30 years of You Can Lead Singing

The cover of my book

Thirty Years Ago

Thirty years ago I wrote it. In 1995 my manual for song leading was published, You Can Lead Singing. "Yes, you can," I had to insist with the editor who can't carry a tune.  She took my word and signed off on it. Now almost 30 years later, it's out of print. But I'm here. Actually, on Amazon I can buy a used one for $1.55.

Back to Watts Masterpieces

You can find 21 Isaac Watts hymns in here

I'm doing Watts April 7, 2024

I am one of the song leaders for the singing at Blossom Hill Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pa., on Sunday, April 7.  That's just two weeks away.  Stan Godshall, Steve Ness, and Mike Burkholder also will lead hymns.  For my set of hymns I am choosing hymns by Isaac Watts.  Why?  I admire his craftsmanship over all other authors of hymns. And, this year is the 350th anniversary of his birth.  That's something--collecting royalties for 350 years (well, not the royalties part)!  

I normally would grab Voices Together for singing, but the editors missed the boat on Watt.  Tice included only seven (an eighth not set for congregational singing) of the masterpieces.  So, we'll find all we want in Hymnal, a worship book, where you can find all of twenty-one of those gems.

Watts concert

This Nov. 24, the last Sunday before Advent, I led a concert focused on Isaac Watts (1674-1748)  hymns.  He's pretty much captured the high ground of global hymnody with Joy to the World, Jesus Shall Reign, When I survey, Alas and Did, The Lord my Shepherd Is, et. al.

Supporting the congregational voices I had the Bravura Brass Quintet, a select vocal ensemble, me on the organ a few times, and Patricia Martin on piano for three songs.  The brass preluded and interluded the event with pieces written by contemporaries of Watts (e.g. Bach, Handel, Albinoni) and one piece by me, the third of the offertory.  I also wrote all the brass parts accompanying the hymns.  If you want to hear the 52 minutes of just the music, click here.  Here's one view of the event.

the song leaders' song

On August 25, nine Neffsville song leaders presented "Fairest Lord Jesus."  I call them  the Canticles.  I arranged the hymn which is  #117 in Hymnal: A Worship Book.  I had the challenge of balancing five male voices with four female and only with a 20-minute "run-through" before the morning service.  One expects good voices and musicianship with song leaders and we got exactly that!  Enjoy!  Click this or the "box" below:  https://app.box.com/s/c4pwn03b7qswqq6ua9e3

"let the chldren come"

The children did come, mostly elementary school age but some older.  The event was one of the classes in the week called "Created 2 Praise."  My part of that was "explore the organ."  Eight kids and one older helper went through exercises of listening, singing, rhythm, imitation and actual playing the organ for each other.  Here's the happy group!

trumpet Palm Sunday

Last Sunday at Neffsville, Palm Sunday, a trumpeter added music to a service full of singing and choral music.  I wrote the trumpet part on the hymns.  The file is 17 minutes long or so, but if you want to sample the sounds:

singers at singing

Harmonies held its annual hymn sing at Blossom Hill Mennonite Church Sunday, March 24, 2013.  A choir of select singers from Berks and Conestoga Christian high schools added choral sounds.  The hymns sing itself featured a set of newer hymns from "Sing the Story" on the theme of season of spring (Passover, Pentecost, etc.) and a set on season of prayer, 19th and 20th century traditional hymns on prayer.  Here are the singers warming up.

flute solo audio file, Dec. 16

Yesterday Brynn Godshall played flute for an arrangement I made of "My soul proclaims with wonder" (Hymnal a worship book #181).  I played the organ.  I captured the performance (2:45 min.) on my H2 recorder.  Lovely flute.  Thanks, Brynn.  Listen here:

https://www.box.com/s/3vwexe2a7ptvy72tlmv1

The tune was written in 1990 by J. Harold Moyer, a long-time prof at Bethel College, Kansas.  One of his hymn tunes, FAITH, has gotten a lot of mileage in several hymnals, "I sought the Lord."

the high notes

When are notes high and when are they high?  With a counter-tenor it seems as if they are all high; but soon you get into the alto zone and then you just listen to the music.  Here's the ticket to the concert.  See the link on my Dec. 3 post if you want to hear him.

Bach for today

Someone sent me this youtube.  It’s an attractive attempt to show Bach's music as relevant to the modern world.  Notice, they didn’t have the heat in the church up and the musicians all dressed for the cold.  The singer, a counter-tenor, is singing in Lancaster's, Ware Center, Dec. 5, after a concert in Atlants and before a show in New York.  Art music (or classical music) is losing market share and some people attribute that to the tuxedo/gown dress and hierarchical conventions which often go with it which make it seem stuffy.  Yo-yo Ma is an example of someone trying to integrate into contemporary life styles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENFo_QOyiRA

Taylor's trombone pipes out a medley

The flash made annoying shadows on the photo, but you can see a good image of the trombone and Taylor holding it, after the worship service July 8.  (That me on the right).  He played a set of three hymns, all in our hymnals, and all on the theme of walking with God:  Trust and Obey (when we walk with the Lord), We Will Walk in the Valley ("...Jesus himself will be our leader...), and Just a Closer Walk with Thee.

Sure, more often it's a trumpet that plays solo in church, but Taylor had the advantage of low notes a trumpet could never dream of, almost two octaves below middle C, and his beautiful mellow range a half octave above middle C, to take our thoughts from reflective introspection to jubilant high beauty.

Thanks, Taylor.

Easter, outiside and inside

A whole week has passed since April Fools, and after the pathos of the passion story there was no fooling on Easter Sunday. I started outside at 7:30, and at the 10:00 a.m. service an ensemble played the prelude and accompanied an anthem, the bass solo, "The Trumpet Shall Sound," and "Hallelujah Chorus" from Messiah. The trumpet from the ensemble played joined the organ on the hymns: "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," "Christ is Alive, Let Christians Sing," and "Thine is the Glory." We have to thank Brenda Covelens for the ensemble.

April fools--church music style

Sunday was April Fools Day. One of my church music friends sent me this for amusement only:

Organist/Choir Director/Church Secretary/Bell Director/Sexton COMBO, Memorial
of the Memorial Church, 666 Insanity Lane, Styx, VA 22207 Church membership:
7,200 families. Ann. salary: $125,000 plus benefits, use of church Lexus, and housing
stipend of $10,000 per month. Play nine Sunday Services, three daily services, weddings
and funerals. Rehearse and accompany eight vocal and bell choirs. Organize, direct,
and publicize six-eight special music programs each year. Must be comfortable
with classical, traditional, contemporary, Gospel, Christian Rock, Taize, Jazz, Dixieland,
and high Anglican worship styles, with excellent sight-reading, improvisation,
organ, piano, janitorial, bulletin folding, and lawn mowing skills. Open score reading,
lead-sheet reading, and chair moving skills is a plus. One Sunday and two weekdays
of paid vacation annually. Under the ultra critical watchful eye of the Senior Pastor.
Please call Ricky Wrinkle at 703-555-1 OMG (church).

Communion tunes

Last Sunday (Feb. 5) we celebrated communion. I played several tunes softly as people moved to the stations and communed. Here are the titles I played: "How Can I Say Thanks" (Crouch); "Break Thou the Bread of Life" (#360); "Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore" (#229); "Open My Eyes That I May See" (#517).

Let me know if you have requests for next time.

early Christmas gift at office door

At work, I got my first gift of the season, along with each of the other staff members. The donor was an annonymous angel. Thanks for reusing nice Nescafe bottles, for a home-grown, hand-made treat. Here's how fast mine went in one day. Had a little help at home :)

Hymn sing Nov. 20

I'm leading a hymn sing 4:30 p.m., this Sunday, Nov. 20 at Neffsville. Here's the title page of the program:

Come out and “occupy the hymnal”
Hymn Sing
Sunday, November 20, 2011, 4:30 p.m.
at Neffsville Mennonite Church
An afternoon of classic and gospel hymns
led by Glenn Lehman, assisted by
Jessica Spieser-Landes and a vocal ensemble

To see the list of hymns click here: http://www.harmonies.org/11.20.song.list.harmonies.pdf. See you!

One minor feature will be the first hymn, "In Thy Holy Place We Bow," published in 1911 by my favorite Mennonite composer, J. D. Brunk.

hymns outside

After playing the service at Neffsville in the morning, I went to the orchard of the 1719 Herr House and led half of the outdoor hymn sing. There were perhaps 50 persons there, selecting songs from three old Mennonite hymnals: 1902 Church and Sunday School; 1927 Church Hymnal; and the 1938 Life Songs. I might have dropped a few notes, but the tree behind me was dropping black walnuts at about the same frequency. photo by Sarah Schrock

Organ Jump Start class

"Created 2 Praise" week has come. Six young people and one high school guide bring their piano music to play on the pipe organ. Along with that fun, we figure out some of the unique features of the organ. Left to right after me: Dawson, Evan, Miriam, guide Morgan, Hannah, Julia, and Madeleine. They all play piano. We're off to a good start.

titles for 3.6.2011

Thanks, everyone, for getting really quiet during the end of my preludes. I played nine minutes of early composers, Clerambault (1676-1749), a French organist and composer, and Pachelbel (1653-1706), one of Bach's teachers. Here's Pachelbel's signature before the days of ball point pens. I segued into a well-known traditional hymn, words and music by Clara H. Fiske Scott (1841-1897), "Open my eyes that I may see glimpses of truth...." That is taken straight up from Psa. 119:18. Verse two starts, open my ears; and verse three begins, open my mouth. Clara was born in Illinois and lived as an adult in Iowa. She wrote tons of hymns. This is the only one still in use.

I played the melody on a tiny little high flute. The chorus goes: silently, now, I wait for Thee, ready my God thy will to do. It was so fitting that everyone was quiet.

A detail about Clara's life--there were accidents before interstates and fast cars. Clara died an untimely early death when a runaway horse threw her from the buggy in Dubuque, Iowa.

The offertory was Bach's "Jesu, joy of man's desiring."

spiritual for offertory 2.27.2011

Last Sunday I used an African American song, "Lord, I want to be a Christian." It seems as if everyone knows it. It's lovely to sing. You can find it in the blue hymnal at #444. I used an arrangement of it written by Phil Clemens when he was organist at College Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind.