Church Musicians

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Comment by Amber Kalina on January 3, 2009 at 10:13pm

WOW!! Very well said. Thanks LOTS!

Comment by Lisa Szwec on January 3, 2009 at 2:27am

A couple of things...Our worship should be centered on God --praising and thanking Him for who He is, and for what He has done and continues to do for us -- and not on how a worship experience makes us feel. Our own emotions (reverence; awe; elation; peacefulness; or even mournfulness), while gifts from God, should never be the goal of worship. It is a dangerous enterprise to let your emotional response, rather than the Word of God, be the test of truth and fulfillment.

Also, don't confuse emotional spirituality with Biblical spirituality. With Biblical spirituality, one is under the influence of the Holy Spirit to the extent that he or she seeks God's revelation in the written word, and responds in accordance with it, with everything that he or she is. Biblical spirituality also bears the fruits of the spirit (see Gal 5:22-23).

In Matthew 22:37, Jesus said: "...Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

Yes, we ought to glorify God to the fullest extent and be genuine about it. But when the hymns just don't seem to meet you where you are, and your participation feels apathetic despite your fervent desire to 'cheer up and praise Him', know that the Lord is faithful and present, even when you're not (emotionally speaking). Grasp the truth with your mind and let God reveal Himself to you through His written word.

Hope this helps!

Comment by Amber Kalina on January 2, 2009 at 11:11pm

More along the lines of spiritual. Cause, when we praise our Lord, shouldn't we always be happy and thankful and focused on Him?

I just feel like, when I just sing to sing, it's like a sin...

Comment by Lisa Szwec on January 2, 2009 at 3:50pm

Amber...I saw you posted this a couple days ago. Were you looking for a technical answer or a spiritual answer? Or both?

BTW, you're on the right track. As St. Augustine said, "to sing once is to pray twice".

Comment by Amber Kalina on December 30, 2008 at 7:44pm

I think that music is like a form of prayer. If you don't feel a song, it is meaningless. Just like if you go through the motions in a prayer it is also meaningless.

How do you begin to feel a song instead of concentrating on getting the right notes? My heart usually feels light when I sing, but sometimes my mind drifts off the song. What does that mean?

Comment by Erik Meyer on October 2, 2008 at 10:20am

Jim thanks for your excellent insight. I think you have hit exactly why the psalms are so attractive to all Christians, the natural flow of thought and pairing and contrasting of words and concepts.

On your comment about psalm tone - I'd prefer to have psalms sung to a tone, as they are scripture (more than 'just poetry'). When a psalm is 'forced' into a rhythmic patter (IE, a song with a melody), some words may be over or underemphasized in order to make the music flow in the way we'd like it to.

"Eagles Wings" is an example we all know --- each verse has an altered melody and rhythm in order to fit the text. Most people know this hymn very well, so it's not a problem, but I think it would be a problem if the hymn were unfamiliar --- when the verses change rhythm and melody too much, the congregation drops out, and only sings the refrain ...

Anyway, I prefer tones because I think they keep the focus on the text. However, I would not be opposed to some more creative thinking on tones to make them less boring. What about Gelieneau (sp?) psalms? In them, they are chanted, but the notes change in order to emphasize the important words ... once again, not good for congregational use though.

Comment by Lisa Szwec on October 1, 2008 at 10:15pm

Great. Now I have that Chris Tomlin tune in my head. That's okay. I like it.

Antiphonal psalmody is sung by whole verse because (evidently?) half-verse singing disrupts the flow of the verse. The psalm tones are set up that way, and its easier for congregation to imitate the cantor's verse singing in its response.

But there are alternatives out there with responsorials sung by half-verse. I just haven't seen them in the ELW...

Comment by Erik Meyer on October 1, 2008 at 9:10am

So here's a Biblical comment that has always bugged me - all (or at least most) Lutheran churches read or sing a psalm every Sunday. Every verse of the psalm basically says the same thing twice ---

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love /// in your great compassion blot out my offenses"

"I will exalt you, my God and King /// and bless your name forever and ever."

"Come let us sing to the Lord /// let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation."

Practically every verse says the same thing twice, in different words. I think the psalmists intended the first half to be sung by a leader and the second half is a response of the assembly.

So, why does every hymnal (Lutheran or otherwise) suggests singing psalms verse by verse, IE leader sings a verse, congregation sings a verse? Doesn't it make more sense to split up each verse?

Look at Psalm 136 - the second half of every verse is a regular response in a litany of praise.

So my question is, why do we do sing these these verse by verse instead following the natural construction of the text?

Comment by Erik Meyer on October 1, 2008 at 9:01am

Since this is about the Bible and not just a generic group, I think your ideas are exactly what this group should do - I didn't really have a specific vision when I created the group, I just wanted to see what other musicians are out there on BOF.

Comment by Lisa Szwec on September 30, 2008 at 10:10pm

Sounds like a plan. Perhaps also:
- Planning process/ideas
- Trends
- Discernment: criteria that makes a piece of music theologically sound (pardon the pun) enough for the worship setting
- New discoveries

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