Saturday, April 18, 2015

New Song Mappings Etc.

Hi Everyone,

Here's our new songs, with accompanying videos and mappings.  There's a couple extras added here as they were requested by a couple of grade 12 students.  We'll see how they go and decide on our final set list for our next chapel in the next couple of weeks.  Tentatively, based on the current information I have, our next chapel will likely be May 13th or 20th - 4 to 5 weeks away.

Let God Arise     Key of E

  • Musical intro  BIG instrumentally   A.W.  organ for this song.  You can hear it really well in the video.
  • Verse 1    Guitars hold E.  Drums just high hat and bass drum like the video.  Bass, do the D->E thing in the verses.
  • Prechorus   Drums -double time on the snare like the video.  M.W. Try and get the E Guitar part for this
  • Chorus 1 time  Vocals in unison.  instruments big.
  • Short Instrumental with guitar solo
  • Verse 2   Guitars hold E.  Drums just high hat and bass drum like the video.  Bass, do the D->E thing in the verses.
  • Prechorus   Drums -double time on the snare like the video.  M.W. Try and get the E Guitar part for this
  • Chorus 2 times  Vocals in harmony.  Instruments big.
  • Instrumental into bridge - just chords  A, E, B 2x
  • Bridge 4x start quiet with just voices in unison, high hat, and bass with short notes.  Building and adding instruments each time through the bridge.
  • Chorus big cymbal shots and held chords until 'our God reigns' and then back into driving beats etc.
  • Instrumental outro


I Am Free     Key of A
  • Musical intro BIG  M.W trying and get the timing on that guitar part down - its crucial.  A.W, see if you can figure out the keyboard parts in this sone - they are pretty cool.
  • Verse 1    Bass, Drums, and keys only.  Vocals in unison.  E.S.  solo?
  • Chorus  All instruments, big.  Vocals in unison - we DON'T sing the echo part.  Everyone else will do that
  • Verse 2 (through You the Kingdom comes...)  Bass, Drums, and keys similar to first verse.  We'll add M.W. on guitar with a single note on a phaser or a flange.  Vocals in unison.
  • Chorus  All instrument, big.  Vocals harmonized - again we DON'T sing the echo part.  Everyone else will do that
  • Bridge (who the Son sets free)  Open chords on guitars.  Drums just hit cymbals on chord changes.
  • Chorus just vocals, drums, and bass, letting the crowd echo.
  • Chorus full and big to end.


He Reigns     Key of D
  • Intro  Start just guitar and high hat like the video, play through the chord progression a couple of times and then right into...
  • Verse 1   K.M. solo?  Just guitar (like the video) and high hat for instruments.  
  • Chorus All instruments in.  Vocals in unison.  Whoever isn't drumming, we need that off-beat tambourine (hear it in the video?)
  • Verse 2   O.F. solo?  Guitar (like the video), drums, keys and bass (short notes on bass)
  • Chorus  All instruments in.  Vocals with harmonies.  Again, whoever isn't drumming, we need that off-beat tambourine (hear it in the video?)
  • Bridge  2x  Held chords first time.  Second time building big and fast.
  • Chorus 2-3 times to finish.   Instruments will drop out and we'll have just the vocals left.


God is Able     Key of E
  • Instrumental intro (like we've practiced and played it)
  • Verse 1   Driving Bass, acoustic guitar, keys and drums.  G.F. solo?
  • Chorus  Instruments held chords.  We'll need a high hat and bass drum on the off-beat.
  • Instrumental again 1 time through
  • Verse 2  All vocals in unison.  All instruments playing, but not full on.
  • Chorus  Full instruments, vocals harmonized.
  • Guitar solo/instrumental
  • Bridge 'God is with us....'  Big!  Instruments and vocals
  • Chorus - just vocals with high hat and bass drum off-beat.
  • Chorus BIG!  Tag 'For the Lord...' a couple of time before finishing


Made Me Glad    Key of A  Recommended by O.F.
  • Intro  Keys, acoustic guitar, and cymbals  chords:  A/D  D  A/D  D   E/A   A   E/A  A
  • Verse 1   G.F. solo?   Same chord progression as intro.  Can we do a rimshot on the snare?
  • Prechorus  All vocals, drums in strong, all other instruments building into chorus  Chords:  D  Bm  Esus  E
  • Chorus   All instruments,  all vocals in unison.  Chords:   A   A/C#   D    E 
  • Verse 2   O.F. solo?   Same chord progression as intro.  Can we do a rimshot on the snare?
  • Prechorus  All vocals, all instruments building into chorus
  • Chorus 2x  All instruments,  all vocals harmonized
  • Bridge instrumental.  BIG.  Chords:    Bm   A/C#    F#m   E
  • Prechorus quiet.  Vocal in unison
  • Chorus quiet but building.
  • Chorus to finish.


Our God is Love    Key of C    Recommended by J.N.    I'm still learning this song....





Wednesday, April 15, 2015

April 15 Chapel Debrief and new Songs

Great job, everyone!  That was a lot of fun.  I have to say that I was a bit skeptical about doing an acoustic, all worship chapel.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out...  But God can take our willing hearts and do some pretty cool things.  We just have to be willing to serve.  Thank you to all of you for being willing to serve and follow even when you aren't sure of the outcome.

I put several of you on the spot (I'm thinking specifically of A.W. on keys, E.S. for reading, and G.F. for singing) and I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.  Thanks for you patience and grace - A.W. in particular.  I should have give you a chord sheet for that song 'Lord My Desire' we did right at the beginning of the set.

From my perspective, God used our willing hearts to do 'abundantly above what we could have asked for or thought.'  I felt really good about how chapel went.  Agreed, it wasn't perfect.  But I felt like our hearts were there and engaged, along with the hearts of most everyone else in the room.  I probably gave you all a bit of a start with the way we began 'This is Amazing Grace'.  Thanks for being flexible.  :-)  I should have given you all a heads up about that as well.  I apologize.

A.W. - while I did put you in a tight spot at the beginning, you played brilliantly for the rest of chapel.  You backed us all up with either a nice organ or pad sound and gave us that filler that we needed.  M.W. and O.F - you two did great as well, feeling the groove out in the songs and the interludes between the songs.  J.N. and C.Z - you two were great at being sensitive with playing percussion.  I know that wasn't easy and likely wouldn't be the first choice of what you'd play in a band, but you both stepped up and did great.  Singers - I loved watching you relaxing and getting into the songs.  That was special.  Thanks for paying attention to the queue calls and being willing to step out and 'naturally' harmonize and free worship.  F.B. - thanks for reading for us!

I hope you all had as good a time as I had today.  I'll remember today's chapel for a long while.


New Songs for our next Chapel will include:

Let God Arise              Key of E

I Am Free                    Key of A

He Reigns                    Key of D

God is Able                 Key of E

Came to My Rescue    Key of G