Earlier this week, I was at the Getty Sing Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, for a few days, working the music booth for New Saint Andrews College of Moscow, Idaho. It was a rewarding time.
Thankful Observations
One of the things I appreciate about Keith & Kristyn Getty is their desire for well-constructed and theologically rich poetry in the hymns they promote and write. It starkly contrasts much of what is in worship trends today lyrically. Their folk music style is well-crafted & well-executed. Additionally, I was moved by the seven thousand people all singing the Ralph Vaughan Williams arrangement of the OLD HUNDREDTH psalm tune with choir, orchestra, and audience in four-part harmony at the beginning of the conference. What also caught my eye was that they projected the sheet music up on the screen for that hymn instead of only projecting the words. If you are new to this publication, I have a previous post (about a month back) on the usefulness of displaying the musical score on the screens in worship services.
The One-Anotherness of Singing
Talking to and observing people at the conference only strengthens my determination that we must help folks see that we all long for the one-another-ness (or togetherness) that singing together brings both in the context of worship and everyday Christian life. After all, we are singing creatures made by a singing Creator.1
A widespread technological age means we won’t mind being sung to (or at). But, deep down, we were made to partake in and with the communal activity of song. Something enlivens the singer when he or she joins their voice with others in a choir or congregational setting. Maybe they sing a hymn or a choral anthem. In both cases, there is a forming and molding of the singer(s) beyond the text of the song.
Here is the principle problem as I see it. We’ve flattened and undersold singing’s value. As a result, we don’t work to have the music we sing exude with as much meaning and glory as we might if we had a better understanding of what was happening to us and a better understanding of how different song forms and styles can reinforce and further show the community that is singing.
A Beatles Sing-a-long
Not all buildings are constructed with equal craftsmanship, sturdiness, functionality, or beauty. The same goes for music. As it relates to singing, not all music is singable and accessible. Some rhythms and melodies don’t lend themselves to singing in large groups together in a sing-a-long. For instance, it would be easier for three hundred people to sing along with the Beatles’ Let It Be or Hey Jude than Penny Lane or All You Need is Love. The first two have rhythms that lend themselves to singing together. Penny Lane is more irregular and melodically diverse, as is All You Need is Love. All four songs are well-known; it might be hard to imagine my distinction being significant. But set aside that all of these are familiar and focus on ease of syncing voices on the rhythms and melody changes that happen differently in these two categories. As much as we might like all four of these Beatle standards, they are not equally singable by a large group. No problem for “The Fab Four” as soloists, but it’s not as easy for a group to sing en masse. Unless they know it forwards and backward. Since it is the Beatles, they do know it. Hopefully, you still get my point.
Now, think about singing a hymn or psalm together in a community. Singing together is more multi-faceted than merely syncing of voices. It is more than just musically communicating the stanzas of a hymn or song of praise with our voices aloud. It is also about layering and amen-ing that text with the harmony of voices and instruments, picturing the text with the music, and more. All these things work together to form the singer and the listener. For this reason, we must diligently work to deepen and mature in what we sing and how we sing it.
Corpus Christi Cantat
The Body of Christ Sings. Historically, in the Christian church, singing together in combined voices in layers of harmony was also about the unified corporate picture of singing as it was about proclaiming praise to the Triune God. Voices singing together in unison/harmony in worship reaffirms the idea that the church is the body of Christ (Corpus Christi) joined together. This body has historically understood formal worship on Sundays as corporate worship. This descriptor has informed the singing practice in our churches, even if it is not often explicitly stated.
If worship is corporate, then the music ought to be corporate in style, function, and beauty. The rhythms should be accessible by the mass of people joining their voices together. Much like an army of one hundred marching rather than linking arms and walking together, our music must have the corporate qualities of a march. It is warfare, and it should be militant because it is God’s people on the march, so to speak.
Problem & Solution
Despite more access to music, there is not the same correlation to more ability to make music and sing with understanding. People need to be able to sing, read, and write music in greater prevalence for the culture of singing to grow and mature. This is why churches must take seriously the music literacy of its people. This is why Christian schools should focus on music as much as English grammar and arithmetic. The focus should be on graduating students who can read, sing, and do some writing down of music regardless of career aspirations.
Throughout the Sing Conference, there was a repeated sentiment made by the speakers and attendees—the refreshing quality of hearing people sing together, particularly when it was a cappella. We have to get serious about music for all of God’s people. It’s not enough to write good lyrics. With the growth of our lyrics ought to come a proportional growth in the beauty and complexity of the songs paired with it. For too long, we have been relying on teaching our people to sing in our services by rote repetition. That has limited the ways in which the music can amen the text. We have settled for too simplified of forms and melodies.
Until we get serious about the music literacy side and its implications on accessibility and singability, we will be limited in our musical ability to wed music and text together in glorious and meaningful ways. Until we get serious about teaching people to sing for themselves by note instead of always by rote, we will continue to see less than ideal amounts of singing in the church, no matter if the lyrics are of stellar quality as they often are with the hymn texts of the Gettys and others. While education today is touted as the universal answer for all problems, in this instance, a renewed commitment to music education in the church is just the thing we should be prioritizing. That’s how we will get the community singing together towards maturity. And it’s another way we will see blessings come to God’s people and the world as a result.
For more information on hymnody, see this article on Rhythmic Hymnody from last year:
Zephaniah 3:17 says the Lord will “rejoice over you with singing.”