A TRUE PSALMIST from Minster Nathaniel Bassey’s page After a telephone conversation with a pastor friend, and testimony about this man of God, I was convinced I had to write this. We live in a time when people, especially the younger generation are in dire need of mentors and role models. The music ministry is one sphere where this is quite critical. There’s been heated debates and articles about the music ministry lately, but this one is not for that. It’s very easy to celebrate glory, but shy away from the accompanying story. Today, this man’s songs are sung practically around the world. With testimonies following his music ministry. In fact many know his songs than they know him, and that’s because of his conservative and quiet approach to life. But you see, it’s not just his music that makes him who he is. It is his heart. I have known, Bro. Wale Adenuga, who also pastors a parish of the RCCG on the mainland side of Lagos for a few years now. He is not just an anointed psalmist, pastor, prolific writer with a creative mind. He is much more than that. He is one with an impeccable character. Consistent and committed through the years. When you meet him, you immediately meet his simplicity and genuineness. He is just real. Now these are values that are not so celebrated in our time, unfortunately. And particularly in our ministry. As many are carried away by charisma, talent, razzmatazz and swag. But I pray this would change soon. I spoke with a man this morning who was his pastor, and he shared a testimony that moved me so much to write this. As far back as 1995, pastor Wale had been serving as a praise worship leader in a church, and one he pastors presently. He served very faithfully. Now, this is important for those who just want to become stars overnight. Record a single, get a few radio air plays, get a manager and begin to charge huge sums. This man served. That’s why I’m afraid of people who have not served, or not been accountable at some point in their lives. Those who will not follow, have no right leading. They become dangerous folks. Anyway, there was this invitation he got in 1995 or so, and he didn’t want to go, because he wanted to be in church. The pastor then asked him to go, and he obeyed. Getting there, the guest speaker came up, called him out and said, obviously by the Spirit, “When you got this invitation, you did not want to come, but because you came, God said He will honour you.” I can imagine how freaked out he must have been hearing this. Years later we know and sing songs like TODAY O, LORD BECAUSE OF ME, YOU ALONE ARE WORTHY LORD, and many more, but may never know the stories and sacrifices behind these songs and life, because you don’t separate the songs from the life. We have both shared some experiences which we just laugh over. Sometimes, because of his values and principles, he has been poorly treated in some places. Based on his pedigree and calibre He could also ask huge sums and put up heavy ministry requirements before he shows up. But his heart of worship and love for The Lord constrains him. Instead, he sets up various platforms to inspire the younger generation of worshippers and musicians. Most times, at little or no cost. Some lessons to learn from this testimony: 1. Accountability – as gifted as he was ( and is), he was accountable to a pastor. We have many musicians today in church who want to go it solo. They are Lord over themselves. They call their shots, without recourse to any form of guardians or authority in their lives. Don’t get me wrong, there is negative control. There are some people out there who just want to control one’s life. But by and large, I encourage musicians and psalmists to have some form of mentors and leaders in their lives. And also a local church where they can serve and be of use. Imagine if he didn’t obey his pastor when he was asked to go? We may never have known of Wale Adenuga today. 2. Faithfulness and service – No need speaking so much on this. It is as simple as WHAT YOU SOW, YOU REAP. you want to be served, you serve. I was privileged to feature on his last live recording which should be out anytime soon. Deep and spiritual stuff. So why am I doing this? Simple. To celebrate God’s grace in this humble psalmist who has touched our lives over he years. And also celebrate what he stands for. Character, Integrity, Excellence, The Spirit and true worship. Many times people talk to me about role models and mentors in the music ministry. THIS IS ONE RIGHT HERE. I don’t know how he would do it, knowing his busy schedule, but this is one man the younger generation needs to follow. And he’s got to find a way of passing these values across to us. Normally as humans, we tend to celebrate people when they are gone. But hey! He is still here and going to be here for quite some time. Today is not his birthday or wedding anniversary, non that I know of. It’s one I have put aside to celebrate a True Psalmist, one that my generation can emulate and follow.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206435724431966&set=a.1254345998816.2039709.1234552946&type=1 Please celebrate a TRUE PSALMIST – PASTOR WALE ADENUGA. Please help share this as much as possible to encourage and inspire someone out there. Let’s spread good things, rather than spread scandals. This is good. God bless you
There is an authority that comes when we give God quality worship. John 4:24. God is spirit they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. .. He comes In contact with our problems, he gives instant solution to our long awaited request. In a worship time some days ago, this woman had cancer on her body and as we worship this cancer disappear. Thank you Jesus….
Take a deep breath now to say thank you Jesus. Halleluyah
[one_fourth]Can’t pay the bills? Worried about your lack of income, maxed out credit cards or extreme debt? The average American household is $15,191 in credit card debt, and that doesn’t include student loans or home mortgages. You can make some major money super quick, if you want to donate body parts or bank your sperm. But easier and less invasive ways exist too.
It all starts with this moment and how you feel and relate to money. Respecting money and appreciating it can help bring more to you.
Owing money can be frustrating, especially when you are worried about a steady income stream, but taking your attention off what’s not working and focusing on an action plan can bring in major moola. Here are 40 ways to become rich from the inside out — and become an irresistible money magnet.
1. Talk about what you have versus what you don’t have.
2. Volunteer with an organization you feel passionate about.
3. Donate $5 to a charitable cause.
4. Take a friend to coffee or tea.
5. Stop complaining.
6. Use credit cards with the best rewards and switch to low interest cards.
7. Create clear financial goals.
8. Leave a larger tip than normal.
9. Save 10 percent of everything you earn.
10. Clean out your closet and donate used clothing.
11. Give money to a homeless person without expectation.
12. Write a thank you note to an organization, or person you appreciate and respect.
13. Start planning for the vacation you keep dreaming about.
14. Hang around financially abundant folks.
15. Feel good to spend money. Don’t spend money to feel good.
16. Put all your energy into faith that more money is on its way to you.
17. Be grateful.
18. Collect change from around the house.
19. Sell stuff on Craigslist or eBay.
20. Create products to sell on Etsy or Café Press.
21. Switch phone providers.
22. Get rid of cable and use Netflix’s Hulu or other similar services.
23. Take advantage of rebates and coupons.
24. Ask for a raise.
25. Sell your old mobile phone and tech products.
26. Rent out a spare bedroom (airbnb.com or Craigslist).
27. Rent out your unused car (relayrides.com).
28. Freelance your talent and skills.
29. House, baby or pet sit.
30. Host a foreign exchange student.
31. Become a mystery shopper.
32. Get paid every time you spend by switching to a cash back credit card.
33. Join a focus group and get paid for your opinion.
34. Be an extra on a local TV or movie gig.
35. Stop worrying about debt. Consolidate loans and work on plan to pay them off.
36. Let go of attachment to the outcome of your actions.
37. Focus on feeling secure in this moment.
38. Learn and forgive your past money mistakes.
39. Visualize yourself with financial abundance.
40. Have faith more abundance is on its way.
A Dozen Voice Training
Exercises
And some other bits of advice
Your vocal cords are muscles, and like any muscles they
can become tired and damaged. The following exercises
have been devised and compiled by my friend and
singing teacher, Andrea, and typed up by me with
various enhancements and addition of theory.
The first two exercises are to loosen off the muscles in
the next, around the vocal cords.
1. Starting with your tongue on the RHS of your mouth,
make a figure of 8, so that your tongue goes across
your top teeth, to the middle, then crosses to the
bottom teeth, along to the LHS of your mouth, then, up,
and across the top. Keep your mouth closed for this.
2. Put the tip of your tongue behind your bottom set of
front teeth. Let your jaw drop and gently push out your
tongue. Repeat a few times.
The following exercises are mainly for exploring your
natural range , and should be tried at different pitches,
preferable gently undulating pitches:
3. Ga-ga! – Make baby noises up and down randomly
within your natural voice range . Try with all the vowel
sounds, e.g. ga-ga, ge-ge, gi-gi, go-go, goo-goo
4. Bzzzzzz! – Make buzzing noises like a bee. The idea
here is to find resonances in your mouth and sinuses.
Try changing the shape of your mouth.
5. Innnnnnnng-uh!. This is mainly to find natural
resonances in your sinuses. Try words like: Ding, Ping,
Zing, Ting. Hold the ‘i’ sound so that it makes your
sinuses tickle.
6. Mmmmmm! – Close your lips, but pull your lips back
into your mouth over your teeth. Make a humming
noise, and allow your lips to relax, so they are just
closed. Change the pitch of your voice until your lips
start to tickle. Hold this note for a while and then find
other notes / frequencies where this happens.
7. Hah! – Imagine you are digging a hole (you have to
do the actions too!): as you dig into the ground, exhale
with a “HUH!” sound. Lift the soil, and as you chuck it
over your shoulder, make a “HAH!” noise. Repeat until it
gets too silly. You can also practise this by pretending
to do Kung-Fu moves – punches and kicks and the
likes.
8. Oooooh! – Slidey continuous journey up and down
your natural range – Okay, you have to move your arms
for this one: high notes – arms up in the air, low notes,
bend your knees and hang your arms like a monkey.
9. Me – me – me… etc., up and down your natural
range , for ages, for fun…, then all of the following: mah,
mi, may, my, moo, mu. You can mix them up too.
10. Yah! or Yar! – for this one, just let your jaw drop
loosely to a loose hanging – don’t force it open, do it for
a while – 20 times or so.
11. Wow! – Start as low as you like, and go up to as
high as you like within your natural range , then back
down again. Wwwww-aaaaaaaa-oooooo-wwwww. You
gotta open your mouth as wide as it needs.
12. La-la-la – this is the classic, and most heard of the
exercises. Try using different scales, ascending through
natural major / minor scales, and also chromatic and
triadic (chord) scales, or just mess around with arbitrary
notes or pitches. Try this with ah-ah-ah-ah…, and then
all the other vowel sounds, instead. It’s more difficult,
apparently (thanks Claire).
Natural range – this is from the bottom note of your
vocal range to the highest note you can reach before
your voice breaks and goes into “falsetto”. You can
practise most of these in a falsetto too, but be warned
it can sound silly. It’s best to learn just not to care
about how silly it sounds.
Other things to do…
General Advice
If you want to keep your throat clear of phlegm –
avoid milk and dairy products.
Making a drink of half a lemon squeezed into a pint
of water can be used to clear phlegm.
Don’t eat late at night – this can cause acid reflux,
which is when the stomach acid comes back up the
throat and damages the vocal cords.
Avoid smoking.
Media Students
Read sections of books, newspapers and magazines out
loud. Try recording it with a tape recorder (remember
those?), a mini-disk, mp3 stick recorder, on your
computer. Don’t worry if it only has a cheap
microphone.
Analyse what you have recorded – be careful not to go
“this is rubbish, I have a rubbish voice, I hate it… etc..”
The important thing to think is “How can I improve my
voice?” (or reading, or singing, or whatever…)
Listen to other voice artists. Ask the question: What
makes them good?
Also ask this of yourself: Could you improve the
definition of the words? Could you improve your
breathing technique? Would it help if you moved your
mouth or lips more? Would it sound better if you were
more relaxed?
Try getting involved in a local, college or hospital radio
station. It’ll be voluntary, but the experience will be
invaluable.
Vocalists / Singers
Relax. Try exercises 1 and 2 if you feel your voices is
tense. You can also try other relaxation or yogic
exercises to relax you before singing. What about having
a bath?
Sing along with anything. It’s probably best to start
with stuff you like. As with, spoken word, try recording it
with a tape recorder, a mini-disk, mp3 stick recorder,
onto your computer, etc. You can get karaoke backing
disks, or download midi or mp3 karaoke files off the
internet. Sing everywhere, as quiet, or as loud as you
like. To hell with whoever my be listening.
Analyse what you have recorded – be careful not to go
“this is rubbish, I have a rubbish voice, I hate it… etc..”
The important thing to think is “How can I improve my
voice?”. Watch for lead-ins to notes, try to keep the
notes you want to deliver as precise as you can – don’t
forget the gaps are as important as the notes.
Try singing through a PA / amplified system, and get
used to your own voice. Remember: the microphone is
your best friend, learn to use and love it. You can use it
to amplify even the quietest, most subtle sounds that
you would just not hear in most performance situations
without a mic.
Listen to other voice artists. Ask the questions: What
makes them good? What do I like about their voice /
style? Do they talk like that in normal day to day life?
Also ask this of yourself: Could you improve the
definition of the words? Could you improve your
breathing technique? Would it help if you moved your
mouth or lips more? Would it sound better if you were
more relaxed?
When recording, try using as many voices, characters,
pitches, octaves, harmonies, or whatever. If you are
using computer based recording, go nuts, record
everything. What is there to lose other than time? Use
as many voice resonances as you like and try mixing /
blending them together.
You can make your voice sound sweet, rough, distorted,
angry, childish, silly or whatever. Try getting as many
emotions or imitations into your practise, but be careful
not to push your voice too hard – you may damage your
vocal chords. Try exercises 1&2 above if your voice gets
tired, and stop if it begins to hurt. Drink plenty of water.
Try editing out parts of your recording – remember what
I said about gaps (or rests). Edit out waste noises, use
fades to clean up the recording, and apply this to your
singing style. It saves time in a studio in the long run if
your vocals are right from the off, so learn what sounds
good in the recording.
Learning to sing well can be a long process. Take your
time to learn your own voice and what you can do with
it. Over time your voice will develop to be more
adaptable. Choose songs that are easy for you to sing
at first, then gradually bring in more challenging songs
as you get better.
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