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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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Poll: how to sing this worship song

There’s one song I started singing for worship, Desert Song. It was introduced by one of the other youth staff workers this year. It’s very catchy with very good lyrics. I like it.

However, on the recording, there is one phrase that doesn’t match the other phrases in the chorus. Rather than being on beat, one note is syncopated instead.

If you listen to the recording, on the chorus, you can hear that the words “praise,” “praise,” and the second syllable of “declare” are on the beat, but the second syllable for “rejoice” is not. The second syllable of the word is sung syncopated rather than on beat.

I am torn between singing the chorus exactly like the MP3 recording, or not syncopating that one note in order to make the chorus just simpler to learn and to sing for my church congregation.

So what do you think? Should I sing it according to the recording, or should I sing it a little differently to make it easier for my church congregation?
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Comments

Kelli said…
I can hear what you mean, but am not sure I have the answer. :). It sounds like the word rejoice is said more naturally, which ends it sooner than if it was more separated into two distinct syllables like they sing declare.

Either way would sound fine, so I guess you could choose based upon what you and any others leading it would sing more naturally.
Tue Jun 26, 04:20:00 PM 2012
Camy Tang said…
That's a good point. When I sing it, since "praise" was sung on the beat, I typically sing the second syllable of "rejoice" on the beat, also. I'd have to make an effort to remember to sing it off beat if I sing it like the CD.
Wed Jun 27, 03:57:00 AM 2012
Marian said…
I vote for singing on beat. Praise music can be hard for the congregation to learn (speaking as a congregation member) so anything that makes it easier is a no-brainer in my book.
Wed Jun 27, 10:18:00 AM 2012
Camy Tang said…
Thanks for the vote! That's really helpful since I don't often get feedback from my congregation. Not many of them are musical so it's hard for me to gauge if the songs are too easy or too hard.
Wed Jun 27, 07:14:00 PM 2012
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