Shared by: Bunni Guisinger
Our ward has an “Instant Choir”. We sing approximately once a month. The conductor knows the hymn in advance and is able to plan for the dynamics – soft, loud, men voices, women voices, etc. We fill the choir seats each month and sound great. Anyone in the congregation is invited to come and sing. We have Primary children, youth and adults join in.
I also run a variation on the “instant choir” in my small ward. We use the great resource of the “Hymnplicity” arrangement series, available through Deseret Books and other LDS bookstores. These books use the choir parts as written in the hymn book, and claim a presentation can be put together in 10 minutes.
Each choir member learns their part at home, on their own, over one month. I help each person access the LDS music player, which helps you isolate Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bass, to help even a person who doesn’t read music hear and learn their part.
Then, we get together 45 minutes before our sacrament meeting starts, and we practice how it all sounds together. We perform during that sacrament meeting.
This method is great for smaller wards where everyone has big commitments in their callings and can’t commit to practicing each week. Even our Bishop is able to participate!
Terri-Ann Gawthroupe
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada