PART I
Evangelism has today become a field for the specialist. We think in terms of experienced teams, closely planned organization, intensive pre-effort preparation, and many other guarantees of more effective work. The evangelist spends several weeks or even months preparing himself, his effort, and his field. Results have shown the wisdom of such planning, not only in smoother-running programs, but in larger numbers of men and women reached and won to this message.
How does this preparatory work relate to the singing evangelist? If an evangelist must be a master of his art -a specialist-so, to just as great a degree, must his singing associate. In many cases the audience's introduction to the evangelist is the song leader. First impressions are too often lasting ones. Should that introduction be amateurish, unskilled, or clumsy, much harm can be done to audience reaction.
A master of his art-a specialist! This leaves no room for haphazard musical arrangements. It gives no place for second-rate choral renditions. It allows no scope for last-minute items and hastily-gathered repertoires to be thrown into the program wherever they appear suitable. The singing evangelist who comes to the end of that period of preparation without a careful list of plans and a system of organized work almost as heavy as that of his leader, is failing in his responsibilities. The work of the musical evangelist covers three distinct fields-song leading, solo singing, and choir direction. His ultimate success is determined by his ability in all these fields. An accomplished singer is not necessarily a good song leader, nor is a choir director necessarily a soloist. However, if the singing evangelist will strive to become proficient in singing, leading, and directing, greater results will be seen in his ministry.
Cultivation of the Voice
As a soloist the singing evangelist is at a decided disadvantage. The demands on his voice as a song leader and public speaker make it extremely difficult for him to preserve his singing voice. With a few weeks' or months' rest from such a strenuous program he will grasp the opportunity to build up that voice and improve it for the effort ahead. The time would be well spent with the best singing teacher he can find. A cultivated instrument will be better able to convey the message the Lord wishes carried in song. The singing evangelist will plan to spend a certain time throughout the entire year with his singing lessons, but the pre-effort period will be one in which he can concentrate to a greater degree on this very important part of his work. "There should be much more interest in voice culture than is now generally manifested. Students who have learned to sing sweet gospel songs with melody and distinctness can do much good as singing evangelists."-Evangelism, p. 504. Such a statement covers a tremendous field. Production, voice placement, breath control, pronunciation, and all the cardinal factors in voice training are included. Gospel singers of mediocre voice quality seem in fairly constant supply, but singing evangelists should be specialists in their art. God expects them to develop their talents to the highest degree possible.
A Constantly Growing Repertoire
The song leader should constantly be adding . new and carefully chosen choruses, gospel songs, and hymns to his repertoire. Only by constant searching, playing, and replaying of selections will he discover their full capabilities for use in public. If he is not already familiar with the hymnal to be used, he will be memorizing the numbers, the time signatures, perhaps the music itself. I have made a practice of memorizing the piano transcription and the words of each hymn and chorus used, and find it well worth while.
Many useful hymns are rendered useless for congregational singing because of the key signatures in which they are written. "In a Little While We're Going Home" is twice as effective if sung in E major instead of F major. The same applies to "Longing." Often an audience will tend to fiat in certain key signatures. I find that "The Old Rugged Cross" will sound better in A major. So also will "All Hail the Power" (Diadem). Many other illustrations could be given, but the prepared song leader will know and allow for these factors. In planning hymns and choruses, the song leader will consult the evangelist. This is also true of the special music, and particularly the dosing appeal numbers. A line-up of the subjects to be presented will assist in deciding the type of hymns that will provide atmosphere for the various topics.
The paramount purpose of the song service is to prepare the audience for the address that will follow. There should be a general trend throughout the congregational singing that will lead right into the subject of the evening. Such hymns, for instance, as "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" and "Praise Ye the Lord," and the chorus "I See Jesus," are wonderful to use when the evangelist speaks on astronomy. Advent hymns will accompany Advent topics, and so on.
One will be careful not to associate such hymns as "Lead, Kindly Light" with "The Call Out of Babylon," an association that could easily offend someone who knew the circumstances under which the hymn was written. A subtle and careful introduction and repetition of hymns and choruses emphasizing obedience will over a period of time unconsciously prepare the audience for the eventual presentation of the Sabbath. If people have constantly sung "Trust and Obey," "I Will 'Follow Thee, My Saviour," and "Make Me Willing, Lord Jesus" with enthusiasm and feeling, it follows that they will find it less difficult to heed the admonition they have already sung. The continuity of the song service depends entirely on the ability of the song leader. A ready tongue using the appropriate words at . the right time-a few lines of poetry here, an apt illustration there-gives the brightness and interest that mark successful community hymn singing.
A constant alertness for suitable illustrative material for this purpose will eventually find your files full of poems, stories, statements, catchy phraseologies, texts, and information regarding particular hymns and their authors. The alert song leader will also be continually planning new methods of approach, new gestures, and new ways of arousing and keeping the enthusiasm of the song service at its highest leveL He will also want to further build his repertoire, finding melodies that . really convey the atmosphere created by the words and that have in themselves an appeal that will remain in the hearts of the people. He will be looking for words wedded to the music and yet those that on their own are of sufficient value to impress the listener. Much doggerel is found in gospel song lyrics. He will want to shun anything of such standard. After choosing additions to his song collection, the singing evangelist will need to arrange these songs. Much good solo material may be written outside his voice range. Rather than be restricted by using only those songs written for his voice setting, he will select those with the music, words, and appeal he wants, find the keys most suitable, and make arrangements accordingly. Sometimes a direct transcription in a higher or lower setting may be sufficient. Others may need a complete rearrangement. These new songs will need to be memorized and placed in the program of the effort. A repertoire of twenty to thirty memorized gospel songs and hymns should be at a singer's call at the beginning of a campaign. Hasty memorization does not make for best results. Words and music need to be so embedded in the memory that they come spontaneously.
The Spirit has little chance to aid in interpretation when the memory is constantly grasping at words and melodies only superficially learned. When a song is woven into the singer's own spiritual experience, when its words and meaning have so saturated his soul that they find expression in his life, then the song can be best given to others as an offering of the Spirit. Such singing demands concentrated preparation.
The singer will build his list of songs throughout every pre-effort period, until he has a working repertoire of from seventy to eighty numbers. When that goal has been reached, time during efforts will be used revising and improving the collection. A twelve months' metropolitan effort with three or more meetings a week will soon tax a list of this size. The singing evangelist can greatly benefit from also memorizing the piano transcriptions of his songs. A gospel song is more than an introduction or conclusion to a sermon. It is a bearer of the same good tidings that are preached, filled with the same power and salvation, but carried on the wings of melody, which often give it, strange to say, a greater ability to unseal human hearts. Such a power will need to be used wherever it is most effective.
Music direction covers a vast field. It includes arrangement of the musical program, responsibility for the performance of all solo and group singing, and direction of instrumental and choral combinations, selection of organists, pianists, and all other musical features.
