Kyle Pederson - Come By Here

Topic: Pandemic Versions
The title “Kumbaya” was less popular this year when I did a search of new versions in YouTube than in the past.  This is partly a reaction against the cooption of the word “kumbaya” by politicians, who denigrate “kumbaya moments,” and by rap and electronic music artists, who use it for secular purposes.  The original “Kum Ba Yah” employed by Cooperative Recreation Service still is used, especially by music publishers.

The term “Come by Here” has become more accepted since the Library of Congress began publicizing Henry Wylie’s version as the first, true version. [1]  Those people who were always uncomfortable with an unknown/foreign/nonsense word are vindicated: “kumbaya” is simply an error.

Ironically, one of the men whose arrangements was popular this year rejected the literal interpretation of the phrase “come by here.”  Kyle Pederson said “though I love the invitational nature of the lyric ‘come by here, Lord,’ I also believe that God’s spirit is already with us in all of our circumstances.  In our joy, grief, rising falling, living and dying, God is there with us, working toward wholeness and healing.” [2]

The Lutheran composer began with women echoing each other through “someone’s prayin’” and men singing “come by here, my Lord” as a rhythm.  After this nod to the Gullah origins and an extended piano solo, he orchestrated traditional four-part harmony for “someone’s cryin’” while the piano played the motif from “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  Bert Polman said the tune “resembles the style of the Lutheran chorale.” [3]

After another brief piano interlude, Pederson introduced his own text that addressed God directly as “You.”  He replaced the generic “someone” with the first person, and used the three-part motet form with each vocal section singing a different text. [4]  It proclaimed God is here.

Choir directors always are looking for new material.  Pederson’s arrangement was released in early 2020, [5] just as the new Coronavirus form was spreading across the country.  It was publically acknowledged in Florida on March 1, but it may have been present in the state since January.  The governor issued an order restricting activities of non-essential services, [6] but declared churches were essential.  Some defiantly refused to limit their congregations, [7] and others voluntarily did.

The Lutheran church on Saint Armand Key in Sarasota Bay scheduled Pederson’s arrangement for September 9.  One couple was seated in a pew row, and they alternated left or right ends.  The choir was reduced to four college students.  All were casually dressed except the pianist.  Michael Bodnyk wore a black choir robe.

The virus also was reported in New York on March 1, where the governor declared a state of emergency on March 7. [8]  Andrew Cuomo was much stricter than Ron DeSantis.  On October 2, the Episcopalian church in Buffalo posted a video of Pederson’s arrangement with “images for inspiration” to support its online worship.

Trinity Church may have used someone else’s tape, but Bobby Militello added a saxophone solo [9] to the first piano interlude.  The first section displayed images of Russian Orthodox, Hindus, Buddhists, and a Black child praying.  The saxophone section was accompanied by pictures of nature.  Photographs of homeless people followed with the “crying” section, while the last part had images of the old and young.

New Mexico did not report the virus until March 11.  The governor closed the state on March 23, eased restrictions on May 15, and reimposed them on July 13. [19]  An Albuquerque Methodist church turned to virtual choirs for its music.  The accompanying video for “Come by Here” alternated the array of the seventeen member choir with a drawing of a partially opened door.  Since it was New Mexico, the two-panel door was wooden and painted blue. [20]

It was difficult to maintain faith in God’s presence during the pandemic, especially after Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of George Floyd until he died on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [21]  People converged on the city to protest his murder, where rioting continued until the National Guard was deployed on May 30. [22]

On September 28, Pederson released his own video of “Come by Here.”  It begins conventionally enough, with photographs of the Minneapolis skyline and a farmstead, then juxtaposes prison cells with children going to school.  These accompany the displayed “come by here” lyrics.

The last line of the verse, “Oh, Lord, Come by here” switches to the mural painted on the Cup Food store at the intersection where Floyd died. [23]  “Someone’s praying” is accompanied by images of the memorial street where the names of people killed by the police have been painted in different colors. [24]

Pederson and his videographer, Chris White, switch to images of a church being closed for the “crying” verse.  This is followed by photographs of floods and forest fires, before returning again to the Floyd memorial.  The last part displays the text against an early morning sky.  The finale features a black boy and white girl holding hands as they run through a park.

By September, things had calmed somewhat in Minneapolis.  The city’s Congregational church posted a video on 9 March 2021 that simply showed the members of its virtual choir singing the arrangement.  Like Pederson’s video, the last section displayed the text against a black background.

March 9 was the day jury selection began for the trial of Chauvin. [25]  Tensions increased, but were internalized, not riotous. [26]  Still, everyone was prepared for the worse when the jury returned its guilty verdict on April 20. [27]  Two weeks later the governor announced most pandemic restrictions would end on May 28.  Masks would be required until July 1. [28]

Performers
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: SABT
Instrumental Accompaniment: piano
Rhythm Accompaniment: none

Credits
Text: African American spiritual (PD)
Tune: KUM BA YAH, African American spiritual
Setting: Kyle Pederson (ASCAP), newly composed
Copyright © 2020 Birnamwood Publications (ASCAP)
Musical quotation from John Bacchus Dykes, “Nicaea,” 1861 (PD)

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Pronunciation: drops terminal /g/
Verses: come by here, prayin’, cryin’, own
Pronoun: someone, my
Term for Deity: Lord, You
Basic Form: four-verse song
Ending: repeat “come by here” followed by “You are here”
Unique Features: change from third to first person

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: simply, quarter note = 112–116 beats per minute
Key Signature: two sharps
Basic Structure: four parts
Singing Style: sopranos one note to one syllable; altos and men some melisma

Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: call-response by women over male rhythm; then four-part harmony

Ending: slower, softer

Notes on Performers
Pederson is from a family of musicians: his father was a band teacher, [29] while his mother taught piano until 1990.  Then she was hired to teach religion at Augustana University, [30] a school founded by Swedish Lutherans in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. [31]  At that time, his maternal grandmother, who also played piano, joined the family.  Her husband had died in 1989. [32]

After graduating from Augustana in 1997, [33] Pederson moved to Minneapolis where he taught geography in the public schools.  In 2005, he opened a business to help teachers use music in other subjects.  Since 2013, he has been devoting more time to composition. [34]  He also is active in the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, [35] a city 15 miles south of Minneapolis. [36]

The Singers who performed his arrangement are a professional Minneapolis group led by Matthew Culloton. [37]  He graduated from Concordia College, but directs the choir at Saint Paul’s House of Hope Presbyterian Church. [38]  Chris White is the media arts director at Prince of Peace and operates a private recording studio. [39]

The minister of music at Saint Armands Key Lutheran Church earned a degree in vocal performance from Mannes College of Music, and a masters in choral conducting from Concordia University Wisconsin. [40]  In 2019, Michael Bodnyk began supplementing the choir with music students from the University of Tampa in 2019 instead of hiring professional singers.  He said “The congregation just loves them.” [41]

Trinity Episcopal Church is a monument to Buffalo’s prosperous past as a port on Lake Erie.  Its organist and choir director, Paul Cena, went to high school in Tonawanda, New York, and graduated from the University at Buffalo. [42]  Bobby Militello attended Buffalo’s LaFayette High School.  He worked with Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinson, and Dave Brubeck, [43] before returning to Buffalo around 2014. [44]

Paradise Hills United Methodist Church was established in 1963 as Albuquerque expanded to the north. [45]  Rebecca Talbott is the choir teacher at the high school in neighboring Rio Rancho.  She earned both her bachelors and her masters degrees from the University of New Mexico. [46]  Her husband, Dale, did the technical audio work for the virtual choir. [47]

Mayflower United Church of Christ of Minneapolis did not identify any of the twenty-three participants in its virtual choir.  Nancy Grundahl is the church’s choir director, and Dorothy Williams the organist.  Williams began her music studies in Texas, and since has taught college courses in Texas, Kentucky, Calgary, and Chicago.  Grundahl graduated from Saint Olaf College and the University of Minnesota.  She said “She enjoys finding repertoire for the Mayflower Choir that challenges the singers and enhances and deepens the worship experience.” [48]

Availability
Sheet Music: Kyle Pederson. “Come by Here.”  Saint Louis, Missouri: MorningStar Music Publishers, 2020.

Video: “Come by Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by MorningStar Music on 17 April 2020.

Video: Saint Armand Key Lutheran Church Choral Scholars.  “Come By Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by St. Armands Key Lutheran Church on 1 September 2020.  Michael Bodnyk, minister of music; Justin Kaiser, AV Technician.  The singers are Nina Vannucci, Kelly Collins, Bronson Byerley, and Kevin Moroney.

Video: Matthew Culloton and The Singers.  “Come By Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Kyle Pederson music on 28 September 2020.  Chris White, videography.

Video: Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo, New York.  “Come By Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Trinity Church Buffalo on 2 October 2020.  Paul Cena, choir director; Bobby Militello, saxophone.

Video: Paradise Hills Methodist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  “Come by Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Paradise Hills UMC Music Ministry on 1 November 2020.  Becky Talbott, choir director and video production; Dale Talbott, audio engineering.

Video: Mayflower United Church of Christ, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  “Come By Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Mayflower MPLS Worship on 9 March 2021.

End Notes
1.  Stephen Winick.  “Kumbaya: History of an Old Song.”  Folklife Center website, 6 February 2018.

2.  Kyle Pederson.  “About the Arrangement.”  First page of arrangement.

3.  “Holy, Holy, Holy!  Lord God Almigty.”  399–389 in Psalter Hymnal Handbook, edited by Emily R, Brink and Bert Polman.  Grand Rapids, Michigan: CRC Publications, 1998.  389.

4.  “Motet.”  183 in The Harvard Brief Dictionary of Music, edited by Willi Apel and Ralph T. Daniel.  New York: Washington Square Press, 1961.  The Medieval Motel was polytextual.

5.  MorningStar released a video with a profession group of singers and showed the score.  It was intended as an advertisement, but could be used as a guide recording by a virtual choir.  Guide recordings are mentioned in the post for 20 June 2021.

6.  Wikipedia.  “COVID-19 Pandemic in Florida.”

7.  Janelle Irwin Taylor.  “Does Ron DeSantis’ stay-at-home order allow megachurches to continue meeting?  Looks like it.” Florida Politics website, 1 April 2020.

8.  Wikipedia.  “COVID-19 Pandemic in New York (State).”

9.  The video provides no credits.  However, the church “is known for jazz presentations at the church, with Bobby Militello performing there monthly.” [49]

19.  Wikipedia.  “COVID-19 Pandemic in New Mexico.”  The governor is Michelle Lujan-Grisham.

20.  Anglos believe Hispanics used blue paint to ward off the evil eye, and adopted the color for exterior trim.  While beliefs in the evil eye and blue are widespread in the Mediterranean, Spanish-speaking settlers did not fear the evil eye so much as what was translated into English as “witches.”  Coral beads were more likely to be used to protect infants. [50]

21.  Wikipedia.  “Murder of George Floyd.”  This has photographs of scenes in the video.
22.  Wikipedia.  “George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul.”

23.  It was a Cup Foods store employee who called the police.  The mural was painted by Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, and Greta McLain, with help from Niko Alexander and Pablo Hernandez. [51]

24.  The list on Chicago Avenue was painted by Mari Hernandez. [52]
25.  Wikipedia.  “Trial of Derek Chauvin.”

26.  Sanjana Karanth.  “Ilhan Omar Says Derek Chauvin Trial Has ‘Unearthed So Much Trauma’ For Minneapolis.”  Huffington Post website, 4 April 2021.

27.  Wikipedia, Trial.
28.  Wikipedia.  “COVID-19 Pandemic in Minnesota.”  The governor is Tim Walz.

29.  “About Mr. Pederson.”  Patrick Henry Bands website for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, middle school.  He is Gary Pederson.

30.  “Ann Milliken Pederson.”  LinkedIn website.
31.  Wikipedia.  “Augustana University.”
32.  “Milliken, Doris L.”  Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Bozeman, Montana, 5 August 2020.
33.  “Kyle Pederson” Augustana University website.
34.  “Story.”  Kyle Pederson’s website.
35.  The Prince of Peace website lists Pederson as its worship arts specialist.
36.  Wikipedia.  “Burnsville, Minnesota.”
37.  “About Us.”  The Singers website.
38.  “Matthew Culloton.”  The Singers website.
39.  “Chris White.”  LinkedIn website.
40.  “Michael Bodnyk, Minister of Music.”  Saint Armands Key Lutheran Church website.

41.  Nat Kaemmerer.  “Undergrads Comprise Church’s Choir.”  Your Observer website, Sarasota, Florida, 8 September 2020.

42.  “About Paul Cena.”  Facebook website.

43.  Mark Scheer.  “Jazz Saxophonist Bobby Militello Talks Music Education, Connecting with a Crowd.  Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, New York, 26 August 2013.

44.  “Resume.”  Bobby Militello website.
45.  “History of Paradise Hills United Methodist Church.”  Its website.
46.  “Rio Rancho High School Concert Choir.”  New Mexico Philharmonic website.

47.  “Frank M Powell.”  Daniels Family Funeral Home website, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2 March 2018.

48.  “Worship Leaders.”  Mayflower Church website.  Saint Olaf’s choir is discussed in the post for 12 August 2018.

49.  Rick Falkowski.  “Holiday Choral and Music Programs.”  Buffalo Space website, 22 November 2019; last updated 30 November 2020.

50.  Lawler Barnes.  “Caryopteris.”  Nature Abhors a Garden website, 23 August 2009.

51.  Hakim Bishara.  “Artists Create a Mural Honoring George Floyd at the Site of His Murder.”  Hyperallergic website, 29 May 2020.

52.  Lianna Matt McLernon.  “This Minneapolis Street Is a Growing List of People Killed by Police.”  Minnesota Monthly, 8 June 2020.

Virtual Choirs - Kumbaya

Topic: Pandemic Versions
The Coronavirus variant that causes COVID-19 is transmitted through drops of water expelled from mouths of infected individuals.  Choral singing became suspect after disease outbreaks were traced to choir rehearsals in Amsterdam, Berlin, [1] and Skagit County, Washington, in March 2020. [2]  Germany and the Netherlands banned all group singing. [3]  The Trump administration overrode the Centers of Disease Control. [4]

Those churches that already were limiting access to their buildings paid heed, and turned to other sources for the music that accompanied their remote services.  An Episcopal church in Brookline, Massachusetts, posted a virtual choir version of “Come by Here” on 11 April 2020.

Such videos sound easy.  All participants need are smartphones to record their singing and computers with headphones to listen to a guide track while they are singing.  The difficult part comes after they email their videos to the church, and someone with technical skills has to put them together.  While many may have tried such experiments, [5] I found only six versions of “Kumbaya” or “Come by Here” posted to YouTube in the United States. [6]

The unmentioned prerequisites are the musical skills emphasized by Kristin Young and Katherine Hicks, in the post for 13 June 2021.  Individuals must be able to produce a particular sound when they see notes on a staff.  They also have to interpret duration signals in sheet music.  Unlike live performances, video editors have the discretion of muting those who do not meet these criteria while showing their faces.

Sheet music publishers have recognized that, while sight reading is the official media for learning music in this country, the reality is most people, who sing in groups, take their cues from the people around them.  For some time, publishers have been providing various sorts of audio tracks so people could learn their parts, hear the arrangement, or have a professional accompaniment.

For instance, the Santa Barbara Music website for Nicholas McKaig’s “Kumbaya” includes a version by the University of Southern California Chamber Singers that can be listened to or purchased for $2.00.

Lockdowns that followed the invasion of the virus spread a knowledge of communication software from savvy adolescents to their parents and grandparents.  Even so, the participants in virtual choirs are probably the younger members.  Of the 92 who appeared in adult videos, [7] about a fourth had gray hair.  In contrast, the median age of individuals who attended the ill-fated choir rehearsal in Skagit County was 69 years. [8]

Traditional church music is written in four parts, two male and two female.  However, in Skagit County, 84% of the people who attended the rehearsal were women. [9]  Choir directors deal with these imbalances in a number of ways.  The version used by Imgyu Kang with a Korean Presbyterian church was for female voices only.  Excluding that choir, the gender divisions in the virtual choirs was about 43% male and 57% female. [10]

The sources for the arrangements were typical of church choir music.  Three were purchased: the one by McKaig, and another by Kyle Pederson used by churches in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Marinda Studios provided the guide tape for an African-American church near Dayton, Ohio, while the Brookline church choir director created his own version.  Kang also may have composed his choir’s arrangement.

The arrangements varied in complexity.  African American children sang “Kumbaya” in unison at a slow tempo.  However, the soundtrack changed key part way through.  The seven members of New Seasons Ministry in Huber Heights, Ohio, appeared in four boxes.

The other arrangements tended to use a more complex type of unison: they featured long sections sung by one vocal group, rather than the chordal harmony of hymnals.  This made it easier for their voices to be synchronized by a technician.

Video choir members may perfect their parts by singing with a tape, but they do not get the corrections they would in a rehearsal.  A choir director no doubt would have chided the man in one group who trilled the “ba” in “Kumbaya.”

McKaig’s arrangement faced other problems.  He used human voices like drums in African music where each instrument repeats one pattern to produce complex rhythmic overlays. [11]  Men are used to subservient roles, but the sopranos simply could not stop themselves from turning their parts into melodies.  This was not just the case with the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.  The USC Chamber Singers created a descant effect, while the young women in the Desert Oasis Concert Choir in 2011 tried to dominate in a version, even after rehearsals.

McKaig violated other music conventions.  He began and ended with a tenor solo that used an elaborated melody that sounded like a cantor or Arabic music.  That part was as slow as many think hymns should be.  McKaig changed the tempo to an allegro of 160 beats per minute for the choral section.  The Santa Barbara website advised the arrangement would take 3:35 minutes to perform.  The Chamber Singers took less, 3:25.

The Desert Choral slowed the middle section so the entire performance took nearly a minute longer, 4:24 minutes.  The only reason their version did not drag is the conga drum added a strong pulse.

The New York group took 4:09 minutes and dispensed with the suggested conga drum.  Instead of polyrhythm, they sounded like they were singing a round or counterpoint.  Rehearsals would have helped, but overcoming aesthetic biases absorbed from parents and other elders is more difficult.  It has been 35 years since Paul Simon introduced South African vocal music on his Graceland album in 1986, [12] but only McKaig, born in 1988, was able to incorporate the idea of ostinato into a choral rendition of a sacred song.

Performers
Vocal Soloist: Johnny Scott sang the tenor part for Desert Oasis; Nathan Fletcher was the Presbyterian soloist

Vocal Group: SABT
Instrumental Accompaniment: none, but a piano part is available for rehearsals
Rhythm Accompaniment: conga drum in places

Credits  
Traditional Folk Song
Arr. Nicholas McKaig
© Copyright 2009 by Santa Barbara Music Publishing Inc.
Dedicated to Tom Cochran

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English

Pronunciation: “when ‘someone’ and ‘kumbaya’ occur of this rhythmic pattern (quarter note, eighth note) close immediately to the ‘m’”; drops terminal /g/

Verses: kumbaya, laughin’, cryin’, prayin’, singin’
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Basic Form: four-verse song, framed by “kumbaya”
Ending: repeat “oh, kumbaya” twice

Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 3/4, although some measures are 5/8, 4/4, or 6/8
Tempo: freely, quarter notes = 50 beats per minute for solos and 160 beats for the rest
Key Signature: two sharps
Basic Structure: ABA
Singing Style: generally one note to one syllable except for the solo
Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: all parts are equally important
Vocal-Rhythm Dynamics: ostinato
Ending: slower and softer

Notes on Performance
Desert Oasis Concert Choir
Occasion: concert
Location: stage with risers and shell enclosure for group
Microphones: four floor mikes in front of group, one in front of the conga player

Clothing: men wore black suits and ties; the women wore floor-length black sheaths with white gores on the sides

Notes on Movement
The Desert Choral was a culturally diverse high-school vocal group.  Some of women twisted their bodies from side to side, and some men stepped from side to side.  While most of the children stood, three swayed as they sang.  No one in the other virtual choirs moved, and few had animated features.  They were posing for their video cameras.

Notes on Performers
McKaig earned his music degree from the University of Southern California in 2011, two years after he published “Kumbaya.”  His mentor was Jo-Michael Schiebe, who created the demonstration tape for Santa Barbara Music. [13]  Perhaps singing bass and baritone [14] influenced his perceptions of choral texture.

About a third of the Desert Oasis High School students are white, a quarter are Hispanic, a quarter are Asian or Pacific Islander, and a sixth are Black or mixed-race. [15]  Michael Polutnik has been the choral director since it opened in Enterprise, Nevada, in 2008. [16]  He was raised in Great Falls, Montana, [17] and earned his bachelor’s degree in music education from Montana State University in 1994. [18]

The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church congregation was established in 1808, and its red-sandstone Gothic church has towered over the intersection with 55th Street since 1875. [19]  The choral director, Ryan Jackson, was raised in Bracebridge, Ontario. [20]  During his senior year at the University of Toronto he won the The Tecumseh Sherman Rogers prize that funded his study at Yale and Juilliard. [21]  When the Canadian school asked him about the impact of the pandemic, he said:

“It has been a very steep learning curve.  Of course, we can’t do communal music making which is so much of what my job is as Music Director.  In our particular case, the church has moved to online worship services that are pre-recorded.  Musically, we’ve been doing a couple of different things: virtual solos where I accompany a singer with side-by-side video; using archival concert and worship material; and virtual choir, which has been the most advanced thing we’ve done.  I’ve had to learn, very quickly, some fairly advanced editing skills for audio and video.  At first it was overwhelming, but now that I’ve been learning more about it, I’m enjoying discovering a new skill and a new way for us to make music together.” [22]

Availability
Sheet Music: Nicholas McKaig.  “Kumbaya.”  Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Music Publishing, 2009.

Video: The FAPC Virtual Choir.  “Kumbaya.”  Uploaded to YouTube by FAPCinNYC on 22 February 2021.  Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is in New York City.  “Directed and Edited by Ryan Jackson” with Nathan Fletcher as tenor soloist.

Video: Desert Oasis Concert Choir.  “Kumbaya.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Brad Pierson on 22 July 2011.  Johnny Scott, soloist; Michael Polutnik, high school choir director.

Virtual Choirs (in chronological order)
Video: Saint Paul’s Choir.  “Come by Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Andrew E. Clarkson on 11 April 2020.  The arrangement was by Clarkson and was inspired by the story of the Gullah origins.  The Episcopal church is in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Video: “Come by Here Virtual Choir.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Gather Austin Oak-Park Church on 21 May 2020.  The United Church of Christ congregation was founded in the Chicago area by Tim Wolfe.  He planned to use an arrangement by Walter Hawkins.

Video: Saehan W Ensemble Virtual Choir.  “kum ba yah.”  Uploaded to YouTube by sunmie yuh on 29 July 2020.  Directed by Imgyu Kang; edited by James Kang.  The Korean Presbyterian church probably is in Alpharetta, Georgia.  Kang used a grand piano and floor drum.

Video: “Come by Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Paradise Hills UMC Music Ministry on 1 November 2020.  Video production was done by the choir director, Becky Talbott; audio engineering by Dale Talbott.  The United Methodist Church is in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Video: Mayflower UCC.  “Come By Here.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Mayflower MPLS Worship on 9 March 2021.  The former Congregational Church is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Video: NSM Virtual Choir.  “Kumbaya My Lord.”  Uploaded to YouTube by nsm4925 on 3 April 2021.  New Seasons Ministry is a Baptist church [23] in Huber Heights, Ohio, founded by Kent O. Jackson. [24]  Music provided by Ray Turner’s Marinda Studios; [25] he probably did the editing.

End Notes
1.  Prateek Bahl, Charitha de Silva, Shovon Bhattacharjee, Haley Stone, Con Doolan, Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, and C. Raina MacIntyre.  “Droplets and Aerosols Generated by Singing and the Risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019 for Choirs.”  Clinical Infectious Diseases, 27 August 2020.

2.  Lea Hamner, Polly Dubbel, Ian Capron, Andy Ross, Amber Jordan, Jaxon Lee, Joanne Lynn, Amelia Ball, Simranjit Narwal, Sam Russell, Dale Patrick, and Howard Leibrand.  “High SARS-CoV-2 Attack Rate Following Exposure at a Choir Practice — Skagit County, Washington, March 2020.”  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 69:606–610:15 May 2020.  “Among 61 persons who attended a March 10 choir practice at which one person was known to be symptomatic, 53 cases were identified, including 33 confirmed and 20 probable cases [. . .]  Three of the 53 persons who became ill were hospitalized (5.7%), and two died (3.7%).”
 
3.  Bahl.

4.  Bill Chappell.  “CDC Quickly Changed Its Guidance On Limiting Choirs At Religious Services.”  National Public Radio website, 29 May 2020.

5.  Tim Wolfe posted a video explaining how to participate in a virtual choir, He did not post the choir itself.

6.  A Canadian church posted a version of Jay Althouse’s “Christmas Kum Ba Ya” to YouTube on 28 November 2020.  Manny Lefebre said “St. Peter’s Chorus virtual choir #3 in isolation because of the pandemic.”  The group was associated with Saint Peter’s College, Muenster. Saskatchewan.

7.  The children’s choir is not included in the total.
8.  Hamner.  607.
9.  Hamner.  607.
10.  The children’s choir is included in the total.

11.  The Santa Barbara Publishing website for the arrangement said “the heart of the piece features genuine South African rhythm.”

12.  Paul Simon.  Graceland.  Warner Brothers Records 1-25447.  Released 1 September 1986.  “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes” and “Homeless” featured Ladysmith Black Mambazo. [Discogs entry]

13.  “Nicholas McKaig.”  Santa Barbara Music Publishing website.

14.  Concert program for University of Southern California Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, 22 October 2010.

15.  “Desert Oasis High School.”  Great Schools website.
16.  Wikipedia. “Desert Oasis High School.”

17.  “Ernest and Annette Polutnik.” Great Falls Tribune, Great Falls, Montana, 12 September 2015.

18.  Santa Barbara Music, McKaig.
19.  “A Brief History.”  Fifth Avenue Church website
20.  “Ryan Jackson”  Organix Concerts website.
21.  “Graduating Awards at 15: Ryan Jackson.”  University of Toronto website.
22.  University of Toronto.
23.  “New Season Ministry.”  Join My Church website.

24.  Steven Matthews.  “Huber Heights Voters Not Impacted by Sale of Church.”  Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio, 28 August 2016.

25.  “Ray Turner.”  LinkedIn website.

Kumbaya - Pandemic Music Education

Topic: Pandemic Versions
When schools closed their buildings, parents were expected to take over the functions of teaching reading, arithmetic, and subject matter like history and science.  Fortunately, websites already existed where teachers could sell curriculum support materials.  Amazon had experimented with a marketplace in 2016, then reintroduced one in November 2019, [1] a month before the COVID-19 strain of Coronavirus appeared in China.

Music has been peripheral since schools began cutting programs for budgetary reasons in the 1960s.  Only 728 items come up on the Amazon site for the keyword “music.”  In comparison, there are over 6,000 results for “reading,” 4,000 for “math,” and 2,000 for “history.” [2]

Some have turned to YouTube as a better alternative for offering free music lessons.  Kristin Young began posting weekly lessons on 1 June 2020 on her church’s website.  She teaches a religious song each week, and introduces a few simple concepts.  For “Kumbaya,” she discussed breathing from the diaphragm and showed the scale as a series of numbers, before singing four verses.

Technology has been the challenge for everyone doing remote learning, from figuring out how to use Zoom and other software, to determining what works in this medium.  Young is director of worship at Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church, and so had a portable, headset microphone available.

Katherine Hicks had more problems with her instrumental lessons.  She apparently had one microphone available, which picked up the louder, higher-pitched sounds of the flute and recorder.  Her voice was soft, and almost impossible to hear.

She also used “Kum Bay Yah!” to teach how to read music.  She showed the notes on both the staff and as a list of numbers.  Like the clarinet method books, she commented on the extra key used for the upper register. [3]  Her main concern was the duration of notes and so focused on the dotted-quarter, eighth, whole note combination at the ends of phrases.

Performers
Young: vocal soloist accompanied by grand piano.
Hicks: recorder soloist

Credits
Young said it came from the Gullah culture of the southeastern US slaves, and that “kumbaya” was Gullah for “come by here.”

Hicks described it as a “beautiful spiritual campfire song.”

Notes on Lyrics
Young
Language: English
Verses: kumbaya, crying, praying, singing
Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord
Basic Form: four-verse song
Influences: Tommy Leonetti verse order

Hicks
Language: English
Verses: kumbaya
Term for Deity: Lord

Notes on Music
Young
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one note to one syllable, including the final “Lord”

Vocal-Accompaniment Dynamics: right hand played the melody, left a note (not a chord) at the beginning of measures

Hicks
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: moderate
Key Signature: one sharp
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Ending: slowed the last line the last time

Notes on Performance
Both took on the personae of teachers.  The married Kristin Young introduced herself as Miss Kristin.  Katherine Hicks called herself Mrs. Hicks.

Young
Location: in the church in front of the altar platform; chairs had been moved to the perimeter
Microphones: headset

Clothing: dark top and mid-calf black-and-white print skirt; in other videos she wore a white choir robe or dress; her dark, shoulder-length hair was loose

Hicks
Location: in a room, probably in her home
Microphones: not visible

Clothing: a red tee-shirt with “Music Teacher” in white script; the back had her name in block letters.  Her blond air was pulled back and she wore glasses; she wore a simple ring on one finger.

Notes on Movement
Both moved as they talked, and both used props in addition to their musical instruments.  Young used a portable white board with staff lines inscribed on it.  Hicks displayed the sheet music and also used a plain white board.

Audience Perceptions
Eight people had viewed Young’s video the first time I saw it.  I do not know the size of her church’s congregation, but the day care center has less than sixty students. [4]

Eighty-nine people had seen Hicks’ video.

Notes on Performers
Saint Mark’s in Aurora, Illinois, is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. [5]  Young graduated from the Roman Catholic DePaul University with a “with a degree in piano performance and a minor in voice and conducting.”  She has been the music director at Saint Mark’s since 1996. [6]

Hicks has teacher certification in California, where she is a member of the University of California Riverside Orchestra. [7]

Availability
Video: Kristin Young.  “Kumbaya.”  Uploaded to YouTube by St. Mark’s Lutheran - Aurora, IL on 6 October 2020.

Video: Mrs. Hicks.  “Kum Ba Yah !”  Uploaded to YouTube by Mrs. Hicks on 16 May 2020.

End Notes
1.  Jeffrey R. Young.  “Amazon Starts Marketplace for Teachers to Sell Online Educational Resources.”  Ed Surge website, 13 November 2019.  He says the first resource was Teachers Pay Teachers in 2006.

2.  Amazon search in Digital Educational Resources section on 30 April 2021.
3.  The use of “Kumbaya” with clarinets is discussed in the post for 11 July 2018.
4.  “St. Mark’s Child Development Center.”  Private School Review website.
5.  “About Us.”  Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church website on Alignable.
6.  “Kristin Young.”  Saint Mark’s website, “Our Staff” tab.
7.  “Katherine Hicks.”  Lessons Face website.

Pandemic Piano Lessons

Topic: Pandemic Versions
A new Coronavirus appeared in China in December 2019, and the World Health Organization declared on emergency on 30 January 2020.  The respiratory disease it spawned took a little time to spread, but by 11 March 2020 WHO recognized its dispersal had reached pandemic status. [1]

The disease, COVID-19, did not begin to affect most Americans until state governors began declaring emergencies that closed schools and businesses.  California was the first to issue a stay-at-home order on 19 March 2020. [2]  Even where governments did not act, large companies began finding ways for their employees to work from home.

The enforced leisure time called the bluff of all those people who fantasize about what they will do when they retire or get so rich they do not have to work.  They now had the time to pursue their dreams of learning or relearning to play piano.

The videos uploaded to YouTube in the year from March 2020 to March 2021 feature both adults and children.  Most pianists are white, but a number look Asian.

The instruments vary in size: many are spinets, but a few are grand pianos.  If the individuals are using music, it is set in the groove for the music rack.  Jose Luistello rests a hand-held computer on his keyboard. [3]  Luis Zurita has an electric instrument with a laptop perched on top. [4]  He also uses an electric metronome.

Most versions are short, about the thirty seconds it takes to play the eight measures through once.  They usually begin with two notes that introduce phrases, followed by chords, two notes struck by the left hand, two by the right.  Every note is equally loud, in a style needed by individuals who accompany amateur vocal groups that need the beat reinforced.  This may be people’s most common piano experience.

Some of the versions learned by children have small variations.  CellPK’s daughter crosses her right hand over to play a single bass note in the pause between phrases. [5]  Joanna Cadence Egbert repeats the entire song one octave higher. [6]

Fewer individuals have arrangements that allow the right hand to play the melody, while the left hand plays chords.  Like band method books, [7] there is a great deal of similarity between publisher’s arrangements.  Once one editor decides what a song should teach, the others follow.

Learning to play an instrument is a lonely act: one simply plays something over and over until it sounds right.  Unless one has a particularly tolerant family, the feedback is as likely to be negative as positive.  Sounds right often means no criticism.

In normal times, a student can receive praise when he or she plays an assigned piece for a teacher.  Many instructors hold annual recitals that give novices the experience of performing.  These are the things that are lost when one cannot leave home, although one man says he offers Skype lessons. [8]

The absence of a teacher’s praise may be one reason people post videos of themselves playing something they have perfected.  They all have been seen a few times. [9]  Sean’s video is identified as his “piano learning diary.” [10]

Making music is one of the activities a utilitarian culture sniffs at unless it can be monetized. Diana Dilee Maher says she had just returned to the instrument, before hawking copies of her CD. [11]

This problem seems to have been especially acute for men who no longer are spending their days at offices.  The most complex arrangements are by men, who identify themselves as some kind of company, albeit an LLC or virtual persona.

Mark Looney’s 1:29-minute arrangement features a right-hand melody and left-hand arpeggios.  He repeats the song, by crossing his right arm over his left to play the melody on lower notes. [12]  Rick Robertson also uses the melody-arpeggio format, but his left hand plays a counter melody when he repeats the main passage.  His version lasts 2:29 minutes. [13]

Sam has the most elaborate arrangement; he is no apprentice.  He begins playing the melody on his electric instrument, and a counter melody with his left.  Then he turns on a rhythm maker, and begins playing jazz variations. [14]

End Notes
1.  Wikipedia.  “COVID-19 Pandemic.”

2.  Wikipedia.  “COVID-19 pandemic in California.”  Minh Nguyen uploaded a map showing the dates different governments imposed stay-at-home orders to Wikimedia Commons.  It can be seen at Wikipedia.  “COVID-19 Lockdowns.”

3.  “Kum-Ba-Yah!”  Uploaded to YouTube by Luis Zurita on 7 January 2021.
4.  “KUM-BA-YAH.”  Uploaded to YouTube by JOSELUISTELLO on 7 May 2020.

5.  “Kum Ba Yah.”  Uploaded to YouTube by CellPK on 12 March 2021.  For children’s versions, I am assuming the name of the person who did the upload was a parent using his or her own logon ID.

6.  Joanna Cadence Egbert.  “KUM-BA-YAH !”  Uploaded to YouTube by Joanna Cadence Egbert Official on 20 January 2021.

7.  For more on band method books, see the keyword “Pedagogy.”

8.  Sam’s Instrumental Series.  “Kum Ba Yah.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Soundofjoy on 7 February 2021.

9.  One uploaded to YouTube by Daniel Saldivia on 11 December 2020 was seen 1,650 times.  The next most popular were by Sam (432) and by Diana Dilee Maher (135).  More common statistics were around 30 views, with a few less than 10.

10.  Sean.  “Kum Ba Ya.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Dawn & Sean’s Channel on 18 February 2021.

11.  “Kum-ba-yah.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Diana Dilee Maher on 6 September 2020.
12.  “Kum Ba Yah.”  Uploaded to YouTube by Mark Looney Piano Music on 2 April 2020.

13.   “Kum Ba Yah,” arranged by Rick Robertson.  Uploaded to YouTube by Rick Robertson Music on 13 January 2021.

14.  Sam.