There are lots of ways to add musical creativity into worship:
hymn harmonizations
transpositions for the last verse
a trumpet obbligato for "Now Thank We All Our God"
traveling music as the choir moves into place
a soprano descant (that your sopranos can sing) for "O Come, All Ye Faithful"
newly-composed parts for the praise band
But every week? Who has time for that?!
There's one thing I’ve been challenging myself to do every Sunday since July. It’s helped me grow as a musician and proved meaningful for congregation members. And now, it’s something I look forward to as part of my planning and preparation for Sunday each week. It is:
Creating transitions from the offertory to the doxology.
Earlier this week, I had an eight-year-old student bring this into her lesson – her first composition. At our last lesson, I asked her to try making up a few of her own songs that used some of the same musical elements she had recently learned (quarter notes, half notes, legato playing, and changing registers).
