As I was playing the organ at church this past Sunday, I realized how blessed I am to be able to play and sing at the same time. Not that I was actually singing aloud, but I was singing the each verse in my head as I played. Why is this an important thing to do? Because I've be known to to forget which verse the congregation is singing and I start questioning myself-should I start playing another verse or was that the end of the song? I've been known to guess wrong! I also realized how active our brains have to be to be able to sing and play at the same time. We are reading and playing music which includes rhythmic and melodic reading, often four different notes at the same time. In addition, we are reading the text of each verse. I know great musicians who find all of this difficult. That's why it warms my heart to hear our students sing and play their songs at the same time. I've upload some video examples. DISCLAIMER-as a former children's choir director, these examples are not pitched the best for developing children beautiful light head voice. But, the notes in these songs were the new ones the students learned at that particular place in the PLAY AND PLAY piano book. We pitch the songs higher for singing when we are up playing the games. How great is it that children are learning this skill at an early age! I can imagine that they will be an asset at church, school, club or other function when a pianist is needed.
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