A fresh look at a classic

I Am the Bread of Life by Suzanne Toolan (GIA Publications) is probably one of the most well–known songs sung today in the catholic church. It’s been played on organ, piano, guitar...you name it. It’s also one of those songs that seems to break the rules with regard to assembly range (an octave and a fifth) yet that never seems to scare anyone away from it, whether they are leading it or singing it from the pews. Naturally, it remains in our usual repertoire at St. Ann’s, and we use it from time to time.

Much like Gather Us In which I talked about last week, I Am the Bread of Life doesn't need help to be a good liturgical song, but sometimes it can be effective to rearrange things a bit to occasionally offer a different presentation. What follows below is essentially the same music (and text), just packaged a little differently.

Last week I mentioned that when I change things up (arrangement–wise) I often take things away, simplifying things a bit. Let's look at a typical arrangement you might find of the opening bars of this song:

Played in a traditional hymn-like fashion these chords are wonderful. When arranging it for a contemporary ensemble, or 'praise band' (drums, bass, elec/acoustic gtrs, piano, synth, etc.), it is more stylistic to simplify the progression like this:

These fewer chord changes are more typical of modern contemporary praise music, especially in slower songs. It allows time for the chords to sustain, leaving room for perhaps an interesting rhythmic pattern that drives the song. Look at this example of how a praise band might play this same, simpler arrangement:

In the above example, the bass guitar is driving the rhythm...but take note of the tempo marking! This is not a fast tempo.  In the next example, the acoustic guitar is driving the song...same tempo.

This is much like what Matt Maher does on his song I Love You, Lord (spiritandsong.com)  It's important to note, like in the Matt Maher example, the acoustic is being played almost constantly in a downward strum pattern, not up and down–which would sound more folksy. (here's a sample: I Love You, Lord (Maher) YouTube video)

What about the drums? The simpler chord progression leaves room for some more interesting rhythms.  For the verse, we tried it with low toms happening on the second half of beat 2, and on beat 4, like this:

For the refrain we simply swapped out the toms for a snare, lighter on the first refrain or two, stronger on the later ones.

Speaking of the refrain, we made a couple of chord simplifications there as well. Keeping with the same style we did the following:

We added an alternate bass note in the 3rd and 4th measures. Notice also the slight changes in the 1st and 3rd measures of the piano–subtle changes that add a lot. Look also at the subtle change in the acoustic guitar in measure 3.

Again, these are just some simple ways to rearrange a classic, solid, tried-and-true piece of music. I Am the Bread of Life by Suzanne Toolan doesn't need any help to make it work, but sometimes a fresh approach is just what you need to help set the tone for a more contemporary style liturgy.

Pedal to the floor...

I think Marty Haugen’s Gather Us In (GIA Publications) is a pretty cool piece of music. While it was written “back in the ‘82” it has endured over time. I chose it this week as a gathering song, but wanted to give it a fresh approach for an even more contemporary sound. If you recall, there are a lot of chord changes...not difficult ones, just a lot of them. The first phrase alone has 4, the next another 4, and so on. I’ve often found when I change something up I usually take things away or simplify the music. Maybe that’s a more modern approach. (?)  So, for the verses of the song I asked the bass player to stay on D, the root of the chord. The bass pattern along with the chords we played looks like this:

We just kept that D pedal the whole time throughout the verse until the 3/8 bar, where the C occurs (“light of this”).  There, we just played a C2, but hit it big and let it ring for a dotted quarter note.

You’ll also notice that I asked the guitars to play a D5 (and A5, C5, etc.) chord instead of a regular D. That just leaves out the 3rd, giving it a more open sound. Then it’s easier to mute it to add more rhythm and not sound so folksy.

For the 2nd half (where it goes back to “Gather us in” on A) we didn't really change anything until the last C again (“sound of our name”) where we again hit it and let it ring, but stretched that measure out to a full 6/8, singing “sound of our name” over the C2 chord.  Then we played the turn-around, really strong, to head back to the next verse.

The song doesn't need any of these changes. It works so well as Marty Haugen composed it.  These are just some ideas to change things up a bit, and maybe raise some eyebrows!

Next week I’d like to share some ideas I have for changing up I Am the Bread of Life (Toolan/GIA).

John Williams is a genius.

Everytime I hear one of his scores in a movie I am reminded of how well he can craft a theme that fits the scene and keep bringing it back throughout the movie at just the right times, at just the right level, for just the right duration.

...like in Star Wars, when Luke Skywalker turns to Obi-Wan and says, "The Force?" and you hear that theme come in, played by a French horn. Later, he brings it back at just the right moments when the subject comes up again, and we are reminded of the first time we heard it and what it meant.

Movies, by their very nature, are filled with dialogue, music, and vibrant images. Everything works together to create a greater whole. The same goes for Broadway shows: dialogue, music, movement, vibrant images, lighting, etc. They, too, have recurring musical themes.

How similar are our liturgies?  We use lighting, movement, dialogue (sort of), music, vibrant images, etc. Similarly, one of the ways we can enhance our liturgies is through that same use of recurring themes.

Most of the time we sing a song...and never hear of it again for the rest of the mass. If, for example, your gathering song was "Rain Down" (Cortez), it might be effective to bring the refrain melody back, instrumentally, at some other point in the liturgy.  Perhaps it could be played softly on the piano underneath the Prayers of the Faithful?  Or on a flute after communion as a meditation?  Or you could even invite the assembly to sing just the refrain again after communion.

Another theme could be the responsorial psalm. Let's say you sang "If Today You Hear the Voice of God," for the psalm. It could be powerful to bring back that melody subtly, instrumentally, underneath a spoken prayer, as an interlude in between communion songs, or even sung again as a communion meditation.

The important thing to remember, though, is not to overdo it. Just like recurring themes in movies are brought back tastefully, at the right volume, and for the right duration, so should we be sensitive of the moment we are trying to create, or enhance. We never want to be distracting...only enhancing.

Music Ministry has it's own goal...

Choosing music is, obviously, one of our main responsibilities as music ministers.

When I first started choosing music for our (Life Teen) 6:00 contemporary mass back in 1992 the established contemporary catholic music of the time was in the Glory and Praise hymnal. (the blue one, for those of us that remember it well!) Much of my time was spent rearranging these songs, from the folk-mass versions we'd gotten used to hearing, to a more modern, contemporary sound. Songs like "And the Father Will Dance," and "Lift Up Your Hearts to the Lord" were among some of the early song choices for that mass. On the radio we heard Wayne Watson, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Sandi Patti, etc.  Tom Booth in Mesa, AZ was writing (and continues to do so) some great new contemporary music, which also proved very effective. There were other sources, but, needless to say, there was not the abundance of modern church music we have today. Voices As One, Spirit and Song, and Cross Generation were not around, nor was the music of Chris Tomlin or Paul Baloche being played on the radio. The pool of music was smaller then.
Today, the church is blessed with so much new music every single week. Websites feature new songs, videos, podcasts, downloads, etc. We don't have to wait for a songbook to be printed. We just download what we need immediately and make our copies (legally, of course, with paid permission.)  We could do 5 new songs each week and probably never run out of repertoire.

But that's the challenge.

We have to always remember what we are doing and why we are doing it.

Radio stations and websites have a goal: stay current; always have the latest and greatest readily available.

Music ministry has its own goal: engage the assembly in sung worship.

If we simply tried to stay with the latest and greatest all of the time, we would be missing the boat.  Our goal is not to show how current we are for fear of being called stale.  Our goal is to choose music that serves the liturgy. Let's choose music our assembly knows well and can sing. Remember, most people come once a week. A song that was introduced last Sunday is still going to be considered "new" for quite some time. Find a balance of the well-used and the fresh. People like to sing songs they know. They like to be challenged with something new...yes...but not every week!