Question:
I am wondering how some of you handle incorporating harmony into your praise songs? Or, do you at all? My situation is that I have a singer that started in January that constantly wants to try to make up some harmony. It tends to hold up rehearsals and I am getting a little bit of flack from the rest of the group because it is rarely very good. I'm asking for advice because on one hand it seems that a group should at least try to be the best they can be and the only way to know whether her harmony will work or not is to try it, on the other hand we are there to lead the congregation in worship and I certainly do not want to be distracting. We regularily add echos, but up until now that has been about it. Any advice would be appreciated. Is adding harmony becoming too performance oriented????
Thanks,
Wendi
Answer:
We regularly use harmonies, I think it can add a lot to the music. I would suggest meeting up with the singer separately to work out some harmonies for a few songs that you do regularly. stick to doing harmonies for these for a bit and then gradually add to your reportoire as she gets more confident.
God bless, Rich
Answer:
You're in just about the same boat I've benn in before, and still am in to some extent, except that most all of my singers want to do harmony.
First thing is that you, the leader, should have some sort of harmony in mind. Whether it's thirds, fourths, sixths, or some combination is up to you - but you should have a harmony in mind. With that in mind, there are two common ways that I've seen harmony taught:
1) Leader prints out sheet music, has singers study it, and then drill on it in practice. This takes up practice time AND is not immediately effective for folks who don't read sheet music, but it can help sheet-music-illiterate people gain some understanding about written music over time if you persist with the method. You just have to be patient with the people who can't read, because they'll probably be learning it in the second way:
2) Gospel-choir-style. You sing the part, they sing it back to you. You sing the part, they sing it back to you. You sing the part, they sing it back to you.
Get the idea?
Then you start blending parts, two or three at a time...
This method also takes quite a bit of practice time, but it works for a greater percentage of people because it includes people who have never read a lick of written music.
Originally Posted by Jo1967 It tends to hold up rehearsals and I am getting a little bit of flack from the rest of the group because it is rarely very good.
I think there's a perception out there that it's only the instrumentalists who really need to practice. The rest of us are just singing, right? So what's the holdup?
That perception needs to be slowly buried, somehow. I guess without knowing more about your situation what I'd do is:
1) Ask the group, in light of a desire for excellence, if they would mind having some "vocals only" or "vocal intensive" practice sessions where you learn the harmony to 2-3 of your songs that could use some. See what the response is.
2) Establish a pattern in regular rehearsal where it's "Ok" for you to stop the song to work with the vocalists for 2-3 minutes at a shot. If the problem takes longer than 2-3 minutes to solve, it should probably be dealt with in "special session" with just the vocalists to make sure that you're not just burning everyone else's time.
Nate
Answer:
Originally Posted by nate95366 2) Establish a pattern in regular rehearsal where it's "Ok" for you to stop the song to work with the vocalists for 2-3 minutes at a shot. If the problem takes longer than 2-3 minutes to solve, it should probably be dealt with in "special session" with just the vocalists to make sure that you're not just burning everyone else's time.
It would probably help this along if there were a vocalist on the team who was capable of understanding harmonies and helping other singers perform them well who could step in when the band takes a break to work on the instrumental side of things and work with the vocalists as the band is working the kinks out. The vocalists probably feel the exact same way the instrumentalists do when you have to stop and work on vocal harmonies for awhile. It would be better if both groups could always be making progress instead of having to wait for the other.
That said, I have very little experience in this area.
Answer:
Originally Posted by Jo1967 I am wondering how some of you handle incorporating harmony into your praise songs? Or, do you at all? My situation is that I have a singer that started in January that constantly wants to try to make up some harmony. It tends to hold up rehearsals and I am getting a little bit of flack from the rest of the group because it is rarely very good. I'm asking for advice because on one hand it seems that a group should at least try to be the best they can be and the only way to know whether her harmony will work or not is to try it, on the other hand we are there to lead the congregation in worship and I certainly do not want to be distracting. We regularily add echos, but up until now that has been about it. Any advice would be appreciated. Is adding harmony becoming too performance oriented????
Thanks,
Wendi
My wife, being the much stronger singer of the two of us, handles all of the teaching of the harmonies with our singers.
Her natural ability complimented by her education makes her a quick study and gives her the ability to hear what others are to sing before they sing it.
It's a blessing to me and to the rest of the team as I'm usually pre-occupied teaching the music and main melody of the songs. If I were to have to cover teaching the harmonies as well then I'd need to find an extra hour for rehearsal.
To your situation and dealing with your last question first, "Is adding harmony becoming too performance oriented????", I would ask where you would draw the line between performance and I'd imagine what you would call worship (the definition of which we won't get into here for the sake of time and attention).
At the 2 previous churches that I have served we generally had 2 to 3 hours for rehearsal and the musicians and singers would practice seperately first and then come together for a "once through" the songs.
That seperation allowed for adequate time and attention to the individual details of the music and the vocals.
My current church sounds much like yours and is probably an example that is more common in today's churches with the entire band practicing at the same time.
That being the situation and time being the limitation, we make the most of it by allowing a few minutes here and there to work on music and/or vocals as needed.
It helps me so much, again, to have my wife as the primary vocal lead and teacher. It's also understood by each of us that we will communicate clearly to each other when extra time is needed to work on parts.
How I wish we had more time and more space to accomodate seperate-then-together rehearsals...maybe in the future at our new facilities...but for now we do the best we can with what we're given, all glory to God.
My suggestion is to have a talk with this new singer. Make sure that they understand the possible time restraints of rehearsal but you be sure to understand their heart of wanting to serve in this capacity of teaching harmony.
All this is assuming that they're actually teaching what would be considered a "right" harmony and not some exercise in promoting joyful noises in polyphonic confusion...
Maybe their addition to the team and what they bring in a desire to educate the other singers is something very necessary and will raise the bar, so to speak, of the performance of your singers in what could be (or should be?) their goal of excellence in service.