The Choir Room Podcast
This podcast exists to promote and encourage two long-time traditions in our society that seem to be dwindling…The Choir and Corporate Singing. We hope to revive the excitement and joy experienced with singing in a choir, as well as inform and educate the listener on all things singing, and all things choir related.
A weekly podcast featuring discussion and interviews with choir directors, choir members, and other guests representing church choirs, college and university choirs, community choirs, show and theatre choirs, composer of choir music, and other.
Segments include tips and instruction from skilled and professional disciplines within the choir community covering topics such as choir culture and community, choir directing, vocal training, ear training, sight reading, and more. A monthly virtual live audience episode allows the listener to engage with hosts and guests during instructional and Q&A segments via the live recording, chat, email, on various social media platforms.
A production of Metromusic & Arts, Inc.
- www.metromusic-arts.com
- thechoirroom@metromusic-arts.com
- mail@mmertomusic-arts.cm
The Choir Room Podcast
Dove Award Winning Recording Artist LaRue Howard: A Personal Music Journey, Worship Leading, Vocal Health, and Promoting Growth in Choir and Music Ministry
Join us on a musical journey with the Dove Aware Winning Recording Artist, the inspiring LaRue Howard, a woman whose heart beats to the rhythm of worship. She shares her melodious story, from humble beginnings singing hearing Charlie Pride songs on her uncle's porch, to her thriving ministry in music. In addition to this, LaRue graces us with invaluable insights on vocal health, the importance of staying hydrated, and introduces us to her vocal athlete spray made of pure essential oils.
LaRue's infectious passion for music, her unwavering dedication to spiritual and vocal health, along with her deep understanding of the unique challenges in music ministry will strike a chord with anyone who holds a deep affinity for singing, choir, and worship.
Mietta brings has our CRQ and leads us in a conversation that reveals the crucial role of community and local solutions in growing a music ministry. We traverse the potential of hosting music workshops within your own group, tapping into local resources, and then reaching out to the wider community to tackle obstacles. We don't just scratch the surface; we dive deep into the balance between impressing and impacting when it comes to growth, and how seeking opinions and asking the right questions can pave the way for success.
Dorian also takes a moment to reflect on the timeless hymn, 'Grace Greater Than Our Sin,' its powerful message, and how it encapsulates the essence of grace. Then, Coleman puts in the capstone of this episode with a very thought-provoking thought for the week..."Faithfulness".
If you have a love for singing, whether in a choir or as a solo performer, this episode promises to not only entertain but also furnish and inspire you. Don't let this chance to soak in LaRue's wisdom, zeal, and practical advice for promoting choir and music ministry growth, slip away.
https://www.larueministries.com/
https://www.instagram.com/laruelive/
https://www.youtube.com/@LaRueOnline
https://www.facebook.com/laruelive
https://www.tiktok.com/@ladypraiza
Perpetuating and Promoting the Christian and Positive Idea Through the Medium of Music and Other Arts.
Welcome to the choir room, season 1, episode 25 of the Choir Room podcast. Welcome to the choir room. I'm Greg Thomas, your host, and I'll soon be joined by my co-hosts, Dorian Johnson.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 1:Be it a Stansel for RR and who we like to call the fourth wheel, coleman Smart. This podcast has a production of Metro Music and Arts, whose purpose is to perpetuate and promote the Christian and positive idea through the medium of music and other arts. This podcast exists to promote and encourage two long-time traditions in our society that seem to be dwindling away, and that is choir and corporate singing. We hope to revive the excitement and joy experienced with singing in a choir, as well as inform and educate the listener on all things singing and all things choir. We encourage you to subscribe to the podcast by sending the word subscribe to the Choir Room at MetroMusicDashArtscom, or you can subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts and then do us a favor while you're there Leave us a five-star review, leave us your comments and share with a friend that you're in the Choir Room. Welcome to the Choir Room.
Speaker 1:Our guest contributor today has the mandate of reaching the world through worship, and for nearly two decades she's been doing just that, having worked with choirs and groups, worship teams and solo artists. She is a wife, a mother, a worship pastor, vocal coach and did I mention? A dub? Award-winning recording artist with seven highly acclaimed recording projects. Stick around, because LaRue Howard is here with us in the Choir Room. We are now into the fall season and there's some things in the planning with Metro Music and Arts, and the Choir Room specifically, that we'd like to keep you informed about and have you participated Now? The first one is a monthly event that we've been working on for some time now that's going to afford you an opportunity to come together for singing, connection and fellowship. It's going to be a very special time and you can look forward to getting more information about participation if you are subscribed to this podcast. Secondly, be on the lookout for the upcoming Choir Room theme song contest.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the Choir Room.
Speaker 1:Now that's just part of it. You can hear the full version at the top of this podcast. Now, what started out as a regional call to just a few choirs to record the theme song, it has blossomed into somewhat of a national reach now that we're getting responses from people around the country and we're glad to report that we've got a couple of sponsors and donors who have made this somewhat of a contest, and so there will be prizes and gifts for the best recordings of the Choir Room theme song. If you want to stay in the know, you have to subscribe to the Choir Room at MetroMusicDashArtscom. And then, finally, if you like to sing and you like to learn and you like to have fun doing it, mark your calendars.
Speaker 1:From Monday, october 16th, at 7pm, right here in the Choir Room, vocal coach and YouTube sensation and a dear friend of mine, tara Simon, with Tara Simon Studios, will be joining us again right here in the Choir Room with live demonstration, live evaluation and vocal tips for all of our Choir Room listeners. That's what's coming up in the next few weeks. Now Dorian has our hymn of the week.
Speaker 4:Thanks, greg. This week's hymn of the week is Grace Greater Than Our Sin. But there is an alternate title to this hymn, which is Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord, and the term Marvelous means causing great wonder or something that's extraordinary. Romans 5, 20 to 21 says Now the law came in to increase the trespass. But where sin increase, grace abounded, all the more so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. God's answer to the problem of sin is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. But that shed blood applied to the wretched life, as we learned last week in studying amazing grace is because of the marvelous grace of our God. The first verse says Marvelous Grace of Our Loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt.
Speaker 4:When you consider your own sin, you consider your own guilt, both your past sin, but also your present sin. Think of if all of them were piled up, say, think of how high that that piling would be. Think of how high the piling of your guilt over your sin would be. And now take all of the sin and all of the guilt of all of the people of God and think of how high that pile would be, and yet the grace of God is far higher. Think of the depths that your sin has taken you to, think of the depths that your guilt has taken you to. And yet the grace of God reaches far deeper than even our deepest sins have taken us and our deepest guilt has taken us. And we're told that this grace is shown by the outpoured blood of the Lamb on Calvary. We're reminded of John 1.29, where John the Baptist proclaimed as he saw Christ behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Speaker 4:Verse 2 says Sin and despair like the sea. Waves, cold threaten the soul with infinite loss. Sin infects everything that we do. There's a saying, and I don't know who to attribute it to, but they said to try to remove sin from our doings is to try to remove salt from the sea. Sin infects everything. And yet we're told that there is grace that is greater, grace untold that points to the refuge, the mighty cross of Christ.
Speaker 4:And then the third verse says Dark is the stain that we cannot hide. What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide wider than snow. You may be today, and this reminds us of God's promise of judgment against his own people that we find in Isaiah chapter one. But at the end of Isaiah chapter one we read in verse 18, where he says Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. And God is able to do that because of the precious blood of Christ shed on Calvary. Second Corinthians eight nine reminds us of this. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. This hymn is very simple. It simply says Grace, grace, god's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse with him. Grace grace, god's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.
Speaker 1:So great. Thanks, dorian. Welcome to the quiet room. Here's Mi'edda with our CRQ.
Speaker 2:Thanks, greg. So tonight our CRQ is this what conferences or and or workshops can you recommend for small church departments, for small church music departments inside, to attend an effort to grow their music ministry teams? What conferences and or workshops can you recommend for small church music departments to attend in an effort to grow their music ministry teams? That's interesting. I think that is a great question.
Speaker 2:My input is very brief and I would say this to the person who sent this no name start local in your local community, your local church communities, because there you'll be surprised the types of helps you can gain from situations like that. It doesn't necessarily have to be the music, the big music conferences or the big music workshops. There are some we know. There's the GMWA, that's a music workshop. There's the NCGCC, which is also the Thomas Dorsey workshop. Those are the bigger names and and perhaps some of my colleagues here may have some other suggestions as well but I would say to start local and find out what the needs are in your church and then reach out. Don't be afraid to ask for help from those local assemblies.
Speaker 2:We used to do workshops in my community when I lived in Jersey. We would have local workshops because there were a lot of our local churches who were pretty much going through the same challenges. That, and you'd be surprised, we are more alike than we are different and we all had those same challenges of concerns in our music departments trying to get people, gather people together, get singers together, get musicians together. We all had that problem People showing up, not showing up, the inconsistencies of things. We all experienced all of that.
Speaker 2:So I would say, reach out to your local churches, start there, and you could create a music workshop right there in your own church, right there in your own music department. You know, call the singers, whatever singers you have or whatever music musicians you have, call them in. Let's take a Saturday and, for a couple of hours, come together and let's talk about, pray about and discuss what we would like to see in our music ministry on all levels, be it choir, be it praise team, whatever liturgical dance, whatever it is. You know, just meet with who you have and you'll find that you probably get more out of that than you would out of the major, the big name workshops or conferences. So, gentlemen, let's say you Me.
Speaker 5:you stole my thunder because I was going to say almost the exact same thing. A lot of times, when people go to these really big conferences, they leave thinking, well, what does that mean for me in my context? And so I was going to say, yeah, look at churches and conferences and stuff that are like your church, that are like what you're trying to do, and I was going to say something more local or local churches. And yeah, something else that I've thought is helpful. You just described a workshop at your own church with your own musicians and singers. That is great advice, and sometimes I've seen something that helps is bringing in a couple outside voices to do that with you, so that it's not just you. Sometimes those fresh voices are really helpful. So, yeah, there's a lot of great consultants or people that travel and do that for a living or they do it on the side. So, yeah, I agree completely, mieta.
Speaker 2:Dory.
Speaker 4:This is a tough one for me.
Speaker 1:Uh-oh.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 4:Well, no, I mean I just from the church context that I'm in. I mean there are, I mean I think, of conferences such as the Sing Conference that's sponsored by the Getties and others from that type of genre as a possibility. But I guess the question behind the question is what are they looking to do? What's the purpose of seeking out something outside of your own church that you think is missing in your own church? And so that's kind of, for me, the question behind the question what are they looking for? Because, as I'll steal this from Coleman, it's your context, it's the context of your church and what's the spiritual health of your church? And a whole host of things that might lead you to looking for answers within your own church and within your own body and considering what do we need to do to cultivate our music department?
Speaker 4:Maybe there are changes that need to be made in terms of leadership and expectations and things like that, and so I think sometimes we are tempted to look outside of our churches and outside of our bodies for the answers. But ultimately, what's the question that you're looking to answer? And so that would be my response to this question what is it that you're looking for? Because that's then going to, I think, lead you in some directions that you may not have even considered, and it may not lead you to a conference that is outside of your church. It might lead you to some real soul searching in your church. That might lead to some major changes or some minor changes, but ultimately, if your desire is to glorify God, he'll direct you and He'll lead that music ministry, no matter how big or how small it is.
Speaker 2:Right, excellent Thank you Great.
Speaker 1:Well, thanks for stealing my thunder, dorian. I was going to say literally the exact same thing. I think Dorian hit it. That is the question what is it that you're trying to accomplish?
Speaker 1:I think in music ministry, you have to be very careful not to compare what God is doing on the inside of your house to what is being presented on the outside of others. We can easily get caught up into thinking and feeling that what we're doing is not sufficient, and so we can slip into thinking that our ministry should be bigger or we should have better singers or more proficient musicians, and I'm a firm believer that God wants you to prosper and blossom where you are, so it may not be meant for you to have 300 people, or 85 or 35. Whatever that number is, you have to know that you're doing a great work Now in terms of workshops and conferences. I applaud the person sending the question, because we should always be learning and understanding the fact that all that we know is not all that there is to know. So we're constantly learning, and I think to be willing to grow in the music ministry is significant.
Speaker 1:And so to Dorian's point I think you need to identify why you feel you need to grow and in what areas you feel you need to grow, like me, at a state that you can start within your own team and at least have the discussion so that you all agree what that need for growth is. You've identified it, you've acknowledged it and now you can come together. You'd be surprised at how much information is right amongst your team. So sharpen the tools that are in your toolbox. Grow the team from within the team. Blossom where you plant it and then grow out from there. And because we should always be learning, then you go to the community. And if you can't get it in the community, you need more information and again, always growing. Then you can look at going to a conference or a workshop. Just be sure that the motivation for wanting to grow is not based on another ministry's size or sound.
Speaker 2:I like that. Yeah, I guess it's the impact versus impress type.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Exactly. You're not going to be impactful or you just want to impress? The next bunch of people and so you have to, kind of, you got to weigh that out, you got to pray that, got to pray through that and make sure that you're not just doing it because you saw it somewhere else. So yeah, you're all absolutely right. Assess these needs before we start to get out there and harm ourselves.
Speaker 5:That's what I'm saying Harm ourselves.
Speaker 1:I think once that person has identified their growth needs, we can later make a recommendation based on the conferences and workshops that we're familiar with. Maybe I'll just list the ones that we mentioned in the show notes. I have followed her music ministry for about a year now and, after looking at the circumstances on how we ended up connecting and then speaking with her briefly offline, I feel like we've already known each other, having so much in common. Welcome to the choir room. Larue Howard Ministries. Larue, thanks for your yes, thanks for agreeing to join us.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. It's an honor to finally meet you as well and to be a part of your your podcast. I'm excited to chat with you and your listeners today.
Speaker 1:We have a mutual friend. A big shout out to our dear sister, cynthia Gonzalez. What's up, cindy, we love you and Cindy didn't know. Well, we didn't know that she was working with you and you didn't know that we knew her Right, and vice versa. I think it was just God ordained the way the connection happened, absolutely.
Speaker 3:So here we are, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Talking about all things choir, all things singing, all things ministry and anything else that's on your heart.
Speaker 3:I tell you, all of those things are definitely a part of my heart. So, ministry, singing choir, all of that is great.
Speaker 1:Awesome, wonderful. So let's go back to the early LaRue, where it all started, where it all began when you started singing. Do you come from a family of singers? Oh, didn't start at the church.
Speaker 3:Okay, so you do want that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3:Anytime people ask those questions, I always think about what was it? George Jefferson? He would always say I was the son of a sharecropper.
Speaker 5:Like. Do you want?
Speaker 3:that story or do you? Okay, but no, I was raised in South Carolina and did not come from a family of singers. But my grandfather was a Baptist preacher and I was told that he was a great singer. But my love for singing probably came more so from spending time with a paternal uncle who would come and hang out with me and we would sit on the front porch at my house and we would sing Charlie Pride songs. You know Charlie Pride.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I know his music. I didn't know him personally. No, no, no.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but yeah, you know, he was African American country singer and I don't know, my uncle played guitar not really played, but he just you know he would come and strum his guitar with me and we would sing, and that was that was kind of where it all started.
Speaker 3:And then, my mom being in a Baptist church, we had a, we were part of a Baptist community choir and I was probably the only little five, six, seven year old singing with all the mothers and the deacons in the choir, and so that's kind of that's where it all started.
Speaker 1:Charlie Pride. Okay, you know, I always thought that there was some kind of connection between country music and gospel.
Speaker 3:Who would have known? Who would have known it? I think it was Charlie Pride, exactly.
Speaker 1:You know I grew up in a Baptist church, but I also remember growing up and watching the show he Ha.
Speaker 3:Okay, you really dated yourself. Now now, now we're we see where we are now.
Speaker 1:You say he Ha? Wow, Exactly Cause I was fascinated with the banjos.
Speaker 3:It's like 100%, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And so we got to see brilliant musical genius, I think on television then that Let me throw another one out there too. Lawrence Welk. There you go. Yeah, we talk about musical genius, and the list goes on and on, and on.
Speaker 3:We need to stop talking about that.
Speaker 1:Well, we were definitely dating ourselves, but it was those experiences and that exposure that was part of the spark for the musical journey that really has landed you where you are today, and so church choir was a part of that. Exposure to country music was part of that. So then something came after that from church to what? To school?
Speaker 3:Yes, Absolutely I. My mom, kept me in private dance lessons and piano and then going to middle school, she's gave let me take some voice lessons which you know. At that time's 12, 13 years old I was, I didn't know you know what I was doing, but you know nonetheless. She saw, saw a, some potential there and wanted to get me, get me started. But then when I was in high school, I joined the choir, joined the chorus and 10th grade here. So 10th, 11th, 12th grade I was in high school choir and band Same here. Not many students did that.
Speaker 3:You know, they had to choose one or the other, but I was fortunate enough to be able to do both. And then also my chorus teacher. There was another class that he made available for theory, advanced theory, and I was really interested in it and I was the only kid that was taking that class, so he would he put me in on a in the library, on a computer, and I learned advanced theory. And so you know, that was really where, where my love for just studying music came from. When I graduated from college and graduated high school in Columbia, South Carolina, I went to a university of South Carolina for one year, One year. One year because I enjoyed being in college. I enjoyed college life a lot, I understand.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so fun.
Speaker 3:I ended up on academic probation and I told my mom that I was college material and she told me you don't tell me, well, you think is college, that you don't think this college material. I will tell you if you are a college material. And so, long story short, with that she Brought me to Atlanta. We have lots of family which I'm actually visiting, my mom-in-law here, and so we have lots of family in Atlanta. And she took me to Morris Brown College and went to meet with the choir director there and she had a meeting with him and told him my daughter can sing. Can you give her some money to go to school, Can you sing? And I said yes, or I can.
Speaker 3:And it was so funny I think I said that because more so out of fear that if I said something else, more out of my mom right, being confident in that. But he said I said yes, and he gave me a scholarship. So I went to school, I'm Mars Brown, graduated with music degree, vocal emphasis, and yeah, that's that's kind of where it all began. That's why I had an encounter with the Lord and Just the whole trajectory, trajectory of my life, changed because I grew up in church but really in that setting had developed a relationship with the Lord and he gave me a vision for my life. What I believe is has been grounding for me just through so many challenges and so many transitions. That has Just been the foundation of where I'm able to stand today and talking with you.
Speaker 1:And we're glad about it. So you sang in the church choir, you sang in the school choir, you were in the band. Mom kept you involved in various types of classes. You ended up teaching in class as well, and we'll get back to that in a little bit. You're also a double award-winning recorded artist, and that's a big deal.
Speaker 1:Absolutely and so every experience has helped to lead you to the next experience. So, because this is the choir room, tell us about how your involvement in choir has helped to shape LaRue and has helped to steer you on this music journey.
Speaker 3:Oh, man, choir experience, oh, my heart, so okay. So my, like I said, I started out in high school. High school course, my director was Craig Dunsing at Richland Northeast High School and it's beautiful because I'm still in relationship with him today. We're Facebook friends, he follows me, he keeps track of everything that I'm doing and it's so beautiful To be able to have allow him the opportunity to see the progress Of the seeds that he planted in me so long ago. So when it went to high school and then when I was in college, like I said, I was there is a music major, but studied under Glenn Halsey, which some people may know him from a CD, a American Choral Directors Association. He brought us there to travel To do several performances several years, but he was just an incredible human and incredible musician and very passionate and was very. He was like no holds barred and just did not allow us to settle and didn't allow us to have any type of mediocrity with our, with our musicality and just as People. And it was just an amazing experience working with him and so that was like a concert choir at Morris Brown College. And then, after I graduated, moved to Florida. I I joined a church in Florida and joined the choir there and Clint Brown was my pastor and Martha Munizzi, which is anyone who's in music, praise and worship genre. They may know her name and also Clint Brown's name, but they really poured into me an understanding of praise and worship. So here I was, had this gospel you know, baptist gospel foundation, but then went traditional choir, concert, choir chorale and then into a praise and worship style. So I've had my hand in all of those different types of choir experiences.
Speaker 3:And and then also I forgot to mention, after I graduated from college, I was a music teacher for six years.
Speaker 3:I started teaching middle school music, so I had choirs, was a choir director in those two years and and had the opportunity to be named teacher of the year during that time, was able to Create a curriculum for fine arts magnet school in Florida and it was just a great, great Experience. But I knew that when my, when the grace started lifting, I was like, okay, god, we need this, we need this time to pivot, then do something. But it was, you know. So you know I have such a high regard for educators because I know what it takes To, you know, to keep your kids on task, but then you see students with with such great potential and maybe they're not wanting to walk in that same direction, but just you know. And then also the joy, like I said with my choir director, of being able to see those kids, some of them, who take the things that you deposited in them, the music, life you know, just life notes and just the things that they've Received, and go on and be Successful and productive adults. You know, it's, it's so rewarding.
Speaker 5:So but yeah, being being in choir.
Speaker 3:I would never change that experience.
Speaker 1:I concur with that sentiment. I mean, band and choir were the best formative years of my life and I can remember just about every Experience from that season and I wouldn't trade it for anything. So now you've gone from high school to college, to teaching, and now we need a shift. No doubt you've impacted many lives over the course of that that season in your life. What was the shift for? I mean, why did you feel that you needed God to Shift you?
Speaker 3:That's a great question, why, you know, I don't know. You know sometimes when you are, you know, just kind of just in a space of just trusting God, you just kind of go where he is leading. It's not always easy to do that, but I just really really felt strongly that I did not want to see. But it was so funny that same summer that was probably May, june, but that same summer Martha and her husband, danny were making the pivot as well from leading full-time at the church to doing full-time ministry, and so it was just really just the timing of the word. And when I Was praying about it, my pastor at the time he asked if just offered me the position, if I wanted to be the Worship pastor at our church, and before I could even think about it I was said yes, I do, yes, I do. I didn't know everything to that in comp, you know the that would entail, and but I knew that that was the thing that was next for me and that was 2001 that I was.
Speaker 3:I took that worship pastor position.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, yeah, so you just had the feeling in your feeler and you just knew it. Yeah. Yeah, that, that was really it, yeah, and and having served now under Clint Brown and with Martha Manese and, by the way, if any of our listeners don't know those names, then you totally don't know Christian music or gospel music. But suffice it to say you are now in a new position and probably still unpacking in your new location.
Speaker 3:Sorry, I'm just thinking about it.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to talk a little bit about the vocal coaching and now the new position. I mean, choir is all about singing and worship leading is all about singing. The new position and your vocal coaching, which you were doing already, those two things are inseparable. How did you balance the spiritual health and the vocal health of the teams of people that you have leadership over?
Speaker 3:You know that's a. That's a great question. It's the position that I'm in currently is a very unique one. The church that I'm serving at, willow creek community church in South Barrington, illinois, they have eight campuses and each campus has their own worship service and each campus has their own worship pastor. So I don't have direct connection with the praise teams and the choirs, but more so with with the worship pastors. But to answer your question, how do you, how do you keep that balance?
Speaker 3:I, I think, if I take it from the perspective of the position that I was serving in prior, when I was in Florida as the music director, um, excuse me, there came opportunities during rehearsals that I would do a lot of vocal coaching there. So you know, I stress to them the importance of vocal health. I stress to them the importance of you know warming up and not just Um jumping on the platform cold. You know and and taught them how to warm up and the importance of the exercises and how they related to different songs that we sung.
Speaker 3:Um, I talk about like placement and and style and how we sing certain songs. Like we wouldn't sing a Uh uh has a kind of walker song in the same placement that we would sing a brand and lake song. You know totally different genres but also totally different places or Tones of your vote, of your voice, just different dynamics and different aspects of the voice. So I brought that Um into our rehearsal spaces and then also, you know, talking about spiritual side, we would take time to practice the presence of god and we would take time, you know, we would build those, build that community of prayer and um understanding the songs that we were singing with Talk about the scriptures that are connected to these songs. So you know, there's.
Speaker 3:I heard a quote from a fellow worship leader, um Jeremiah Hicks, his dad. He said his dad would tell him that we are just as much, uh, spiritual beings as we are Natural beings. Right, we have the spiritual side and we also. We are spirit beings, but we are, we're living, in a body. And so, you know, I really believe that, as as singers, um who are serving in church, that it is important for us to Be mindful of that and to take as much time and care in our vocal health, our physical health, as we do our spiritual health. You know, we can't do one without the other. If we're sick, we can't carry the weight we can't, you know, sing, we can't minister, if we're not in our full before, not well able in our bodies. But then if we're well able in our bodies and we have spiritual deficits, you know what that's not serving as well. So you know, we have to be able to take care of both Aspects of who we are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, beautiful. How would you then tell that woman, that man who sings in the kitchen all the time? I Asked this question all the time because I know so many people who do it. They sing in the kitchen, they sing in the car, they sing in the bathroom, in the shower, but they won't sing out in public because they don't feel comfortable. You know, they've been. They need the community, they need the fellowship need. All of that comes with being a part of a choir. And they thought about it, they hesitated, but they always felt you know, I just I'm, I don't have enough foot, I don't have enough voice. How do you tell that person that they need to be singing?
Speaker 3:Oh, Wow, you know, when I was thinking about that like one of the questions of why do we sing?
Speaker 3:And and there are so many benefits to Singing period, which is why we sing throughout the day, you know, people calm throughout the day, it's, it's healthy for your, your emotional well-being, you know, it's good for your, for your mental health and it just, you know, being in a choir, I, I was talking to some friends the other day who we were in it and the choir together at Faith World, and I was a worship pastor.
Speaker 3:They were in the choir and it was, you know, 15 years ago and we still, and they still, have these relationships. So you talk about community, yeah, like when you're in a choir, you develop Relationships that are sometimes for a lifetime, you know. But then also, singing gives you the opportunity to express feelings and things that maybe you can't put words to. But You've you hear this song that said exactly what you're feeling and you're able to express that, whether it does a Christian gospel song or, you know, just a good feeling, happy song. You, you find these songs that bring meaning or express what it is that you're feeling and it gives you that opportunity to say Out of your mouth and out of your soul what you're feeling, and so singing is good for your soul.
Speaker 1:Soul and body. Yeah, you know, a few episodes ago we looked at a growing body of research that points to the physical and mental health benefits of singing with others, and it concluded that, you know, singing in a choir reduced stress hormones and increased what was called cytokines, which is a protein that boosts the body's ability to fight off serious illness. Now these are cancer patients and doctors and practitioners. The study also found that singing in a choir generally lessened anxiety, stimulated memory for those with dementia and increased lung capacity which of course is physical and we know that and that lessened postpartum depression and a host of other things. And so we know that singing is good for the mind, body and spirit. You know, I'm convinced that those formative years, those years in high school choir, we were benefiting in ways that we didn't even realize.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know that that's interesting that you say that about even just being inquiring just how how special it was, and you, you kind of talked about it too when you said it. You know, for for some people like being in choir, that's their getaway, and and I remember when, uh, our pastor made the decision to do away with choir- and this was.
Speaker 3:This was at the time when a lot of people were, they were, they were doing away with choirs and they were just having the praise team, and the impact that was felt From the people with it was just, it was devastating, you know, it was just like losing, losing family. And so, yeah, you're so right. So many people would come and it was their time of of solace. It was your time of of just getting escaping, you know, the cares of the world because they would just get to come together and just sing and so, yeah, it's so important, so, so vital.
Speaker 1:Let's shift a little bit more toward the coaching. Okay, you were a teacher, you are a teacher, yeah and uh, you're still teaching.
Speaker 3:you're teaching right now, so you're able to sing comfortably without strain or stress. When the exercise ascends, only go as high as you can without feeling any strain or stress in your throat area. The goal is to have your vocal cords warm, lengthened and flexible at the you had to give our listeners a really quick vocal tip.
Speaker 1:Oh, tip number one. Choir members have been singing all day, sunday. Oh, and it's monday morning. Now the season has changed, the leaves are falling. What does the coach tell her choir and her student?
Speaker 3:monday monday morning monday morning, after singing all day. Sunday Rest your voice. You need to rest your voice, you need to rest. You know vocal folds are very, very small, they're very tiny but they're super powerful and a lot of times people don't realize the importance of resting your voice in order for them to heal. You know you can't go from just uh, you can't go from just like singing all day, all day, and then Sing it to be okay If you continue to use it. But you've got to, you got to rest it. So that would be my, my number one vocal tip for monday morning.
Speaker 1:It's about all I was looking for sound effect. They go ding ding, ding, ding ding. Because, uh, I asked that question intentionally which is why I set it up with sunday Because a lot of singers today will continue to sing without rest in order to impress. So let's talk about tuesday then, okay. So how do you then vocally prep yourself for what? What you now have to do as a vocalist?
Speaker 3:So tuesday, after the, a day of just resting, um, you know, I would say that's when you can start doing some light exercises, so simple things like humming, simple things like um, you see, on my website I have a singing straw so you can use a singing straw to do, like, some straw phonation exercises and the benefit of that is really just to strengthen those muscles that you're going to use On that heavy vocal day. So you know, I liken it to to working out. You'll see vocal athlete all over my website. But you know you are um, if you're going to the gym or if you're, you know you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They tell you you're supposed to work out three to five days a week, right? So it's kind of the same thought process with your voice. You should do some type of vocal exercise every day that's intentional about strengthening those muscles, strengthening your vocal folds and the muscles that are connected to them every day. So, like I said, some type of um straw phonation or humming or lip trills in the morning when you're getting up, just to get those muscles working, leading you up to your sundae.
Speaker 3:The other thing is hydration a lot of science. People don't like to drink water and they will wait until sundae morning to grab a little eight ounce bottle of water, take two sips and they think you're good. Absolutely not. Vocal folds are surrounded by um, mucosal lining, which is mainly mucus, but it's that is uh, sustained by by water and um. So drinking water every day, you know, will allow you to be hydrated on sundae. I have a saying that says tomorrow's hydration starts today. Tomorrow's hydration starts today. So you can't wait until Sunday, you can't wait until Saturday night to say, oh, I've got to drink water because I'm going to sink tomorrow. No, drink your water all week long. So that way, when you get to Sunday, you're not struggling with being thirsty or dry at the road or dry mouth or any of those things. So definitely warming up, doing some type of vocal exercise every day and drinking your water every day.
Speaker 1:There you have it from the coach. If you're coming off of a strenuous singing day, you need a time of rest, and then you move to light vocal and breathing exercises and, of course, the entire time you need to be hydrated. All right. Now, finally, you have on your website the vocal athlete spray, something you know I'm very interested in for a number of reasons Because, to my surprise, it's made up of pure essential oils. Now, I am a skeptic by nature, and so this was a surprise to me, almost as surprising to me as it was when my wife first introduced me to these essential oils. Now, these are not the oils that you get from Walgreens or Walmart or CVS or your local corner store. Now, if I hadn't traveled and seen the fields, the distillery, the processing of these essential oils, that is so cool, that's so great.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't be talking about it today.
Speaker 1:Now, that's all the marketing I'm going to do for YM.
Speaker 3:Our circle is is tighter than we thought.
Speaker 1:Taller than we thought. Now I can vouch for the ingredients in the vocal athlete spray. Tell me about the spray itself.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man, the vocal athlete spray. It does have five, six different essential oils on them the cinnamon, clove, rosemary, eucalyptus, peppermint, I think, lemon. But, all of these oils are in there.
Speaker 3:They are oils that are microbial. They're antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral. There's also raw honey that's in there. That is great for soothing your throat, it's great for cutting down on coughs. And then there are a couple of other ingredients that just binds all of those things together, because we know oil and water don't generally mix. So there's glycerin and then there's also a green alcohol in there that just kind of helps everything to emulsify and get through the sprayer. But it is amazing on those days when you have excess phlegm in your throat Maybe you wake up in the morning and you just got some excess stuff and you don't want to cough.
Speaker 3:You know, a lot of times we'll clear our throat and that's so bad for our voices. So you know you're doing your warmups, you were drinking your water, you're trying to, you know, not to clear your throat. You got your spray that'll clear out some of that excess mucus. Maybe you've just finished a lot of singing or your voice is tired. You use that spray and it'll replenish and just nourish those muscles that are in your throat area and it is just a great opportunity that you have to use the spray. It just gives your throat some love. That's what I like to say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, I've already told our co-hosts, dory and Mieta and Coleman, that we're going to be picking up some and trying it ourselves, and then we're going to come back on the podcast and talk about it.
Speaker 3:Wonderful.
Speaker 1:Now, since we haven't tried it yet, I'm still going to offer my congratulations and kudos to you for all that you do.
Speaker 3:Thank you, thank you so much. And you're right, you know, a lot of people are like what oil? Like we're not supposed to. Are you? You know? Are we supposed to drink? You said we'll put essential oils in our bodies, and it is. You're right, it's it. These are oils that are 100% pure oil. There's nothing else in them. And what? What it says on the bottle is in the bottle. And the same with my, my vocal spray. What it says is in the bottle is what's in the bottle and that's it. There are no chemicals, no additives, nothing.
Speaker 1:So yeah, you know, and I think our listeners should know, that as a singer, you didn't have to create a product just for the sake of creating it, correct.
Speaker 1:You saw a need to fill yeah, and you created this product from products that you already had, right, and so you can vouch for the fact that it works. We're going to get it and we're going to talk about how it works for us. Now, I acknowledge that everybody's body is different, and so everybody's going to respond to it differently, absolutely so, dorian Mieta Coleman, get ready, because we're going to be sending you a bottle and once we've done that, larue, we've got to have you back. Wonderful, wonderful. All right, do me a favor before we leave, encourage that listener who's in the car or standing in the kitchen or at the water cooler at the office and they've lost their song, they've lost their fellowship, they've lost their community with their choir. Maybe the church got rid of the choir, maybe they felt that after the pandemic they just couldn't go back, maybe they hung up their harp. Would you encourage that listener today and tell them why they should be singing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so to encourage that person. You know, the scripture that comes to my mind is, you know, to make a joyful noise into the Lord. You know, and so many other scriptures that encourage us to praise. And you know, being a worship leader, worship pastor, that's that's kind of my foundation of it all. You know, god created us. He put breath in our body and when we have the opportunity to return that breath to him is a way to say thanks, thank you for creating me, thank you for my life. And so you know, I want to encourage you that whatever you're, wherever you are in your stages of life right now, don't stop singing, always sing, sing.
Speaker 3:Singing brings joy. We talked about it earlier. Singing is great for your soul. Singing is great for your mental health. Singing is good for your physical health. Singing gives you access to your creator when you put your heart in a place and a posture of gratitude and appreciation to him. It opens wide that communication with your creator. And so, wherever you are, don't stop singing. If you're in a bad, bad mood or you're having a tough day, find a song that will bring and lift up your spirit, that will bring and lift up your heart and your soul and find the strength to sing a song. It will change your day. It'll change your day. It'll change your day Wonderful.
Speaker 1:LaRue Howard, thanks for joining us. Thanks for your. Yes, it's been a wonderful time. Tell our listeners where they can find you.
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. I'm laRueLivecom. If you forget the LaRue ministries, you can always go to LaRue Live. It'll take you in the same place. Larue Live on Instagram, larue Live on TikTok, doing a little bit of that, but on my YouTube channel it's LaRue online, so it's L-A-R-U-E online, o-n-l-i-n-e, but everything else is LaRueLivecom.
Speaker 1:Thanks again. We'll be sure to put that information in the show notes. Coleman is going to take us out with the thought of the week.
Speaker 5:Thanks so much, greg. It's so great to be back in the choir room with you. So this is a really gutsy thing for me to try to preach or share, as someone who's just a few months into being the new worship pastor at a church. Right, well, perhaps it's a reminder even to myself, as I share it with you. But here we go. You are you, others are who they are. Your church is who your church is. Other churches, others churches are who they are they are.
Speaker 5:I'm not saying that you can't ever change or you can't make improvements. What I am saying is not every music department is the same. Not every church is the same. Not every music pastor is the same, nor do we all even have the same calling In a day, like those that we live in. It's so easy to play the comparison game. What we ever see is 30 second reels or tick tocks of people's highlights and best angles, and rarely do we want to advertise the things that our program struggles with. This isn't necessarily meant to be a thought about comparison, but comparison is the enemy of what I do want to talk about, and that's faithfulness, faithfulness Just think about that for a second.
Speaker 5:Faithfulness is what you and I are called to and you know what that looks very different depending on where we are and what we're doing and who we're surrounded by and what resources we might have. Let's face it the mega church in a suburb in the Bible Belt of the South is a different institution than a storefront church of primarily immigrants on the west coast. The cathedrals and basilicas of the northeast are different institutions from the small country churches tucked in the hills of the Appalachian Mountains. All of these are different from the various expressions of the faith outside of North America or, even more broadly, the west. And our greatest desire ought to be faithfulness to our Heavenly Father. Whether at the end of the day, that looks like leading the biggest and most highly resourced music program in the country or consistently showing up prepared with spiritual nourishment to offer to a struggling church that desperately needs your consistency. There is one thing that we desire to hear at the end of life's journey and that is well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker 5:It's easy to lose sight of that when all the time we're told on this side of eternity well done you, pastor a mega church. Or well done you have the best music program in your denomination. Or well done you got a record label or well done. You led worship in a room of thousands of people For a few people out there.
Speaker 5:Some of what I just said is what faithfulness looks like for them, and that is to be celebrated. But for most people it's not. It looks different, and guess what that's to be celebrated just as much. If every member of the body of Christ were an arm, we'd be in pretty tough shape. We all serve different purposes and those are equally valuable, and it's what and what we're all called to is faithfulness to our Father. So I hope this is encouragement to someone. I hope this is even freeing to someone. You don't have to feel bound to being like the church down the road. Your desire for improvement is good. Keep improving. Don't ever feel like you have to be something that you're not. All that is required of you is that which makes you faithful unto God.
Speaker 1:And remember, if ever we put the messenger before the message, we have failed to present an unblemished gospel. I'm Greg Thomas. Join us again next week right here in the Choir Room.
