The duties of the church musician encompass organizing concerts, leading choirs, collaborating with musicians from neighboring parishes, engaging in hymn-singing sessions with infants and their parents, and more. In this article, the major skills and qualities you can obtain to be a church musician will be enunciated.
Certain fundamental requirements need to be met to pursue a career as a Church Musician. These prerequisites go beyond a solid understanding of hymns or traditional church music and proficiency in playing various instruments, such as the organ, keyboard, handbells, voice, brass, woodwinds, guitar, or drums. The right skills can make you stand out if you aspire to be a church musician.
All you have to do is get the necessary skills and search for jobs for church musicians on Jooble and apply. Jooble offers a platform where you can apply online and increase your chances of getting hired by churches actively seeking talented musicians. This section below will discuss some specific skills that set you apart as a church musician.
Skills That Set You Apart As A Church Musician
Cadencing & Vamping
This skill is a significant one. Once you acquire it, you’ll also discover its usefulness in various songs and worship services.
Apart from being aware of the cadences in a particular piece, it’s crucial to know where you can backtrack if you require different music. Consider scenarios like communion servers taking a bit longer, ushers organizing the offering plates at the back, or a line of people still in the aisle waiting to hang ornaments on the tree during the Hanging of the Greens service.
Leadership
Church musicians frequently possess leadership abilities that enable them to effectively manage their time, arrange musical pieces, and lead their church’s music team. Moreover, they are adept at motivating and inspiring their team members to deliver their utmost performance.
Transposing
While music notation software can easily transpose pieces with a simple click, there are situations where time constraints prevent inputting everything into the computer before having to perform. For example, during Sunday morning rehearsals, you might need to transpose a response to match the key of the preceding hymn.
Furthermore, you might discover that transposing the last verse of a hymn up by a half step adds a stunning effect, and it would be convenient to do so without relying on music notation software for each instance.
Basic transposing skills, such as moving up or down by a half or whole step, will prove incredibly useful.
Communication
Church musicians frequently communicate with various individuals within the church community, including staff, volunteers, and congregation members. Their communication responsibilities encompass conveying musical concepts, song lyrics, and relevant information on the music they perform. Additionally, they collaborate with other musicians, such as the choir director, to establish mutual understanding and align expectations.
Composing
At times, it can be challenging to find a suitable descant for your sopranos or an obbligato that matches the skill level of a student instrumentalist.
In such situations, you may find it valuable to write your brief part to accompany the hymn or anthem being performed that day. Don’t let the unavailability of descants hinder your musical endeavors or limit who can participate!
Here are a few additional ways to utilize your composing skills in worship:
- Craft concise parts for an instrumentalist or chamber group to play alongside the hymns.
- Compose a prayer or benediction response for the choir to sing.
- Create a new hymn tune to commemorate a special Sunday or church anniversary.
- Develop your harmonizations for hymns.
- Write musical transitions to connect pieces within the service seamlessly.
Chord & Scale Patterns
Mastering the art of choir warm-ups requires a crucial skill: playing blocked or broken triads in every major and minor key and employing a range of 5-finger patterns that align with the choir’s vocal exercises. These abilities are indispensable for the choral accompanist; if you happen to be an all-in-one accompanist and director, they become even more valuable.
Here’s a pro tip: Instead of solely practicing in ascending order, challenge yourself by descending in half or whole steps, and venture into different keys to enhance your proficiency.
Improvising
The art of improvisation is often overlooked in private study and performance degrees. While jazz may be the genre that comes to mind when we think of improvisation, it’s important to recognize that this skill has historically played a significant role in church music. Developing even basic improvising skills can truly set you apart as a church musician in today’s context.
Here are several ways in which you can apply improvisation skills within worship:
- Improvising service music, such as a Toccata on “Truro” or a Prelude on “Foundation.”
- Embellishing and re-harmonizing hymns, adding personal touches and variations to enhance their musical expression.
- Creating seamless musical transitions between different pieces, ensuring a smooth flow and continuity in the worship service.
- Adding traveling music, such as before and after the choir anthem or before and after the children’s time, to provide a musical backdrop for these moments.
- Undertaking to underscore for readings, prayers, or litanies, using improvised musical accompaniment to enhance the spoken words and create a deeper emotional impact.
- Crafting custom instrumental arrangements of hymns or songs based on the available instrumentation, adapting them creatively to suit the resources.
Reading Open Score
Unlike the conventional Grand Staff notation, open score notation involves each vocal part written on a separate line. Consequently, when playing SATB choral parts, you must read four lines of music simultaneously.
This can present a challenge if you’re not accustomed to processing multiple lines simultaneously, requiring some practice to become proficient in it. While you may not encounter this situation frequently, it’s beneficial to develop this fundamental skill to handle it confidently when needed.
Sight-Reading
This skill becomes incredibly advantageous, particularly on Sundays when the congregation engages in an open hymn-sing, where individuals raise their hands and spontaneously call out a hymn number to sing. However, its value extends beyond these moments, as it proves to be invaluable during rehearsals.
Whether it involves reading unfamiliar anthems and service music, collaborating with a soloist for the first time, or encountering impromptu situations where you’re caught off guard without time to prepare, this skill truly shines.
Flexibility
The capacity to adapt and respond promptly to the needs of the choir, ensemble, or congregation is truly priceless, both during rehearsals and worship. It demands attentive listening, rapid reflexes, adept reading skills, and a certain level of sensitivity. This ability to be flexible allows for seamless adjustments and ensures that the musical experience is tailored to the specific requirements of the moment.
Flexibility encompasses various aspects, such as:
- Playing by ear when required.
- Harmonizing a simple song with only a provided melody.
- Making on-the-spot adjustments to tempo or dynamics.
- Skipping ahead in the music to follow the director or soloist.
- Improvising in real-time to handle unexpected situations or when something takes longer.
- Adapting instantaneously if there are any deviations from the planned order of events.
- The ability to embrace these flexible approaches ensures smooth musical flow and enables you to respond effectively to dynamic situations.
Conclusion
Becoming a church musician is a journey that requires a diverse set of qualities and skills. Continuously honing these abilities ensures your relevance and fosters your growth as a leading figure in the realm of church music. By doing so, you can serve as a beacon of motivation and inspiration for aspiring church musicians, encouraging them on their path to excellence.
