6th Ward Mens Choir Practice Files

About: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O Come, O Come Emmanuel, is often sung at Christmas time.

It’s one of the oldest, widely recognizable songs with origins stretching back over one thousand years. There are very little songs that are so old, that are still popularly known today.

The hymn tells us to rejoice as Emmanuel (the name Isaiah gives the Savior meaning ‘God is with us’) shall come to ransom Israel.

The ‘theme’ of the Cultural Night is rescue…a rescue of culture in our lives, but the theme also applies to the hymn we’re singing…Emmanuel shall ransom (or rescue) Israel. Ransom being a stronger choice of words in the hymn as it communicates that something must be given (the ransom) to set the captives (captive Israel, all of us) free. That ransom is the Savior.

 

Thank You

 

Thank you for being willing to step out of your comfort zone and share your testimony of the Savior through song.

Singers of all levels are welcome, and we’ve recorded the different parts of the hymn to help us all practice at home.

Practice Files:

We don’t have a professional recording studio, and we made plenty of goofs while recording, but hopefully, these files will help you practice.

To give you a general idea of how to the vocals will sound together, listen to the file below. We played just a couple notes on the piano and sang the hymn. When we get together to practice, you’ll be able to hear the entire piano accompany part.

Both Harmony and Melody together:

[audio:http://www.wheatleyfamily.net/audio/O-Come-O-Come-Emmanuel-Both-Parts-(Piano-and-Vocal).mp3|titles=O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Both Parts (Piano and Vocal)]

Download the file to your computer here:

Download: O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Both Parts (Piano and Vocal)

 

A few Basics if You’ve Never Sung in a Choir

 

Two Parts:

This song has two different parts to sing…a high part and a low part.

The high part is called the Melody. If you whistle a tune from your favorite band, you’re whistling the Melody…the part that the main singer sings.

If this is your first time singing in a choir, sing the melody. It’s the easiest to sing. I like the melody

The other singers in band sing the Harmony…different notes that support and sound good with the lead singer’s part.

For most of the song we are singing, everyone will sing the Melody together in unison…we’re all singing the same notes at those points.

There are a few parts where there are some lower notes in our hymn. That’s the harmony, in our case, the bass part.

If you’re new to singing in a choir, don’t worry about the base part.

Put the melody and the harmony together, and they sound pretty cool.

 

The Melody – If you’re new to singing in the Choir, Practice this Part

 

Here’s audio files to the melody. We recorded just the melody on the piano, and then sang it. You can listen to just the piano playing only the melody, just the vocals, or both together.

Sing along

Melody Vocals with Piano (recommended for practice):

[audio:http://www.wheatleyfamily.net/audio/O-Come-O-Come-Emmanuel-Melody-Tenor-Part-(Vocals-and-Piano).mp3|titles=O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Melody - Tenor Part (Vocals and Piano).mp3]

Download: O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Melody – Tenor Part (Vocals and Piano)

Melody Vocals Only:

[audio:http://www.wheatleyfamily.net/audio/O-Come-O-Come-Emmanuel-Melody-Tenor-Part-(Vocals-Only).mp3|titles=O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Melody - Tenor Part (Vocals Only).mp3]

Download: O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Melody – Tenor Part (Vocals Only)