Why Sing at all?

I believe in the thought that " Our Choices are Free ". So when you choose to SERVE I think it should not come from anywhere else but the HEART. You serve because your Heart is in it. Not because someone tells you to do so, or that others are doing it.

If anything, everything should start personally from the heart. People who join any ministry or the music ministry without this basic foundation will eventually go out of service. They are easily manipulated and influenced. While people who serve from the heart, will have the endurance and perseverance to stay inspite of difficulty.

In my research, I read these reasons from a book on praise. I hope these justifies your reasons.

5 REASONS WHY WE SHOULD SING FOR GOD:

1. Because YOU can't Help it.
The goodness of God demands that we sing about His Goodness.

"I must speak or I shall burst!"

Have you sometimes felt the urge to declare your testimony? Our Joy becomes a
FIRE within that we have no choice but to declare it to all who will listen.

It is like a special secret that we can't wait to tell a friend. The news is
too good to keep.

"Play the organ softly when the subject is your own praise. But when it
to praises about God, you must put out all the stops!" Praise Him loudly
for thunderous music is not enough for His infinite deserving.

2. Because other voices or things are eager to drown God's Praise.

"What a noisy world we live in!" Full of discordant and conflicting cries. The more there is said against God, All the more should we speak for Him! Do not let others of this world drown out the notes of God's Praise. Whenever we hear a man curse, it would be wise to say aloud, "Bless the Lord!"

Unless we give forth abundant praise for God, it will be buried under heaps of blasphemy, ribaldry, nonsense, error, curses and idle talk. Abundantly and always speak of it and sing of it so that some of it, atleast, may be heard in the world.

3. Because it will benefit you to do so.

Singing is praying twice. When we see the goodness of God in it all, we wipe out the tears of our past and our present. If we think of God's mercies more, rather than dwelling in the negative, our life becomes full of blessings and you will find nothing to grumble about, but everything to rejoice!

Is your glass half full or half empty? Our future becomes brighter, if we joyfully march into life with thankful hearts recalling God's goodness.

4. Because of the good it does for other people.

And if we Joyfully and consciously always share with others God's goodness we are surely to benefit our neighbors. For many are helped just by hearing of God's Works. Our testimony gives hope and comforts our fellow sufferers in this world.

For when they see your Joy, They will be tempted to come to Christ.

It is not a sin, if we go too far in praising God! Try it, say to yourself, " I will go beyond all boudaries in this matter." For there are no limits to the deserving of God who always blesses us.

5. Because it is the way in which He is glorified.

We cannot add to His glory for it is infinite in itself, but we can make it more widely known by simply stating the truth about Him.

If we cannot cover the earth with His praises as the waters covers the world, we can atleast contribute our portion to the flood.

Do not keep back your praises, but bless and magnify His name!

Wake up the Breath--from Vocal Training in Chorus by Robert Russel

Hi! again. As promised I'm sharing with you the following excercises on waking up the breath prior to singing.

Once the body is alert and energized through a physical warm-up, it is time to wake up the breath.

* Place your palms on the bottom of the rib cage, fingers crossing the abdomen and touching in front. Breath low and deep, observing that the fingers separate as the result of an effective inhalation. Hiss, long and sustained, keeping the rib cage and sternum elevated.
* Inhale and hiss, five times staccato.
* Inhale and hiss, twice staccato and then sustained.
* Inhale and sing on a comfortable pitch in mid voice, "Sah-sah-Saaaaaaah" (sing twice short and sustained.)
* Inhale and sing on a comfortable pitch in mid voice two staccato pitches, "Sah-Sah" followed by a sustained five-pitch scalar passage (5-4-3-2-1) on "Saaaaah" Repeat this several times, each time a half step lower, remaining generally in mid-voice range.

Other excercises
* Hold your hand up in front of your face fingers spread. Imagine that each finger has a candle lit at the end. Blow out the candles one by one with five staccato breaths.
* Toss an imaginary ball to someone across the romm. As you throw, exhale with a hiss.
* Toss an imaginary bell. As you inhale through the nose, reach up. As you exhale audibly through the mouth, pull down on the imaginary bell rope.

The intent of these vocalises is "vocal ease" Breath flow needs to be uninhibited and immediately connected to the sound. " To sing is to breathe " The flow of breath may be imagined as water pouring forth freely from a garden house. The sound on the breath is as a leaf on the stream of water, carried effortlessly and completely to the stream of water.

Observations about breathing.
* Never plan to use all your breath - This will create tension in the throat and the body.
* The issue with breathing is not who can sing the longest phrase, although it certainly is a goal of vocal pedagogy to increase the length of phrase that can be sung.
The primary issue with breathing is to keep a smooth, consistent stream of sound always connected to breath.
* Avoid holding back the breath. Give the Breath into the phrase. Holding back the breath to " save it" for the end of the phrase may lead to vocal tension and erratic voice-breath connection. The more breath you give to the phrase, the more breath you can give.
* Coordinate the breath with vocal onset, so that the sound is neither breathy nor tight.
* Maintain the body in its upright and ready posture.
* Take easy silent breaths with relaxed neck, head, shoulders.

Thats all folks!

Music is…..a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy …..Ludwig von Beethoven

SHIFTING FOR THE WORLD!

The problem of most ministries are people who don't know how to be pro-active in dealing with the day to day matters of church ministries.

Most people find it easier to complain about the problem, or to blame others, or to criticize others rather than to look at themselves and see what they can do positively about the situation.

Here's a Random thought from me.

" If only I can shift for others! But shifting a little each day,
I know, can help me change and shift the World. "

" Man is truly a special creature, for GOD so loved him that he is
given the Grace of Choice
-- a gift to choose to create a Heaven, or,
to create a Hell. "

KUYA RICKY'S COMMENT

We must maintain good relationships with current members and the leaders or officers must maintain a friendly attitude to current and new members

Taking Care of Your Voice

PROFESSIONAL VOICE USERS, INCLUDING SPEAKERS AND SINGERS, CAN FOLLOW PARTICULAR GUIDELINES TO PROMOTE OPTIMAL VOCAL FOLD HEALTH AND FUNCTION.

1. CONSULT AN EAR, NOSE AND THROAT DOCTOR - to obtain a baseline evaluation of your voice when you are healthy. Establish a healthy picture of your larnyx. This serves as a source of comparison when you encounter voice difficulties in the future.

2. Maintain Adequate Hydration. Many doctors propose that consuming approximately 64 ounces of non alcoholic, non caffeinated fluids per day is necessary to maintain adequate hydration. Research supports that adequate hydration allow vocal cords to vibrate with less "push" from the lungs, especially at high pitches. Well hydrated vocal cords resist injury from voice used more than dry cords and recover better from existing injury than dry cords. Increased systematic hydration also benefits by thinning thick mucuos secretions in the throat.

3. Always warm up and cool down. - stretching to vocal muscles prevents vocal injury during strenous vocal use.

4. Know your range - Avoid singing at the extremes of your vocal range.

5. Know the potential side effects of your medications - many commonly prescribed medicines can have a big effect on the voice.

6.Screen yourself daily for vocal cord swelling to determine whether you should perform or not.

7. Avoid vocally abusive behaviors :

* decrease overall volume

* no shouting/yelling

* don't whisper

* dont talk in the presence of a lot of background noise. Talk to people only at an arm's length away.

* don't try to sing during a bad cold or laryngitis.

8. Avoid eating or drinking anything that may create acid reflux or produce mucous.

9. Don't SMOKE.

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PRIMUM NON NOCERE

Hi! You must be wondering what's the meaning of my title. Well I came across it in one of my research. I credit the site Vocal Training in a Chorus by Robert Russel for this.
It means, " The first is to do no harm. " It's a Medical Maxim.
It's also a maxim used by vocal trainors. "Above all, don't hurt the voice.
Below are suggested techniques that follow this dictum, to do no harm. Singers are encouraged to sing individually with a sensitivity to the group sound.
I. Wake up the Body. - First we must prepare the body to sing. Several exercises can contribut to this readiness:
* Stand quietly and take a "sun breath", as you inhale through the nose (count to 4) raise your arms, keeping shoulders comfortably relaxed. Then exhale through the mouth (count to 4) gradually lowering your arms.
* Gently shake your wrists. Flop them in front of you. Shake your hands more vigorously as if trying to get the water off them.
* Move your elbow and hands in a circular manner. Wake up your arms.
* Roll your shoulders in a circular manner up and back.
* Extend one arm in front fingers pointed up. Pull gently on the wrist. Then Point the fingers down. Pull gently on the wrist. Repeat on the other arm.
* Clasp your hands together behind your head. Gently pull down on your head while exhaling.
* Turn 90 degrees to the right, facing the back of your neighbor. Rub the shoulders of the person in front of you. Turn around and repeat.
* Finally, stand quietly with arms relaxed on your side. Take a full breath while bringing your arms overhead. Keep your shoulders relaxed. Exhale, lowering your arms.

That's all for now! My next blogs will be about:
*WAKING UP THE BREATH!
*WAKING UP THE NOSE!
*WAKING UP THE VOICE!

input pleez!

Hi! To All Music Ministry Members ! I've created this blog to get your rants, raves or any random thoughts or ideas or comments on how to rescucitate our Music Ministry which seems to be on it's last rasping breathe!

Consider this as the emergency room where we are REVIVING, RESCUCITATING AND KEEPING OUR MINISTRY ALIVE!

VOCAL COACHING: July 2005

Y'all I will be posting my subscription to VOCAL COACH on this blogspot.
Feel free to access the site. It may help you in your ministry of music!

VOCAL COACHING: July 2005

Sigh of Relief!

At last a space to vent my random thoughts for the day!