What is the Role of the Music Director in a Local Church? (Part I)

The office of a Music Director may be traced to bible history times with specific reference to the time David became king of Israel. Even though this portfolio had been around for a very long time, it was not until David became king that it gained prominence in the everyday life of God's people. A thorough study of the reforms that took place under David's leadership (1st Chronicles) will attest to the emphasis that he placed on temple worship music. These reforms brought to the fore music personalities like Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, who became key leaders and Music Directors with varying responsibilities.

The dynamics involved in the role of Music Director become evident based on the environment of its performance. In David's time he, the king, was the chief musician while others functioned under him (1st Chronicles 25:1-8). This was so because apart from his royal responsibilities and calling, David had been raised and anointed of God for the office of the prophetic through music. By this we learn that it was not the fact that he was king that gave him right to be chief musician but rather a divine calling of God upon his life. When you look at the other kings of Israel beginning with Saul, we do not see any of them stepping into that Music Director role as David did.

This is in striking contrast to what pertains in some churches where the leader (vision bearer, Pastor, founder etc) in most cases takes up the Director's role as far as music is concerned. He would normally decide on how the choir is structured and run. He decides who joins, who sings what songs and so on. In most cases these things have frustrated the work of many genuinely called music directors. In no way does this suggest anyone can walk into a church and decide the direction or vision of the church, no. Everyone who works in any enterprise must be subject to the structure that governs the enterprise but this does not reduce the workers in an enterprise to functional robots who cannot bring their skill, knowledge and initiative to bear for the good of the vision.

It is in this spirit that we would be looking at the role of the Music Director not as one managing his own outfit outside the local church, but as one playing this role within the confines of a larger unit like the local church.

MISCONCEPTIONS

The misconception of a music director's work, job description and function differs from enterprise to enterprise and church to church. Unfortunately we tend to copy what we see as a success without trying to find out what foundation the success sits on. Systems have been reduced to fashion tags. Your peculiar music vision must be largely responsible for the system you employ. Here are some wrong concepts of music direction held by many even some who hold themselves out as music directors. It is hoped that this will begin to turn around our thinking of what the office of music director really is.

Some think the music director:

• Is appointed to teach songs like a choir master.
• Must be the most talented instrumentalist or singer or both.
• Must be the longest serving member in the enterprise or choir.
• Must be the most prayerful member in the enterprise or choir.
• Must be the most loyally serving and committed member.
• Must be the one in the choir with bible school experience.
• Must be an associate Pastor on the church Pastoral team
• Must be the most affable member with good relational skills.

While all these may be a plus for the job, the core business of music directing goes far beyond these. The question then is what is a music director's role? Is it to rehearse the band? Is it to decide who will sing what songs or to moderate meetings?

Vocal Apparatus and Voice Production (Part IV)

SOUND QUALITY

The various sounds must be pronounced with the appropriate articulatory organs to get the correct sound quality.

Despite this, it is important to realize that no matter how one masters sound production techniques the peculiarity of ones individual vocal texture will most often than not remain. When we both pronounce the same word it will have our individual voice quality.

Hundreds and thousands of individuals are recognized by the sound of their voice (which is influenced by differences in size and shape of the individuals vocal cavities, structure of vocal cords and control of their vibration, air-flow characteristics etc.)  God never intended for us to be the same and therefore no two people who have ever lived, or alive now or will be born will have a 100% vocal similarity or match. Having said this, if two people pronounce the same word, the word must be identified and if they sing a particular key or note it must be the same.

BREATH CONTROL

Breath control is a dynamic technique used in singing. It has to do with the process of breathing in and out during singing.

It also aids us in creating a particular mood, in other words bringing a good interpretation of whatever you are singing about.

There are various types of breath control but these three are commonly known and easily applied. They are Chest breathing, Diaphragmatic (deep or full) breathing and Real (normal) breathing.

CHEST BREATHING
This type of breathing is shallow and frequent usage brings hoarseness in the throat. To demonstrate chest breathing, you take in breath with the conscious effort of filling your chest with air. One must not depend on chest breathing for singing. Chest breathing is used as a reserve for emergency.

DIAPHRAGMATIC (deep or full) BREATHING
The diaphragm is a large dome shaped muscle. It is situated in between the lungs and the abdomen. It is a powerful muscle in the anatomy of man. We need to exercise the diaphragm muscles to make it strong for usage.

REAL (normal) BREATHING
This is the normal way or the natural way of breathing. This does not need any effort. However, in singing a lot of breath is used. Volume of breath taken for proper singing goes beyond the normal breathing volume. This is what makes the difference between real breathing and deep breathing in singing. Practice these as often as you can and set yourself on the road to vocal freedom.

Vocal Apparatus and Voice Production (Part III)

I hope you've been enjoying the discussion on voice production thus far. If you have, then let's get on with the next part...

The lips

The lips are as mobile as the tongue. It can assume various shapes. These different shapes have a strong influence on sound quality. There are four main shapes that the lips normally assume as follows:

1.The close-rounded - The lips assume a round and almost closed position as at the beginning of pronouncing the word “wood” (oooo).

2.The open-rounded - The lips assume a round but open position as in the vigorous pronunciation of the word “hot”, “hold”, “home”.

3.Spread - The lips spread in a smiling gesture. This can be done in the vigorous pronunciation of the word “see”, “free”.

4.Neutral position - The shape of the lips in this position is not too different from the position of the lips when it is lying idle. These different shapes of the lips, that is, the lip positions have a strong influence on sound quality.

Experiments:

1.Say “O” with open-rounded lips and gradually spread the lips to assume the Spread lip position.

2.Say “oooo” as in “wood” with close-rounded lips and gradually relax the lips to assume the neutral lip position.

3.Say “eeee” with spread lips and gradually close-round the lips by pushing the lips forward.

Note: while changing the lip position everything else must be kept as still as possible.

Results:

The initial quality of the sound changes into another quality. In experiment 3, for instance, the quality of the vowel “eeee” changes to the quality of the French letter “u”. It is, thus, very important to adapt the appropriate lip position for the appropriate sound.

Preparing For The Worship Service (Part I)

Introduction

Understanding the concept and context in which music is being put to, is a crucial starting point in music directing. A worship service must be properly positioned and understood and must not be confused with a public concert. While a public concert focuses on the performer the worship service has God as the focus. When we use the terminology “service” we are basically looking at offering a service and not a special church service as we know it. We are looking at the  role music plays during worship in the context of a main church service.                                            

A service simply means there are people or someone to be served. In this light we must appreciate how God is at the center or core of a worship service and how we need to lay our first building blocks on this truth. The service and performance of music will come from men but the worship is directed to God. The sacrifice of our worship and praise in music is not directed to us. Many times you will find the musicians and singers performing for themselves or for the congregation. Let’s not get it wrong on this point. The congregation would need a music approach that carries their sacrifice of praise in terms of language, rhythm, melody, style and so on. That is fine but the road must lead to God. It is for His pleasure and us. You may be surprised just as I was to find some members of the congregation requesting or requiring the musicians to play a popular song for them to dance with each other and for each other. We produce the music as a vehicle of our worship to God but the worship belongs to Him. We really need to take note of this as it can make or break a worship service.

The music ministry operates both vertically and horizontally. There is a place for ministering to God which is the vertical ministry and there is the place for ministering to men which is horizontal ministry. The quality of a music minister’s horizontal ministry will be largely dependent on his vertical ministry. If a music minister knows how to minister to God, he will receive the unction for ministering to men. 

The purpose of this article is to look at our vertical ministry where the music ministry team leads in the effort of using music as a binding force for congregational worship. Here are some important things we should reflect on and consider before getting into the details of our study.

1.    Song or music leading is not the same as worship leading. The focus of song leading is in getting the music right while the focus of worship leading is in getting the spirit right. A music minister must learn how to develop the balance between the two and create a working harmony between them.

2.    The time of worship music is not the place to play the most popular and the most loved song. God and His preferences must always remain supreme. He may not always enjoy the songs you enjoy, the way you enjoy playing or responding to them.

3.    Unknown to many church people and music ministers, the congregational worship music session is by far the aspect of the service needing the greatest of care and preparation rather than the special song done by the choir.

4.    Unfortunately it is at this time of the service that the main instrumentalists in church give the learners a chance to play since there is the belief that you don’t need much knowledge to play congregational worship music. This is probably the most dangerous mistake we have made and keep making. It must stop lest we pay a very high price for this mistake than we are paying now. It amounts to irreverence.

5.    The worship leader is not necessarily the one doing the lead vocal part of the songs even though he may stand out more prominently than anyone else.

6.    Every member of the team is playing a major worship leading role but in a different capacity.

7.    The leading singer’s responsibility will be to co-ordinate the team’s efforts as the centre or point of command, direction and harmony for the entire congregation.

8.    Many have thought that so long as they are not in front with the microphone their role is less prominent and sensitive. God, however sees things differently.The sound man is as much a worship leader as the leading singer is and would need the same approach to fulfill ministry during the service. 2 Chronicles 5:11 - 14.

9.    Being able to play your chords right, sing the right notes and harmony, get the lyrics right and keeping the band tight does not constitute worship. It constitutes good music. It is possible to be doing these for Jesus but Jesus would be the last person on your mind.                                     

10.    Your ability to flow with and by the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit is what moves you from the realm of performance into the prophetic.

11.    If on a personal basis a musician is not a worshiper there is no way he can flow in this direction in public, like a church service.

12.    If you do not practice how to worship God with and on your instrument (voice inclusive) on a regular personal basis there is no anointing that will hit you from anywhere to make you function publicly.                                               

13.    Many times what we see and feel as the anointing is a great atmosphere and the release of good emotion. These can be powerful but they do not produce any lasting work in our lives. Normally they wear off after the service or during the week and do not make a lasting mark or impression on peoples lives.

14.    The anointing breaks yokes and brings changes which are tangible in people’s lives. Let’s look at Isaiah 61:1- 3.

With these it is clear that we must refocus on how we prepare for the worship service.

Vocal Apparatus and Voice Production (Part II)

Good to be back again. Let get straight into our discussion about improving our vocal abilities.

THE PROCESS OF RESPIRATION

Respiration is the process of taking in and giving out air.

The lungs:

The lungs are two large sponge-like structures situated in the chest. They are alternatively filled with air and emptied of it. The lungs are enclosed within the rib cage and are bounded at the bottom by the diaphragm (a dome-shaped sheet of muscle). It curves upwards and can be flattened to some extent by muscular action.

During inspiration or breathing in, the ribs move up and outward, creating space within them. At the same time the diaphragm also moves downwards and flattens. This action creates space within the cage and thus allows the lungs to expand and so collect air within.

For the air to come out, the ribs move downward and inward with the diaphragm moving up, squeezing the lungs and causing the air to come out.

When you are just breathing, that is, during normal breathing, inspiration and expiration take about the same duration with expiration taking a slightly longer time.  In speech however inspiration is quickened up and expiration slowed down because we use the air taken in to power the sound of speech. Since in reality we do not use one breath intake to produce one word in speech expiration may last many times longer than inspiration.

In singing one has the ability to control how long breath could be expelled. This is the reason for the breath control exercise. It is to enable us have control over how we breathe in and how long to expel the air that we have taken in and for that matter, to be able to economize and spread over so many words the quick air that we were able to take in while singing.

Breathing in and out without balance spoils or mars the beauty of the speech or song.  It may even cause weariness, that is, it makes you tired. The basic principle is to breathe in before starting a song or speech and break for the intake of air only at the end of a sentence, or at a convenient break in the sentence as shown in this example.

Sing a song for the world today [breath]
Or: Sing a song [breath] for the world today.

The Vocal Cords.

There is a tube connected to the lungs called the windpipe or the trachea.  It is through this tube air passes to finally come out of the mouth or nose. At the end of the tube is a box-like structure which contains the vocal cords. This box-like structure is called the larynx. The vocal cords consist of two bands of muscle and connective tissue and they lie opposite to each other, fixed adjacent to each other at the front (commonly known as the Adam’s apple). They are horizontally moveable at the back where they are attached to cartilage (arytenoids). When these cartilage move they cause the vocal cords to come together or apart.

The cords may come together very firmly, preventing air from the lungs from passing through. This puts great air pressure behind them and when that happens and the cords are suddenly opened, a particular sound is produced. An example of such a sound is heard in the way some English westerners like some British pronounce the words “water” (wo-ah) or “butter”(bu’er). We technically refer to this as the use of the “glottal stop”. The same effect happens during coughing.

The vocal cords may be wide apart and allow air in and out of the lungs freely with no obstruction at all. For instance, during the making of the sound [shhhhhhh] obstruction of air is only at the mouth region.

There may also be an intermediate position, between fully closed and fully opened, of the vocal cords, as it happens in the case of the production of the sound [h] when pronouncing words like “have” and  “heart”. In this position the breath causes slight friction as it passes between the half-opened cords.

Try a series of very light coughs to give you a feeling of the vocal cords closing and opening.

The vocal cords function like the lips in certain regards and are therefore sometimes called the vocal lips. As has been said earlier, they could be, just like the lips, completely closed, fully opened, or half-opened.

Join me again as we complete this series next week.

Vocal Apparatus and Voice Production (Part I)

INTRODUCTION AND PRELUDE

Certain fundamental conditions are essential to the attainment of a perfect vocal technique. These are: 

1.    Proper breath control
2.    Loose, open throat
3.    The ability to pronounce correctly and distinctly.

Breath control:

For the purposes of singing, a proper breath control is best attained by the combination of the costal and the diaphragmatic methods of breathing. The costal breathing is the form of breathing whereby the ribs move outward and upward to enable the lungs to expand for breath intake. The flattening of the diaphragm for the provision of more space for this same purpose is what is known as the diaphragmatic breathing. These two being supported by the abdominal press, provides the depth of breath that the act of singing demands.

Loose, open throat

This means suppleness and elasticity of the Larynx, tongue, jaw, soft palate, and all the organs of articulation. This ensures easy movement of these organs for the purpose of singing.

The ability to pronounce correctly

The ability to pronounce correctly and distinctly in singing is only attainable when, in addition to proper breath control and the throat being loose and open, one has learnt to appropriately pronounce the various sounds of language. This ushers us into the practice of vowels and consonants, which basically forms a large portion of the sounds of many languages.


Today, we begin a 3 part series on how we can use our vocal apparatus to  enable us project our voices properly in improving our singing abilities.

SOUND AND SPEECH ORGANS

Certain organs in the human body make the production of sound possible. These are referred to as sound and speech organs. All these are situated in the upper part of the human body from the thorax up to the head. They are the lungs, ribs, diaphragm, vocal cords, tongue, teeth, jaws, palate, lips, nose and ears.

Sound is made by the obstruction of moving air, especially the out going air or breath from the lungs, by these organs. This means that the way these organs position themselves and function is what is largely responsible for the quality of vocal sounds we hear. The process of respiration is therefore an important feature in the production of sound.

Make sure you join me next week as we continue the to explore vocal techniques that will improve your singing. See you soon

Why Musicians and Engineers Need Sound Engineering Knowledge (Part V)

Welcome to the final and concluding part of our discussion on sound engineering. This is by no means an exhustive study of this very expansive subject in music but I hope this will become a driving force in your quest to research further with the aim of progressing with your music career.

THE DIGITAL AGE

We are now in what we refer to as the digital age, the age of precision. Information technology is driving everything. What we thought was a shrinking of larger gadgets and appliances from the acoustic age by the electronic age is seen as child’s play when compared to what the digital age has brought with it.

Amplifiers that weighed so much that it took 2 or 3 people to carry in the electronic age, are the size of a CD case and are more powerful in output. Today it is possible to carry over 5000 samples of sounds for a keyboard in a small digital storage device which is shorter and smaller than your little finger. All you would do is plug it into the back of your keyboard and you can play all those sounds at the touch of a button.

The digital age has brought more detail for music than we have ever known. The nature and character of a sound can be altered in micro units. This is because digital technology interprets sound signals as data in bits and bytes rather than in the normal electronic method of turning knobs fitted with predetermined values and units.

What this means is that it is now possible to increase or decrease the values on a musical or sound engineering instrument in micro values which cannot be humanly precise or possible. Digital technology in music today gives the musician the much needed space, support and opportunity to create any sound he desires the way he desires. In addition the musician has more control over the sound he produces and how it is required to behave in a performance.

Summary

What is significant is that the basic principles of music and sound engineering used in the acoustic era are still in place without any significant change. It is the methods, the range of variety and opportunity that is different. Today you and I have the flexibility to do what we want to do with very little difficulty but with amazing results all because of digital technology.

In all this what has really changed and what has stayed the same? Music and the way it is processed have changed so much. Our songwriting and performance of music in my view is more predetermined than in the past because digital technology gives so much room to copy with ease what others have done already.
 
Having said these, it is important to note that the human factor which is crucial to originality is still in place. With the scope that digital technology offers the musician in the area of sound engineering, there is no need to just dream about a musical idea.  It is now possible to bring it to life in a relatively quick, easy and cost efficient way if only you know how to.