How long to sing?

[Afterthought]

Hi all. I've often found it is difficult to sing all the way through some of the psalms, as I start to lose my concentration after 7-10 verses (on a good day I can make it to 20 before that happens). I was wondering what others have done about singing the longer Psalms, especially if one doesn't have a lot of time on one's hands (perhaps one should make time) or if one physically starts to be unable to continue singing? I haven't been singing them for **too** long yet myself, so perhaps a better concentration is built up over time? Or perhaps there can sometimes be some spiritual problem that can cause one to be unable to concentrate as long?

I tried looking around a little cause I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I wasn't sure what keyword to type: mostly I just got EP debate threads.

 

[TexanRose]

Hi Raymond,

My voice also starts to give out after I sing for a prolonged period of time. I think you are doing well to sing up to 10 verses at once.

The number of verses you are able to sing will depend on how fast you are singing. It may also depend on your volume. When I used to sing my little ones to sleep, I found that I was able to sing up to 15 or 16 stanzas at a time, but I was singing very, very softly.

In our church services we usually split the psalms into roughly 6-stanza sections. So for example, at prayer meeting last night, we first sang Psalm 27:1-5, then Psalm 27:6-10, and lastly Psalm 27:11-14. I think most of the families at church sing selections of similar length during family worship. But most of us sing pretty slowly.

I'm guessing that your physical ability to sing, as well as your ability to concentrate, will improve over time.

Hope that helps.

p.s. your voice will give out more quickly if you have just had some coffee.

 

[Afterthought]

The thumb has disappeared! Thanks for the useful post! (I don't drink coffee, but that does make sense; I'll keep it in mind!)