Video of the Week: "All Creatures of Our God and King"

Today's Video of the Week celebrates my love for hand bells and is a two for one!

I have been playing with a group from Central UMC in Lawrence, KS for the last couple years.  I was so glad to find a church that had a hand bell group when I moved back home from Kansas City.  We recently played an arrangement of "All Creatures of Our God and King" during Sunday worship.  I am so proud of our two newbies that were playing for with us for the first time.  I'm the first person on the table on the right wearing dark glasses and hopefully smiling.  

"All Creatures of Our God and King" 
played by the Central UMC Lawrence Bell Choir




One of my fellow bell ringers was experimenting with her smart phone and took video of herself playing during rehearsal.  I of course had to give that a try.  I was able to prop my android smart phone right above my music while using my reading lights to keep it secure.

I think there are quite a few uses for videos like this.  An obvious use would be to check your form and watch how you ring.  A fun thing might be to have each ringer make a video and then create a video mash up of everyone ringing their part.  I would definitely do this again.    


"All Creatures of Our God and King" 
Featuring Emily Elliott and the Central UMC Lawrence Bell Choir
 

If you love hand bells like I do check out this cool Facebook page!

Holiday Music at Your Fingertips

Source: Koerts Music

It's that time of year when musicians are hurrying to put together their holiday music.  I usually like to have most of my Advent, Christmas and Epiphany selections chosen months in advance so that I have time to rehearse and plan.  This year I have not been so lucky.  I started a new interim music director position a couple months ago so November and December planning has been rushed quite a bit.

The list I have created below are some of my favorite websites that I go to again and again for sheet music of all kinds.  Each one makes downloading and printing at home easy so you don't have to wait for it to come in the mail.  I also love anything I can get for free especially with the limited budgets I usually work with in music ministry.

I hope these resources help you wrap up your holiday season planning and give you some extra time with your family and friends.  You deserve it!

  

• Holiday Sheet Music has a great collection of PDF's you can download for free to use when caroling this holiday season.  

• The piano page on About.com has a few free holiday piano solos with stories behind each song for free download.  

• I love Susan Paradis and her collection of music for piano and teacher resources.  She has been my go to place for several years now.  Her collection of seasonal music is awesome.  I especially like the early non-reader arrangements so even my youngest piano students just starting out can enjoy playing a song for the holidays.  

• Worship Together is my go to place for free contemporary Christian music resources that are hot off the press.  They have compiled a list of 10 original songs for you to use this holiday season.  Each song has a free lead sheet and links to buy full accompaniments and recordings when available.   

• Making Music Fun has quite a few pieces for piano that you can print and use whenever the spirit moves you.  Their list is arranged by level making it easy to find the perfect holiday song for each of your piano students or yourself.  There are also midi recordings of each arrangement to aid in practice.  Check out the Jazz piano Intermediate level 4 arrangement of "Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella".  

• Do you work with a children's hand bell group?  I would encourage you to visit The Inspired Instructor.  There is a wonderful collection of Christmas songs already marked for your color coded bells.   

• Joy Morin at Color in my Piano has a fantastic list of free Christmas music from all over the web.  She continues to update it so don't forget to bookmark this site for next year.  

• 8notes.com has another collection of easy sheet music that is helpful if you are working with many different instrumentalists.  You pick the song and the instrument that is going to play it and download the arrangement.  These are also good choices when you want simple arrangements or are working on sight reading.  

• Free-Scores.com is another wonderful site for free sheet music of all kinds.  You can search by instrument and find arrangements from all over the world.  I have been thinking about borrowing a xylophone for the holiday season so I can play a few carols along with piano accompaniment.  I was able to download a free arrangement of "O Holy Night" that will do quite nicely.  

• Koerts Music offers a nice arrangement for piano of "Joy to the World" matched with "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" for free download.  I downloaded this one for myself this year.

This is no where near an exhaustive list of what the world wide web has to offer.  Tell us in the comments your favorite site for sheet music.  

So, how are things?

Happy Tuesday and welcome to the first day of October!

I had plans to share a long post today about my experiences at Leadership Institute 2013 this past week.  Unfortunately due to many different things it's just not quite ready yet.  I'm shooting for tomorrow.  

 
I've been busy with a few projects I have yet to share that I can't wait to explore with you.  One, is my new position of Contemporary Music Director at Central United Methodist Church in Lawrence, KS.  I have hit the ground running and playing a little catch up to prepare for worship for the last few weeks.  This hasn't left much time for writing but I am confident my schedule will settle down once a few more things are organized in advance.

I have also been doing a ton of reading about the United Methodist Church and the future of our denomination with an eye towards worship and the arts.  We are looking at ways to rethink what it means to be a church for the future.

In addition to all that reading I have created the rough draft of a vision statement that I have been mulling around for the past few days:

Connecting people of all ages and enriching people's lives with music 

in the church and the greater community.  

Easier said than done for sure but it's a great goal and one that I feel is worth striving for.  I can't wait to see this evolve in the next couple months.

So, how are things with you?  Are things getting busier for you this month?  What are you doing to stay sane?    

Video of the Week: Masterpiece by The King's Singers

I met Simon Carrington and Bob Chilcott while I was a junior high student.  Southwest Junior High's Bel Canto choir was chosen to be a part of an American debut concert and to sing Bob Chilcott's "Singing by Numbers".  I didn't realize then how amazing that kind of invitation was.  I have wonderful memories of that concert.  

I continued to get the opportunity to work with Simon Carrington throughout my time in junior high, high school and even in college while he was the Director of Music at the University of Kansas.  But I will have to admit that I wasn't as familiar as I should have been with the music of The King's Singers.  One way or another one of their CD's finally made it into the house and for awhile there it was in regular rotation.  Thanks to YouTube I have caught up even more.  

I have too many favorite arrangements to list here but I was able to narrow down a piece to share for this week's Video of the Week.  Imagine 400 years of western music all wrapped up into 9 minutes.  Take a listen to "Masterpiece" sung by The King's Singers.  Enjoy!

The King's Singers Sing Masterpiece
 

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Video of the Week: Even in the Darkness You'll "Find the Light"

Happy New Year!

I wish for you so many wonderful things in 2013.  I have been inspired by this week's video pick that reminds me that "Even in the darkness you'll find the light.".

I gave NoiseTrade a try a few weeks ago and have fallen in love with several artists and music groups that are new to me.  I can't wait to feature a few of them in upcoming posts.

I am enamored with David Ramirez's intimate style and have read in several places about how humble he is as a writer and a performer.  You can experience more of his music at  http://davidramirezmusic.com.   Enjoy!

 

David Ramirez "Find the Light"

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I will share my musical goals and dreams for 2013 in a couple future posts.  What are you excited about doing in the New Year?

Piano Chord and Scale Finder @ 8notes.com

Source: 8notes.com

I am a visual person and memorize so much better went I can see a diagram of something.  8notes.com has a piano chord and scale finder that highlights the keys you need so you can play in the right key every time.  When I was playing in a praise band and learning new music fast I would have loved this resource.  Now I have no excuse to brush up on my scales. 

Have Your Piano and Eat it, Too!

Source: Instructables

September is National Piano Month.  So, let's celebrate!  Did you know that fudge stick cookies make the perfect black keys for an edible piano?  Check out Instructables here for the step-by-step instructions to create your very own piano cake.   

Video of the Week: Clair de lune Animated Piano Solo

The Music Animation Machine opens up a new dimension for enjoying music.  The colors and patterns align with the sounds to create a truly unique music experience.   This week's "Video of the Week" is an animation of one of my favorite pieces for piano, Claude Debussy's "Clair de lune".  Enjoy!

Debussy, Clair de lune, piano solo

Video of the Week: "The Lord Bless You as Keep You"

Take a moment to enjoy this song of peace.  Enjoy!


"The Lord Bless You as Keep You" by John Rutter

Video of the Week: "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus"

This week's "Video of the Week" partners with this week's Advent devotional which features the hymn "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus".  Enjoy!


Come Thou Long Expected Jesus by Journey Worship

1st Sunday in Advent – Hope “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”

Welcome to week one of this Advent season!  

For our 2011 – 2012 journey from Advent to Epiphany, I have put together a weekly series of devotionals that is enhanced by Anglican prayer beads. Each devotion in the series will follow a typical Anglican prayer beads pattern that I have written to include a favorite hymn of the season.

So take a moment to reflect on today's message of hope.

The Cross

We beginning at the cross of your prayer beads, we say a prayer that sets the tone for our prayer session.

“Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and always. Amen.”

Revelation 7:12 CEB

The Invitatory

Move to the invitatory bead as we say a prayer that invites God's Holy presence.

"God is our refuge and strength, a help always near in times of great trouble."

Psalm 46:1 CEB

The Cruciforms

Move to the first of four cruciform beads. The prayers for these beads act as a kind of refrain.

“Come, Thou long expected Jesus born to set Thy people free”

Charles Wesley

The Weeks

Move to the first set of weeks beads on either side of the first cruciform bead. There are 7 of these weeks beads, representing the 7 days of the week to encourage us to make our prayer a daily practice. These beads are at the core of our prayers.

1. From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee. 

2. Israel's Strength and Consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art;

3. Dear Desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.

4. Born Thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, 

5. Born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.

6. By Thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone;

*Special thanks to these online resources who helped me pull this together.
http://www.kingofpeace.org/prayerbeads.htm
http://www.youversion.com/

Video of the Week: "Improvisation on Electric Organ"

Madi at the Electric Organ

I think that every musical household needs an electric organ with a few bells and whistles.  This organ has brought more exploratory play time than most any toy in the house.  My daughter Madi decided to give a mini concert on an improvisation she was working on and I just managed to catch it on video. Enjoy!

New Opportunities and Part-Time Employment

I have been looking for additional employment for the past year and have been working to network and get the word out to all my friends, family and colleagues. This last June I got a call about a potential job at the Cokesbury store at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. After a couple successful interviews I began my part time employment journey in August with Cokesbury.

Cokesbury is the official store for the United Methodist Publishing House located in Nashville, Tennessee. If you are United Methodist you have probably ordered books, music or curriculum from Cokesbury at one time or another. We also service many other protestant denominations.

The Cokesbury at Saint Paul School ofTheology is a seminary store that also provides the text books to the many students we see on campus. The majority of students are also serving a church so we are there to help with resources and worship supplies.

Being a UM Church musician brings a different perspective to my work at the store and gives me an opportunity to help our customers with music and worship related questions. I am also very fond of the United Methodist Women's reading program and work to keep that section up to date.

I am excited by the new opportunities that have already come my way by working at Cokesbury and what the future holds. I am confident that this new found connection will continue to help me on my music ministry journey.

You're Invited to Christmas Open House

3 days only - November 9 - 11

Save 25% on all regularly priced in-stock merchandise in stores only 

or free shipping at Cokesbury.com

Look for Christmas Open House specials

only available at these extra low prices for 3 days, while supplies last. 

Worship Music Q & A: Sense of Calling

Please provide a narrative of your sense of calling to ministry. Also, share your understanding of your Spiritual gifts as they relate to the tasks of ministry. 

I have a God given talent with my singing voice and in my ability to interpret music and work with a group of people to make it come to life.  I hold myself to a very high level of excellence in everything I do and I share that same passion for excellence with the people that I work with.

With the invitation to lead music in 2001 at my home church in Lawrence, Kansas and an opportunity to study church music and worship at Southern Methodist University Perkins School of Theology, I started a journey 10 years ago that has brought me to the Kansas City community and to my current church family. I have grown closer to Christ in my time here and I have gained more confidence in my God given gifts and abilities. I have also been lead to a deeper understanding of whom I am called to be.

I am called to share my talents in the field of church music ministry. God has prepared me and equipped me these past 10 years to serve. I am convinced that this is not a coincidence. There are no accidents in God's plan. All of the trials, tribulations, and learning experiences I have had have strengthened my knowledge and experience and made me an excellent candidate to serve as director of any church music ministry program.

My current ministry has bore fruit as positive changes were made to create a healthy environment for our praise band to grow as worship leaders and musicians. We worked to support each other and improve our working relationship. With a new focus we were able to not only bring our congregation to new heights in worship but we were able to truly worship as well.

Songs That Inspire Me

I have needed some musical inspiration these past few weeks and I have found it in these four songs.  Some days I need to be reminded that I am a firework or that this is just going to be one of those days.  These songs also help me to feel stronger and to know that I am redeemed by God.
 
I don't see my life getting any easier any time soon so I will keep these in my play list and I encourage you to find a little musical inspiration.  Enjoy! 

Katy's Perry's "Firework"

"This is the Stuff" by Francesca Battistelli




Mandisa sings Stronger in the K-LOVE Music Room

Selah plays their song "Unredeemed" live on K-LOV




What songs inspire you to greatness?

Free Worship Planning Pages!

Each worship service that I have ever planned or lead has always started with an outline or set of planning pages so all the important elements were organized in one place.  It really helped to keep things focused and made worship design go so much smoother.

With collaborative worship planning becoming more popular it's even more important to have a starting point for worship design.  It helps keep your meetings focused and give your new worship group members a good jumping off point for worship planning.  Customizable worship planning pages for both contemporary and traditional worship settings are the answer.

I am excited to share with you my Worship Planning Pages for both Contemporary and Traditional worship settings.  I have taken my 10+ years of worship planning experience in the United Methodist Church and designed my own dream worship planning pages.  Each set of planning pages is a Google Docs document that is available for download from the links below. 

I have also included a summary of the headings list for each set of planning pages.  I have based the worship elements of each set of planning pages from the basic worship outline included in the United Methodist Hymnal and then tweaked it a bit for modern worship. 

I can't wait to hear from all of you and see how you have used these Worship planning pages in your church's next worship meetings.  




Contemporary Worship Planning Sheet  (click to download)

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Contemporary Setting  ○  Worship Planning Sheet

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Date, Sunday, Sermon Series or Theme, Color, Visual Focus, Music Leader, Worship Leader, Prayer Leader

○ The People Gather

Opening Prayers & Praise: 

Opening Songs                                                     

○ Proclamation and Response

Prayer Songs                                                      

Scripture Selection (s

Message Title

Drama or Video

Special Music/ Offering                                          

○ Thanksgiving

Communion Songs

○ Sending Forth

Closing Songs

Traditional Worship Planning Sheet   (click to download)

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Traditional Setting  ◊  Worship Planning Sheet

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Date, Sunday, Sermon Series or Theme, Color, and Visual Focus

◊ The People Gather

Greetings

Prelude

Opening Prayers & Praise

Opening Hym

◊ Proclamation and Response

Prayer of Illumination

Scripture

        First Lesson

        Psalm

        Second Lesson

        Gospel Lesson

Anthem

Hymn

Sermon

Response to the Word

Prayers of the People

Prayers of Confession, Pardon and Peace

Offertory

◊ Thanksgiving

Communion Setting

Communion Hymns                                             

◊ Sending Forth

Closing Hymn   

Benediction

Postlude

Worship Music Q & A: Theology of Worship

What is your theology of worship?

Worship is fundamentally about God, then about our relationship with God, and then finally about us. We gather in community by the grace of the Holy Spirit with the powerful intention to worship our Lord, Jesus Christ. Our worship is to be full of dynamic, meaningful, and relevant experiences to honor and praise God. 

Corporate worship should be a thoughtful celebration. Everything we do should bring you back to that God-centered focus. 

• Our music helps people come to God and sing his praises. 

• Our scripture readings allow people time to think and contemplate God. 

• Our time of spoken prayer and silent reflection helps us to center our minds on God's presence in our lives and in our church and meditate on that relationship. 

• The message of the day brings the scriptures to life so that we can better understand God's personal message for each of us and the biblical history that has come before us. 

We come to worship to be with God and to participate and connect in as many ways possible. We are called to use new emerging technologies and new ways of expression as they become available so our worship is relevant to our culture and to our time.

Video of the Week: "I Surrender All"

"I Surrender All" has become my own personal mantra for the past few weeks.  Out of all the songs that I know it is the one that keeps coming back to my mind.  I have taken it as a personal God message and have kept it close to my heart.  Here is a stirring rendition by The Isaacs.  Enjoy! 

"I Surrender All" By The Isaacs

Worship Music Q & A: Quality Worship Ministry

What in your opinion would be the key elements of a quality Worship Ministry? 
 

I believe it's in the church's best interest to have strong, consistent leadership in the area of worship arts so that our churches can grow and develop strong disciples. Our worship ministries need to be as varied as our communities are so we can best serve the people around us. Prayer and planning with a strong collaborative spirit are essential to any quality worship ministry. As well as mentor-ship programs to nurture new musicians and worship leaders.

Taking care of and adequately supporting our worship ministry participants, paid or volunteer is also a high priority. We would work to cultivate worship and music excellence with our worship leaders, praise band instrumentalists, praise chorus members and lead vocalists. All while creating opportunities for children and youth to participate in meaningful ways.

Worship Music Q & A: New Series!

A few weeks ago I was asked to complete a written interview for a music and worship position for a large church in Missouri.  Some of these questions really got me thinking about my worship ministry and what my core beliefs are.

I decided to share my answers to some of the more thought provoking questions of the interview in the hopes of inspiring you to think about what you would have said in my place.  It never hurts to form your thoughts on paper and it gives what you do a deeper sense of purpose.

I was asked about my thoughts on the subjects of:

• Quality Worship

• Worship Theology

• My Sense of Calling

Check back next week for this new Worship Music Q & A Series!