Placeholder: What I Intend By It

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  While my blog is still a bit of an empty wasteland, I want to tell you what I intend to offer as regular features:

Hymn-of-the-as-yet-unspecified-time-unit (week/month) - printable sheet music with some reflections on the hymn

Resource reviews - hymnals, missals, websites, and other tools

Essential Repertoire - for unison singing, for 4-part choirs, easy polyphony, treble-voiced music

Five Tips - lists of practical advice for every category of liturgical musician: choristers, directors, cantors, organists, planners, parishioners

And, of course, my invaluable rambling thoughts!

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Hymn of the Week: The God of Abraham Praise (LEONI)

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5 Quick Tips (5QT) to Make You a Better Accompanist Today

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 When I first started writing this blog, I had a plan of sorts, which included periodic "5 Quick Tips" to improve your performance at every different job in liturgical music. This is not an earth-shaking list, it's literally just bite-sized habits you can incorporate to make things a little easier on yourself. Try working on one new little habit per month. Let's begin with the Organist: 1. Hit the "Cancel" button after every hymn. No mistake feels more conspicuous than stepping on a pedal by mistake when there are stops open. Those keys are sensitive, man. Make it a habit to turn everything off between pieces. (My five-year-old likes to sit on the bench next to me, and pressing the cancel button is his job.) 2. Choose your tempo before  beginning the intro. Changes in tempo make the congregation uncertain. An uncertain congregation is a silent congregation. Count yourself in, start playing at the tempo you intend to use throughout, and stick with it. Don&#
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Ora et labora

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 O nce there were two novices working in the field, and they heard the bells ring for the Angelus. While one of them began to pray immediately, the other quickly lit a cigarette first. "Hey!" cried the first novice indignantly. "I asked the prior if I could smoke while I prayed and he said no!" "That's where you went wrong," replied the second, puffing away. "I asked prior if I could pray while I smoked, and he said yes." Jokes aside, sometimes it's hard to remember to pray the Masses we work for, especially if we are tucked away in a loft or a corner. Responsibilities will tug the corners of our mind, changes might need to be made and communicated, or just plain performance nerves get in the way. I have sat in the choir loft of many a restless choir director, as well as tried to manage my own ADHD while balancing presence for the job at hand with presence for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The struggle is real, whether you are a choir m
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