Penelope's Musings

Musical Dont’s for the Sunday School

1. Don’t sing too loud.

2. Don’t sing through your nose.

3. Don’t sing through your teeth.

4. Don’t keep time with your feet.

5. Don’t imagine that noise is music.

6. Don’t bend your book open backwards.

7. Don’t be afraid to open your mouth wide.

8. Don’t forget that singing is praising God.

9. Don’t try to sing louder than everybody else.

10. Don’t look all around the room while singing.

11. Don’t sing the words simply–sing their meaning.

12. Don’t crowd nor drag the time.  Follow the leader.

13. Don’t hold on to the last tone after everybody else stops.

14. Don’t mix up singing with whispering, or anything else.

15. Don’t lose time in finding the place after it is announced.

16. Don’t throw your singing book on the floor.  Be kind to it.

17. Don’t fail to sing with all your soul and a good round voice.

18. Don’t forget that it is just as bad to sing a lie as to speak it.

19. Don’t look to see whether others are singing.  Sing yourself.

20. Don’t keep your eyes riveted on the book.  Watch the leader.

21. Don’t forget to sing with the spirit and the understanding also.

22. Don’t stop or begin to sing in the middle of a sentence or stanza.

23. Don’t “dog-ear” or deface the singing book.  It can’t defend itself.

24. Don’t try to sing praises to God with gum in your mouth, much less tobacco.

25. Don’t stick up your nose and refuse to sing because you don’t like the piece.

26. Don’t try to make everybody else think that you are the best singer in the school.

27. Don’t forget that real music comes from the heart and not simply from the lips.

28. Don’t forget to look happy when you sing.  Sweet words and a sour face do not mix well.

29. Don’t sing pieces simply because they are pretty, but for the appropriateness of the words.

30. Don’t fail to make the words sung the sentiment of your heart while singing.  It is mockery to sing praises with the mouth while the heart is far away.

by Marion Lawrence

General Secretary Ohio Sunday School Association

Written expressly for The Seed Sower, 1897

I found this inside the front cover of an old hymn book called the Seed Sower…..I thought it was charming and many of the sentiments are so appropriate today for our everyday lives.  After all, sweet words and a sour face do NOT mix well!