Meaningful Manipulation

Distinguishing Creative from Emotional Manipulation in Music & Worship

If you stop and think about it, all art is manipulation. The viewer, reader, and listener perceive the craftsmanship of a musician, poet, painter, or novelist. The artist is handling or crafting something, not in a neutral way, yet hopefully with a desire to communicate something skilfully and meaningfully to the audience. There is no way around that fact.

When it comes to musical manipulation specifically, the composer is crafting a story or a message in time for you, the listener. We love how the music of a movie soundtrack can aid in the film's narrative arc. Great film composers like John Williams can do this with as little as two neighboring notes, as he did in the JAWS movie soundtrack of the 1970s. It is as if the Great White Shark is speaking with the two-note theme (leitmotif) that Williams has given him.

When you think of so-called “classical music” composers of the Common Practice Period of the last 300 years or so, they would often use chord progressions in their music that would make the listener think that resolution is imminent just to have it further delayed with “half” or “deceptive cadences,” respectively. This teasing or manipulation is essential if the art is going to flourish. There has to be a rise and a fall, an ebb and flow.

I believe that while artistic manipulation in music is generally a good thing, we should be wary of music that dabbles more with emotional manipulation than it does with artistic manipulation, especially when it comes to music in the worship of Christian churches. Allow me to explain.

At Best and At Worst

As I see it, too much emotional manipulation generally comes when there is a lack of understanding of how art communicates. In music, this comes when people don’t know how to read, write, or sing music. They don’t understand the elements and tools that the master composer uses to craft his or her masterpiece. If they were musically literate at a basic level, they could engage mentally with what is being communicated. Instead, when there is little or no literacy of music, then the best that can be hoped for is a much shallower emotional response. And the music industry (and even the contemporary Christian music industry) knows you must somehow engage your audience. If not mentally, then physically through an emotional response.

At best, this means that you have to lower the complexity of the music in favor of more immediate and shallow musical construction. At worst, a composer is looking for a hook in the form of a catchy beat, lilting melody, or chord progression that is meant to give the listener that warm and fuzzy feeling that makes them come back to that song over and over again. Whether you survey the pop music charts or the contemporary Christian music charts, you will have no trouble finding music that, in my view, shrewdly sees that there is money to be made by going right for the heart and the emotions instead of a more balanced approach of mind and heart.

No Naming Names

It is important here to reiterate that I am talking about the music and not as much about the words. Suppose a composer wants to garner an emotional response. In that case, he or she may use melodies with half steps and dotted rhythms that communicate an instability and longing meant to evoke a yearning for something more. They will use warm and open chords. They may even use multiple key changes. This is done in pop music, contemporary Christian music, and, to a lesser extent, even in some hymnody in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Notice here that I am not naming a song or composer. I do not need to share with you which particular pieces or people I see creating music that is emotionally manipulative in an unhelpful way. I’d rather not distract from the principle with specific examples. There is plenty of time to assess the unhelpfulness of particular music. But first, we should think correctly about these things and not ignore potential blindspots in our understanding.

Misunderstanding the Spirit’s Work

As a music teacher who feels strongly that there is a lack of meaningful music literacy in our church and community cultures, it is only fitting that I would emphasize the role that the lack of singing, reading, writing, and playing music can play in this manipulation discussion. But it is not the only factor worth highlighting.

My friend Dr. Scott Aniol has written a provocative, but very helpful piece on how we misunderstand how the “Spirit moves” in worship in the modern evangelical church, broadly speaking. He notes, “Exhilaration, euphoria, and other merely chemical effects upon the body have come to define Christian worship and spirituality for most Christians today.” In the piece, he helpfully distinguishes affections, emotions, feelings, and more as it relates to how the Church has historically understood worship. This piece will gently step on the right toes. Check it out if you want to read more about the evolution of the Spirit’s work in worship in much of evangelical Christianity.

Conclusion: A Better Way

When it comes to music in worship and in our culture, we need a balanced view. It is far more easy to say than to do, I realize. We need to cultivate music literacy and also cultivate a right understanding of emotions and how we are to think about the role of music and art in the life and work of the Christian. As I have said before, you can’t merely theologize your way into music literacy. But neither should we focus exclusively on music education without paying attention to what the role of the affections, emotion, and the mind and body should be.

We want music and art that is rich with meaning on a number of levels. Not just music that narrowly goes after emotional response.

In the best sense, good art should be crafted in such a way as to reveal something slightly new or different each time you consider, perceive, or listen to it. It should appeal as much to your mind as to your heart in a balanced way that is almost unnoticeable. May we pursue this balanced understanding, whether in worship music or casual enjoyment of all music and art.

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For more on this subject, check out a previous article I wrote: