Opwekkingsliederen Bundel 3 423-570 – Piano, Vocal and Guitar – Book

Volume III of the standard Dutch language contemporary worship collection, Opwekkingsliederen is the Dutch language contemporary Christian worship song collection. It is infinitely better than anything in the English-speaking world-not because the songs are better (they are, generally, the same songs, 2-5 years later) but because of the way it’s done. First, there only is Opwekkingsliederen, so pretty much every church using contemporary Christian worship in the Netherlands and Flanders uses the same collection. Second, Opwekkingsliederen is an iterative collection: a new ‘bundel’ is published every year, which contains 10-20 new songs. Most churches use projectors now, but for those that still use books, you just add a new couple of pages to the A5 sized binders you are already using. Third, the music books, contrary to everything produced in the English-speaking world, are designed for musicians. Once in many years, a bumper edition of the music book is produced, which is more economical than buying all the separate books, and more convenient. This is the third one. Two more have been published since this, for a total of five. I was a musician in Flemish churches for about eight years. When I came back to England, I was horrified that there just isn’t anything to touch this. The books are A4 sized, open flat on any of the current (larger and more sturdy) music stands, and contain the full music on two staves, with guitar chords. Unlike many English-language books, someone has carefully gone through and got all of the keys right, so that congregations can actually sing them. Both the chords and music are written at an appropriate size for sight-reading. The chords generally have bass-note extensions, and also match the music written out for the pianist. British churches have taken a different route, with CCLI and SongSelect providing instant access to pretty much every song at any time. However, a chord chart or even a chord chart with a lead sheet is no substitute for a score. Doubtless it will be the CCLI model which predominates, but, in the mean time, the Opwekkingsliederen Bundel should be celebrated as the best answer to a difficult problem. http://amzn.to/1S5wKTa