The Choir Member's Companion is designed for use by individual choir members in a local church adult choir. The book is intended for purchase by the choir director to be given to choir members as gifts or as a way for choir members to better understand musical symbols, terminology, and symbols used in choral music. CONTENTS: 1. Introduction to Choir Membership 2. Basic Music Reading Skills 3. Musical Road Map 4. Basic Vocal Techniques 5. Sight-reading New Music 6. How to Mark Your Music 7. Preparation for Worship 8. Preparation for Other Performances 9. Glossary of Musical Terms and Symbols Ginger G. Wyrick is Director of Choral Activities and is on the faculty of Queens College in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is the author, composer and editor of several products from Abingdon Press: Church Music for Children; Church Choir 101; The Choir Member’s Companion; Joseph: What a Life (session plan writer); and 52 Arrival Activities for Children’s Choir. Ginger is active in several music organizations including Chorister’s Guild, American Choral Directors Association, American Guild of Organists, Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, and others. The Choir Member's Companion By Ginger G. Wyrick Abingdon Press Copyright © 1997 Abingdon Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-687-25640-2 Contents Introduction, 1. Basic Music Reading Skills, 2. Musical Road Maps, 3. Basic Vocal Techniques, 4. Sight-Reading a New Anthem, 5.. How to Mark Your Music, 6. Preparation for Worship, 7. Preparation for a Major Performance, 8. The Performance, Glossary of Musical Terms and Symbols, CHAPTER 1 Basic Music Reading Skills Music is a language consisting of symbols much like the alphabet. As a language student must learn the sounds of each letter (symbols), how to spell and speak words, and how to organize words into sentences in order to communicate, so too the musician must learn symbols and what each represents, and practice the "language" as written music to achieve musical communication. This basic "musical language" remains the same regardless of the final product. The following symbols are fundamental to reading music. You should develop proficiency with these terms, symbols, and meanings. You will enjoy singing even more when you have a mastery of the components of music. (Additional terms are located in the "Glossary of Musical Terms and Symbols.") The Staff The staff may be extended up or down by using ledger lines. Treble Clef (G clef): Indicates pitch by identifying the G line (line 2). This clef is used by treble singers (soprano, alto, and children with unchanged voices), the upper register of the piano, and all high instruments (such as flute, oboe, and violin). Bass Clef (F clef): Indicates pitches by identifying the F line (line 4). This clef is used by bass singers (tenor, baritone, bass), the lower register of the piano, and all low instruments (such as the tuba, trombone, and double bass). Treble Clef with subscript 8: Indicates pitch similar to the regular treble clef but sounding one octave lower. This clef is used by tenors. Grand Staff: Combines two staves, one treble and one bass, for musical notation. (Middle C lies between the two staves and can be attached to either.) Bar Line: Organizes the beats (counts) of music. Located throughout the entire piece to indicate measures. Measure: The contents between two bar lines. Double Bar One: Identifies the end of the music. Pitch Notation Note Anatomy: Each note has a head. Most notes have a stem; some have a flag (or flags), which may appear as a beam to make reading easier. Musical Alphabet: Music uses only seven letter names for pitch. The letter names repeat as you move up (sounding higher) and down (sounding lower) the scale/staff. Pitch Notation: Each tone is indicated by placing a note on the musical staff. Notes may appear with a line dissecting the note head (line note) or between two lines (space note). The clef determines the pitch order on the staff. Notice that when you combine the line and space notes of one clef the pitches are in musical alphabet order. Closed Score Notation: Music written on the grand staff with each voice part identified by the direction of the note stem (e.g., bass clef stem up = tenor). Open Score Notation: Music written on many staves. Each voice part has its own staff (e.g., top staff = soprano, and so on). Note: To conserve space and printing costs, a composer/publisher may alternate between open and closed scoring in one piece. This often occurs when the accompaniment is alone or when a soloist is singing. It is easy to overlook these changes in an anthem, so look ahead! Half Step: The smallest distance between two pitches. Whole Step: The distance of two half steps combined. Accidentals: Symbols that alter the tone of a note by moving it by half steps. Sharp: Raises the pitch a half step. Flat: Lowers the pitch a half step. Natural: Retu