This call and echo Sanctus was composed for the Iona Community in Scotland. It can be sung unaccompanied or with a drone instrument (like a shruti box).
"Holy, holy,
Holy Lord of pow'r and might.
Heaven, earth,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
All glory to your name.
Blessed, blessed,
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed, blessed,
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!"
Teaching note from Paul Vasile: The echo comes quite quickly and there is slightly overlap between the leader and the assembly, so be ready to cue them with a clear, inviting gesture.
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
You can find more information and purchase sheet music on Hymnary. The piece is also published in The Faith We Sing.
This song is an example of teaching music for group singing without the use of books or projectors, recorded at the All Saints Company conference "Music that Makes Community," Los Angeles, October, 2008.
This song is originally from Ghana, and the version we've sung at many MMC events is from a setting by Marty Haugen and Marc Anderson. You can find the sheet music and a recording of the song at GIA Music.
This joyful sending song was composed by Chad McKenna at an Music That Makes Community workshop in Chicago in 2011.
Click here to find sheet music for 'Send Now Your Servants.'
This is a mass composed by Daniel Schwandt in honor of Scott Weidler when he left his position as cantor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Chicago, IL in 2014.
Here are the sections of this Mass:
Kyrie - simple melody
This is the Feast - call and response
I Saw the Water Flowing - simple melody (repeated with cantor part)
Gospel Acclamation - Alleluia - simple melody
Holy - echo
Lamb of God - layered (with cantor part)
Thankful Hearts and Voices Raise - (call and response, solo verse with refrain)
This lively call and response song composed by Marilyn Haskel was originally written for a weekly paperless Eucharist at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City that welcomed visitors from around the world.
Begin by teaching the 'Hallelujah!" responses, then sing the call and invite the group right in. Before you know it, the group will be singing the whole song. In Marilyn's context, a quartet of singers filled out the harmony parts in the printed score.
"Listen to the Word of God.
Hallelujah!
Hear the living Word.
Hallelujah!"
Here's a link to a printed score, and here is a recording provided by Marilyn.
I Will Supply Your Need is a call and response song by Ben Allaway, inspired by Philippians 4:19 and the devotional book God Calling by Two Listeners, edited by A. J. Russell. Easily learned and well-suited to many liturgical contexts, the song can deepen into a place of spacious prayer. Improvised harmonies can be invited and additional calls can be written or extemporized to name specific needs within the community.
Additionally, the song leader can shift the language of the response from 'I will...' to 'You will...' as well as offer dynamic instructions that shape the energy and flow of the song.
"Jesus said to me, "I will supply your need."
The weak need my strength...
The strong need my tenderness...
The fallen need my salvation...
The righteous need my pity for sinners...
The lonely need my friendship...
The fighters need my leading...
No one of this world can be all these to another...
Sing it over...
Believe him/Christ when he says...
Hallelujah...
Thank you, Lord..."
Teaching note: Perhaps the biggest challenge is the shift from teaching the response (which we model through call and echo) to the call and response structure. Most groups need a gentle reminder (either spoken or sung) that they keep singing the response and don't echo the call.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress. It was first published in Music By Heart, MMC's first collection of paperless songs.
Marilyn begins by teaching the community's responses, which can take some time and patience. As the piece grows in confidence, harmony can be invited and a second leading voice can be added.
I believe. I come to drink.
From the rock came life-giving water;
from the well, water for all.
from my heart, outward to all."
Sheet music is printed in Music By Heart, the original collection of songs published as part Music that Makes Community's work.
Here's a video of the song created by The Rev. Sylvia Miller-Mutia that incorporates ASL and prayerful movement:
This setting of Psalm 47 was written by Pascal Jordan, a Benedictine brother from Trinidad. We learned it from Hilary Seraph-Donaldson in her wonderful series of instructional videos, Break into Song.
A solo or cantor line carries the psalm text, while the community responds with “Alleluia,” and rhythmic leg-slapping and clapping. The rhythmic underpinning is reminiscent of a child’s clapping game or the ubiquitous accompaniment of drum kit, congas, and other percussion that drives a steel drum band. This infuses the song with the strong sense that the whole community is drawn into the act of worship.
Sheet music can be found in Andrew Donaldson's With Many Voices Songbook.
Here's the episode of Break into Song that features All Peoples, Clap Your Hands:
This Ndebele song is sung in churches all over Zimbabwe in Africa. I learned it from Hilary Seraph Donaldson in her series of instructional videos called Break into Song. Hilary learned it from Maria Minnaar-Bailey, and it is available in written form in Maria's Chaia Marima Songbook 3.
Here's a link to Hilary's suggested teaching plan for this song.
You can learn more from Hilary by watching the episode of Break into Song featuring Sithi Haleluya: