Singing with the Family

Jonathan B. Jones II
March 24, 2007
Congregations are made up of families. To have good congregational singing, we need families who are singing (and learning to sing) in individual homes.

Mama sang bass, daddy sang tenor. In days gone by, families would sing together at home. We don't seem to sing anymore. We had rather watch people sing on American Idol. Since we don't practice singing at home in our families, our singing in the church seems to be steadily degrading. Some have noticed that we are seeing the death of the four-part harmony in this generation. No one knows how to sing their part.

A Restoration of Singing
Once, singing workshops, singing schools, and Sunday afternoon congregational singings were a common occurrence in our brotherhood. Our brethren once loved to sing. Now singings are not well attended. Why? Singing is not appealing when it is depressing instead of uplifting. People are leaving the LORD's church to try and find "spiritual worship." Members of the Lord's body are compromising the truth to try and find spirituality. People want to be uplifted and encouraged. God designed singing for this purpose and singing should be best within the body of Christ. Even people who once would not sing, will suddenly burst forth in praise when they are motivated by singing that stirs their soul. But good singing does not just come "naturally" for most. It is a skill that must be learned and practiced.

Learning to Sing
I have found that most people in the Lord's church do not know how to read music (I know very little myself). I believe that this is something that should be taught in our churches. We should not, however, be in the business of training professional singers, but we should teach people how to bring the "first fruits" of praise to God. I believe that singing in our churches can be dramatically improved even without learning musical notation. Most of us learn best by example. We simply need to hear someone sing the part correctly and our "music memory" will do the rest.

Singing Tools
There are some great resources available for us to learn new songs and learn the harmonies of these songs. Several within our brotherhood have recorded a cappella songs (both new and old) that we can learn by listening to CD's. Individuals can listen to these CD's in the car. Families can listen to them at home. Congregations can listen in song training classes. These are wonderful tools to use to get us singing and singing to our individual best.

Let's get back to singing bass and tenor (and soprano and alto!).

Here are some wonderful recordings of a cappella singing (available from Taylor Publications):

"Each Little Dewdrop" is a CD of Sunday School and VBS songs for little children. The voices recorded are the voices of children. (A companion songbook is also available) $12.99.

"I'm Gonna Sing!" is a CD of songs for pre-teens. (A companion songbook is also available). $14.99.



"Sing Praises" is s CD of songs for teens (A companion songbook is also available). $11.97.


"Praise Hymnal" is a collection of new praise and worship songs with contemporary lyrics assembled for the congregational worship assembly. It is a wonderful collection of songs. Several CD's are available of a cappella groups singing all the songs in this hymnal.