To Help You With Your Key Signatures

In our last post we looked at pitching songs.  I thought I would give you a simple tool for learning all the keys by sight for those who might want to use it. 

Major Keys With Flats

Notice the order of the flats B E A D G C F.  If we turn that order around we will have the order of the sharps.

Major Keys With Sharps

You are welcome to memorize these signatures or use the method described in the blog post on pitching the song.  As a Worship Leader you need to do everything you can to be certain that you can start a song in a range that the average singer can reach.  That makes knowing how to read key signatures vital. 

Pitching songs too high or low will hurt the participation in singing.  It can also create other problems.  Pitching songs too low will nearly always lead to dragging in tempo.  Low pitched songs  take on a dark or depressing feel.  Guess what?  Songs that drag also cause singers to drop in pitch.  So a vicious cycle can easily take over your song when pitched too low. 

Songs pitched too high can physically harm vocal anatomy.  When John Que Average church member shows up to sing he will seldom have his vocalizing muscles and apparatus warmed up and ready for a work-out.  Jumping into a song pitched above  his range will cause strain to his voice.  You could be responsible for a lot of collateral damage if you frequently pitch songs too high.  High songs tire singers quickly and will deflate participation for the remainder of the service. 

A good rule of thumb is to stay within a step up or down of the written key signature.  Pitching songs up (within reason) sometimes will brighten a song.  There are a lot of songs that lend themselves to a key modulation up a half step or whole step on the final Chorus or final Stanza. 

Sometimes songs that have notes in the far reaches of the vocal compass need to be lowered a bit to save the voices of the singers.  This is especially true if it is the first song of the day.  Be aware that most church sopranos and tenors will not be able to sing above Fs and Gs before they are warmed up. 

Pitching a song correctly is a big part of your role as leader.  In fact in the short list of most important it ranks in the top 3 things a leader must do right.

Practice; study your songs carefully for notes that are high or low for singers to reach.  Adjust your pitch carefully to aid participation of the whole group. 

Establish Pitch Before You Start The Song

Starting a song on the right pitch in the right key is necessary for worshipers to be able to particpate without distraction.  A capella worship leaders need some way to establish the keytone in their mind before they start the song. 

Use of a pitch pipe, tuning fork or some other form of reference tone is a must.  Very few are blest with perfect pitch or pitch memory, so we have to depend on these devices to help us find the key and then the starting pitch. 

You will have to spend some time training yourself on how to recognize the keys.  There are several methods which are pretty simple.  One is to memorize all of the key signatures. Not impossible but difficult for the beginner.  There is a far easier method for learning the name of a key signature.  First you need to memorize two key signatures C major has no sharps or flats in the key signature.  F major has one Flat.

Finding The Key When the Signature Has Flats

For key signatures with flats you only have to look at the second to the last flat and that is the name of the key signature.  Here we see a signature with three flats, reading from left to right B-flat, E-flat and A-flat.  The second to the last is E-flat which is the key signature name.  Remember with flats you always look at the second to the last flat and that is the key signature name.

Finding the Key When the Signature has Sharps

For signatures that have sharps we look at the last sharp and go up one half step, and that will be the key signature name. It is really that simple.  If the last sharp is on the F-sharp then go up a half step to the G and that is the key name.  In the example to the left you see the last sharp is G-sharp go up one half step to A.  That is the key.  This is really simple but so vital to pitching your songs correctly that you should spend time learning how to do this.  Learn to do this quickly so you are not wrestling in your mind wondering what key to blow on the pitch pipe.

Just having the correct key does not mean you have the correct starting note.  Not every song is going to start on the key tone of the scale.  You might have to sing up or down the scale to the starting note.  Practice this often.  Fortunately, most songs in your hymnal will begin either on the key tone (Do or 1), the 3rd (Mi or 3) or the 5th (Sol or 5) of the scale.  Learn to sing the simple arpeggio: Do, Mi, Sol, Mi, Do or 1, 3, 5, 3, 1.  This will aid you tremendously when it comes time to pitch the song and start it quickly.  

The congregation you lead will appreciate you for spending the time learning to correctly pitch and start songs.  It will eliminate the distraction that comes from straining to reach notes that are too high or low in the the poorly pitched songs. 

Joe Chase

Perking Up Our Prayers-Through Thankfulness

We now know that adoration and confession make our prayers more effective and richer.  Let's turn our thoughts to thankfulness as a means to fortify our prayer lives.  So often the grace of thankfulness is neglected in our lives.  Sadly, thankfulness has almost disappeared from common society.  How long has it been since you sent or received a thank you card?  How often are we drawing attention to the good deeds of others? Isn't it amazing how something that is simple to do is left out of our daily conversations?
Neglecting thankfulness is present most often when it comes to thanking the Lord for all he has done for us.  God has done so much so often that it is easy for us to take it for granted or worse yet come to think we deserve His benevolence without any acknowledgement from us.  The old gospel song that calls for us to count our blessings is still good advice today.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what God has done.
John Oatman Jr.

It is surprising to see everything that God is doing for us every day.  We could never exhaust the list of deeds that God is doing for us or on our behalf.  Perhaps that is why it is so easy to overlook thanking Him.  Paul reminded us that it is in God that “we live, move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).  The Psalms remind us to “Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip” (Psalm 66:8-9).  God’s abundant providence is certainly something easily seen and worthy of our thanksgiving.  The songs on our lips should be filled with gratitude and hymns of thankfulness.

“And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!” (Psalm 107:22)

The enemy of thankfulness is selfishness.  People who focus too much upon themselves are seldom thankful.  You will not often hear them thanking others let alone the Father in heaven.  Selfishness is a twin brother to pride.  Pride will cause us to take credit for those things God has done for us.  God’s view of the haughty and prideful is wrathful (Proverbs 16:18; Isaiah 16:6).  Those who build themselves up in their own mind will be brought low by God’s own judgment (Jeremiah 49:16).  Ingratitude leads us down a dangerous road of self-destruction and wrath-filled judgment (Obadiah 1:3).
Cultivating the attitude of gratitude will enrich your world.  It opens your heart to more blessings and grace.  It is only natural that we enjoy doing good deeds for those who appreciate them.  God wants to bless us if we will be thankful.  (Malachi 3:10).
Try making a list of the good things God has done for you today, list the people who God has put in your life, list the blessings of nature you enjoy.  It won’t take long to have a list longer than you can write.  Now look at the spiritual blessings God has granted to those who live according to His precepts. Paul teaches us that we have all spiritual blessings when we are in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Paul lists a few in Ephesians: Chosen in Him, Predestined for adoption as sons, Blessed us, Redemption, Forgiveness of our trespasses, Uniting us with Him, Obtained an Inheritance, have hope, heard the good news, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is an abbreviated list just from the first chapter of Ephesians.
Just as we saw that speaking the attributes of God so we hear them and come to appreciate Him more, this is true of thankfulness.  Your heart will swell as you see the graciousness and steadfast love of God.
Here is a simple devotional list for you to ponder as you develop your thanksgiving nature in prayer.  Let me encourage you to make your own and meditate upon it.

• “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings” (Psa 36:7)
• “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him” (1Jn 3:1)
• “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1Jn 4:9-10)
• “They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!” (Psa 145:7-10)
• "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Joh 3:16)
• “by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2Pe 1:4)

Joseph Chase
Missionary to Jamaica

Free CD Contest

I am giving a way a free copy of Reign and Shine, by The Harvesters. All you have to do for a chance to win is subscribe to my YouTube Channel. Go to www.YouTube.com/bullardsjoe and watch the video about the Free CD contest and subscribe. Write a comment telling me why you want the CD.

Deadline to enter is October 17, 2009. Winner will be announced October 18, 2009.

Don't for get to subscribe and comment.

Joe.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Perking Up Our Prayers with Confession

In our past thoughts on prayer we looked at the value of adoration language in our prayers.  We saw that in describing God’s awesome qualities we come closer to appreciating Him.

There is another way to make our prayers more meaningful and powerful. There is deep benefit to confessing our sins and admitting our need for strength and guidance from the Father. The second naturally follows the first.

Confessing our sins and short fallings helps us to empty our pride and make room for God's guidance.  Confession does not always come easy. It requires admission of imperfection and exposes our frailty.  Don't we avoid exposing our sins? Many of us build elaborate covers to hide what we don't want others to know about us. The truth is, God already knows.  Remember what the Psalm 90:8 says, “You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.”  It is foolish to believe otherwise (Isaiah 29:15), for God knows the secrets of man and He knows our hearts and intentions (Acts 15:8; Hebrews 4:12).  Telling God what we have done wrong is the beginning of cleansing and renewal (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).

Confessing specific sins and failures helps us to identify clearly where we need help.  Exposing the problem brings the realization of needed change.  Change will not happen until we see our need to change.  Most any twelve step program for addicts include the need for confession.  No one works on a problem until they recognize that they have one.  King David is the prime example of hiding his sin so well that even he was blind to it until Nathan’s “You are that man” speech (2 Samuel 12:7).  After that recognition David’s heart softened and he confessed his sinfulness and sought God’s forgiveness (Psalm 51).

There is quite a bit of pain involved in confession that leads to repentance.  So much so that it is often described as "crushing" or "breaking" (Psalm 51:8; 34:18).  We are not going to find it easy to come face to face with the enormity of the consequences of sin.

Hearing our own call for help with a struggle will anchor us in our humility.  Recognizing our weakness drives us to the realization that we cannot overcome sin without God’s help.  None of us are able to live sin-free (Romans 3:23).  No one can live sinless and worthy of heavenly reward.  Confessing to God that we are relying on His grace, strength and help is a powerful key to finding God’s help in the time of trouble (Psalm 46:1).  We should all remember these comforting words:

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (Psalm 145:18).
“For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?” (Deuteronomy 4:7)
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you… (James 4:8)

    And perhaps most appropriate to our thoughts here…

"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1).

 Confession is good for the soul.  It strengthens our connection to God and is an important aspect of prayer.

Joseph Chase
Missionary

God Hears From Heaven

"In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry."  (2 Samuel 22:7).

This is truly one of the most encouraging passages in Scripture. To know that the creator of all is mindful of me brings great comfort and courage to face the circumstances of life and the attacks of the devil.  Even the Psalmist was amazed at the thought that God could be mindful of man (Ps 8:4).  God is so in tune with his creation that the birds can't even move without his noticing (Matt. 10:29).  I am always encouraged by the Lord’s own words “I will never forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).  Of course that is a quote from a couple of Old Testament passages.  Joshua was reassured by God that just as he was with Moses every step of the way so he would be with him also.  These beautiful words were given to Solomon from his father “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you…” (1 Chr. 28:20).

One of the most devastating tools the devil has is discouragement.  If he can steal our courage he can get us to doubt God’s love for us and our ability to overcome through God’s grace.  When we fall into this terrible trap sin truly “crouches at our door” (Gen. 4:7).  Happily, the Bible abounds with encouragement to know that when God is for us nothing or no one can be against us (Rm. 8:31).  The great news for us is the one who lives in us is greater than the one in the world (1 Jn. 4:4).  God’s tools break down all the flimsy tools of Satan (2 Cor 10:4).

Please never forget that God hears from heaven (2 Chr 6:39ff), the prayers of his people.  He is listening for you today.  He listens for the call of the saint and yearns for the penitent prayer of the sinner (2 Chr. 6:38).

Joseph D. Chase
Missionary
Joe sends out inspirational tweets along with tips for worship leaders.  You can follow me at worshipleading on twitter.  

Perking-Up Our Prayers

Perking-Up Our Prayers

It is time for us to realize the great value in prayer and supplication. Sadly, many won't see the great blessings because they don't pray often enough.

Sometimes people look at prayer as a big "gimme" list and find themselves dissapointed when the answer is different than their desires. Some become disillusioned because the answers to prayer comes too slowly. Prayer is much more than asking for things.

Prayer is also an expression of praise and adoration. No communication to God is really complete without this aspect.  Just speaking words of adoration teaches and emphasizes to our hearts the goodness and greatness of the Lord.

"O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!"  --Carl Broeberg.

Our prayers should contain expressions of the lofty attributes of God. They remind us of how different we are from Him. It is a helpful exercise to create lists of words of adoration and meditate upon these qualities of God. The fruits of this will bring those thoughts to mind as we pray.

Communications with the Divine Provider should remind us of our dependence upon Him.  My prayers will then brim over with expressions of thankfulness. Gratitude for God's gifts should abound in the heart of the Christian. It is in God that we "... live move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). He provides "all things pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Pt. 1:3).  It is God who freely gives my daily bread and all the blessings that I enjoy every day.    Thanking God for specific blessings will soon encourage an aching soul. We will soon forget what we don't have when we realize the abundance we do have (John 10:10).

Our prayers are going to be richer and fuller as we practice just these two simple ideas: adoration and thankfulness. 

Lord willing we will build on this theme in my next post.

Show Me Christ Today

There are identifying marks for faithful Christians.  Some these things are so prominant in nature that we could just about pick out individuals from a group who are Christians.  For example, Jesus said that the world would recognize his followers by the love they had for each other (Jn 13:35).  The deep compassion and devotion the family of God shares is truly one of its distinguishing characteristics.  Peter reminds us of how important our sincere love for each other is. "Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart" (1 Pt. 1:22).  Paul likewise commended the saints for abounding in their love for each other (1 Th 1:3). 

Love is the focus of Christianity.  We recall that the greatest command of all is to "love God" with our entire being and to love our fellow man (Mt. 22:38,39).  It is that love that motivates us to serve God and our neighbors.  It is not long after we understand that God loves us and Jesus died for us that we begin to obey his commands.  We begin to seek out God's will for our lives.  Peter reminds us to grow in grace and knowlege (1 Pt. 3:18).  The more we come to know the Lord and Savior the more of his character and nature we display in our lives (2 Pt. 1:4). 

Christians will always "do good to all men" (Ga 6:10) and not weary in doing good (1 Th 3:13).  This mark of the Christian is different from the world and it's teachings.  So often we see the world putting their desires and wishes above everyone else.  Selfishness is a sinful stain in the hearts for the worldly.  Most all sin begins with selfishness or pride.  When we see people who put others first or service to others above their own wishes it is a mark of the Christ who taught us by his example.

Today would be a great day to show others you are a Christian by doing a loving deed for someone else.  Drop by a rest home and write letters for some lady who cannot do so anymore.  Take the fatherless to lunch or a ballgame.  Buy a meal for someone who is hungry.  Then when you're finished tell them why you did that.  Tell them it is because of the kindness that Jesus showed to all of us that you are passing it along today. 


Joseph D. Chase
Missionary to Jamaica

Giving Your Life

Paul reminds us that not many will lay down their lives for others, even for those we love. Yet Jesus died for the ungodly who deserved condemnation. The Lord described his earthly purpose as "seeking the lost." He reminded us that there is no greater love than to die for our friends (John 15:13). He then demonstrated that love by dying for those who deserved it least (Romans 5:8).

For what are we giving our lives? Are we spending our limited moments and energies to acquire temporary trinkets that will pass away? Are we giving our lives to serve God and fellow man? It seems that the activities that garner the most of our time and effort are what we are exchanging for our lives.

I have a friend who is in the twilight years of this life. He gets up every morning for one purpose these days. His wife of over 55 years has the dreaded Alzheimer disease. This sweet man gets up fixes her breakfast, bathes her, dresses her and gets his wife ready for the day. Most days are a struggle for both of them because she doesn't remember who he is. She is afraid of him and is embarrassed needing his help bathing and dressing. Many days this man has no time for himself. His hours are filled with service to a woman he gave his life to over half a century ago.

He recalls the days that she gave her life to tending babies, making a home and building a family. These memories woven deep in his being provide all the motivation he needs to continue giving his remaining days to serving her. Sadness fills many of his moments. But the joy of giving paints a cheerful demeanor on most every hour he spends with his beloved wife.

I am reminded of a song that Kathy Matea sang several years ago. It depicted the type of devotion and giving we're talking about. In those lyrics rings the heart rending suffering of separation brought about by illness and loss of memory. In the end there was a happy reunion as Clair in a lucid moment remembers her dear Edwin. My friend looks forward to those oasis moments when his wife is aware of the present and they spend those precious times enjoying their life-long commitment to giving their lives to each other.

Giving your life hurts. It involves dying to yourself and living for someone else. However, doing so brings a depth of joy that nothing else can provide.