2003
Ideas for Relief Society Music Training
August 2003

“Ideas for Relief Society Music Training,” Ensign, Aug. 2003, 68–69

Ideas for Relief Society Music Training

The Relief Society five-minute music period is an ideal time to acquaint sisters with some of the basics of music. An understanding of these fundamentals can help the sisters more effectively use sacred music, particularly the hymns, in their worship.

Relief Society music directors might consider doing the following activities during the music period:

  • Explain the elements of a music staff.

  • Give a short course in music directing.

  • Demonstrate how to follow the music director.

  • Explain the purpose of the sections in the back of the hymnbook:
    Using the Hymnbook
    Authors and Composers
    Titles, Tunes, and Meters
    Tune Names
    Meters
    Scriptures
    Topics
    First Lines and Titles

  • Explain note values.

  • Discuss time signatures.

  • Demonstrate different music rhythms.

  • Explain the dynamics of a particular hymn.

  • Discuss the meanings of the mood and tempo markings noted at the top left of the hymns. Sing a hymn accordingly.

  • Sing the words of one hymn to the tune of another. The “Meters” section, pages 405–9 of the hymnbook, will show you which hymns are interchangeable.

  • Read the scriptures listed at the bottom right corner of the hymns.

Jolene Stephens Picker, Murray 32nd Ward, Murray Utah Parkway Stake