Inspiration and training for church musicians

organists • choir directors • cantors • music group leaders

www.rscm.com/skills

Do you want to improve your practical skills for leading music in worship? And learn new ones?

Church Music Skills is a pioneering education programme designed to help practising church musicians to develop the skills and understanding that they need for their role, and to equip those who want to be able to lead music in worship.

The Award Scheme leads to vocational-type qualifications at three levels, and is designed to enable students to become effective leaders and enablers of music in their local church.

The Flexible Study Scheme allows students to ‘mix and match’ units according to their own goals. They may work at any of the three Levels, and go on to complete the Church Music Skills Award if they wish.

• Written and practical assignments assessed by experienced tutors, providing detailed feedback

• Designed for use by students studying alone or with a teacher

• Students can enrol at any time and work at their own pace

• May be complemented by attendance at RSCM workshops, masterclasses and short residential courses

• Open to students from the UK and abroad, with no age limit

• Ideal for anyone who leads music in church or aspires to do so, from any church background

• Based on distance learning through written materials, combined with private study and practical experience in the student’s own church

• Offered with real choices - follow the Award Scheme and gain an RSCM vocational award, or the Flexible Study Scheme for ongoing personal development

• Choose from four skill areas - Organist, Choir Director, Cantor or Music Group Leader

Units of learning

Students on the Award Scheme will select three practical units from their Principal Skill area plus three Supporting Studies units (which must include at least one unit from the Worship and Ministry section and one from the Church Music in Practice section). Students on the Flexible Study Scheme may select any combination of units.

Practical Skills Units

Organist Choir Director

HymnsWorship songs Accompanying chantAnthems and settingsSolo performanceImprovisation

Hymns and songsConducting chantAnthems and settings Working with young singersArranging and composing for choir

Cantor Music Group Leader

Hymns and songsPsalmodyChants and prayer responsesTraditional music for Evensong and EucharistArranging and composing

Hymns and songsChants and short songs Working with young musicians Arranging and composing for music group

Supporting Studies Units

Worship and Ministry Church Music in Practice

Sunday worshipPastoral services Age-specific and freer forms of worshipUsing music in worshipSeasons and festivalsTexts and music

Organising your lifeFinancing an activityUnderstanding peopleWorking with volunteersKnowing general lawUsing others’ materials: copyrightMaking a presentationTelling the worldLeading a teamIntroducing change

•

Royal School of Church Music19 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EB, UK+44 (0)1722 424848skills@rscm.comRegistered Charity: 312828

www.rscm.com/skills

Fees

There is a registration fee for all new students, including the introductory units. Ongoing fees are payable per level for the Award Scheme or per unit for the Flexible Study Scheme. Discounts at all levels are offered to RSCM members. Full details of current costs and terms and conditions are available from the website or in the information pack. As the learning materials are designed to be delivered electronically, those without email are required to pay a small supplement to cover printing and postage. Students may wish to ask their church or diocese for financial support when undertaking this programme.

What to do next

The detailed information pack contains all you need to know about units, assessment, fees etc, and an application form. You can obtain a copy by:

• visiting the RSCM website at www.rscm.com/skills • calling us on +44 (0)1722 424848• emailing us on skills@rscm.com

Unit B35

Page 13

07/04/2009

3 Widening the harmonic range I

The harmony studied in Levels I and II is called ‘diatonic’ harmony because it uses

the notes of the diatonic scale. In Level III we will go on to look at chromatic

functional harmony. ‘Chromatic’ literally means ‘coloured’ and chromatic harmony

uses notes outside the key to enrich the harmony.

At Level II we grouped the primary triads into ‘families’ that also contained the

secondary triads: Example 3.1: IV, V and I families

The circle after the roman numeral means that the chord is diminished – both the

thirds are minor: the plus sign means that the chord is augmented – both the

thirds are major. It’s possible to group most chromatic chords in the same way. Here are the main

possibilities, all of which have been in use to some extent since the eighteenth

century. Over-use of some of these chords might give your music rather a

‘Victorian’ flavour – it’s all a matter of taste and judgment!

All examples are given in the key of C (major or minor), and are placed within a

short progression to illustrate their use. There are a great many of them, and you

will probably find this section more useful as a summary and overall resource

rather than to read all the way through – nevertheless I hope that studying and

playing these examples will help to widen your harmonic experience.

3.1 Chromatic chords in the IV family:

As these are replacements for chord IV, they normally move to a chord in either

the dominant family (V) or the tonic family (I). Chromatic chords are found more

often in this family than any other, because IV is the least final of the three

primary triads. a) Chord IV turned into a minor chord (iv), and chord ii7 turned into a

diminished chord (ii o7) – both achieved by flattening the 6th note of the scale.

(This only works in major keys, as the 6th is already flattened in minor keys). Note

that ii o7 is not a ‘diminished 7th ’, as it is the fifth of the chord that is diminished,

and not the 7th.

Unit A01

Page 4

15/01/2009 1 Basic principles of the pipe organ Organs have pipes that sound when keys depressed by the player allow wind to

enter them. In practice there are five main parts of an organ: • wind (blower, wind storage, wind trunks supplying air to pipes)

• keyboard and keyboard action (linking keys to pipes to make them sound)

• stops and stop action (controlling range of sounds heard) • pipes and windchest (on which the pipes stand, and in which are the final

valves and mechanism to control which pipes sound when) • case (which may be separate or integral to the construction of the organ)

Figure 1.1: pipe organ diagram

keyboard

wind chest

stop s

blower

air

reservoir

pipes

mechanical or electronic link

1.1 The air supply Today the air is usually supplied by an electric fan blower and is regulated by a

reservoir, weighted to provide the correct level of wind pressure. Loss of wind

pressure, often from leakage, can affect the sound and tuning of the organ

adversely. It is usually the result of ageing leather, but it can also be affected

by mice chewing holes and by water.

Unit A11   Page 6  17/10/2008 

BreathsIt is very important that breaths happen in strict time. If you bend the beats or add beats to accommodate congregational breathing, you lose the vital grip on the metre discussed above. If a hymn feels as if breaths will have to be snatched awkwardly at the end of a phrase, try a slightly steadier tempo!

Example 1.1.1: Richmond In the bracketed bars, a beat has been deleted from the first note, to create a one-beat silence between the phrases

There are no rules about how many silences are appropriate: you’re the boss. Provided that you stay within the metre (i.e. keep a rock-steady pulse) and are consistent, your congregation will respond happily.

Silence between verses The amount of silence between each verse will vary depending on the metre. Look at the hymns in this module to see how the following list applies:

Metre Silence

2 2 beats

3 3 beats

4(moderate/slow tempo)

2 beats

4(faster tempo or large acoustic)

4 beats

When the hymn starts with an anacrusis (upbeat), make sure that the last bar of the verse plus the first full bar of the next verse (ending with the anacrusis) totals two bars’ worth of beats. This will mean some rhythmic alteration but will ensure that the metre is not disrupted:

Unit B35

Page 1

07/04/2009

Arranging and

composing for

choir III Level III

Unit no: B35

Skill: CHOIR DIRECTOR