Song Is Prayer with Joey Weisenberg
Welcome to Jewish Spiritual Music!
Step into a vibrant world of music, learning, and connection featuring more than 18 engaging courses, covering traditional melodies, contemporary compositions, and the art of musical leadership. Whether you want to deepen your musical practice, enrich your spiritual life, or simply be moved by beautiful music, inspiration awaits.
Discover the Heart of Jewish Song and Prayer
In Song Is Prayer, Joey Weisenberg opens the door to a transformative musical journey.
Access hundreds of inspirational performances, master class videos, live sessions, and expert teachings that make Jewish song and prayer engaging and easy to follow.
Whether you’re just starting out or ready to lead, this platform gives you the tools, confidence, and community to sing, learn, and grow — one inspiring song at a time.
Explore the courses...
If you are a musical beginner, a fan of Joey's music, a spiritual seeker, or you are looking for general enjoyment and inspiration, these series are here to bring you into song and prayer:
Immerse in Jewish spiritual song with videos selected from Joey's Songbook, live performance archive, and an array of courses.
A comprehensive guide to Joey Weisenberg's songs and nigunim! Explore videos, album recordings, sheet music, commentary, and extra bonus material to help you learn and love these melodies.
Dive into the Psalms with a cross-cultural series designed for everyone, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Explore the profound depths of this ancient Hebrew poetry through songs, sheet music, commentary, translations, and transliterations.
Watch complete concerts and album recording sessions from over the years with a variety of bands, accompanied by illuminating behind-the-scenes footage.
Drawn from his 2017 National Jewish Book Award winning work, "The Torah of Music," Joey tells stories and paints the musical dreamscape of the Jewish sages. For any level. Source sheets provided.
Step into the vibration of the Psalms, sung in their original Hebrew, through authentic contemporary Jewish roots music that is accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Experience the musical spirit that has sustained seekers for thousands of years.
If you are an aspiring or experienced, prayer leader, musician, artist, or facilitator of communal song, these courses will take your skills to the next level:
Traditional Prayer Leading
A course for bar and bat mitzvah students and aspiring prayer leaders of any age to learn the essential components of the liturgy for Shabbat morning, how to chant Torah and Haftarah, rituals for the home, and communal blessings like Havdalah, and more!
Learn the traditional prayer chants and melodies so that you can lead prayers for Shabbat, Festival and weekday services. In this series, Joey teaches his version of the nusach (prayer chant) for Shabbat, Festivals and weekday davening, as well as his favorite nigunim (spiritual melodies), and discusses his unique approach to leading each service.
Immerse in the soundscape of the Yamim Noraim's special liturgy! For aspiring prayer leaders and seasoned shlihei tzibbur seeking new melodies and inspiration.
Practical advice and time-tested wisdom to help ba'alei tefilah (prayer leaders) facilitate powerful communal prayer services.
Instruments
A behind-the-scenes look at how Joey plays instruments in the studio for Rising Song Records, this course opens up possibilities for singer-songwriters to identify different types of sounds and texture, inspires new ideas, and broadens the studio musician's path.
Learn the foundational elements of Joey's music on guitar, and start to play favorite songs like "Lincoln's Nigun."
For people who already know how to play basic chords on the guitar, and would like to learn how to connect those chords with interesting basslines, flowing harmony, and sweet chords. Unpack Joey's songs and arrangements to understand how his chords move and connect — including several songs in open tunings.
Lessons in the basics of mandolin playing, explorations of advanced techniques like double stops, and demonstrations of original songs and Klezmer favorites.
Drumming is all about unifying people in time. Enter the world of rhythm with Joey and learn to find the heartbeat in any musical or communal setting, with demonstrations for a variety of instruments and contexts.
Communal Singing
Ready to start singing? We've curated seven wonderful songs to get you going! These are perfect for singing anywhere: in the shower, at meals, with friends, or in community gatherings. Let the singing begin!
Learn how to sing 18 beautiful spiritual melodies, and explore strategies for teaching these nigunim to your friends and leading your community in song!
Joey's 10 essential keys to unlocking powerful spiritual music in your community.
Growing YOUR Music
Artistry is about using music to express the fundamental beauties, tensions, and paradoxes of being alive as a human being. This series explores some of the questions that come up for emerging and maturing artists.
Joey shares his process for "capturing" and composing nigunim, wordless Jewish melodies, and explains when and how to incorporate words. Includes lots of practical exercises for opening your ears and discovering original tunes.
A special tour of the process of creating beautiful music from lovely songs! How to take a basic song and add instruments, form, and energetic build! Get a glimpse of the way Joey arranges music for Rising Song Records.
Joey shares his processes for making a recording of Jewish Roots music, offering detailed advice on how to move "from demo to done." First time recording artists will find a trove of guidance, and advanced artist-producers will glean hard-won wisdom.
The inner work and outer presentation of live performance, whether it's leading prayers in a synagogue or playing music for an audience. Joey shows you what goes through his head as he's preparing for a concert or when he's in the musical moment in the hope that it can help you feel more comfortable as you develop your own performance style!.
Voices From Our Community
Frequently Asked Questions
Depends what you want to learn! There are more than 18 courses on the site covering a range of musical topics. All of these are included in the $18 all-access subscription. Once you have subscribed, "The Joy of Jewish Spiritual Music" is the best place to start for musical inspiration. Here are a few more suggestions for where to get started:
Joey's Songbook, a brand-new collection on the site, is a comprehensive guide to Joey Weisenberg's songs and nigunim! Start here to explore videos, album recordings, sheet music, and commentary, with links to other courses on the site where you can learn the songs in depth.
Seven Songs to Sing is a musical launching pad for anyone who wants to sing — alone or in a group — but needs a little help picking songs. We've curated a wonderful collection of songs to get you going!
In the realm of prayer leading, the Rising Daveners course is a wonderful starting point. It was designed for b'nei mitzvah students and aspiring prayer leaders of all ages.
For beginner musicians, the Guitar Basics course is the place to begin! There you can learn essential chords and concepts of Jewish roots music for guitar, and start to play communal favorites like "Lincoln's Nigun."
If you're not ready to delve into guitar playing and would rather start exploring this music with your voice, try the opening chapter of the Art of the Nigun series, where Joey sings and teaches 18 beautiful melodies.
Yes! We have 4 courses just for you. Comprehensive courses teaching traditional prayer leading for the entire Jewish year:
- Rising Daveners
- Shabbat, Festivals & Weekday: Nusach & Nigun
- High Holidays: Nusach & Nigun for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur
- Davening Artistry
Absolutely! Song Is Prayer isn't just for serious study, you can explore videos, songs, and workshops at your own pace, simply to enjoy the music and experience the joy of Jewish song. No prior experience or commitment required. We have several wonderful collections for you:
- Joy of Jewish Spiritual Music
- Joey's Songbook
- Live Performance Archive
- From Psalm to Song
Everything! A subscription gives you unlimited access to all of our master classes (1,000+ videos), courses (22+ courses), and live sessions. Explore a constantly growing library of content, and join a vibrant community where you can request new topics, share ideas, and connect with fellow learners. For a complete list of what's included, go here.
There is an expansive amount of material on the site that can be enjoyed without knowing how to read Hebrew or music. To fully engage with some of the more advanced courses for prayer leading, knowing how to read Hebrew is very helpful, particularly for navigating the prayerbook.. You can do everything on this site without reading music. But if you do know how to read music, we have sheet music in some courses, particularly in Joey's Songbook and the Mandolin course, and knowing how to read music is a bonus. Joey's courses are designed for beginners and experienced learners alike, with step-by-step guidance that makes learning accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
Yes, absolutely! As soon as you do, you'll be able to access the library for the remainder of the month, and we'll be happy to welcome you back anytime. For related questions, you can always reach out to [email protected] for assistance.
Choose Your Path to Song and Prayer
Flexible access to all courses, videos, and workshops. Learn at your own pace!
Courses in Jewish Spiritual Music
Step into a vibrant world of music, learning, and connection featuring more than 18 engaging courses, covering traditional melodies, contemporary compositions, and the art of musical leadership. Whether you want to deepen your musical practice, enrich your spiritual life, or simply be moved by beautiful music, inspiration awaits.
