Music & Choirs

Church Music: What is it?

 In this season of primaries and politics, I did my own little poll … but of a different kind.  I asked a variety of people from various denominations and backgrounds:

 1.  “What is church music?” What I found was surprising.  There wasn’t the gap between young people and the older ones that I suspected.  Some of the younger ones liked the meditative music, while some of the older ones liked the more contemporary sound of drums, guitars and piano… and vice versa.

 2. “What kind of church music brings you closer to God, if any?”  Again, the answers were varied.  Some thought that instrumental music (without words) made it easier to concentrate on their prayer.  For others, the text was most important and meaningful, combined with a melody that’s easy to follow and sing (not too high, not too low.)

 3.  “Do you like to participate in the music?”  Here, the answers were conditional.  People like to participate in the music if they don’t have to worry about making mistakes or making fools of themselves.  The music should be familiar.  If not, they will simply listen to it.

 So, what do we gain from this knowledge?  Basically, that just as our faces, bodies, thoughts, and talents are different, so are our perceptions and tastes in church music.

 Amen.

~Aletha “Cookie” Fassl

May God bless you and your good works!