How to Sing God Bless America

The celebrated songwriter Irving Berlin wrote the song, "God Bless America." Originally written when Berlin was five-years-old, he revised the lyrics to provide the world with a song of "peace" as the seeds of World War II were being to grow. Here is how to sing, "God Bless America."

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Select band members or a backup CD to accompany you if you choose. People traditionally sing this song a cappella, which means without accompaniment. But you can configure your rendition with or without musicians depending on your level of accomplishment, your intended audience and the style in which you want to do the performance.

2. Buy sheet music for you and your band members. Remember that you need to buy one copy of the song for each performing member so you don't infringe on the copyright.

3. Practice with an instrument to get the intervals down correctly. People traditionally sing this song with quite a range, so be sure that the starting note is not too high, or else you will strain your voice at the high notes near the end.

4. Determine where you will sing in the performance lineup. This is critical because traditionally the second best performance is first in the lineup and the best performance is last. If you are first or last, know that your audience will pay special attention to your performance.

5. Consider praying the lyrics as well as singing them. Since the song is essentially a prayer, this makes "God Bless America" the unofficial anthem, but hymn might be a better word to describe the song.

Tips & Warnings

• The United States Congress sang "God Bless America" in front of the Capitol on September 11, 2001, the same day terrorists attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Center.