By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
Several years ago, when I was afforded the privilege of contributing this arts column in the local media, it dawned on me that I could suddenly be a target in the “Letters to the Editor” section, a place I did not want to see my name, but so far so good.
Keeping that fear in the back of my mind, there is a subject that I’ve long wanted to broach, but out of an abundance of caution have shied away from.
But this week, I’ve decided to attempt to present my thoughts on Contemporary Christian music and to be clear, this is not aimed at any particular church (including my own) but is based on my travels to numerous churches as well as from watching many online services.
I approach this as a musician.
I’ve been a church goer my entire life but I’m not about to preach to anyone. I will leave that to the learned and qualified. This is strictly about music.
For most of my church life, several times per service I would hear a pastor say something akin to “please stand and turn to #4 in your hymnal as we sing “How Great Thou Art”.
However, in providing my best estimate, approximately 15 years ago the Christian Church witnessed the beginning of a music revolution that brought much of that tradition to a screeching halt, irking many of the older adherents.
Suddenly, many churches became much like modern-day politics with people divided into one of two camps, those who loved the more contemporary music, and those who loathed the sudden departure from well-known, “hymns of the faith”, with very few staking the middle ground.
Choir Directors, the choirs, hymn books, organists, and the organ itself were marginalized at a lightning pace after hundreds of years of being accepted as integral elements of traditional church services.
They have been largely replaced by the ubiquitous “Praise Team”.
I was most aware of this as I ended up being a sounding board for many of the disgruntled, as if I had any control over the trend.
My first point of discussion will be in regard to the music itself.
Mirroring my take on secular music, I like some of it but dislike most of it.
Christian music today emulates secular music with weekly radio Top 40 Hit lists.
There are a few extremely big writers whose name appears on many songs (ex. Chris Tomlin) but the speed at which the music is turned out is blinding as Christian music is now big business.
We used to sing hymns that are in the Public Domain but now every church “licences” the music they sing, submit reports on what was sung last year, how many times, and composers are remunerated for the use of their songs.
As I said, Christian music is big business.
The commercial nature of it makes me think back to the Sha Na Na song of the 1970’s “Are You on the Top 40 of Your Lordy, Lordy, Lordy”.
I won’t comment on the Theology of the lyrics because again, that is not my domain, but with Christian music forever being heavy on metaphors, similes, and analogies, I have a feeling that sometimes composers simply try too hard.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that one of the 7 Elements of Music I taught in school was form.
This is very personal, but I have a significant dislike of the formulaic “form” that many contemporary Christian songs employ.
Long Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge (likely 2 or 3 times) Chorus, Chorus again, last half of the Chorus, Last Line of the Chorus then long outro. The repetition makes many songs FAR too lengthy and “I already sang that line! Why do I need to sing it again, and again, and again”?
My main complaint however is that some of the music is anything but conducive to group singing, as the metre can very irregular and difficult to follow.
Most traditional hymns that have been sung for several hundred years, are incredibly easy to sing largely because they follow the approach of one note for each syllable.
In a recent column I was praising the beauty of voices united, whether they be speaking or singing, but for years I sat in the choir loft looking out over the congregation and was a Crown Witness to what I’ve long referred to as “The Mumble Factor”.
Some songs are just too difficult for groups to sing and stay together on.
Mirroring the difficulty of composing a song that becomes a classic Christmas hit, I will suggest that very little of the voluminous output of contemporary Christian music will ever become part of the canon of Christian music.
Having made all of those complaints however, there ARE some fantastic contemporary songs as well!
Another problem I have with contemporary music church services is that seemingly most services have migrated away from Hymn Books and instead choose to have lyrics projected on a screen.
The music has been “dumbed down” and those who can read music and are capable of helping lead the singing, are left to learn new music by rote.
As a pseudo musician, I find that rather disheartening.
A common complaint of contemporary Christian music services is the fact that unlike the pipe organ, the instrumentation of modern-day Praise Teams needs to be amplified.
I make no judgement on the use of these instruments in a church setting as I like them all.
However, the pipe organ is a very powerful instrument and most capable of accompanying large crowds, filling cavernous spaces, and was always under the control of a trained musician.
An organist can alter the volume and palette of sounds through the tasteful use of the organ “stops” at their disposal.
Traditionalists are often disgruntled with the sound pressure levels (ie. volume) that Praise Teams often present and I’ve been in services where monitor levels are so high that they supersede the audio in the main speakers.
However, not all the blame for high volume levels can be laid at the feet of the musicians as they are at the mercy of a (usually) amateur sound technician for which in most churches, is all they have at their disposal.
I will suggest that ideally, only a musician should operate a sound board for a variety of reasons that I do not have the time to go into here, but turning knobs and pushing faders is only the beginning of understanding how to craft an acceptable sound.
An experienced musician can provide a trained ear in terms of tuning, rhythmic precision, balance, and the knowledge of theoretical concepts that may prove to be important to a performance.
I’ve experienced services where the sound technician obviously has “hearing issues” and I’ve had to depart because the sound pressure level was too high for comfortable listening.
I don’t want anyone to interpret my words as having no tolerance for contemporary Christian music because that would not be true, and I also recognize that many of the traditional “hymns of the faith” contain language and terms that are antiquated and perhaps should be abandoned.
Since this musical revolution began, I believe that the majority of church goers have come accept the contemporary approach to Christian music and particularly, a blend of traditional and contemporary music.
I merely think that some aspects can be improved upon.
As my wise mother-in-law often says, “the Lord loves a try-er”.
Now please stand, turn to hymn #4, and join me in singing “How Great Thou Art”.
