Singing provides an engaging way to highlight the point of almost any Sunday school lesson. While singing a song about a Bible story, children can experience the emotions of the story and remember its point on many levels. Singing is also an easy way to get children to remember such things as the books of the Bible, the names of the apostles, and many important memory verses. For older students a well-chosen song may reach them when your words don’t seem to do so.
Even if you can’t read a note of music, it is still possible to teach Bible songs to your Sunday school children. It’s not nearly as hard as you may think. Here are a few common sense steps to follow.
Consider the level of difficulty
If you are going to sing a song, start by considering its level of difficulty. If the notes of the song are too high (top half of the staff and above) or too low (below the staff), the children may not be able to sing it. Listen to a recording of the song or ask someone to play it for you if you don’t read music. If you are not comfortable singing it, your students probably won’t be comfortable singing it either. Also consider the vocabulary of the song. Young children may not understand long sentences, abstract concepts, and multi-syllabic words. If the song has complicated words, don’t try to get preschoolers to sing it. Teenagers, on the other hand, will not appreciate lyrics that are too simple, and they may make their displeasure known.
Break it down and build it up
Thanks to modern technology, it is possible even for non-musicians to teach a new song to others. Here is a method anyone can use.
Materials:
- A CD or MP3 version of the song you wish to teach.
- A CD player, or MP3 player with external speakers.
Preparation:
- Listen to the song several times yourself until you feel you know it. When I have to learn a new piece of music, I listen to it in the car or while I am doing housework, and I keep the “repeat” button pressed on my player.
- Play the song as background music for your students while they work on crafts or when they gather at the beginning of class. Get them used to hearing the song. The “repeat” button is very useful here as well.
- Write out the words of the song in a form your students can understand. If you are working with non-readers, pictures may help.
- Usually you can find the words for songs on the Web, if you don’t have printed copies of the music. Just search “lyrics” and the song title in your favorite search engine.
- Study the words and decide how to break them into smaller units for teaching. Each unit should be no longer than a phrase or a sentence.
Teaching procedure:
- Post the words where your class can see them or give word sheets to your students.
- Play the entire song for the class and have them follow the words.
- Have the class chant the words with you. It may be helpful to repeat smaller units a few times to help them learn and remember.
- Have the class sing the song with the recording. It may take a few times for them to get it.
If you really want your students to remember the song, have them sing it with the recording for a few weeks. The real benefit will come when they finally know the song well enough to sing it – and repeat the Bible lesson it contains – entirely on their own.
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