Worship and Music, River of no Return
River of no return. A helpless situation regarding worship and the art and language of music.
I am writing this article not without substance and preparation. I am attempting to objectively lay it out to plead for change. I do not want any reader to belittle what I have to say in this matter. But to hear me, and in all sincerity give this issue an objective evaluation. Hopefully we could do something in resolving the problems caused by this blessed but yet divisive medium, called music. Therefore, I need to qualify myself.
I am, by profession, an expert in Ethnomusicology specialized in East Asia, music professor (voice and choir over 40 years at college level. I thrive in music performance and production. I have been thoroughly educated in both music and Biblical theology. I was/am bred and raised in classical music, but versatile also in Pop, Jazz and country. I sing and direct music of all kinds including Ethnic, Pop, Jazz, Classical, Baroque, Romantic, Modern, Broadway. I sing Canto pop too. I play cello, trombone and play and own four saxes. I have led music in worship for numerous years in small, as well as very large churches of the evangelistic persuasion.
Now, the substance of this issue:
This morning, as in many mornings in worship, I was blessed by the words of the songs at the service. Though the form and structure of the selected songs were difficult for most of the congregation, I appreciated the pop style of those Christian songs. (I appreciate the classic hymns too, as much, if not more.) However, many things there had stopped me from really having a good time with the Lord, worshiping Him together with the people gathered there.
1. I am a voice teacher and vocalist and I have a good range so I was able to reach the low D of the first song they were leading us. The highest was only a B. which is anti climatic, not being high enough for any climatic moment in the song. (Most people can sing higher notes if they got excited enough.) Most people (80%) couldn’t reach way down there (to D) because they do not have that range. Obviously quite a lot of worshipers (~800 in the congregation) just mouth the song atonally, (in their talking voice range; our speaking range is normally in the lower third of our possible vocal range, but when we are excited, our range could reach rather high. e.g. when we are exited and yelling, and when women scream.) because they were tone challenged, which bothered me a lot, particularly when they were loud and off. (Fortunately, to my delight and dismay, most people just quit. Delight, because they wouldn’t bother me, dismay, because they should all be singing.) The chosen song did have a climatic point, the pop singer/song leader on the piano was an alto. (leading from the piano attracts admiration, though most pop songs in church are very easy to play and do not need much skills.) Like most pop singers, when they have both male and female singers as lead vocals, the female vocalists were usually alto (low voice) and the male a tenor. (high voice) e.g. Sonny and Cher. In this case, the alto song leader on the piano sounds very good because she has the quality of a super high tenor which most people learned to admire and appreciate by cultural acquisition but never imagined that they themselves could sing like that. (e.g. the three tenors, Pavarotti etc. who were vocal gymnasts, very admirable and treasured. BTW, it is abnormal to honor high tenors more than Baritones and Basses, many of whom are as skillful as the tenors, which is a social and historical unfair phenomenon.) So people admire the singer/song-leader and her glorious singing voice and range very much, but they were not able to participate much. If the congregation is supposed to worship through singing, expressing with the words of the song, enhanced by the melodic movement and harmony, this lack of ability to participate is an evidence of the failure of the leadership in fulfilling the purpose of worship where the singing of the congregation is more important than the singing of the leaders. They might as well sing solos and give a recital, not asking the congregation to sing. The song was called “I am chosen.” A wonderful song for soloists, but in terms of form and structure of the melody, it was not suitable for many in the congregation not only because of the rather complicated form of the melody, but mainly because of the range, being too low. (The common range of any congregation is roughly from Bb to D) The chosen song lacked the high energy, climatic high note which for an average congregation is D. (or a little higher if the energy of the song leader is high and he/she was able to inspire the congregation to get excited enough to raise their range without knowing.) Unfortunately, two out of the three songs this morning were similar. It was very disappointing. The simple solution to this problem is to transpose the songs, a third up in this case. Most song leader/pianists do not believe in this need, because they are too self centered, they also could not do this transposition, nor would want to do the work in transposing the song to the appropriate range.
2. In most situations, the song leader did not choose music that were within the range of the congregation. They tended to choose the songs because they liked them, melodically and musically, or they got the songs from some music conference or worship music peddler. Most song leaders has some background and experience in music, they tended to choose songs that they can sing easily without consideration of the fact that most people in the congregagtion do not have music abilities. As a song leader, one must focus on the musical competancy of the congregation, the preferred style, the theme of the event and the range and style of music of the congregation. (remember and use the principle that says, “You get what you advertize for.”) This is true also in choosing hymns. Old hymns (like the Lutheran hymns) were originally written for the congregation. They were first written within the range of the congregation. (Bach wrote the Cantatas for the Lutheran worship in which the congregation was invited to be involved in singing the melodies of the solo/unison chorale. But soon they developed into the hymn/SATB chorale format. In this case the congregation’s singing part was used as the melody for the soprano part. (in most cases) For SATB, the soprano parts that holds the melody were raised to accommodate the alto part. For our use in the contemporary church, since we are singing unison melody (soprano Part) we must transpose them back to the original range so that they are within the range of the congregation, so that they can sing all together in unison. Unfortunately most church musicians are ignorant of this fact and do not want to do this transposition job. As a result, they, by losing sight of the congregation, use the hymns straight from the SATB chorale format in which the melody is in the soprano part. That is why the congregations find it hard to sing them because they are too high. Moreover, the style of church music hundreds of years ago were stiff and formal. (decades and centuries ago, people can sing higher than people nowadays and the their church music style was more rigid. The Baptist hymnal was transposed down in the seventies to accommodate the lowering of the voice range of the general church populace.) Over and above this, we all should consider the stylistic change from the old days to the modern. In my opinion, while preserving the melodic simplicity, beauty and integrity, we should rearrange the valuable traditional hymns into easy tempo and easy melodic movement and range to accommodate the contemporary congregation’s style and preference. Ministry workers, pastors and leaders should also write meaningful poems and song texts for the musicians to put them to music using the appropriate melodies and styles for particular congregations. Most church musicians, including those who are trained in seminaries are musicians only because they do not have understanding of theology nor are they able to write meaningful and worshipful texts for songs. Following the footsteps of pop musicians, they stoop down to write mainly songs that centered on and about “Me”, and “I” instead of “God.” because that approach make more money. Most of them do not have gifts in literature, they mostly lack cultural, emotional maturity. A mediocre guitarist could easily be put in the pulpit to lead music even when they are new to the faith. Pastors fear rejection when they claim too much as musicians. However, Bach had done that very successfully some five hundred years ago!! The American religious revival that happened two hundreds years ago was filled with simple hymns and choruses where the choruses which were full of simple chord progressions and melodic lines helped sprouted the contemporary choruses and gospel songs. Unfortunately, the Rock-n-Roll rebellious and licentiate life style and music took over and we are now being guided, pulled by our noses, by them in the church music field. This is a river of no return because I believe nothing can be done to restore the Godly glory that once was so evident in church music.
3. I observed that quite a lot of worshipers in the congregation were raising their hands, waving their hands, bouncing and dancing in their pews. These behavior did not impress me as something done in Spirit and in Truth. (truthfulness and integrity) They are more like a customary brainless, emotional expression of ecstasy. The words to the songs were expressing the willing to suffer for the Lord, sacrificing our lives for the Lord. I sincerely believe that the waving of hands and the bouncing, dancing were really not a truthful and spiritual expression of those people because if they were, they would not do it in public very casually. The words were too frightening for me to sing in the public and be honest about it. If the Lord called me to die for Him, and if I were willing to do so, I would have been either dead already or at least I would do it quietly on my knees in my inner room, bowing to Him in sincere submission. Definitely not doing that out in the public among hundreds of fellow believers in a casual manner. (Mary was alone when the angel Gabriel appeared her and called her to submit to God selection to become the mother of Jesus the Messiah. That proposal could mean certain death by stoning!) I can only come to conclusion that these people were really excited by the raw power of music. (not by the super spiritual words) They were immersed in the emotions produced by merely the musical style much like that of the groupies of a rock group. (I have personally witnessed many of such instances in rock concerts, some of which I have produced in which I puposely wanted to produce these results for monetary gain and popularity.) This kind of behavior always bother me because as an ethnomusicologist, I witnessed a problem in the integrity between words and reality, spiritualism and secularism. With the out of the ordinary behavior, they were not meaning what they were singing, but just went through the motions as a sign of spiritual expression. In order to be sincere, I would rather sing about the greatness of the Lord and all His attributes than to decide right away, at the onset of a public worship, that I would die for the Lord even if that could be what I sincerely feel at the moment. This kind of expression are best done in private as suggested in the scripture. (II Cor. 5:13) I cannot even sing those words myself because I have never been called to die or suffer persecution for the Lord. I do not have the deep commitment or the spiritual depth to be able to sing those words without lying and insulting the Lord. Fortunately, the traditional hymns, though stylistically they are of antiquity, do not have much of this problem. Most of them address to the Lord and about the Lord and were written with great care, respect and literacy.
This is the river of no return I am writing about. I said this because the musical schism between the old and young, people’s musical stylistic preference is too big to cross and the ignorance in music of the clergy, theological community and the music leadership among our churches is too great for any one to do any salvaging work for. I just throw up my hand and had to give up and suffer in the worship service. I have been silent for over thirty years.
Lord have mercy on us. Our church music is glorifying the musicians more than God. Our music mainly serves to please our hunger for music aesthetics (Margaret Mead said, “music is a basic human need.”) and most of us have substituted the joy of the Lord with the joy of music and don’t know the difference. Many people go to church and expect a spiritual education/nurture. They would torlorate the music to get to the sermon time. Some people enjoy the music because it is like getting a shot of “spiritual” heroin (emotional high), but when the effect dies down, they would come again the next Sunday to have the same fix. Worshipers do not grow much spiritually through the music service. In my opinion it mainly is a religious entertainment. Like an appetizer. But if the sermon is not satisfying their spiritual need, they despair, become rebellious and anti pastor, or just find another church or fall away.
There is a lot of musical issues we are facing in our churches nowadays. Many of these can be resolved if the musicians and pastors knew more about the mechanics of music, vocal techniques and worship theology. Well, most of us like music, do music, but very few know how to use it for God. I tought music for over twenty years in different seminaries. The things that I taught has never been deemed a neccessity. Most seminarians only want to improved their singing or piano skills a little bit, basically that is not something that they could find a job by. “I am a pastor, not a musician” is their usual defense. “I only use musicians, I do not do music.” I will let the musicians do their job. But do we ask the sales person to fix your car? Do we ask the race car driver to fix your car? We all need to know whom to ask to lead worship, a pastor, of course. It is the job of the pastor to ensure that the worshipers practice personal and corperate worship. In worship, music is not the end, it is only a means. It is not worship as of itself, it is only an enhancement of our expressions of worship. Well, in the meantime life goes on and the problem never solved. How will God evaluate our music?! I have to be faithful to God even if there is no one in my camp and no one is listening.
For further reading please follow my link to other resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGc746h_sfM http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/EthnomusicologyMissions.dochttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/EthnomusicologyMissions.doc http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/MerchandizingMusic.doc http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/ShareMusicJoshua.doc
I am writing this article not without substance and preparation. I am attempting to objectively lay it out to plead for change. I do not want any reader to belittle what I have to say in this matter. But to hear me, and in all sincerity give this issue an objective evaluation. Hopefully we could do something in resolving the problems caused by this blessed but yet divisive medium, called music. Therefore, I need to qualify myself.
I am, by profession, an expert in Ethnomusicology specialized in East Asia, music professor (voice and choir over 40 years at college level. I thrive in music performance and production. I have been thoroughly educated in both music and Biblical theology. I was/am bred and raised in classical music, but versatile also in Pop, Jazz and country. I sing and direct music of all kinds including Ethnic, Pop, Jazz, Classical, Baroque, Romantic, Modern, Broadway. I sing Canto pop too. I play cello, trombone and play and own four saxes. I have led music in worship for numerous years in small, as well as very large churches of the evangelistic persuasion.
Now, the substance of this issue:
This morning, as in many mornings in worship, I was blessed by the words of the songs at the service. Though the form and structure of the selected songs were difficult for most of the congregation, I appreciated the pop style of those Christian songs. (I appreciate the classic hymns too, as much, if not more.) However, many things there had stopped me from really having a good time with the Lord, worshiping Him together with the people gathered there.
1. I am a voice teacher and vocalist and I have a good range so I was able to reach the low D of the first song they were leading us. The highest was only a B. which is anti climatic, not being high enough for any climatic moment in the song. (Most people can sing higher notes if they got excited enough.) Most people (80%) couldn’t reach way down there (to D) because they do not have that range. Obviously quite a lot of worshipers (~800 in the congregation) just mouth the song atonally, (in their talking voice range; our speaking range is normally in the lower third of our possible vocal range, but when we are excited, our range could reach rather high. e.g. when we are exited and yelling, and when women scream.) because they were tone challenged, which bothered me a lot, particularly when they were loud and off. (Fortunately, to my delight and dismay, most people just quit. Delight, because they wouldn’t bother me, dismay, because they should all be singing.) The chosen song did have a climatic point, the pop singer/song leader on the piano was an alto. (leading from the piano attracts admiration, though most pop songs in church are very easy to play and do not need much skills.) Like most pop singers, when they have both male and female singers as lead vocals, the female vocalists were usually alto (low voice) and the male a tenor. (high voice) e.g. Sonny and Cher. In this case, the alto song leader on the piano sounds very good because she has the quality of a super high tenor which most people learned to admire and appreciate by cultural acquisition but never imagined that they themselves could sing like that. (e.g. the three tenors, Pavarotti etc. who were vocal gymnasts, very admirable and treasured. BTW, it is abnormal to honor high tenors more than Baritones and Basses, many of whom are as skillful as the tenors, which is a social and historical unfair phenomenon.) So people admire the singer/song-leader and her glorious singing voice and range very much, but they were not able to participate much. If the congregation is supposed to worship through singing, expressing with the words of the song, enhanced by the melodic movement and harmony, this lack of ability to participate is an evidence of the failure of the leadership in fulfilling the purpose of worship where the singing of the congregation is more important than the singing of the leaders. They might as well sing solos and give a recital, not asking the congregation to sing. The song was called “I am chosen.” A wonderful song for soloists, but in terms of form and structure of the melody, it was not suitable for many in the congregation not only because of the rather complicated form of the melody, but mainly because of the range, being too low. (The common range of any congregation is roughly from Bb to D) The chosen song lacked the high energy, climatic high note which for an average congregation is D. (or a little higher if the energy of the song leader is high and he/she was able to inspire the congregation to get excited enough to raise their range without knowing.) Unfortunately, two out of the three songs this morning were similar. It was very disappointing. The simple solution to this problem is to transpose the songs, a third up in this case. Most song leader/pianists do not believe in this need, because they are too self centered, they also could not do this transposition, nor would want to do the work in transposing the song to the appropriate range.
2. In most situations, the song leader did not choose music that were within the range of the congregation. They tended to choose the songs because they liked them, melodically and musically, or they got the songs from some music conference or worship music peddler. Most song leaders has some background and experience in music, they tended to choose songs that they can sing easily without consideration of the fact that most people in the congregagtion do not have music abilities. As a song leader, one must focus on the musical competancy of the congregation, the preferred style, the theme of the event and the range and style of music of the congregation. (remember and use the principle that says, “You get what you advertize for.”) This is true also in choosing hymns. Old hymns (like the Lutheran hymns) were originally written for the congregation. They were first written within the range of the congregation. (Bach wrote the Cantatas for the Lutheran worship in which the congregation was invited to be involved in singing the melodies of the solo/unison chorale. But soon they developed into the hymn/SATB chorale format. In this case the congregation’s singing part was used as the melody for the soprano part. (in most cases) For SATB, the soprano parts that holds the melody were raised to accommodate the alto part. For our use in the contemporary church, since we are singing unison melody (soprano Part) we must transpose them back to the original range so that they are within the range of the congregation, so that they can sing all together in unison. Unfortunately most church musicians are ignorant of this fact and do not want to do this transposition job. As a result, they, by losing sight of the congregation, use the hymns straight from the SATB chorale format in which the melody is in the soprano part. That is why the congregations find it hard to sing them because they are too high. Moreover, the style of church music hundreds of years ago were stiff and formal. (decades and centuries ago, people can sing higher than people nowadays and the their church music style was more rigid. The Baptist hymnal was transposed down in the seventies to accommodate the lowering of the voice range of the general church populace.) Over and above this, we all should consider the stylistic change from the old days to the modern. In my opinion, while preserving the melodic simplicity, beauty and integrity, we should rearrange the valuable traditional hymns into easy tempo and easy melodic movement and range to accommodate the contemporary congregation’s style and preference. Ministry workers, pastors and leaders should also write meaningful poems and song texts for the musicians to put them to music using the appropriate melodies and styles for particular congregations. Most church musicians, including those who are trained in seminaries are musicians only because they do not have understanding of theology nor are they able to write meaningful and worshipful texts for songs. Following the footsteps of pop musicians, they stoop down to write mainly songs that centered on and about “Me”, and “I” instead of “God.” because that approach make more money. Most of them do not have gifts in literature, they mostly lack cultural, emotional maturity. A mediocre guitarist could easily be put in the pulpit to lead music even when they are new to the faith. Pastors fear rejection when they claim too much as musicians. However, Bach had done that very successfully some five hundred years ago!! The American religious revival that happened two hundreds years ago was filled with simple hymns and choruses where the choruses which were full of simple chord progressions and melodic lines helped sprouted the contemporary choruses and gospel songs. Unfortunately, the Rock-n-Roll rebellious and licentiate life style and music took over and we are now being guided, pulled by our noses, by them in the church music field. This is a river of no return because I believe nothing can be done to restore the Godly glory that once was so evident in church music.
3. I observed that quite a lot of worshipers in the congregation were raising their hands, waving their hands, bouncing and dancing in their pews. These behavior did not impress me as something done in Spirit and in Truth. (truthfulness and integrity) They are more like a customary brainless, emotional expression of ecstasy. The words to the songs were expressing the willing to suffer for the Lord, sacrificing our lives for the Lord. I sincerely believe that the waving of hands and the bouncing, dancing were really not a truthful and spiritual expression of those people because if they were, they would not do it in public very casually. The words were too frightening for me to sing in the public and be honest about it. If the Lord called me to die for Him, and if I were willing to do so, I would have been either dead already or at least I would do it quietly on my knees in my inner room, bowing to Him in sincere submission. Definitely not doing that out in the public among hundreds of fellow believers in a casual manner. (Mary was alone when the angel Gabriel appeared her and called her to submit to God selection to become the mother of Jesus the Messiah. That proposal could mean certain death by stoning!) I can only come to conclusion that these people were really excited by the raw power of music. (not by the super spiritual words) They were immersed in the emotions produced by merely the musical style much like that of the groupies of a rock group. (I have personally witnessed many of such instances in rock concerts, some of which I have produced in which I puposely wanted to produce these results for monetary gain and popularity.) This kind of behavior always bother me because as an ethnomusicologist, I witnessed a problem in the integrity between words and reality, spiritualism and secularism. With the out of the ordinary behavior, they were not meaning what they were singing, but just went through the motions as a sign of spiritual expression. In order to be sincere, I would rather sing about the greatness of the Lord and all His attributes than to decide right away, at the onset of a public worship, that I would die for the Lord even if that could be what I sincerely feel at the moment. This kind of expression are best done in private as suggested in the scripture. (II Cor. 5:13) I cannot even sing those words myself because I have never been called to die or suffer persecution for the Lord. I do not have the deep commitment or the spiritual depth to be able to sing those words without lying and insulting the Lord. Fortunately, the traditional hymns, though stylistically they are of antiquity, do not have much of this problem. Most of them address to the Lord and about the Lord and were written with great care, respect and literacy.
This is the river of no return I am writing about. I said this because the musical schism between the old and young, people’s musical stylistic preference is too big to cross and the ignorance in music of the clergy, theological community and the music leadership among our churches is too great for any one to do any salvaging work for. I just throw up my hand and had to give up and suffer in the worship service. I have been silent for over thirty years.
Lord have mercy on us. Our church music is glorifying the musicians more than God. Our music mainly serves to please our hunger for music aesthetics (Margaret Mead said, “music is a basic human need.”) and most of us have substituted the joy of the Lord with the joy of music and don’t know the difference. Many people go to church and expect a spiritual education/nurture. They would torlorate the music to get to the sermon time. Some people enjoy the music because it is like getting a shot of “spiritual” heroin (emotional high), but when the effect dies down, they would come again the next Sunday to have the same fix. Worshipers do not grow much spiritually through the music service. In my opinion it mainly is a religious entertainment. Like an appetizer. But if the sermon is not satisfying their spiritual need, they despair, become rebellious and anti pastor, or just find another church or fall away.
There is a lot of musical issues we are facing in our churches nowadays. Many of these can be resolved if the musicians and pastors knew more about the mechanics of music, vocal techniques and worship theology. Well, most of us like music, do music, but very few know how to use it for God. I tought music for over twenty years in different seminaries. The things that I taught has never been deemed a neccessity. Most seminarians only want to improved their singing or piano skills a little bit, basically that is not something that they could find a job by. “I am a pastor, not a musician” is their usual defense. “I only use musicians, I do not do music.” I will let the musicians do their job. But do we ask the sales person to fix your car? Do we ask the race car driver to fix your car? We all need to know whom to ask to lead worship, a pastor, of course. It is the job of the pastor to ensure that the worshipers practice personal and corperate worship. In worship, music is not the end, it is only a means. It is not worship as of itself, it is only an enhancement of our expressions of worship. Well, in the meantime life goes on and the problem never solved. How will God evaluate our music?! I have to be faithful to God even if there is no one in my camp and no one is listening.
For further reading please follow my link to other resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGc746h_sfM http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/EthnomusicologyMissions.dochttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/EthnomusicologyMissions.doc http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/MerchandizingMusic.doc http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5895743/ShareMusicJoshua.doc