Christian Music Primer 3

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As we explore Christian Music in this series I have come to consideration of the spiritual aspects of music. While music is a physiological phenomenon, with measurable and definable elements, it is also profoundly spiritual. This post explores something of the spiritual realities associated with music.

The objective of this primer is to enable ordinary people and musical professionals alike to come to terms with the competing and dispirit ideas about music and resolve some of them by having principles on hand that assist that process. I hope, by God’s grace, to enable you to have practical wisdom, not opinions or esoteric hypothetical arguments.

Review and Reminders

Music is created from multiple elements, but the three most foundational are: Melody; Harmony; and Rhythm. These three work together to create each individual musical expression. They are not the whole story of music, but because of their foundational roles they are the place we have started with as we go back to basics.

Melody is the most foundational element of music or songs. It is the song itself. Harmony enriches the song and supports the theme of the lyrics by evoking a depth of emotion or feeling. Harmony involves additional notes being played along with the melody, to colour the mood or character of the melody. Rhythm is the way in which the song moves forward. That movement could be regular and even, strident and forceful or stumbling and inconsistent. Natural rhythm simply reflects the tempo and flow of language and nature. By imposing a stronger beat into that rhythm a more definite sense of movement is proclaimed, assisting in marching, dancing or movement.

Spiritual Music

Music is spiritual for several reasons. In one sense, everything is spiritual. God created us all and placed us in a moral universe. Therefore everything that impacts us or that we respond to is part of our moral response before a moral God in a moral universe. Music certainly plays a large role in many people’s lives, both for its musical and lyric content. That makes music spiritual. Music, like everything else we engage with, should be used as part of our highest callings, to love God and to love our neighbour.

Music is also a vehicle. It conveys emotion and its songs convey words which impact us. As a vehicle it must be used for the appropriate moral purposes, to carry the right things. Music has been used to promote godless messages and encourage immoral behaviour. Music can then be a tool for godly or evil purposes.

Music has drawing power. The fable of the Pied Piper playing his pipe to draw rats and then children to follow him is allegorical of music’s ability to draw people. Music has long been used to attract people’s attention and to draw crowds together. William Booth used brass bands to draw crowds over a century ago, leading to the birth of the Salvation Army with its emphasis on brass bands. Because music has this attractive, drawing power, it is a tool of spiritual significance.

Music also induces responses from people, both good and bad. Certain rock groups in the 1960’s and 70’s were recognised for their ability to awaken youth to a desire for drugs. Rock and roll was so named by the Negro communities in which it was spawned because of its overt sexual influence. Rock and roll was the Negro slang for sexual intimacy, so they named their music after that direct connotation. A youth confided to me recently that he cannot survive without his modern music. He recognises that he is addicted to it.

God and Godly People Use Music

Music and song exists in heaven (Revelation 15:3). Jesus sang hymns (Mathew 26:30), although we do not know the form of that music. King David composed songs to God and even created special instruments to perform that music with. Christians are told to sing to the Lord in a new song (Psalm 96:1).

When David played his harp evil spirits were controlled.
“And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” 1Samuel 16:23

Prophets called for musicians to assist them in hearing from God.
“But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.” 2Kings 3:15

Church History

Throughout church history Christian music has been a major aspect of worship. Tens of thousands of hymns and songs have been written. Most revivals have prompted a whole new stream of songs to express the work that God is doing. Many of the leading evangelists used music and singers to attract crowds and prepare the people for the preaching of the gospel.

Some of the most magnificent music ever composed was written to express adoration to God. Some of the most magnificent organs are in churches or cathedrals. Some of the world’s finest musicians developed their skills in order to worship God.

Wesley composed hymns to help people remember his sermons and to teach theological truth. Hymn writers expressed their heart, or encapsulated truth into song, in every age and in just about every place. Church history is replete with hymns and hymn writers.

Rightly Dividing Music

So, having seen that music has a worthy place in heaven and the church, it is time to divide the elements of music into their relevant elements and see how to enhance the spiritual quality of music while avoiding its more distracting elements. That’s where we will go in the next instalment of this Christian Music Primer.

Christian Music Primer 2

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I have already opened the contentious topic of modern Christian music for your consideration and in this post I want to start building a basis for thinking through some of the divergent elements to find a means of assessing, understanding and directing what we are dealing with.

Christian Music

I pointed out previously that there are battle lines about Christian music in many churches, involving the style of music and how it is used in the church. One of the hot issues is volume, but that is only part of a rich tapestry of musical elements which work together to create a style or idiom or genre of music.

Some churches maintain ancient traditional values in their music, whether accompanied or a cappella, psalmody, chants or historic hymns. Other churches only use the latest songs from the top music houses, disposing of songs as fast as they can get new ones. Other churches have created a mix of old and new, fast and slow, based on their traditional background and the major musical influences which they have subscribed to.

Because of the wide ranging diversity and the general lack of real principle behind most church music choices there is little in the way of reference points which churches, home groups and music lovers can use in their personal and ministry related musical choices.

Back to Basics

Before we get entangled in argument about preferences, age related tastes, and so on, we are best to go back to basics and look at some of the underlying musical and spiritual considerations. Whatever you build you are wise to have a solid foundation. So let’s see if we can’t get some foundational thinking in place on which to build.

The three most basic elements of music are melody, harmony and rhythm. This is where we will start. For those who are well educated about music, please excuse my simplified descriptions of these elements. I need everyone to have a clear idea of what we are talking about so I will give a basic description of these basics, to get everyone on the same base.

Melody

The melody of a song is the series of musical notes that we sing. It is the part that identifies a song, when you hear it being whistled or you hum it to your self. The melody is the purest element of the song. It IS the song.

Many songs share the same harmony and chords and many share the same rhythm. But what identifies one song from another is its melody line. If you hear someone singing something to themself, they will almost certainly be singing the melody.

A melody can be sung slow or fast without destroying the melody itself. It can be sung or played as a tune and it can also be only partially used but still be identified as the same song. That is why I say that the melody IS the song. Just as YOU are yourself. Whether you are happy or sad, energetic or worn out, clean or smelly, healthy or sick, you are still you. The same is true for the melody. You can present it many ways, yet people readily recognise the song.

Harmony

When two or more musical notes are played together they will either blend and make a complementary sound or they will clash and spoil each other. Harmony is the mixing of multiple notes together to create a pleasing enrichment of the melody.

There are many ways to mix musical sounds and the mixture can create happy or sad feelings (major or minor), soothing or grating effect, fulfilling or plaintive emotions and so on. Therefore harmony is very powerful. Good use of harmony can give powerful charge to the melody and can particularly emphasise the message in the lyrics. A sad song will have sad and doleful harmonies. A celebration song will not have any of those harmonies in it.

Major key harmonies are brighter and more positive in the emotions they evoke. Minor key harmonies tend to be more reflective and sad.

Different harmonies can written for the same song, changing the feeling of the song. Basic harmonies using the three primary chords tend to give a song a childlike simplicity, while complex chords tend to give a song a more alluring quality.

Rhythm

Rhythm is the pace at which the song moves forward. Pace does not only refer to speed, but also to the kind of steps taken. Imagine, for example, a toddler running, compared to a professional sprinter. Their individual pace is not just the speed of their movement but how big and even the steps are.

Imagine then a horse with one lame leg, or a lame person pushing a chair forward then taking awkward steps toward it, before pausing to push the chair forward again.

All of those examples give you a sense for rhythm. And another way to get a feel for it is to speak a line of poetic verse. Say, “Pushes ev’ry purpose out of mind”. You will most likely emphasize the push / pur / and mind. Every syllable will probably be given the same amount of time, like a run of even steps. That’s rhythm at work.

Rhythm and Beat

Rhythm involves the beat of the music, but I hold off reference to beat until you have a sense of rhythm without a notion of beat. Beat has been abducted by the rock and roll phenomenon and some people are distracted by the term. Allow me now to clarify the place of beat.

While just about every word has its own natural rhythm and music reflects the rhythmic realities of nature and language, rhythm also has the quality of picking the music up and carrying it along. In the absence of a strong beat music might tend to run along happily, with rhythm undergirding the melody and harmony. But for marching music the movement of the music is meant to provide a clear beat to march to. The beat is them more pronounced, while not obliterating the melody and harmony, to give a stronger sense of momentum and regulation to the music.

In rock music, rap and modern dance music the beat has become highly pronounced to energise the dancers or to impress a listener who seeks that more strident input.

Balancing the Basics

I trust you can see already that these three key elements of music stand separate but complement each other in the building of a musical experience. We cannot do without them. They are not evil. They each have their place. They are ideally woven together in a happy balance that enhances the musical experience.

Now that we have an idea of the natural elements of music we are ready for the next consideration, which is how spiritual realities impact music and how music impacts the spirit. That will be part three in this series of the Christian Music Primer.

Christian Music Primer

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Music is a contentious issue in today’s churches. Traditional music has given way in many places to what we call contemporary worship music. Music has become a big dollar industry and those who control the market stand to make big bucks.

What was once a stable area of rich heritage is now a dog’s breakfast of temporary hit songs quickly falling into neglect as “too old” just a year or two later. Theology has given way to feel good lyrics and worship has given way to performance.

In the face of the arguments and counter-arguments which rage from time to time I want to take you back to some basics and have you look at the situation through a couple of different windows. In all that you may become better able to discern the appropriate music for the settings you have some influence over.

Musical Tapestry

The wonderful world of music is a rich tapestry of elements. Students learning an instrument know that there is the practical and the theory, usually taught and tested separately. Those who practice an instrument know that there is the ability to play and the separate ability to perform on the instrument.

Those labouring through music theory know that they must consider a range of chord structures, simple and compound time signatures, myriad arrangement possibilities, and so on. Music is indeed a tapestry of interwoven elements, some enriching those around them and others detracting form them.

Getting it Wrong

I once performed in an impromptu ensemble of half a dozen enthusiastic instrumentalists, all making up our own variation on a Christian song. When we begged for feedback from those we hoped to impress we were told that, since no-one was playing the melody, the listeners couldn’t even work out what song we were playing. We had it wrong and our enthusiasm did not save the day.

I have heard equally enthusiastic performers make a hash of their performance by all playing or singing the melody line. Then there are those who can’t hold a tune, forget the words, mess up the rhythm, and otherwise mess up their musical presentation.

Sorting Through The Elements

Since music is made up of many ingredients and it is possible to get them in the wrong mix I will launch this Primer on Christian Music with an attempt to identify some of the competing elements. I am not trying to be high-brow about this, impressing you with my exactitude or profundity of insight. Instead, as in much of what I write, I want to encourage the practitioner and assist the regular, pedestrian thinker to grapple with the subject. I trust my simplicity does not offend you, but rather provides a workable set of reference points from which progress can be promoted.

Off the top of my head, let me list some of the obvious musical elements. We have melody, harmony and rhythm, each with various sub-sets, such as syncopation, rules of chord progression, identifiable rhythm tracks, discord, off-beat or on-beat rhythms and so on.

We then have the musical genre, such as classical style, rhythm and blues, rap music, rock and roll, and so on. These are standardised formats of harmony and rhythm, augmented by choice of instrument and vocal style. Standardised form is also a developed aspect of music, and, of course, there are variations on these as well.

Presentation of the sound can be live or recorded. It can involve acoustic or electronic instruments, with real or synthesised sounds. These are the voices through which the music presented.

Presentation extends then to inclusive, congregational singing, or the performance alternative. Many modern churches struggle to get their congregation joining in the music, while they have crafted a clearly ‘performance’ model which works against audience participation.

The Issue of Volume

An interesting modern development, since the advent of sound systems, is the place of ‘volume’ in the music mix. Amplified volume has become an element of music in and of itself. While an un-amplified brass band can be loud by virtue of how loud the instruments are played and how many people are blowing raspberries, the PA system allows any sound to made about as loud as imaginable.

Most churches have sound systems sufficient to do permanent damage to the audience. Years ago this was not possible, but now it is taken for granted.

Amplified volume may not sound like an element of music, but ask around many churches today and get reviews of their music, and you will find that volume is one of the most remarked on aspects. So we now have volume as part of the mix.

But Wait, There’s More

Emotion plays a large part in some musical forms. The purpose of the music and how it is used within Christian meetings is also a significant factor. How much time is devoted to music as a percentage of the service is also worth considering. Then there is the whole issue of lyrical content, messages conveyed by words and style and the depth of theological content.

Questions beg answers, such as is the music for the congregation, the performers, the Lord, the church traditions or the visitors in the service, or to reinforce the sermon topic, to move the congregation, to affirm the theology or soothe the soul?

Who should have say about the music? Should it be the long term members who like it the way it was, the youth who threaten to leave unless the music suits them, the pastor as the boss, the denomination as the arbiter of their members’ spiritual journey, or the organist who insists in tunes he can play?

Let the Fight Begin

Churches struggle with issues such as: “The music is too loud!” “I don’t know the songs anymore!” “Why don’t we sing this or that song anymore?” “There’s no melody in the songs these days!” “It’s more like a concert than a worship session”, “That’s last year’s song and so it’s out of date!” and so on. In some churches the battle lines are bitter and entrenched. In other churches a mediocre compromise is reached with no parties liking the outcome.

We don’t have to start any fights about music. They are already underway. So let’s move toward some reasonable grounds for sorting through the issues, what ever our preferences may be.

Now that I have you thinking about the topic look out for more of this primer in coming weeks.