Develop a groove

The genre of spirituals and gospels is influenced by various modern styles such as jazz, blues, pop and rock. Bernd Frank has published a compilation of gospels and spirituals for Schott-Verlag which are suitable for singing lessons with beginners and amateur singers, but also for working with school or church musicians who are perhaps preparing for an entrance examination and want to look beyond the classical repertoire.

I would rate the level of difficulty of this edition as easy to medium. However, the songs are also suitable for performance situations, e.g. as a solo addition to a gospel choir program, in music school performance exercises or as an enrichment of the traditional church music repertoire.

During the development process, the collection was supplemented with ideas in a workshop by school music students from the Mainz University of Music and examined for its practical suitability.

The edition offers a variety of performance options thanks to interesting piano accompaniments: improvisational "fill-ins" can be incorporated into both the piano and vocal parts. Many songs lend themselves to being sung as a duo or as a "call & response" in two voices.

Several verses can be freely improvised over the underlying "changes". Specific vocal techniques of gospel music, such as looping the notes, require stylistic variety and flexibility. Gospel songs are rhythmic songs that also allow beginners to immediately develop and train their sense of "groove".

The collection is published in two editions, for high voice and for medium or low voice, the latter being really low and the higher not really high. The volumes contain 33 songs each, and the title list includes well-known songs such as Amazing grace, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child also less common things like Calvary or Chilly water.

Spirituals & Gospels im Unterricht, 33 Songs for voice and piano, edited by Bernd Frank; edition for high voice, ED 21712; edition for medium or low voice, ED 21713; € 19.50 each, Schott, Mainz