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Re: [Worship] Hey Vocalists and worship leaders. . .
I'm a worship leader at Foursquare Church in Springfield, Ohio (USA). We have about 150 in the congregation and 6-10 people on our worship team (some of our members are from out-of-state. They attend a nearby Christian college and are only on the team when attending school). The worship style is blended, but mostly contemporary.
Beth Shearer wrote:
> 1. Do you read music?
Yes
> 2. If so rate yourself: Excellent, Above Average, Average, Fair
Excellent
> 3. Can you confidently sight sing music?
Yes. That's how I find a lot of my new music for the worship team. I buy music books, sit down at the piano, start playing and singing at the beginning and don't stop until the end. If I had to work at it, I probably wouldn't try! ;-)
> 4. Do you learn music more "by ear" or written music?
Both equally - I tend to pick up songs very quick. I only need to go through most songs a couple of times before having them (mostly) down..
> 5. Would you be interested in improving your sight singing?
Always interested in improvement.
> 6. Can you confidently hear and sing harmonies?
Can and do. I actually *prefer* to sing harmonies - partly because of range (I'm an alto), but mostly because of the "flavor" that comes from nice, close harmonies. Harmony appears to come naturally to me (*definitely* a gift from God). When I was very young, I used to sing along with my mother's Ricky Nelson records (now I'm telling my age!). I found out later that I had been singing harmonies all that time!
> 7. Do you hear "counter-melodies" in the accompaniment?
Occassionally, but not as a general rule.
> 8. Do you feel confident "ad libbing"?
Sometimes. It depends on the song and the purpose of the ad lib.
> Worship Leaders - one more question. Do you require your vocalists to read music? Why or why not?
We do not require that vocalists joining the team read music, but that they are open to learning. We have a lot of folks in our congregation that have the ability to sing well, but have never been trained to read music. I feel that part of my "job" (as worship leader and choir director) is to help them to refine that ability.
> I have done a couple of weekend seminars locally, specifically for non-music reading vocalists.
I would be very interested in seeing your seminar notes. One of my personal goals is to one day go back to college and get a degree in vocal music. (It's never too late, is it? ;-) If you wouldn't mind, please e-mail me privately.
Hope this helps,
Vikki Wingfield <><
vwwing@main-net.com
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