Perhaps because of that interest, one of our many, I can assure you, I follow the previous week’s news on the topic from Google Alerts. This past week, I noted with satisfaction a brief report in the Feminine.co.uk feed that Charlotte Church is a very big fan of karaoke herself. In fact, she has apparently begun seriously considering pursuing a return to the spotlight as she has contemplated her growing obsession with singing karaoke.

According to the Feminine report, and I paraphrase here, Charlotte Church began singing karaoke while taking some time off from work. The spell binding vocalist of ‘Crazy Chick’ fame – who most recently returned to British TV screens as a judge on ‘Over the Rainbow’ -the new talent search show from Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber – realized it was time to return to the spotlight when she couldn’t stop herself getting up on stage when out with boyfriend Gavin Henson.

She said that she had been mostly staying at home caring for her children and increasingly felt the desire to get back into music. In her words, “I missed singing; every time we’d go out I’d end up in a karaoke bar and I’d completely steal the mic – ‘Black Velvet’, ‘Walking in Memphis’, ‘Valerie’.

“So I thought, ‘It’s getting a little low-rent now, Charl’, come on now, you should probably do this again professionally.”

In discussing her comeback to music, 24-year-old Charlotte – who has a two-year-old daughter Ruby and 14-month-old son Dexter – promised that her new album will be a “lot better” than was her ‘Tissues and Issues’ effort that was released back in 2005.

She also reported that she had been doing quite a bit of songwriting recently. She said that she felt that she had some inner feelings that she wanted to express and that there’s a little part of her that wants to be a poet. She also noted, though, that another factor was because so few, if any, really writes songs for her range, and I think we all can agree that that truly is exceptional.

Her interview with Feminine concluded with her commenting, “When I listen back to ‘Tissues and Issues’, that was kind of my first try at writing, and I think ‘Ahhh! So little!’ And I might think that of this (new) album in 10 years’ time. But I don’t think so. I think it’s a lot better.”

Well, personally, I hope Ms. Charlotte Church, does return to the recording studio so that more than those lucky pub patrons who happen to be present when she decides to give in to her karaoke cravings can listen and revel in hearing her wonderful voice. Just the thought of listening to an evening of karaoke entertainment the quality of Charlotte Church’s singing intrigues me.

As for those of you, like us, who also are karaoke fans, and maybe karaoke superstars to be, take heart that counted among us is a talent the likes of Charlotte Church. And if performing karaoke is a very big passion for you and you’re motivated to become as good at it as you can be, remember that, as with most everything else, practice goes a long way toward improving your performance and polishing your musical routine.

A great way to do that is with the “Karaoke Superstar” product that we’re pleased to promote on our website and blog. You can check out our video review of it by going to http://www.jujamvideoreview.com/karaokesuperstar.html.

James Nelson has accumulated almost 40 years of successful business experience, and much of it has been based on the maxim, “Do what you do do well, then find others who can do the rest best”! He is currently President of JuJam Enterprises Inc. and its JuJamVideoReview.com website and blog which focuses upon “Helping People Help Themselves.” You can learn more about “Karaoke Superstar” at http://www.jujamvideoreview.com/karaokesuperstar.html. Previously, he and his wife Judy owned and operated Lakewood Lodge, a family recreation resort in nothern Minnesota. Before that, Mr. Nelson completed a lengthy career in Sales and Marketing Management at AT&T. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he earned a Bachelor of Science (Business) degree With Distinction in 1975.

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If you get an opportunity to play piano for your church or any church, remember who is giving you the chance to play in the first place. It’s not by accident that you are in the position that you’re in. I’ve seen to many pianists who play for the church thinking they are the best piano players that ever graced the face of the earth. Eventually they are brought back down to earth, hard. They no longer play the piano for anyone and they wish they had their position back. Pride comes before the fall. It’s true. God can put anyone who is willing and has the right heart in place of you if you are not humble. I tell you this because I don’t want you mess things up for yourself. Even if you are brand new to the piano, keep what I have said in the back of your mind.

Never think that you are at a concert performing. People may cheer or clap and you might feel like your putting on a show. You’re not in show business when your playing worship piano for the church. You are there only to benefit the body and glorify God. I said that twice because you have to know this. Of course you can have fun with songs. You can ad your own musical spin to songs but don’t be self centered. If the worship leader wants a certain thing played, don’t argue with them. If you are the worship leader, be sensitive to what God wants you to play. Yes, God speaks through his Holy Spirit. If you feel strongly about something you don’t always have to make it known. Sometimes you may have to play song that you don’t particularly like. If found that these things have built character, improved my piano playing and even helped my have a deeper relationship with God.

visit http://www.lifesmusic.com. My name is Bryan and I’ve been playing the piano for over ten years. To learn to play the piano by ear go to http://www.lifesmusic.com.

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Most probably, you are thinking that learning the piano can be very difficult. After all, you must have heard that one should start young if he or she ever wanted to become good at playing this musical instrument. Well, even if you are already in your teens or adult years, you can still learn the piano. There are ways that can speed up your learning process to have you playing the instrument like a professional piano player. Below are some of the tried and tested formulas that will allow you to gain essential piano skills fast. Read on.

First, you need to develop your music listening skills. This is where learning the chords becomes important. With a good musical ear, you can learn how a particular note will sound and how it will fit if mixed with other notes to make music. You do not need to learn how to read a musical sheet, especially if you want to learn piano fast. A good way to know if you have developed your musical ear is when the pitch of a note on the piano sounds the same as your humming.

Next, always remember that learning the chords will be for naught if you do not practice using them. After you have learned all the major and minor chords, you can begin learning basic and intermediate pieces. When mastering the chords, it is a good idea that you start off with triad chords. Commit at least a couple of hours every day for piano practice. Along with mastering the chords, you can also start developing the flexibility of your fingers. So, make it a point to practice piano scales with one hand first, then with the other, and then with both hands together. Once you have improved the flexibility of your fingering skills, you can play more advanced piano songs with relative ease.

Finally, you need to get good piano tutorials. These can help you practice notes and provide you with a step-by-step plan on how to advance your skills. In other words, finding a good tutor or video tutorial can greatly bring down the learning curve in piano lessons. With enough dedication and practice, you will be able to play gospel piano like a professional. When that time arrives, you will surely add more delight to churchgoers and more reasons for fellow members of your church to attend services religiously.

Benoit is a Passionate Piano Tutor who’s life mission is to share the great wonder of playing the piano to spread happiness to the world. For more information on Playing Piano Gospel, visit http://www.PianoTutorialSongs.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Benoit_Gilbert

God has given us talents to sing his praises and playing guitar for the church is one of the greatest ways to glorify God. There are several well known duets, solo artists and even bands that go from church to church playing gospel music for God’s glory. You too can learn guitar for god praising.

I’ve had the honor of playing in a band while singing in a few churches and I know there’s no greater feeling than to be blessed with the knowledge that you had blessed others with your music. Whether you’re an experienced guitarist or you’re just starting out, God will inspire you to play guitar for worship. By asking Jesus Christ to come into your heart, you would have made a commitment to bless others. This would make one start to appreciate the life that Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for in a different light.

In modern days, several churches have their own sounds systems built in with microphones and amplifiers. The acoustics are pretty amazing in the sanctuary of the church and provide a rich and clear sound. One important tip is that you should choose the most appropriate songs that will bless the majority of people in your congregation. Another tip is to make sure you pick songs you will be the comfortable playing and singing at the same time.

Practice and learn everything you can about playing the guitar and the different major guitar chords. You can play several church gospel hymns with only three guitar chords and a few gospel songs with as little as two guitar chords. Once you learned the basic chord progressions of songs, you should then practice those songs over and over to make them perfect. Finally, be sure to record yourself and listen to the recordings for any improvements that need to be made. This will help you polish up your skills in playing worship guitar. Have lots of fun while you learn guitar for praise!

Find Out More About Learn Church Guitar? Get Professional Lessons On How to Play Guitar Here.

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Before I share some thoughts with you I’ll explain our church so you can understand where I’m coming from.

Our church is a small country church nestled in the foothills of North Carolina.

The people are very friendly and family-oriented. Most of the members have lived in the area their entire life.

What I’m trying to say is…the needs of the church determines the criteria for the church pianist.

In some churches, the church pianist may be the only music person available. In this case, the pianist may have to lead the congregation and choir in song while playing the piano. What a challenge! I know at least one of my readers has that situation. I admire her for her efforts.

At other churches, the pianist may serve the role as pianist only. (That’s my role)

Whether you’re the main music person or just filling the role as church pianist…the following tips will hopefully encourage and direct you as you serve in the music ministry.

The following ideas have personally helped me in my way of thinking towards serving in the music ministry.

1. I’m a servant serving the Lord.

2. Not to think of myself above others; no comparison. Every church member is of equal importance to God.

3. Love my church family

The following are natural outcomes of point #3

4. Support and encourage those in the music ministry. Example: “Your song was a blessing.” or “Thanks for being willing to sing.”

5. Pray for those in the music ministry

6. Always communicate in love

7. Use constructive guidance as needed (This can occur only after building a trusting relationship.) This applies if the person or persons you’re accompanying are seeking helpful pointers.

Please understand…these are just a few ideas that remind me of my role as church pianist.

Each church is different as far as their needs. Just ask God for wisdom as you seek to serve Him where He has placed you.

Jenifer Cook has been a church pianist for the past 35 years. She has published arrangements through Soundforth and composes for her own piano students.

Her website is a help ministry to church pianists around the world; offering numerous improvising tips and free piano arrangements.

Part two of this article will include some of the following issues:

The relationship between the song leader and church pianist. (Who’s in charge?)

Job description of the church pianist (What’s expected of me?)

Developing the Special Music Program (How the church pianist can help grow the special music program)

Article Source: http://thechurchpianist.com/church-pianist/what-is-the-role-of-church-pianist-part-two/

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It was during the Medieval Period that the first church dramas began to appear. As Richard Courtney, famous drama teacher and theatre scholar, pointed out that the Mass itself of course has the seeds of drama – chanted dialogue and a theme of action, but not the essential quality of impersonation.

Impersonation began with the trope sung during the night before Easter. A trope was an extra chant written to accompany church music on special occasions. In the Mass, the trope had been sung by the choir. When repositioned, it became a separate little scene performed at Matins on Easter morning; much like a tiny opera, three people impersonated the Marys and one the angel before an improvised sepulchre.

Eventually, the small-scale tropes evolved into more complex dramatizations of Easter and Christmas stories. The Bible stories were enacted in the church by priests. As these plays achieved a wide popularity, the dramas began to be written in the vernacular and performed outside the church proper, although still on the church grounds.

Through this linguistic and spacial separation, the church dramas became more secularized. Eventually, the audio dramas were produced and performed by laypersons, guild members who would enact cycles of miracle plays based upon biblical stores and the lives of the saints. These plays included many secular and temporal elements of farce and mime that appealed to the medieval audiences.

Given this story, it is no wonder that the Catholic (and other sects) Church continues to be a most natural environment for drama and theatre. During the 1950s and the 1960s, at the beginnings of the Off-Broadway avant-grade movement in New York City, several churches provided homes for gifted theatre artists.

Listen to free audio books and audio books.

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This means that instead of relying solely on the music in front of your face you have beneath your skilled fingers and in your head fill in notes, other chords, and different chord progressions to bring about the sound that will portray the message of the song you are playing.

To do this you need to be most aware of certain parts of music theory and how it all fits together in the music you play. Yes there are some that play  skillfully by ear without knowing how to read a note of music but there are many more of us who need to read our notes, understand what we are doing with them and have a few lessons under our belt to be better pianists.

If you don’t know most hymnals are created for singers not pianists. The notes guide the different singers as to how high or low their voice is to be. This comes across as very dull and mundane when translated on the piano.

Enter Greg Howlett’s Inspirational Improvisation: A Nine Step Approach to Becoming a Versatile Church Pianist DVD Course.

A detailed straightforward nine lesson DVD program designed most particularly to help church pianists improvise hymns and Praise and Worship songs at the piano.

The lesson program includes

* 5 DVDs each containing one to two piano improvisation lessons.
* 1 Lesson Study Guide to follow along and takes notes of what is happening on your DVD player.

The best part of these piano lessons is that instead of just showing you how he improvises one song Greg uses nine detailed piano lessons to help you become more proficient at improvising your own songs.

In my years of attempting to improve my own piano playing for church (because we are always learning) this is an omission that I found increasingly frustrating and something that l was always looking for. The concrete steps and theory rules that guided me to work with those hymnal songs and change them from that of of the mundane to having more feeling and giving across the message of the song.

These piano lessons are not for beginners. Inspirational Improvisation is listed for intermediate to advanced pianists. You should have a grasp of basic music theory, know all your 12 major scales and be able to read and play both clefs (treble and bass, or F and G) of the grand staff.

Be prepared to spend some working time at the piano. At least 20 to 30 minutes a night. Each lesson should take you about a month to have a mastery of (I’m on week two and three and this is about right).

The improvisation skills you will learn with this DVD program are not limited to one particular style. The knowledge you will learn will allow you to add beautiful meaning and feeling to any song you play.

I’ve been enjoying my lessons for a little less than a month now and I have seen nice improvement in not only my playing but my ability to improvise the music I am playing. Not that I look for this because truly I attempt to blend into the background when playing at church but I have had some very positive comments too.

In my own experience the organized format of each lesson is almost as important and as helpful as the information itself.

In the study guide you get an overview of what you will learn in each lesson, any charts that are needed and your homework assignment.

The introduction of the study guide also repeats the information you will receive on the introduction of the DVD as to how to use this course, how long it will take you, what you will learn and how you will learn.

As a piano playing adult having these very organized and detailed piano lessons is a great bonus.

I have been willing to pay plenty of money for one day church music workshops with less than half of this information.

You can purchase Inspirational Improvisation: A Nine Step Approach to Becoming a Versatile Church Pianist directly from Greg Howlett’s website here

K Quinn has been a church pianist for 15+ years. Continually calling herself a struggling church musician you can visit her website at The Struggling Church Musician for more church musician tools and tips.

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