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I have had a wonderful Christmas season. I pray that all of you have also. During the week of December 16-23 I was privileged to be in the studio with my daughter and grandson, (Susan and Mark Farah). We spent everyday involved in some way working on a new album for Susan and Mark. They are both writers, musicians and singers. If I must say so myself, I think they are both very talented and enjoy all that they do. I had a wonderful time being with them in the creation of their new album with 11 new songs that they have written. Susan wrote the song that I will be featured on, on the Prophets new CD. The name of that song is: “How I Want You to Know My Lord”. It is a powerful song, which is my testimony song because it says what I feel. I have spent a major portion of my adult life in the ministry of preaching and singing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and trying to let the world around me know how wonderful my Savior is. I have sung and preached in large churches and small ones for over 30 years , never asking any pastor for a flat rate. I always took what the Lord provided for me in His ministry and have been very happy with it. It is very interesting to me how the Lord will take care of those whose sole goal is to have a “Soul Goal” and let people know about Jesus, his love and saving grace for mankind. I would like to encourage all of you who are singing for the Lord, to set your goals in 2008 to minister for the Lord in every way that you possibly can. I can tell you that if you truly want to do that, that He will provide for you in miraculous ways that you cannot possibly anticipate. He has for me and my family for over 30 years in the Ministry. Prior to being in the ministry, I worked as a tenor singer for the great Stamps Quartet. I have truly been blessed to have been able to share Jesus in many different places and many different ways. I believe that the Lord will use everyone who truly sets ministry as their goal. That is why I have adopted this song for my theme “How I want You to Know My Lord”

In setting goals for 2008, I want to apply myself to being able to do the best that I possibly can with the talent that God has entrusted me with. In order to do that I believe that I should do what the Bible tells me to do. That is “Study to show myself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed..........” That’s why I am constantly trying to learn more about how to sing better and speak better about my Lord Jesus Christ. With that in mind, I want to discuss in a little more detail the topic of Tone Placement. I believe that it is imperative that we make our singing as pleasing and excellent as we possibly can, in order to minister to others the message of Jesus Christ. Some people say things about singing in Church like, “well it’s not as important that I do it great in the church, because God knows my heart, and I’m trying” all the time they have never tried to learn how to improve what they are doing with their voices, because “ it is good enough for Church.” I believe that if you are doing your best that God understands, that if you don’t sing as great as some professional does, you are still going to minister to someone. However, I also believe that God expects us to continually work on the gift that He has given us. Let’s face it, Jesus gave all that he was so you could be saved.. Therefore, it is the least you can do to work at improving your ability to use the talent that He gave you, in order to win souls for His Kingdom. If you get up and sound horrible when you are singing, then you are not bringing honor to God.. Therefore, I want to encourage you to work diligently on placing your tones in a way that makes “your voice” pleasant to listen to. How do you do that?

First of all sing your song on a tape at home and listen back to it. Ask yourself if it would minister to you, if someone else was singing the way you are. If you can truly say, with a clear conscience, that it would minister to you, then you are headed in the right direction. Whether you can or not, you still need to keep working on steadily improving your tone placement. If the notes that you are singing sound too shrill,then you need to open your mouth a little more to give the tone a placement that will mellow it some. If the notes you are singing sound all “muddy”, with no clarity, then you need to close your mouth just enough to move the tone up in your mask some. If you sing Tenor, your notes should be amplified and colored by the resonators in your oral cavity and your nasal cavities. Your quality can be gauged when you listen to the tape you have made of your singing. Too much nasal, will make your tones sound thin and displeasing. Often I hear the comment about a tenor singer that He sings too thin and shrill. If you are in that group, then try opening your mouth more and shaping your lips more like an O. This will round out your sound and mellow it a bit as well as make it not sound so THIN. If you sing Lead you will need to even watch this placement more. You will need more resonation in your oral cavity, with just enough in your nasal cavities to clarify your words. If you sing Baritone you will need to drop your placement , at times, down into the chest a little more. But when you do this be sure to keep the major part of your placement in your oral cavity with just enough in the nasal cavity to clarify your words. Bass singers seem to me to need to use the chest and the oral cavities for most of their resonation placements with just enough of the nasal cavity to clarify their words. I have heard Bass singers who place most of what they do in the nasal cavity and they blend well, but their voices have a lack of a real solid bass sound. I liked J.D. SUMNER. He knew how to place the low, low stuff down in his chest and still give it the resonance through the mask for clarity. He always sounded great. J.D. was seemingly one of a kind. Most bass singers that I have sung with, outside of J.D. have used a little more mask placement to come out with a clean sound. I sang with a bass singer named Cecil Stringer, who now works in Branson all the time, that sang great also. I am now singing with Mike Allen, who I think is also a great bass singer. Each of these have a little different placement in their voices, but each of them produce great sounds. The key to all of this is to place the tones in the place that takes advantage of your distinct sounds. Not everybody’s resonators are exactly the same, therefore each singer has a distinct voice. The important thing is to maximize the potential of your distinct physical characteristics (i.e. resonators) to make the most pleasing and inspiring sound that you possibly can. Not only does this go for Bass singers but for the other three parts also.

That’s all for this month, more next month. I pray that you will have a very happy and prosperous,(in your soul, as well as finances) 2008. Keep working for God, Jesus is coming soon.

Remember that “The Lord is on you side” Psalm 118:6

In His Service,
Bill Baize

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