Standing there in the darkImagine how it feels... You walk into a sanctuary, the praise band starts playing a song you don't know. It looks like everyone around you is singing along. Who's left out? You are. Your hands are in their pockets, and you want to participate...
But you can't... You don't know the song. How do you feel? When they can't sing along, worship leaders tend to feel "content", but they're the minority. Do you know how bad it is? Only about 1/3 are singing, and about 75% have strong negative emotional reactions when they don't sing... |
SingAccord, available now on the Mac App Store.
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a 3rd optionLyrics-only obviously won't lead rhythm & pitch. And the only way Traditional Music Notation will lead is if your congregation is in fact also a classically-trained choir. You need a third option. So I put on my UX designer hat, and took a professional look at TMN, whittling away all the pieces which would get a UX designer fired. And I was left with... nothing.
So I combined philosophy, artistry, practicality, and feedback from real user-testing, and designed a new music notation from scratch. SingAccord draws a new music notation people can 'just get' instinctively, without training. |
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imagine
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When people feel the same emotion, it's called "empathy". When people do something together, they develop empathy with each other. When people experience empathy, it produces unity, camaraderie, and even assists in healing various psychological disorders.
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When your congregation can sing as one, they no longer predominantely feel 'left out', embarrassed, frustrated, angry, guilty and sad. They feel together. When they get this benefit out of corporate worship, they're more likely to show up on time, more likely to volunteer, and more likely to stay in the Church.
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As I do demos, people are loving it. They're figuring it out within 2 songs, and each person takes what they can get from it. Some get the rhythm, some get the up & down, some could hit the notes exactly. All that without distracting from worship.
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Reviews are COMING in!!!
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It isn't just lay folks who like it, even skeptical worship leaders find it to be easier to read than traditional music notation, after only 2 songs!
See what people said about it -> |
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Demo
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The notation is designed to be learned by watching it get used, so here is a demo of the praise band of Covenant Presbyterian Church, Auburn, AL. Maximize it on your screen, and sit back a few feet. Special thanks to Jeff Deyo for allowing us to use his song "You are good" for our demo! |
If you like it, there are 2 things you can do:
1) If you can create your own MusicXML files, for instance from Finale or Sibelius, you can start using the app today.
2) But folks at large won't be able to use it until the major worship sheet music retailers start selling MusicXML files, so send them a note of support for SingAccord today!
Either way, Sign up for updates
1) If you can create your own MusicXML files, for instance from Finale or Sibelius, you can start using the app today.
2) But folks at large won't be able to use it until the major worship sheet music retailers start selling MusicXML files, so send them a note of support for SingAccord today!
Either way, Sign up for updates
Who is this guy?
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When Dr. Ben Spratling IV was 4, his choir-director grandmother tried to teach him to play her mother's Steinway baby-grand piano. He was very confused why the thin black lines and wide white spaces on the printed page didn't match up with the thin black keys and wide white keys on the piano keyboard. From grade school through college he played (his father's) trombone, and began studying music theory in high school. Becoming first-chair trombone and Drum Major, he even wrote his own ensemble arrangement of "O Holy Night" for a school concert. Of course, after studying human perception, he knows why the "piano-like" musical staves have all been busts.
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A decade in mobile app "User eXperience" design. Selling 3 apps on the iPhone AppStore the day it opened, Dr. Ben Spratling IV has been on the forefront of advanced app designs since the beginning. Good "User eXperience" isn't just about making buttons big enough to tap and icons "intuitive"; it's studying the science of how people see, how we think, and how we learn. Throw in some formal classes in visual communication, awards for his architectural designs, and a knack for graphic design, and he's got a recipe for a conjunction of expertise that doesn't happen often... or ever...
And one of the dirty little secrets is... there's no such thing as intuition when it comes to app UI's.
And one of the dirty little secrets is... there's no such thing as intuition when it comes to app UI's.