Another major challenge, for my church at least, has been managing the sheet music. It is continually going missing, or winding up in the wrong folder, and we spend precious minutes at rehearsal trying to track it down.So true, so true.
Sheet music is dreadful stuff. It tries to rule my life. Before church on a Sunday I just want to get on with practicing. But I have to search for the sheet music first, and make sure there is a copy for everyone. During church I want to play in a key in which the congregation can actually sing. But the sheet music says G major, so what can I do? And I don't want to play 4 different chords per bar but that's what's written! After church I want to go talk to people. I don't want to do the tedious task of filing stupid music away. But I have to. I am a slave to these little black dots on A4 pieces of paper. I need them so I have to obey them. And what they scream out is 'FILE ME!' and 'PLAY ME!' But I don't want to do either.
I need a solution.
Here are my options:
1. We put a nice little ipad on each music stand.
I think there could be a system with CCLI where when song owners publish a song, we send it electronically to CCLI - both sheet music and a recording (we already do this - but we could do it in a way that it could easily be put on a website - Scorch or whatever). Then CCLI chuck it up on a site and churches can pick their songs and play them from the screen. If ti was done in a decent program, we could transpose it easily and have just a melody and chords, just chords and words, or a full piano score. The program could keep a track of what music we are using and bill us accordingly.
Pros
- Clean. After the initial registration, there would be no paperwork. No CCLI returns to put in, no sheet music to lose. No paper, no mess!
- Useful. You could do transpositions or whatever with a single click! You could play a demo of the song so you know what you are aiming for. You could use whichever version of the score was most helpful to you: chords and words, melody and chords, full piano...
- Non-existent. Such a system doesn't really exist yet. Someone would need to make it.
- Expensive. Hard to justify the expense when there are people starving in the world
Pros
- Cheap. Saves money on photocopying.
- Educational. Memorization helps you understand the music better - if you understand it better, you'll improvise better and transpose better.
- Freeing. Most sheet music (for modern songs at least) was never intended to be played. Not having it there will free people up to play what they should play
- Clean. No mess to clear up. No music to file.
- Cooler. You can play with a fan blowing in your face and the music won't fly away.
- Helpful. Will show the drummers that we are as clever as they are.
- Satisfying. Great adrenaline buzz at the start of each song. Excellent feeling if you make it to the end together.
- Scary. Suggesting this would freak people out.
- Dangerous. Higher possibility of major musical catastrophes...
But who wants to?
Which option should we take?
I reckon we should preach from an iPad too.
ReplyDelete4. Make a person responsible for it who really wants to help out in church but who just can't find a niche. And then make them part of the music team.
ReplyDeleteIf everyone in the music team has a sheet music folder with all the songs you use, alphabetically organised (and in plastic sleeves, so you don't take them out and lose them)...surely it isn't too difficult? Am I just naive?
ReplyDeleteRegards being slaves to the sheet - that's interesting. Personally, I have found memorisation enslaving in the past because I felt that I had to play in the one consistent way that I memorised rather than going with the mood that struck me as I played around with what's written on the page. (This is because I am not good at memorisation and I get panicky that I'm going to forget something vital if I take too many liberties.)
Being able to change the sheet layout to what suits the musician would be helpful.
In my early days, I was the person Al suggests. It wasn't that hard. My qualification was that I could use a photocopier, and was an experienced perfectionist. QED. (I even, in pre-CCLI days, chased down every copyright holder and paid them! I still remember talking on the phone to Annie Irvine's mum in Roseville...)
ReplyDeleteWe used folders that held all the songs; colour coded according to which key the relevant instrument was in.
I'm sure there's a neat freak in your church somewhere Simone. You just need to find the person with the gift of (can't)help(myself)!
I have had the great pleasure of recently joining the church band with the most organised system of sheet music I have ever seen and experienced.
ReplyDeleteOn joining the band, I was given a bound booklet containing every song the church sings lovingly photocopied and placed in alphabetical order. The front cover contains my name and the number book it is. I am assuming it is updated annually at which point I must return my copy.
So the key to sheet music is everyone has their own copy which is bound so pages don't go missing or aren't used in circumstances they shouldn't be. On a good photocopier with auto feed and back to back printing I imagine a couple of hours work would save hours of headaches over the year.
It's so brilliant I wish I'd thought of it.
OK, so I'm not a complete perfectionist, and I'm very happy to not be doing the CCLI returns, but when was the last Sunday that I was at church and the music wasn't out on stands before everyone arrived and then neatly back in the folder afterwards?
ReplyDeleteDave you are indeed wonderful!
ReplyDelete(in case you didn't know, this post is entirely unserious! You should have seen our music in the early days before you arrived!)
The other problem with memorisation is that your "precious" compositions might get mangled! Improvisation soon leads to songs that don't actually resemble the original composition!
ReplyDeleteOkay Okay Okay!
ReplyDeleteThere is no way I am going to memorize every song in our music folders let alone expect everyone else to!
I am very taken with the idea of option #1. I think it will happen eventually.
Maybe this is something to look at:
ReplyDeletewww.musicreader.net
An IPad version is in development.
At our last church, a list of 30 to 40 songs from which to choose was drawn up every 6 months or so. Music leaders could add in a song not on the list for the week they were on but it was (supposed) to go back in the filing cabinet at the end of the service.
ReplyDeleteThere were about 5 'music' folders - 1 piano, 1 guitar and 3 singers (words only) into which the songs were inserted in plastic sleeves. Because it was only done every 6 months or so, there wasn't lots of time spent before / after every practice or service dealing with sheet music.
I had a number of pieces with transposed keys to play on saxophone. Transposition was done using Song Select.
I realise I am 18 months behind the conversation, but here goes...
ReplyDelete# 2
Build and encourage the team to learn the songs. Some may still have a chord chart as a guide, but I believe the benefit of everyone knowing the song well and leading with confidence will greatly honour God and the congregation.
Has anything changed since then?
I realise I am entering this conversation 18 months late, but here goes...
ReplyDeleteNumber 2
Build and train a team that can learn songs from memory, allowing them the flexibility to change key and arrangement as needed. Team members will be more confident and effective as leaders of corporate worship.
Has anything changed since this post was first posted?