Preparing Materials: Step Three - Audio And Visual Aids

Photo credit : raneko

Once we have the song sheet done, we come to the most labor-intensive step which is creating:

STEP THREE - AUDIO AND VISUAL AIDS

The AV aids we will want to create are:

1. video clips showing the accompaniment for each passage in the song

2. a metronome that can help to keep the tempo (pace) for practice time

3. guide clips that contain melody lines for practice time

Let's start first with creating a video clip to show the accompaniment for the CHORUS of "Our God". We begin by using a special software I created to highlight the basic notes recommended along with a rhythmic pattern and pace.

Once the chord data is entered into the software, we can then proceed to screencast it, which is basically recording everything on my computer screen into a video file. Some editing is done to overlay the chords and lyrics to be in sync with the demonstration playback.

Preparing Materials: Step Two - Song Sheet Formatting

Photo credit : adactio

Continuing where we left off, we now have enough information to begin formatting the raw data into materials that have properly designed layouts. We start first with:

STEP TWO - SONG SHEET FORMATTING

I have a template which I can readily assemble the chords and lyrics into the recommended 4-column song sheet format. Once the lyrics are syncronised to the chords, the final song sheet is converted into a PDF and uploaded to a sharing platform like scribd.com.

This is how the song "Our God" would look like:

Here I Am To Worship - Tim Hughes

FORMATTING (This resource page will keep updating until all resources are finalised)

CCLI : http://www.ccli.com/Support/LicenseCoverage/Search/SongSearch.aspx?s=3266032

Greater Are You - Dennis Jernigan

QUICK DIGEST (This resource page will keep updating until all resources are finalised)

CCLI : https://us.songselect.com/songs/436130/greater-are-you
YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrErAfsJJdQ
: Key = C
: Beats = 4
: Tempo = 155 (can be sung slow as well)
: Passages = Intro, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus

: Intro (4)
1, -, 1:7b, -
1:4, -, 5, -

: Verse (4)
1, - , 1:7b, -
1:4, -, 1, -
1, -, 1:7b, -
1:4, -, 1, -

: Pre-Chorus (4)
5, -, 6, -
2, 3:1, 4, 5
5

:Chorus (4)
1, 3, 4, 5
1, 3, 4, 5
4, 5, 3m, 6 - 5
4#:2m
2, 5, 1, -

Jesus Christ Is Lord - Bob Fitts

QUICK DIGEST (This resource page will keep updating until all resources are finalised)

CCLI : <not found>
Google : <undetermined>
YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWb5rpZuCcI
: Key = G
: Beats = 4
: Tempo = 130 / 65 (has half-time portions)
: Passages = Chorus, Verse

: Chorus (4)
6, -, -, -
4, 2-3, 6, -

: Verse (4) (some portions can be played in half-time)
4, 5, 6, -
4, 5, 6, -
4, 5, 1-7:5, 6
2m, -, 3m, -

High And Lifted Up - Chris Christensen

QUICK DIGEST (This resource page will keep updating until all resources are finalised)

CCLI : https://us.songselect.com/songs/1449009/high-and-lifted-up
YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKmwmYlcB_8 (from 3:20)
: Key = C
: Beats = 4
: Tempo = 58
: Passages = Chorus, Verse, Free

: Chorus (2)
6, 5, 4, -
6, 5, 4, -
6, 5, 4, 3:1
4-3:1, 2-1, 7b, 5
6, 5, 4, -
6, 5, 4, -
6, 5, 4, 3:1
4-3:1, 2-1, 5, -

: Verse (2)
1, -, 3, -
4, 5, 1, 5
1, -, 3, -
4, 4#:2m, 5, -

: Free (2)
7b, -, 5, -

Preparing Materials: Step One - Quick Digest

Photo credit : Marco Arment

For those of you that are interested in the process of how materials are prepared, here's the first step after choosing a song.

STEP ONE - QUICK DIGEST

In this step, we search for the song by determining its proper title and songwriter(s). One of the best source for this is www.ccli.com. If the song cannot be found on CCLI, we have to cast a wider net using a search engine like google.com.

After that, we search for a listening reference, usually from YouTube and determine four important things:
1. Key - the song key
2. Beats - the number of counts in a bar
3. Tempo - the speed or pace of the song
4. Passages - the segments a song can be broken up into

Finally, a quick draft of the chords are made in the recommended 4-column numerical format.

As an example, here's the QUICK DIGEST of the song 'Our God' by Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Jonas Myrin, Jesse Reeves.

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OUR GOD - Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Jonas Myrin, Jesse Reeves (CCLI#5677416)
: http://www.ccli.com/Support/LicenseCoverage/Search/SongSearch.aspx?s=5677416
: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlA5IDnpGhc
: key = B
: beats = 4
: tempo = 104
: passages = Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge
: Intro (4)
6 4 1 5
: Verse (4)
6 - 4 1 6 - 4 1
2 - 5 -
: Chorus (4)
6 4 1 7:5
6 4 1 5
: Chorus to Verse Tween = Intro
: Bridge (4)
6 4 1 5
: Bridge to Chorus Tween = Bridge
(rhythm accent)


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If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments.

Welcome To Piano For Worship

Welcome to Piano For Worship, a site that is birthed from a desire to help us along our journey of musical discovery, of how we can become instruments of Christ-centered worship. We are in the process of setting up to better serve the community online.

Stay tuned for more content that should be posted very soon, and be connected to every aspect of our endeavours at our main site: http://pianoforworship.com.

Blessings,
Joash Chee

(Photo credit: jubileelewis)