Sunday, November 1, 2009
Listen for the Harmony...
The kids were asked to play fiddles at a local church's hymn-sing tonight. Before they got up to play, the congregation sang a number of hymns. Curt's uncle Ronnie led the singing from the front and I couldn't help thinking of Sunday morning services 25 years ago with Ronnie leading. My mom, dad, my two sisters and I sitting together on the orange upholstered pews. I looked down my row, me and my 4 kids, hymnals on their laps. (Curt was in the foyer with Sadie and Wes.) "Hymn number 114!" The pianist started the introduction. Ellie scrambled up onto my lap. "Quick mom, I can't find it!" I flipped the hymnal open to the right page, pointed to the first verse and traced the words as I tucked my head down and sang the harmony part into her ear. Suddenly the memory of my own mother doing this came back to me. "Listen for the harmony Ellie."
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8 comments:
What a sweet memory!! I love the legacy of music you will leave for your children! So sweet...
i have the same memory - & i think it's a part of why there are so many hymns that i love...
I love hymns too because of the harmony...mind you I can never do the harmony myself...not sure why, perhaps cause of my hearing problem?? But that's ok though cause SOMEONE has to sing the melody! LOL
I'd like to take voice lessons though so that I actually like my voice...sigh
So many churches (including mine) barely sing hymns anymore - The children don't even know what "hymn books" are! Besides the music and the words it was a good way to learn your "big" numbers at an early age! I have fond memories too, of sitting in church with my family, looking up the hymns, and learning to sing harmony at a young age.
I am actually amazed at how many of the words to the old hymns that I can remember... Unfortunately with all the contemporary worship music now-a-days, in many churches the hymns have fallen by the wayside and probably kids aren't learning the same appreciation for the lasting Christian heritage in those old hymns by the Wesley brothers, P. P. Bliss, etc. I never sing harmony (they had to put me in the middle of the two sections in the school choir because I couldn't be relied on to sing either alto or soprano - I bounced all over the place!) -- but I sure do love the chance to belt out some of the refrains from the good old hymns...
Wondering if they have recovered your church pews or are they still bright orange!! I remember one church in Saskatoon I went to that had hot neon pink pews... and in the eighties we thought it was really fashionable!!!
Have a great week!
Saskatchewan Cousin
I remember learning harmony that way (and listening to mom and dad sing for their "gigs"...)
I think i learned both of their parts for every song, and i bet i can still sing some of them...
I loved the hymn books though for the vocabulary - i'd read through them and i loved the language and the grammar and the way it all fitted together and loved trying to "read" the music to figure out the melody without singing it aloud...
I love hymn books - seeing the words up on a screen doesn't seem as permanent- and you can't go back and double check what the words are if you missed it, or kind of dwell on them... And how many times has God spoken to me by the hymn on the facing page? :)
Hey, let's BRING BACK HYMNS! Seriously...I miss them! So, lets rally and call the first official virtual meeting of the BBH to order;-)
When was the last time you sang, "All Hail the Power of Jesus Name?" When I was growing up this song was always considered the National Anthem for Christians....sigh...
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