Sometimes I come across a beautiful song and start searching online for a choral arrangement.
All too often, though, what I find is weighed down with so many bells and whistles that the original melody—the very thing that drew me to the song in the first place—ends up buried under the layers.
Many choir leaders demonstrate and teach songs by singing them. But can you lead a choir without being able to sing? Similarly, do you need to be able to read music to be a song arranger, or be a musician to write songs?
The simple answer to these questions (I believe) is “No.” Here’s why.
I’ve written before that even if it’s a folk song, somebody wrote it.
The identity of that individual may have been lost over time, but to honour the song, you still have the responsibility to try to find out who it was.
Just because we can sing a song, doesn’t mean that we should sing it.
It is important to honour the cultural and historical origins of a song so we know whether it’s appropriate to sing it in a different context or not.
Many songs get handed down by ear and labelled ‘traditional’ without any clear understanding of where they come from.
It’s important to honour the source of all songs and the cultures they originate from. Here’s a guide to the things that you need to consider.
