Enabling Transformative Experiences: Rest and Pause

If you’re a church musician, I’m guessing you’re feeling the pressure of this time of year with Holy Week and Easter just around the corner. I thought I would revisit a previous blog post that talked about rest and pause. This time of year, I would love more rest and pause, a very challenging task in such a hectic time of the year.

Just a few years ago, December 25 was on a Sunday. At the church I served at the time, all were encouraged to wear their PJs to church, including staff. As it turns out, only staff dressed in that way, including me! I dressed in PJ bottoms, t-shirt with a fleece, and slippers. Definitely not usual attire for a Sunday morning at church.

Since it is a rarity to have Christmas Day on a Sunday, I wanted to mark the day in a special musical way. As a Bach enthusiast and baritone, the aria “Großer Herr, o starker König” came to mind. It’s from the first Cantata from the Christmas Oratorio, written for Christmas Day. I had sung it several times in the past, so I thought it was a good addition, even the day after leading multiple Christmas Eve services. With the unique attire that morning, it was probably the most comfortable I’ve been singing music by J.S. Bach. If you’re unfamiliar with the aria, here’s a recording:

Perhaps you noticed a lot of fast and seemingly endless notes. In the aria, finding places to breathe that are not obvious took time and practice. If there was a place where I had to take a quick breath, I would practice the first and second passages by themselves, then gradually over time connect them so I could sing at the desired tempo. Similarly, finding moments to pause or breathe in our lives sometimes takes time and practice. From my perspective, we’re living in a long, fast, extended piece with seemingly endless melismas in sight. It’s only through close examination where we can find those short moments of pause and breath that help us keep going.

I was observing a masterclass once and a performer sang a fast piece by Bach. After they were finished singing, the teacher asked where the points of rest were. After some confused looks from the performer, the teacher pointed out “notice how there’s a quarter note after so many sixteenth notes” or “consider lifting after this particular eighth note”. Perhaps we could find those metaphorical moments of pause amidst a rapid torrent of sixteenth notes? Just as it takes practice to find those spots in a piece, so it takes practice to find those spots in life.

In music, I find that a few things go into practicing a challenging piece include, but are not limited to: making mistakes, slowing down, persistence, finding the exact spot(s) giving me trouble, stepping away for a time, or finding the right tempo. Maybe quarter = 80 isn’t doable today. Perhaps quarter = 70 is more realistic. From my experience, life isn’t that much different. Finding those brief points of rest or pause may involve making mistakes, slowing down, persistence, or stepping away. Or rather than overhauling everything, perhaps there’s one specificpart of my life I can pinpoint where I can slow down?

In addition to thinking about pauses and rests for myself, perhaps I can think about rehearsals as pauses and rests for our singers and ringers. What could I do to give that gift every rehearsal? How can I intentionally give ensemble members space to slow down? Sometimes I’ve had ensemble members breathe in and out three times before moving on to the next piece. Perhaps if I did that consistently, that would provide a sense of spaciousness without taking a whole lot time out of rehearsal. I love engaging singers on the meaning of a text we’re singing or why a composer set the text a particular way. After such a conversation, I usually learn more about the text and the piece.

Other than tweaking rehearsals, a few things have really helped. Spending a minute focusing on my breath and taking slow singers breaths help to slow my mind down. An app called Yours has a number of great breathing exercises that are timed. The link on the app store is:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yours-app/id1543920949

Or if you prefer in a browser: https://yoursapp.com/

I’ve encountered a number of lengthy, soothing instrumental music videos on YouTube. I’ve especially enjoyed this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRrVtFnG_x4&t=10578s

I’ve also enjoyed listening to a lot of music by George Winston. There’s something about his album Forest that calms me down.

Are there activities that help you rest and pause, even briefly? Is there music that helps you find rest and pause? If so, comment below! May we all find moments of rest in chaotic and busy times.