This blog is dedicated to the amateur or beginner musician with music written in a simple and easy to read Alpha Notes format and with Chords for the left hand. This is to assist those with little or hardly at all note reading skills. This is a blog that shows all the chords in Alpha Notes format too which you can find the notes for the chords in one of the blogs. Please feel free to leave a comment or any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label african american spiritual. Show all posts
Showing posts with label african american spiritual. Show all posts
This African
American spiritual may date back to the eighteenth century. Other stanzas have
been added by oral tradition. A look through modern hymnals will reveal an
array of variations on the text. The most notable alteration in the Psalter
Hymnal is the phrase "to the Lord of life" in place of the original
"to the rising sun," in which "sun" was an ambiguous
metaphor referring to God. The song's use at communion services probably dates
from after the American Civil War. Miles Mark Fisher notes in Negro Slave Songs
in the United States (1953),
[Originally
the hymn] relates hardly at all to holy communion, which does not necessarily
require early morning administration or a devotee who faces east. [This] it
seems was a signal song of Virginia slaves during the eighteenth century who
used it and similar ones to convene their secret meetings.
The text
discerns participation in the Lord's Supper as a humble act in which we not
only eat the bread (st. 1) and drink the wine (st. 2) but also praise our God
(st. 3) "on our knees." The refrain ends with a prayer for mercy, an
African American kyrie (see PHH 258) that reminds us of the tax collector's
prayer in Luke 18:13.
To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!
Lyrics:
1 Let us
break bread together on our knees.
Let us break
bread together on our knees.
Refrain:
When I fall
on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord have
mercy on me.
2 Let us
drink wine together on our knees.
Let us drink
wine together on our knees. [Refrain]
3 Let us
praise God together on our knees.
Let us
praise God together on our knees. [Refrain]
"I'm Gonna Sing When The Spirit Says Sing"This piece combines musical elements of traditional African-American spirituals and Protestant church music. Inspirational and great fun to sing, with optional claps and hand moves, singers will ride on the energy and excitement of the driving bass line in the highly rhythmic piano accompaniment.
To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!
1 I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing, I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing, I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing, and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
2 I'm goin'a pray when the Spirit says pray, I'm goin'a pray when the Spirit says pray, I'm goin'a pray when the Spirit says pray, and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
3 I'm goin'a moan when the Spirit says moan, I'm goin'a moan when the Spirit says moan, I'm goin'a moan when the Spirit says moan, and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
4 I'm goin'a shout when the Spirit says shout, I'm goin'a shout when the Spirit says shout, I'm goin'a shout when the Spirit says shout, and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
"The Angels Rolled the Stone Away" is an African-Amarican spiritual song.
“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint” (Matthew 28:1-4 New Living Translation).
Matthew 27:65 says Pilate said to the chief priests and Pharisees, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how” (New King James Version). This was his response to their request to make the tomb of Jesus secure until the third day. They wanted to forestall a situation where Jesus’ disciples would come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people that He had risen from the dead! They claimed that the last deception would be worse than the first. What they called the first deception was probably Jesus ‘pretending’ to be the Messiah, a truth they rejected.
The point is that nobody had any plan to steal the body of Jesus. His disciples were actually in hiding. Pilate who had reluctantly handed over Jesus to them to be crucified granted the request of the chief priests and Pharisees. They went and made the tomb secure; they sealed the stone and set the guard to keep watch (verse 66).
What does it mean to seal the stone? The Greek word for sealing in Matthew 27:66 is sphragizo which means “to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation.” It also means to authenticate or confirm. In the Old Testament, the word sealed is used in Daniel 6:17. The word translated sealed is chatham (Aramaic), which means to seal. “Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed” (Daniel 6:17 New King James Version).
The stone at the door of the tomb of Jesus was sealed to secure the tomb. Nobody could remove the stone without breaking the seal. Only the person who sealed it could authorize the breaking of the seal. It would be a crime for anyone to remove the seal without authorization. This is similar to when a regulatory authority or an appropriate authority seals up a property putting its seal, stamp, or notice to that effect and an unauthorized person goes there to remove the seal and open the place. This would be a crime.
The chief priests and Pharisees probably sealed the stone with the seal of the Sanhedrin, thus preventing anyone to gain access until the seal is officially broken. Unless the seal was broken, the stone could not be rolled away from anyone to enter the tomb.
On the third day after Jesus’ burial, He rose from the dead. Matthew 28:1-4 says, “Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint” (New Living Translation).
Please take note of this phrase in the scripture you’ve just read: an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. Why did the angel roll away the stone and sat on it? Many people often think that the angel rolled away the stone so that Jesus could come out of the tomb. This is not correct. The stone that was rolled away was not a barrier to Jesus coming out of the grave. Therefore, the angel didn’t roll away the stone for Jesus.
The Bible says the angel of the Lord rolled away the stone and sat on it. It was as if the angel was waiting for anyone who would challenge him because he didn’t receive anybody’s permission to rolling away the stone! The seal must have been broken in the process. If anyone was in doubt the person who broke the seal, he would meet the angel sitting on the stone!
The resurrection of Jesus demonstrated the indisputable, absolute power of God over the High priest and other religious leaders in Israel, their collaborators in the crucifixion of Jesus, and the guard posted to secure the tomb (Matthew 28:4, 11-15).
The sealed stone was a barrier to Mary Magdalene and the other women to enter the tomb, and without entering the tomb they wouldn’t be able to anoint His body which was their original mission on the morning of Jesus’ resurrection. They were even already worrying about who would help them roll away the stone (Mark 16:3). But when they got to the tomb, the stone had been rolled away.
The angel rolled away the stone to prove that Jesus had actually risen from the dead and the tomb was empty. The stone was rolled away so that it could be obvious that Jesus had resurrected and the tomb was empty. If the stone had not been rolled away, these women would not have been able to gain entry to the tomb to discover that the body of Jesus was ‘missing’ whereas he had resurrected.
Furthermore, without the seal being broken and the stone removed, Peter and the other disciples wouldn’t have been able to enter the tomb, especially with the guards posted there to secure the place. Therefore, they wouldn’t have been aware that Jesus had risen before he began to appear to them. (John 20:1-18; Matthew 28:1, 5-8).
What announced the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the great earthquake and angel’s removal of the sealed stone and the empty tomb! I believe that If Jesus had resurrected quietly with the seal and stone intact and thereafter showed himself to His disciples, the propaganda that he didn’t resurrect would have been worse.
The removal of the sealed stone without human participation tells us that there is no barrier that God can’t remove; there’s no embargo that God can’t lift; there’s nothing that the enemy has done that God can’t undo; there’s no human finality that God can’t overturn. Proverbs 21:30 says, “Human plans, no matter how wise or well advised, cannot stand against the LORD” (New Living Translation). With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26b).
Any stone that the enemy has rolled against your life, marriage, health, business, finances, career, destiny, etc. is rolled away now in Jesus. The seal of the devil is broken now in Jesus’ name. The power of resurrection shall break every evil seal on every department of your life and cause life to replace death in Jesus’ name.
The power that raised Jesus from the dead shall give you life. You shall live; your family shall live; your ministry shall live; your destiny shall live, your business shall live, every good thing in your life shall live and not die.
Jesus is risen! Hallelujah! The propaganda of the chief priests and the elders to discredit the truth about His resurrection by bribing the guards to lie that His disciples came at night and stole Him away while they slept, failed woefully (Matthew 28:11-14). For forty days after His crucifixion, Jesus appeared to the apostles from time to time and, by many infallible proofs, presented Himself to them that He was actually alive and talked to them about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
Jesus is alive forevermore!
To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!
1 The angel rolled the stone away! The angel rolled the stone away! 'Twas on a bright and shine day, When the trumpet began to play, The angel rolled the stone away!
2 My Jesus spurned that dreadful tomb! My Jesus spurned that dreadful tomb! 'Twas on a bright and shine day, When the trumpet began to play, My Jesus spurned that dreadful tomb!
3 My Lord will come again for me! My Lord will come again for me! And on a bright and shine day, When the trumpet began to play, My Lord will come again for me.
I’ve Got Peace Like a River is an African-American spiritual. Spirituals began on the fields and the slaves would sing to pass the time of day. It was also a great way to pass messages along and share the gospel.
This song uses water “as a simile” to describe peace, joy and love.
Hymnary.org says “This spiritual compares the peace of God to a placidly flowing river, the joy of Christ to a merrily bubbling fountain, and the love of God to a deep, wide ocean.”
The earliest appearance in a hymnal appears to be in 1975. This was really a surprise, as I thought it would be much earlier.
To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!
1 I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river in my soul. I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river in my soul.
2 I've got love like a river, I've got love like a river, I've got love like a river in my soul. I've got love like a river, I've got love like a river, I've got love like a river in my soul
3 I've got joy like a river, I've got joy like a river, I've got joy like a river in my soul. I've got joy like a river, I've got joy like a river, I've got joy like a river in my soul.
