categories . So we'll put

11:24

all the lighter singer ones in one place

11:26

, all the heavier one , heavy singing

11:28

ones in one place , like you would usually

11:31

put the heavier singer ones or the louder

11:33

signal singing ones in the front

11:35

row and then you'll put the softer

11:37

singers behind them and

11:40

hopefully it'll , you know , balance out , but it really doesn't . And hopefully

11:42

it'll you know , balance out , but it really doesn't . I

11:45

found that the best way to do that is

11:47

to mix it , and

11:55

so if you have the heavier singers , the singers with the most volume

11:58

, mix them in with the lighter single ones . It eventually it balances

12:00

out better instead of separating them that we have . I've done . I've

12:02

even done it that way . Then I sing it loud

12:04

. Put them behind you . I need the big , the great singers

12:06

, the loudest singers up front , and I

12:08

had to realize that that was just not

12:10

the most effective way to do it . You

12:13

needed to put the lighter voice

12:15

next to the louder voice , and

12:17

what happens is the more you do that

12:19

, you will find that there was a . There's a very

12:21

good balance of sound

12:24

when you do that , because usually the louder

12:26

voice will kind of balance out . I

12:28

am and I will say this , I am a

12:30

um , a power singer . I'm

12:34

a power singer . I , I

12:36

love the lighter voice . I , I

12:38

like to sing a little lighter

12:40

, but for some reason it always sounds like

12:42

I'm eating macaroni and cheese and

12:44

collard greens , right

12:46

, so it

12:48

does it just and I know it

12:50

it always sounds like there's gravy at the end

12:53

of that . I know it is , but and

12:55

I would love to do that and I found studio

12:57

work controls that for me , live

13:04

singing is different . Studio keeps that under control , so I've learned to

13:06

balance myself as

13:08

it relates to that . So it's

13:10

not always the best thing

13:12

just because you have the louder voice . So please

13:14

, listeners , please don't

13:16

think well . They're not singing properly

13:19

if they're not singing out , or it's not effective

13:21

if they're not singing out . That is

13:23

so far from the truth . The best

13:25

way to get the best sound , I believe

13:28

mix it in .

13:30

Mix the louder with the softer you

13:37

know throughout the entire choir and throughout the entire sections of the choir . So , fellas , what

13:39

say you ? Well , mia , I'd love to know , before moving on from your comments

13:41

, if you have somebody

13:43

in the choir because you

13:45

know , nine times out of 10 , you

13:48

know , gospel music requires some

13:50

guts to it , right ? If

13:53

someone walked up

13:55

into your choir , who

13:57

? They were just quiet as a mouse and

14:00

you're like come on , I got to get some guts

14:02

out of you . Come on , what

14:05

would you do , I mean , other

14:07

than mixing them in there ? How

14:10

would you get a bigger sound out of

14:12

them ? I'm

14:14

curious to know for a reason , because I'd

14:16

love to use that knowledge

14:19

myself . No

14:23

, I have other comments .

14:25

But all of you guys , y'all , y'all

14:27

, I don't know what

14:29

?

14:29

what do you say ?

14:33

well , you know , it's I . I'm

14:35

kind of hands-on , I really am

14:37

, I'm kind of hands-on . So I've I've been

14:39

in contact with not very many

14:41

but a few lighter voices and

14:43

I'll get next to them , you know , I'll let them

14:45

sing and then I will press on

14:47

their stomach , press on them a little

14:49

bit , you know you're a man . Don't

14:53

just walk up to folks . You

14:55

got to be careful about that , but

15:01

I will . I will cause , you know , ask them sing this and then , and the more I press

15:03

in a little bit , it forces them to push out

15:06

more . It pushes out

15:08

more . And um , I

15:10

had , I used to have a young lady who

15:13

was she no longer sings with me soprano

15:15

. She had an excellent soprano

15:17

voice and I love putting her next to

15:19

my sister who has a lighter voice . Cindy um

15:22

has lighter voice . I like putting her next to

15:24

her because it forced Cindy

15:27

to sing a little more . You

15:29

know so when I so that's what I mean by mixing

15:31

them . You put them next to

15:33

somebody who really does have

15:36

that confidence and don't mind

15:38

singing out , and you'll be surprised

15:40

that they will start to adapt and

15:42

start to work their way . Ok , I can do this

15:44

. I just got to be confident

15:47

, because that's that's what most of it is . It's about

15:49

confidence . Some people don't think that

15:51

I'm I'm not confident enough to

15:54

do that , when in fact you really are . You

15:56

know , you really are , you know , and that's that's

15:58

one that's a simple way for me to

16:00

get what I need out of it

16:03

.

16:03

It always depends on where I am

16:05

, how much I have to beg

16:07

people for their sound . There

16:10

have been some places where I

16:13

just walk right in these folks Pentecostal

16:15

they're like literally the

16:17

walls are shaking when they start singing . And

16:20

sometimes when I walk into other settings

16:22

it's like you gotta be like all right now , come

16:24

on , come on , help me now . But

16:26

that's what it takes . Sometimes it

16:29

takes the director being

16:32

clear about what you need . So

16:35

sometimes when I'm directing I'll make

16:37

jokes about myself being

16:39

like what's his name from Sesame

16:41

Street that bangs an animal ? Not

16:44

Sesame Street , the Muppets , the

16:46

.

16:46

Muppets , one of those Muppets ?

16:48

Yeah , I'd be like animal

16:50

from the Muppets like coming at the choir

16:52

like come on , y'all sing

16:54

, let's go .

16:55

Come on so

16:58

sometimes it's like that

17:00

, and if they like start , I

17:02

wish I could just video you into one of

17:04

my choir rehearsals sometimes , because it makes more sense

17:06

to see it than me talking about it . But

17:09

but if they start singing , I'll

17:11

be like hold up , hold up . You know , come

17:13

on now . Y'all know what I'm looking for . Don't make me

17:15

beg . And I'll say let's try that again , and then

17:18

usually they'll bring it the second time around

17:20

around . But

17:22

I also

17:24

work with students a lot who

17:27

tend to be more

17:30

shy about singing out

17:32

like that , just

17:40

because they're still discovering their voice . Some of them it's just a self-confidence

17:42

issue and they're trying to figure out that kind of thing . Well

17:45

, sometimes I'll

17:47

do this exercise with them about

17:50

singing from your core and I'll

17:53

say like hey you know , if you're walking

17:55

down the street and somebody like takes

17:57

your mom's purse or something , you're not

17:59

gonna be like hey , hey

18:03

, give that back .

18:04

And I said how are you going to do ?

18:05

that and I'll like point to

18:07

the diaphragm , the core , and I'll be like you're going to say , hey

18:10

, you know , like that kind of thing . I'm like

18:12

sometimes you know you got to

18:14

core and you know not singing from

18:16

your throat and proper breathing

18:18

and breath support and that kind of thing . But

18:38

it just kind of depends on the

18:40

singer that you're working with why

18:43

they sing lightly . If it's , if it's confidence

18:45

, build their confidence . If they don't know how

18:48

, teach them how . If

18:50

, if , you know , that

18:52

kind of thing . So what

18:55

do you guys say ? Yeah , yeah .

18:59

Yeah , it was . It was interesting sort

19:01

of hearing the question

19:03

and then some of the responses , because there

19:05

there does come a time , and usually it's with the section

19:07

, and then some of the responses , because there there does come a time , and usually it's with the section , and

19:10

and it you can reach a point during

19:12

a rehearsal where you know that , like the

19:14

section's being lazy yeah

19:17

and you , and you just

19:19

gotta tell them like , okay , get out

19:21

of your seats and stand up right , because

19:24

you need .

19:25

It's wednesday or thursday and it's yeah

19:27

, it's already a long week , you know yeah , exactly

19:29

, exactly .

19:30

But that's just again about about knowing

19:32

the people and knowing , like , the choir

19:35

as well , and and and I think that's

19:37

the beauty of choral

19:39

singing is that you aren't going

19:41

to have , um , say

19:44

, a hundred people up there and

19:46

all of them able to produce

19:48

the same volume , or something like that . I mean , I , I'm

19:50

an opera buff and so I

19:53

think of like , like

19:55

, uh , choruses that sing in the opera

19:57

you couldn't have like a

20:00

hundred of the main

20:02

people singing because that

20:04

choir would be so loud

20:07

, can ?

20:08

you imagine the vibrato ? Yeah

20:11

, yeah , exactly .

20:12

I mean , and so it's like there are

20:15

people who are suited for

20:17

for a chorus and for

20:19

choir , and so it

20:21

takes all kinds . So we we have

20:23

to just be careful that that

20:25

just because someone doesn't sing

20:27

as powerfully as someone else , um

20:30

they they aren't saying exerting

20:32

as much energy or giving as much effort .

20:35

but if we work with folks long enough , we

20:38

can know if they're not , and

20:40

address that and

20:43

address that so yeah

20:45

, I think , uh , obviously I agree with

20:48

all of you . Yeah , I think obviously I agree with all of you , and

20:50

I think there's so many facets to

20:53

the answer for this question . I

20:55

don't think there's one answer because I'm

20:59

going to try and find a synonym for context

21:01

, but I think you know what I mean

21:03

. It depends on the

21:06

situation , the scenario

21:08

in which you're asking people to sing loud

21:10

and then again , like Dorian said , some

21:12

people's voices are just naturally soft

21:15

. To me , it's more important that they're on

21:17

pitch and soft

21:19

or loud , so you can be loud and be pitchy , and then we've got

21:21

a different kind of problem , and then we've got a different kind

21:23

of problem . So I'd rather you be on

21:25

pitch and your timing be

21:27

well and I can work with the volume and

21:30

, like Dorian said , we mix

21:32

you or , like Mietta said , we can then mix

21:34

you in the choir and

21:36

that person still then needs to be

21:38

able to . We

21:43

have the responsibility of making sure that they

21:45

still feel like they are an asset to the overall singing aggregation

21:47

. Right , not because their voice

21:49

is as loud as the next person , but

21:51

they do contribute as a body . They

21:54

do contribute with

21:56

pitch . The person who's loud

21:58

may need to stand to

22:00

the person who's on pitch and

22:02

not as loud , because then they make their praise

22:04

or their worship or their singing comparable

22:07

to the person next to them . So that's a key thing

22:09

that I like to teach all the time is that

22:11

when you're in choir , you

22:13

have to make your singing comparable to

22:16

the overall sound of the choir

22:18

. The choir director's responsibility

22:21

is to look for that , so if he hears an alto

22:23

sticking out over there , she can be blowing it

22:25

away , man , and just be really on fire . So

22:27

if he hears an alto sticking out over there , she can be blowing

22:29

it away , man , and just be really on fire . But it's still his or her responsibility to make

22:31

sure that they understand your singing is not comparable

22:33

to the overall sound

22:35

, and

22:38

so , as a choir director , this is what we're looking for , so we have to be looking for that

22:40

necessary blend from the

22:42

softer singers and the louder

22:44

singers . Part of that qualification

22:46

, then , is making sure that we are

22:48

sensitive to all of

22:50

those things . The person who sings soft

22:53

is not just soft

22:55

, but perhaps they're on pitch , but

22:57

if they're not on pitch , thank God

22:59

that they're soft and work with

23:01

that , and

23:04

if they are loud and they're pitchy , then

23:07

you got to stand them around , people who hold

23:09

the pitch , and so I think it's a combination

23:11

of things . How do you deal with singers who won't

23:13

sing out ? I think it depends

23:16

on your situation , but

23:18

I always say , at the end of the day , you deal

23:21

with everybody with gentle

23:23

hands gentle hands

23:25

, absolutely .

23:26

And it's funny because you're

23:28

talking about a

23:31

softer singer singing out . Oftentimes

23:34

I find myself challenged with the

23:36

louder singer singing softer

23:38

, so

23:40

they don't know how to pull it .

23:42

They don't know how to yeah .

23:44

That requires a lot of control , that requires skill . That requires

23:46

a lot of control .

23:48

That requires skill . That's a

23:50

lot of control and I find that because in

23:52

our churches and I have to say

23:54

that in our Black churches in particular

23:57

we were taught and trained in

23:59

our music departments just sing out , We'll

24:02

work with it , you know we'll figure

24:04

it out in the end , you know we'll come in , we'll

24:06

figure it out . Whenever the end , you know we'll come in , we'll figure out whatever's needed but

24:09

that was before everybody was recording

24:11

right and zooming in

24:13

right they found

24:18

out like uh-oh we

24:20

have a problem . So now we have singers

24:22

who were trained to do it that way

24:24

and now we're in an era or a

24:26

space where we don't need as much

24:28

and they find it difficult to

24:31

pull some of that back , and you constantly

24:33

have to do things like you

24:35

know , bring it down .

24:37

You know , james Cleveland Right right and

24:40

all the Cleveland moves .

24:43

You know have to do stuff like that . So that

24:45

is becoming more of a challenge these days

24:48

that I'm listening to than

24:50

the softer , trying to sing louder or getting

24:52

the softer . Yeah .

24:53

You know , all the more reason to

24:56

get our choirs singing hymns

24:58

in the church , because then there

25:00

you have to have a little more control

25:03

. The hymns are not always blurted out

25:05

, so you start getting into some more hymns

25:07

and choruses and some more spirituals

25:09

. Perhaps where the dynamics

25:11

are big See gospel choir

25:13

songs the dynamics are just , they're just big

25:15

. You know , every now and then you either have soft or you

25:17

have loud . There's nothing in between for

25:19

the most part . But when you get to hymns

25:22

and you start talking four and part , you know three and four part

25:24

harmonies and

25:31

you get into some of the spirituals that require those vocal dynamics . So you start , even

25:33

if you don't sing them in your church or in your services or in your events . Start doing them

25:35

in rehearsals , because that's a very good way to

25:37

start exercising and uh

25:40

your choir and training your choir and greg

25:42

, that's such a good idea that I've been doing

25:44

that lately myself

25:46

.

25:48

I started with

25:50

because y'all know I've been building a

25:52

choir at my church and everything

25:54

. I started with the

25:56

heavy stuff , like the singing

25:59

hard and that kind of thing . Well , about a

26:01

month ago I said , okay , I've

26:03

been working with you guys on this and singing

26:05

out and that kind of thing . Now

26:19

it's time to take all of that and bring it in and put some polish

26:21

on it and really develop our blend , develop our listening to one another , our

26:23

sound , all of that . So I pulled I don't know if y'all

26:26

know this song , but I pulled out the majesty and glory of your

26:28

name . Majesty and glory of your name and it . It has been such an incredible exercise

26:30

for us because it's on the total

26:33

opposite end of the spectrum , but

26:35

it's making us better in

26:38

those bigger moments too , because we're actually

26:40

concerned about blend and

26:43

not just like going for

26:45

broke and not listening

26:47

to each other . But yes , yes , yes

26:49

, I agree it

26:51

helps you with your control and blend

26:54

and all of that . Yes

26:56

, so good .

26:57

It's good exercise for the choir director team . It

27:00

is , and that's that's probably something

27:02

that I should have done earlier on is

27:04

done for hymns to to

27:06

do that . But we didn't . We didn't , I didn't start that

27:08

way . I just started out with just a whole bunch

27:10

of hollering and screaming . And here

27:12

we are . Listen

27:17

Greg knows my voice . He's known my voice for

27:19

decades . He knows what

27:22

it's like .

27:24

It's naturally big , it's

27:26

big . He's

27:32

too kind well

27:34

, I think , at the end of the day , what we're saying

27:37

is that , uh , to deal

27:39

, if you , if you are looking , and I'm assuming

27:41

, let me just do this real

27:43

quick . My assumption was that this was from a

27:45

choir director

27:48

. How do you deal with singers

27:51

that won't sing out Because choir members

27:53

are not supposed to deal with that ? That's the choir

27:55

director's responsibility . So my assumption

27:57

and if you're not a

27:59

choir director , then

28:03

you deal with it by going to your choir director . That's

28:05

how you deal with it . But

28:10

for that choir director , who may be new at it or who may be just maybe , this is

28:12

just not something that he or she has experienced

28:15

before . We

28:17

gave you a plethora of options

28:19

. You've got to approach

28:21

it with gentle hands and find out what it is

28:23

that makes this person sing soft . Is it the natural

28:26

timbre of their voice or

28:28

is it a confidence issue ? Are

28:30

they afraid ? Or

28:33

maybe they're just looking for an opportunity to get a one-on-one

28:35

with you and

28:39

then show you what they really mean of

28:41

you know , there's

28:43

that All

28:45

right .

28:47

I like it either way . There's

29:01

no one . There's no one like Jesus

29:04

. There's no one . There's no one like him . There's no one

29:06

. There's no one like Jesus . There's no one . There's no one like Him . There's

29:09

no one . There's no one like Jesus

29:12

. There's no one . There's

29:14

no one like Him . There's

29:17

no one . There's no one like

29:19

Jesus . There's no

29:21

one . There's no one like Him

29:24

. There's no one . There's no

29:26

one like Jesus . There's

29:29

no one . There's no one like

29:31

Him . I walked

29:33

around here

29:35

, there , I searched

29:37

around here , there

29:40

, I turned around

29:42

here . There , there's

29:45

no one . There's no one like Him . There's

29:47

no one . There's no one like Him . There's no

29:49

one . There's no one like Jesus

29:52

. There's no one . There's no

29:54

one like Him . There's

29:57

no one . There's no one like Jesus

30:00

. There's no one . There's no

30:02

one like Him . I

30:05

walked around here , there , I

30:07

searched around here , there , I

30:13

turned around here

30:15

. There , there's no one

30:17

. There's no one like him

30:19

. I walked around

30:23

here , there , I searched

30:25

around here and

30:28

there , there's

30:33

no . Here , there , I

30:57

searched around here

30:59

, there , I turned

31:01

around here and there

31:04

, there's no one .

31:05

There's no one like

31:09

him . All right , let's get our

31:11

second CRQ in .

31:13

In what ways can we make rehearsal

31:15

fun and not always

31:17

so businesslike ? What

31:19

ways can we make rehearsal fun

31:21

and not so businesslike

31:24

?

31:24

Confetti cannons .

31:33

Smoke machines , all of that . I'm just curious . I'm just

31:35

curious , what makes rehearsal business

31:37

like ? Or do they mean like , hey , let's

31:39

just take care of business , let's , let's get

31:42

the songs learned . You know what I mean

31:44

.

31:44

Or this is an interesting question because I've been

31:46

on the other end of this question like

31:48

, come to rehearsals and

31:50

, um , all of a sudden , they

31:53

wanted , they want to take care

31:55

of business , business matters like

31:57

dues . I mean , if you if you're

31:59

still doing that , I don't know would actually

32:01

do that right ? I know norian is like are

32:03

you kidding me ? It used to

32:05

happen .

32:08

But it used to happen .

32:11

Oh yeah , I know , you know dues , or

32:13

?

32:14

How do you think they pay for those robes ?

32:18

You know dues perhaps

32:20

. Maybe they

32:22

talk about stuff like oh

32:26

gosh , what you got appointments that we need

32:28

to go on in terms of elections

32:30

?

32:33

Oh not , not in my choir .

32:35

Choir choir president , choir choir

32:38

president , choir vice president choir .

32:40

Ain't no election , Treasurer choir

32:43

, chaplain choir democracy

32:45

.

32:46

This was before appointments .

32:49

This is a theocracy right .

32:51

Yeah .

32:55

This question was almost very familiar

32:57

to me . There

33:00

were times where I've actually sat in those kind

33:02

of choir rehearsals where those things were talked

33:04

about or people wanted to

33:06

air grievances . You know , you

33:09

know that , you know stuff like

33:12

that . So I got this question . To

33:14

a degree I understand it a little bit

33:16

. You guys probably don't have a clue as to what this question

33:18

is all about , but I really

33:23

got this one and I would say don't

33:26

do business in choir rehearsals Easy

33:29

, just leave that for

33:31

an actual business meeting . Because

33:35

I believe when it comes

33:37

to choir rehearsal , you need to come and do

33:39

choir rehearsal things

33:41

like singing and

33:44

you know getting your parts together and do things

33:46

like that . Now I make it fun because sometimes

33:49

the choir will come to rehearsal

33:51

thinking that we're having rehearsal and I'll switch up and

33:54

say , nope , we're not going to have rehearsal , we're

33:56

just going to have , we're going to talk to each other

33:58

. Today . Fellowship , Just some

34:00

fellowship you know , and

34:03

my sister would love that because she brings

34:05

a cup of coffee to every choir rehearsal . And my sister

34:07

would love that because she brings a cup of coffee to every choir rehearsal . She

34:10

comes in with her coffee , ready to socialize

34:13

. And then there's some time where I have

34:15

done that and

34:20

, like today , we're not going to do any singing tonight , we're just going to y'all , just let me

34:22

have it , let me know how you're feeling , because sometimes you need to talk to them a little

34:24

bit to see how their day is and how their

34:26

lives are going , for that matter . Because if you're , if

34:29

you're together with a group of people for

34:31

an extensive time

34:34

in years and things of that nature , you

34:36

get to know each other on a real personal level

34:38

after a while . And sometimes

34:41

they don't really have the the vocal

34:43

ability to do anything , but they just want

34:45

to just talk , you

34:47

know , and and and just laugh

34:49

a little bit because the day had been kind of heavy

34:51

, you know , and so that just makes

34:54

people feel a little more at ease about

34:56

coming . It's not always singing

34:59

, you know . Your choir director , whoever the leaders

35:01

are , are concerned about you . Overall

35:03

your total being and

35:05

I found that to be pretty good

35:07

. It's been effective . It worked

35:09

for me . What say you ?

35:13

that's interesting . I I

35:15

didn't even take

35:17

the business me either

35:20

of it that way , I mean I , I

35:22

thought I thought they were saying oh , we just

35:25

come in and rehearse and

35:27

and and that's and

35:29

that's it . And because I can't

35:31

ever think of any choir context

35:33

that I've been in whether it was like the high school choir

35:36

, church choir or

35:38

being like helping

35:40

to run the rehearsal

35:43

or whatever where it

35:45

wasn't totally business

35:47

. You know , there was like some laughter

35:49

involved . I mean it wasn't

35:51

something where everyone just came in and we

35:53

pounded out notes and parts

35:55

and everything else . So I don't

35:58

know , I mean , I , I maybe it

36:00

is that that whole business aspect

36:02

that they're talking about that , because

36:04

I , yeah , that's , and

36:06

that was part of the reason why I found this question

36:08

like hard to hard to understand

36:11

, because I mean , yes , you do have to come

36:13

in and you do have to do a measure of singing

36:16

and and going over

36:18

things and going over parts , and that

36:20

takes time . But I always

36:22

found that there was a certain

36:24

measure of laughter and not

36:27

complete business , like nature

36:30

to even the most

36:32

demanding ones .

36:34

There's some rehearsals I've been in that were quite sterile

36:36

in business life . You know , yeah

36:39

, it's like wow , this

36:41

is it , okay , okay .

36:46

Was that a professional choir or

36:48

was that ? No , it

36:50

wasn't .

36:51

It was a church choir , church choir .

36:54

And I'm sitting there like okay , all

36:56

right , well , well , they're gonna sing these notes and we're

36:59

out of here , we're done . No laughter

37:01

or anything oh wow , yeah , I

37:03

mean I've I

37:07

wonder , though .

37:08

I wonder if we're not missing something

37:10

else here . I think so because

37:14

, again , we all and I say

37:16

I think I this every week we

37:18

are coming from a church choir perspective

37:21

for the most part , but

37:23

maybe this question didn't come from a

37:25

church choir person . Maybe it came from somebody

37:27

who's in a professional choir or who's in a

37:29

concert hall choir or something

37:32

, and in my experience , it's

37:34

business . Oh yeah , because

37:36

they don't have the fellowship as we

37:38

would have in the church . They don't have the relationships

37:41

with each other as we would have in the church . Again

37:43

and I shared this with you in the podcast several

37:45

months ago is that that's business

37:48

for them . These are professional singers . They

37:50

come in to do their thing , so the choir

37:52

director or the choir master is

37:55

all about getting these songs learned

37:57

. There's a deadline , let's get them learned

37:59

. Let's make sure your dynamics are right , your words

38:01

are right , your pronunciation is correct and

38:04

that's all they do . They pay you to

38:07

come and learn this music and

38:09

get it perfect , because now we have to

38:11

sync you up with the orchestra later and

38:14

we have no time for laughter . So

38:17

they may be coming from that

38:19

perspective . However , like Mietta , I've

38:21

been on the other side as well

38:23

and I've seen the church business

38:26

choir meetings as well

38:28

, and

38:30

I'm not even going to rehash it , she said it all . But

38:33

just know that there are situations

38:35

where traditional , traditional

38:38

church situations where choirs have

38:40

choir business meetings and

38:42

I think that's been a large problem with

38:45

that's contributed to a lot of what

38:47

church choir as we know it has

38:50

you know , has become it's . It's

38:52

in a lot of circles , has become an island

38:54

unto itself . It's a church within the church

38:56

, and that's because they get to have meetings

38:59

. Yeah right , that's

39:01

really come from under the leadership of the

39:03

church , ironically , but

39:06

that's a whole nother subject . That's a whole nother CRQ

39:09

right there

39:11

, that I think , rehearsals

39:14

, choir people who especially

39:17

volunteers they

39:22

need to be able to come to rehearsal and leave saying it was good to have been

39:24

there . That's part

39:26

of our responsibility to make sure that they're

39:29

not just giving their time . They're getting off subways

39:31

and buses and they're coming from work and they're

39:33

thinking about getting dinner ready or

39:37

they've outsourced dinner

39:39

to some other , somebody else , so

39:41

that they could be in rehearsal . We

39:43

, I think we have a responsibility as

39:45

choir directors to show them that , hey , we're

39:48

going to make the best use of your time

39:50

, we're going to maximize your time

39:52

. Yes , we're going to be just as concerned

39:55

with your physical , spiritual , mental

39:57

, financial , relational

40:00

well-being . But we're also going to get some singing

40:02

done and you're going to get a release , and

40:05

sometimes rehearsal is just singing

40:07

and it's not learning anything new . Sometimes

40:10

we're just going over songs

40:12

because it's a heavy night . People just came

40:14

in heavy songs

40:17

. Because it's a heavy night , people just came in heavy and , mieta , I

40:19

think you hit on it . We have to be sensitive enough to know that what's happening

40:22

in that moment , what's happening with this

40:24

group in this moment , and are

40:26

we sensitive enough that we can put our finger on the pulse

40:28

I like to call it a pulse check and

40:30

put our finger on the pulse of what's happening with the

40:32

group tonight and ask

40:35

God to show us what they need . You

40:39

know , do they need me pounding them about certain notes , and you know addiction

40:41

and articulation or do they need just

40:44

a plethora of songs , just

40:46

a concert ? in

40:49

their own hearts tonight where we

40:51

just sing 15 songs and then we're out of here

40:53

we're not learning anything , but then we're out

40:55

. See , to me that's leaving

40:58

saying it was good to have been here , and

41:00

I think every choir member needs that experience

41:02

to say that it was good to have been here

41:04

. Fun , yes , sometimes it may be fun . Sometimes

41:07

you may do a I don't know a

41:09

choir rehearsal name , that tune you

41:11

know , just start playing

41:13

a few bars of a song and see what is

41:15

it . You know , cause that

41:17

also that's teaching . At the same time , especially

41:21

when you you know , if you do choir the way I do it , they

41:23

never know what they're going to sing at any given point

41:26

. So we don't get , I don't send them a list

41:28

, you know for for

41:30

. Sunday this week , sunday I'm going

41:32

to play and when I start playing you're

41:45

supposed to know that introduction and get to a mic really fast Period , because that sharpens

41:47

them and that keeps them locked into the service as well , locked into what's happening

41:49

, that they know the music just as much as they know

41:51

the notes and the diction

41:54

, how to rock and sway

41:56

and all that stuff . They know

41:58

the music as well .

42:00

Yeah , well , I

42:02

can say that I'm . I've never

42:04

been in a church choir

42:06

business meeting and I think I'm glad

42:08

for that

42:11

. So because of that , I

42:13

mean , my contextual background

42:15

with choir is completely different

42:17

, so I interpreted the question differently

42:20

.

42:21

Wait , wait , did you just switch up the word

42:23

contextual ? Yeah , my

42:25

contextual background .

42:28

I did .

42:29

I did . I've got to use a different

42:31

phrase every now and then I heard it .

42:34

My contextual experience .

42:36

It's almost like a suffix on that word

42:38

anyway , so

42:40

I interpreted it kind of

42:42

more , like dorian did like uh

42:44

, people just like coming in banging

42:47

out the notes . Go home , you

42:49

know .

42:50

No , no fun here you know , just

42:52

we're gonna sing sing and go .

42:54

I don't love that

42:57

set up . For my choir

42:59

rehearsals I try to

43:01

start by bringing things together with

43:03

like worship and then

43:06

take natural breaks throughout

43:08

, like about halfway through . I'll give

43:10

us a break and we'll laugh a little bit . Do some

43:12

announcements . I'll say something funny

43:14

. Let them laugh at me , you know like

43:16

or

43:23

something . I'll get them talking to each other , have like a 90 second

43:25

, like little thing for them to talk to , you know , just to a break , a natural

43:27

break , and then at the end we'll wrap up with a

43:29

devotion , because I always want people to feel

43:31

like , okay , yeah , we got , we

43:34

had a productive time , but I

43:36

also , like Greg said , enjoyed

43:38

myself and um , and

43:41

then , from my perspective , I want

43:43

people to leave um with

43:46

something of eternal value deposited

43:49

in their life . Um , that

43:51

it's not just I've told my

43:53

choir a million times it's not just about the

43:55

music . The music , uh , is a as a means to an end . Um , I mean told my choir a million times it's not

43:57

just about the music . The music is a means to an end . I

43:59

mean , it's a means that we all love

44:02

and enjoy and that kind of thing

44:04

. But I just feel like we

44:07

are good stewards when , like

44:09

you said , we keep

44:11

the pulse check on there and

44:14

we can tell like , okay , do they need a lift

44:16

right now ? Do I need to lift the morale

44:18

? Do I need , you know , that kind of thing I

44:21

mean . So basically , yeah , I agree with all of you

44:23

.

44:25

Well , that is our opinion on those two matters

44:27

. You can leave your comments and questions

44:29

for us to add to the CRQ in the coming

44:31

podcast at the Choir Room Facebook page

44:33

, or you can send it to thechoirroom at

44:35

metromusic-artscom . And

44:38

again , remember , if ever we put the messenger

44:40

before the message , we have failed to present

44:42

an unblemished gospel . I'm Greg Thomas

44:45

. Join us again next week right here in

44:47

the Choir Room .