hey everyone,i play the flute, and im looking for traditional hymns to play at my church with a drum and guitar and vocals.
i already have be thou my vision which is really pretty.
i think that they should be on the Air side, if possible. or if anyone knows of any books with hymns of that sort in them.
thank you very much!
-Rachel
PS it really helps if their are words as they will be sung.
-Rachel
Heya Rachel, that sorta thing ain’t really in thesession.org’s mandate - why don’t you try here: http://www.breadsite.org/hymns.htm
The breadsite’s got a whole buncha hymny thyngs; you should be sorted.
But you will need NoteWorthy, the site says, which can be downloaded here: http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/composer/download.htm (I think all you need’s the viewer down at the bottom).
Good luck
You might find some useful comments in this past discussion, too:
https://thesession.org/discussions/2026/comments
There are zillions of hymnals and nearly all of them try to cover a congregation’s every need and therefore include a variety (or what the editors *think* is a variety 😉 of styles. So, if you are after specific “flavours” such as “air-y”, unfortunately, you usually have to do a bit of digging through several collections. It’s also a bit hard to recommend books without knowing what denomination you’re playing for.
Traditional hymns with unusual/atypical resources is something I’ve done a bit of so e-mail me if you like and I’ll see whether I can provide specific suggestions from what we’ve done in the past, as well as a few CD details that are off-topic for this site.
If you are looking for hymns with an Celtic “lineage” or feel to them (presumably that’s why you posted on this site) try “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” (Alternate title: “St. Columba”). It’s a great tune, especially with flute and guitar.
Also try this link for hymns galore:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org
Or visit my former flute teacher’s website at
http://www.timothyseaman.com and look for his packet of folk hymns. They are not strictly Irish though; however, you can put a Irish flavor on them by using whistle, pipes, fiddle, guitar, etc. Since they are folk hymns, they lend themselves very easily to this.
If you’re looking for something on the Christmas side try “Don Oiche Ud I Mbeithil” (“On this night in Bethlehem” I think). Matt Molloy and the Chieftains have a beautiful version of it on their album “The Bells of Dublin”
If you are really creative, try making up your own hymns by writing lyrics to fit any air you know. My dad put some Bible verses to “Sheebeg, Sheemor” and it sounded great.
Hope this helps,
Jonathan
http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/watersons/songs/thegoodoldway.html
Above is a great Hymn.
TTFN
PP
You could try the Songs of Fellowship books, of which there are three containing around 1700 songs. Some are traditional but there are some very nice recent songs which are definitely worth a go.
Sean O Riada composed a traditional mass back in the late sixties. There were some great pieces in it but probably the most memorable was “Ag Chriost an Siol”.
You can get 30 seconds of “Ag Chriost an Siol” at http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?j=1&id=130494&type=product&ref=03&loc=01
I know of a couple of CDs that have Irish/Celtic type hymns. They are not all authentic ITM, but some are in that sort of flavor. All have lyric sheets. Tunes are often in traditional hymnbooks, on the internet or are easily picked up by ear.
1. “Starkindler” by Michael Card (Book with tunes available)
2. “In Christ Alone” by Margaret Becker, Maire Brennan & Joanne Hogg (CD is a part of the “Worship Together” series).
3 & 4. “Deep Still” & “Deep Still 2” by all sorts of folks. Some hymns are really Irish; many are ‘coverted’ hymns.
5. There are a number of “Celtic Hymn” CDs out there. There are always a bunch of these at our local Christian bookstore.
The Complete Mission Praise includes “I heard the voice of Jesus say (Come unto me and rest)” to the tune “The Star of the County Down” (which, incomprehensibly, it calls a “Traditional English” tune). “In Christ Alone” is a very Irish/Scots tune which, to my mind, just begs for pipes - but flute would do!. We did the metrical version of Psalm 23 “The Lord’s my shepherd…” to “The Rowan Tree” with some success a few weeks ago. The “original” tune for that, “Crimond” is itself suitable for a traditional music treatment. “When I survey the wondrous cross” is often sung to the tune “O Waly Waly” (sometimes known as “The Water is Wide”).