Sing St John welcomes you to our Senior Singalong, Episode 23.

My name is Winnie and I'm here today with Michael.

Lucia.

Gwen.

And Bodicea.

Today is a very happy day.

We sing a rocking gospel tune.

Oh, Happy Day And Michael is our soloist.

Yes!

Wohoo!

Go Michael!

Oh, Happy Day is a 1967 gospel arrangement of the hymn written by clergyman Phillip Doddridge in 1755.

Recorded by the Edwin Hopkins Singers, it became an international hit in 1969 and was the first gospel song to hit the secular charts.

It’s always important to give your body a little preparation before singing, so lets do a little warm up.

(piano) Okay, let's try that together.

(piano) Shoulders relaxed.

Spine erect.

Breathe.

Smile.

One more.

Great job.

Before teaching you the individual parts, we'll sing the song through so that you can become familiar with it and hear how it layered in with all the voices.

There are three sections for you to listen out for, the chorus, the verse, and the ending.

(piano introduction) (piano) (piano) (piano) (piano) Yes!

(laughter) Okay.

Terrific job, Michael.

We'll start with the tenor part.

Okay, tenors.

We're going to begin learning the chorus pattern.

It's repeated the first time we hear it.

(piano) Now let's learn the verse by call and response.

And putting that together now, using the accompaniment.

(piano) Yes!

And that loops back around to sing the Oh, Happy Day chorus.

Coda is Italian for tail and in music that means the ending.

It starts off like the chorus did.

Then we move up.

Now we'll sing that higher part eight more times, as Michael sings over us.

You'll see the numbers show up on your screen to help you know where we're at.

From eight down to one.

Then you'll know it's time to sing.

That final phrase.

And that final phrase sounds like this.

You got it tenors?

The altos are actually up next.

Altos at home, we are going to start with the chorus pattern.

We sing.

You repeat.

Let's sing that straight through with the accompaniment.

(piano) Great.

Thank you.

Let's go on to the verse.

And putting that together now using the accompaniment (piano) Outstanding, ladies.

And that brings us back to the chorus again.

Now we'll learn the final Oh, happy day pattern.

It starts off like the chorus did.

We’ll sing three regular Oh, Happy Days Then we sing a higher version.

And we sing that eight more times until we get to the end.

Thanks, Lucia and Gwen.

Sounds great.

It’s time to get Bodicea up here to learn the soprano harmony.

Bodicea and I are going to teach you the soprano harmony.

And we'll start with the chorus.

Let's sing that straight through with the accompaniment.

(piano introduction) Yes.

And now we'll learn the verse.

And now putting that together with the accompaniment around us.

(piano) I’m still dancing Sopranos!

Now let's talk about the ending.

We'll sing three phrases in our usual pitches and pattern.

Then we change to the end pattern which is a little higher And repeat that eight times more while Michael improvises around us.

And it's such a happy day.

We get to sing it all the way through together with all the parts and Michael singing the solo.

Come on back, everybody.

Here we go.

So exciting.

Ready, everybody?

Yes we are!

(piano introduction) (piano) (piano) (piano) (piano) Yes!

(laughter) Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Michael, Lucia, Gwen, Bodicea.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for joining our Senior Singalong.

One day, perhaps we'll sing together at the ice cream shop or a pizza parlor or the fellowship hall or the ballpark or the laundry.

Until then, keep singing!

(piano introduction) Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night.

Good night everyone!