When I speak or lecture on music literacy, I often reference past meanings of words (etymology) and how they help us recover some of the lost implications that words have, particularly in understanding music. I try to limit my etymological references because I think, “people are not here to study words.” But in a sense, that’s precisely what we are here to do—study the Word. The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. The Logos or Ratio reveals Himself in His divinely inspired words and nature. The philosophical side of this subject is above my paygrade and ability. Still, there is a witness of words ready to testify to God’s goodness to us in all areas of life. I’m happy to limit myself to some musical words from time to time to help us tune our thinking about God’s musical world.
Take the word temperament. If you’ve studied music history, chances are you’ve seen or interacted with this word in learning the music of J. S. Bach or the keyboard instruments that predated the modern piano. Piano tuners are trained in several temperaments depending on where they work in the world. It is why it is interesting to note that when people used to talk of someone having a “bad temper,” they were harkening back to the original use of the word temperamentum or “proper mixture, a mixing in due proportion, from temperate, to mix.”1
It was not so much that someone with a terrible temper had aggressive thoughts or actions towards another. Instead, it was the idea that if you had a bad temper, your mind and body were out of accord or out of tune with the harmony of God’s creation and design—including those around you. The point of this discussion is not to be philosophical. My goal is to highlight how some hidden in plain sight words can both encourage us musically and spiritually. Words and their meanings matter. Stay tuned (yes, I see what I did there). I plan on looking at a few more musical words. The next one will be one of the least-known words omitted from one of the most well-known Christmas hymns.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/temperament