Section 1: Purposes and Intentions of Music

Question #1 “Human and Divine Purpose”

TEXT: Psalm 8:1,2; Matthew 21:15-16; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33; 14:26,40; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-24; 1 Chronicles 15:1-24; James 1:17

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Why do we make and use music? Music has its origin in God. As all things from God, it speaks of God and His nature. Music is a language.

A. Instructions to Mood

Instructions of “mood” influence interpretation of the different parts of music: dynamics,rhythm,tonality, etc. How complimentary is the “MUSIC” with the instructed “MOOD”?

Praise and Worship (distinction and meaning) -- EXULTANT and ADMIRATION.

1 Chronicles 15:1 -- David was preparing a place for the Ark of God

1 Chronicles 15:13 a breach upon us … for we sought him not after the due order

1 Chronicles 15:16-24 Music was a significant part of the “due order”

• Close detail is given to the WHO: sanctified priests,
• singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice “with joy”. “- With joy” 1 Chronicles 15:16? (glad, joyful, merry, gleeful)

term	meaning		term	meaning
Lacrimoso:	tearfully sad		Maestoso	majestic
Agitato	in an agitated manner		Con amore	with love
Con brio	with power		Con anima	with spirit
Cantabile	singable		Con fuoco	with fire
Affettuoso	tenderly		Dolce	sweet
Expressivo	fierce, heavy		Scherzando	playful, joking
Volante	speedy but light		Slancio	enthusiastic

What are some other instructions of “MOOD” given in the Bible? (at least 600 references to music and many are in relation to human “EMOTION”. Parts of “EMOTION” are communicated by all the different parts of music and not just one.) [motion and emotion, memory,]

• 1 Samuel 16:23 What could have been the “MOOD”?
• Psalm 4 and 67 “Neginoth” stringed instruments ‘- The Chief Musician’ for temple service Psalm 4 Where is the INSTRUCTION coming from?
• Beach Boys maharishi east mysticism. Brian Wilson said I was possessed.

Was Lucifer in charge of music in Heaven?

• Eze 28:12-19, 13 (prepared=direct; covering cherub=Heb.9:5; Exodus 25:20; 1 Kings 6:27);
• Isaiah 14:12-15 (song of the morning=morning star; Lucifer=heilel=Nebuchadnezzar)
• Jude 9 (Michael, the archangel, was not “self courageous” when confronting satan was said “The Lord rebuke thee.”)
• CONCLUSION: Lucifer was influential in Heaven and angels do worship God in Heaven in song. (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8 ]

Origin. Where does music come from? “INSPIRATION” experiences. CCM and Sing a new song … (9 verses) Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isaiah 42:10; Revelation 5:9; Revelation14:3 [new kind, Fresh experience] B. ### B. Parts of Music Let’s investigate the purpose of music and partially demystify it by considering it in 8 parts: Dynamics, Form, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, Texture, Timbre and Tonality.

1. Dynamics: how loud or soft (forte, piano) LATIN:Pianissimo (pp) – very quiet; Piano (p) – quiet; Mezzo forte (mf) – moderately loud; Forte (f) – loud; Fortissimo (ff) – very loud; Sforzando (sfz) – a sudden, forced loud

2. Form: the order and arrangement of the parts of the music Groups, divisions, repetitions (ie, verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus)

3. Harmony: the instruments that support the melody with chords In any given key, there are eight degrees.Example C Major:

• C - I - 1st degree - “the tonic” - MAJOR
• D - ii - 2nd degree - “the supertonic - MINOR
• E - iii - 3rd degree - “the mediant” - MINOR
• F - IV - 4th degree – “the subdominant” - MAJOR
• G - V - 5th degree – “the dominant” - MAJOR
• A - vi - 6th degree – “the submediant” - MINOR
• B - vii - 7th degree - “the subtonic” - DIMINISHED
• C - I2 - 8th degree – “the octave” - MAJOR

There are various classes and types of chord progressions: 1-4-1-5:

• DIATONIC chords: all of the constituent notes are contained within the key.
  • VII “dominant seventh” (root - major third - perfect fifth - minor seventh), G-B-D-F = G7
• CHROMATIC chords: a chord that contains at least one note that is not native to the key of your song.
  • iv ‘minor four’ = ballad, heartfelt, emotional, draws the listener back to your key center., functional chord substitution for dominant V
  • bVII ‘flat seven’ = part of the Mixolydian scale, borrowed chord, Borrowed chords take cues from other musical modes (like Mixolydian in this case) and bring them to the key that your song is in, accessing the sound of other modes.
  • **V/IV “five of four” = can add a sense of tension, builds intrigue, Build a dominant 7th chord off of the tonic note of your key, use the five of four preceding a four chord
• Cyclical Chord Progression (predictable: ascend in fourths and descend in fifths.) **Non-cyclical ** chord progressions (unpredictable)

Consonance , dissonance

4. Melody: a series of pitches that make a tune

5. Rhythm: how long or short a sound is

rhythm - a strong, regular, repeated pattern of sound

• Common Time (4/4)

• The Backbeat

example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbUoM9praog

a steady pronounced rhythm stressing the second and fourth beats of a four-beat measure.

On a drum set: Beats 1 & 3 Played on Bass, Beats 2 & 4 Played on Snare

• Syncopation

Syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm". Syncopation may be effected by accenting normally weak beats in a measure, by resting on a normal accented beat (see image above), or by tying over a note to the next measure.

6. Texture: the layers of sound, how sparse or dense the music is

7. Timbre: the unique sound quality of an instrument or sound

8. Tonality: the overall sound of the music as pleasant (consonant) or unpleasant (dissonant), Major or Minor Key? (happy or sad, consonant or dissonant, brightness spectrum) The musical modes are seven different scales, with seven exclusive flavors about them.

MODES OF A SCALE (7, With C as our base, “What scale has ‘C’ as 2nd, 3rd, etc):

• 1st: Ionian,Major (major tone, C tonic): bright, happy,melodic, joyous (‘sickeningly happy’), singable,majestic,simple, [wwhwwwh]
• 2nd: Dorian (minor tone, flat 3rd & 7th, Bb): mellow, smooth, minor-ish, silky, brighter than minor (6th natural), sadness with a touch of brightness
• 3rd: Phrygian (minor tone, flat 2nd,3rd,6th,7th, Ab): exotic, creepy,dark,tense, middle eastern, mysterious, metal music
• 4th: Lydian (major tone, sharp 4th, G): floaty,quirky,sci-fi,spacy, dreamy,disoriented, disconnected,other worldly,unsettling
• 5th: Mixolydian (major tone, flat 7th, F): bright, upbeat,rockish,irish (bagpipe tuned to Bb Mixolydian), dilutes the happiness, blues, jazz (build up tension) 6th: Aeolian/Minor** (minor tone, flat 3rd,6th,7th, Eb): dark, rock (foundation of modern rock), scifi
• 7th: Locrian (diminished tone, flat 2nd, 3rd, 5th,6th,7th,C#): chaotic, The Locrian mode has five notes in its scale flattened a half-step, [“unusable, unsatisfying”].

Brightness Spectrum (flattening & sharpening): Lydian (#4), Ionian, Mixolydian (b7) ,Dorian (b3, b7),Aeolian (b3, b6, b7),Phrygian (b2, b3, b6, b7),Locrian (b2, b3, b5, b6 , b7)

Chord to Scale in KEY OF C MAJOR:

• Chord I = C Ionian
• Chord ii = D Dorian
• Chord iii = E Phrygian
• Chord IV = F Lydian
• Chord V = G Mixolydian
• Chord vi = A Aeolian
• Chord vii = B Locrian

C. Church Music Should be Educational and Prayerful

Review John Calvin’s “Preface” to the “Psalter”. Summary:

1. [CONDENSED] Preface to the Psalter, John Calvin 1543

As it is a thing much required in Christianity ,..that every one of the faithful ... frequenting the assemblies ... to honor and serve God: so also it is expedient and reasonable that all should know and hear that which is said and done in the temple, thus receiving fruit and edification. ⇒ Everyone should go to church and be edified for their effort.

2. UNDERSTANDING IS ESSENTIAL

For our Lord did not institute the order which we must observe when we convene in his Name, solely to amuse the world by seeing and looking at it; rather, however, he wished that profit would come from it to all his people: as Saint Paul witnesseth, commanding that all which is done in the Church be directed towards the common edification of all: ... Because to say that we are able to have devotion, either at prayers or ceremonies, without understanding anything of them, is a great mockery … .

3. 4 ELEMENTS IN WORSHIP

Now there are briefly three things which our Lord commanded us to observe in our spiritual assemblies: namely, the preaching of His Word, prayers public and solemn, and the administration of the sacraments. .. we have the express commandment of the Holy Spirit that prayers should be made in a language commonly known to the people; and the Apostle has said that people ought not to answer Amen to that prayer which has been said in a foreign tongue [1 Cor. 14:16]. However, this is because that prayers are made in the name and person of all, that each should be a participant. Thus it is a very great impudence on the part of those who introduced the Latin language into the Church where it is not generally understood… ⇒ profit would come from it to all his people: ! Cor. 14:12: there is no edification, unless there is a doctrine.

4. SACRAMENTS CONJOINED WITH DOCTRINE

...And when the matter is examined with common sense, there is no one who will not confess that it is a pure frumpery to amuse the people with symbols which have no meaning for them. Therefore it is easy to see that one profanes the Sacraments of Jesus Christ by administering them so that the people do not at all understand the words which are being said about them. …

5. TWO KINDS OF PRAYERS

... As for public prayers, there are two kinds. The ones with the word alone: the others with singing. And this is not something invented a little time ago. For from the first origin of the Church, this has been so, as appears from the histories. And even St. Paul speaks not only of praying by mouth: but also of singing. And in truth we know by experience that singing has great force and vigor to move and inflame the hearts of men to invoke and praise God with a more vehement and ardent zeal. Care must always be taken that the song be neither light nor frivolous; but that it have weight and majesty (as St. Augustine says), and also, there is a great difference between music which one makes to entertain men at table and in their houses, and the Psalms which are sung in the Church in the presence of God and his angels. But when anyone wishes to judge correctly of the form which is here presented, we hope that it will be found holy and pure, seeing that it is simply directed to the edification of which we have spoken.

6. EXPRESSION THROUGH SINGING

And yet the practice of singing may extend more widely; it is even in the homes and in the fields an incentive for us, as it were, an organ of praise to God, and to lift up our hearts to him, to console us by meditating upon his virtue, goodness, wisdom and justice:... the Holy Spirit exhorts us so carefully throughout the Holy Scriptures to rejoice in God and that all our joy is there reduced to its true end, because he knows how much we are inclined to rejoice in vanity. As thus then our nature draws us and induces us to seek all means of foolish and vicious rejoicing; so, to the contrary, our Lord, to distract us and withdraw us from the temptations of the flesh and of the world, presents us all possible means in order to occupy us in that spiritual joy which he recommends to us so much.

7. IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC

Now among the other things which are proper for recreating man and giving him pleasure, music is either the first, or one of the principal; and it is necessary for us to think that it is a gift of God deputed for that use. Moreover, because of this, we ought to be the more careful not to abuse it, for fear of soiling and contaminating it, converting it our condemnation, where it was dedicated to our profit and use. If there were no other consideration than this alone, it ought indeed to move us to moderate the use of music, to make it serve all honest things; and that it should not give occasion for our giving free rein to dissolution, or making ourselves effeminate in disordered delights, and that it should not become the instrument of lasciviousness nor of any shamelessness. ⇒ It is a Gift from God

8. POWER OF MUSIC

… And in fact, we find by experience that it [music] has a sacred and almost incredible power to move hearts in one way or another. Therefore we ought to be even more diligent in regulating it in such a way that it shall be useful to us and in no way pernicious. For this reason the ancient doctors of the Church complain frequently of this, that the people of their times were addicted to dishonest and shameless songs, which not without cause they referred to and called mortal and Satanic poison for corrupting the world. Moreover, in speaking now of music, I understand two parts: namely the letter, or subject and matter; secondly, the song, or the melody. It is true that every bad word (as St. Paul has said) perverts good manner, but when the melody is with it, it pierces the heart much more strongly, and enters into it; in a like manner as through a funnel, the wine is poured into the vessel; so also the venom and the corruption is distilled to the depths of the heart by the melody. ⇒ there is scarcely in the world anything which is more able to turn or bend this way and that the morals of men, as Plato prudently considered it.

9. WHY THE CHOICE OF THE PSALMS

... St. Augustine has said is true, that no one is able to sing things worthy of God except that which he has received from him. … Wherefore Chrysostom exhorts, as well as the men, the women and the little children to accustom themselves to singing them [PSALMS], in order that this may be a sort of meditation to associate themselves with the company of the angels. ⇒ What is there now to do? It is to have songs not only honest, but also holy, which will be like spurs to incite us to pray to and praise God, and to meditate upon his works in order to love, fear, honor and glorify him. … we shall not find better songs nor more fitting for the purpose, than the Psalms of David.

10. SINGING WITH UNDERSTANDING REQUIRED

… spiritual songs cannot be well sung save from the heart. But the heart requires the intelligence. And in that (says St. Augustine) lies the difference between the singing of men and that of the birds. For a linnet, a nightingale, a parrot may sing well; but it will be without understanding. But the unique gift of man is to sing knowing that which he sings. After the intelligence must follow the heart and the affection, a thing which is unable to be except if we have the hymn imprinted on our memory, in order never to cease from singing. For these reasons this present book, even for this cause, besides the rest which has been said, ought to be singular recommendation to each one who desires to enjoy himself honestly and according to God, for his own welfare and the profit of his neighbors: and so there is need of all of it being much recommended by me: seeing that it carries its value and its praise. But that the world may be so well advised, that in place of songs in part vain and frivolous, in part stupid and dull, in part foul and vile, and in consequence evil and harmful which it has used up to now, it may accustom itself hereafter to the singing of these divine and celestial hymns with the good king David. Touching the melody, it has seemed best that it be moderated in the manner we have adopted to carry the weight and majesty appropriate to the subject, and even to be proper for singing in the Church, according to that which has been said. ----- From Geneva, this 10th of June, 1543, John Calvin ⇒

Calvin's complaint was that at his time, church music was not congregational/not accessible and the word/meaning (by use of Latin) of the music was disguised. People were not learning! Calvin also was critical of the us of melismas (vocal runs). The singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic. Calvin’s Psalter is purposefully syllabic-- one note per syllable. Calvin promoted the practice as Psalm singing with the intentions of EDUCATION of the Word of God and making prayerful and soulful music.

A good intention of paraphrased Psalm singing is to make it’s lyrics accessible and memorable (stick with you). In modern music writing there is a heavy emphasis on this aspect of a “hook” or creating “ear worms” through rhyme while being theologically accurate.

Musical modes of the psalms to express different emotions: Singing the psalms Geneva Psalter eastern sound of psalm 1

D. Uses of Music

Music is a language that can speak to the spirit. Different musical moods can be “CONFIRMATION” of existing emotions.

Considering purpose and motive gives us a framework to measure effectiveness in those goals. Not everything that makes me feel good is good for me. What response is being elicited?

• Intent and effect not always the same.
• Music used in torture
• Healing: King George 1 asked handwl requested to write music to aid his healing … handle composed his water music. Much music written for healing.
• Manipulate to suggestion. Why do they want me to feel this way?
• Manipulative versus expressive. Altar call worship setting a mood or complementing a mood.

https://youtu.be/9fl6zixJdQM

A communication tool.

Animals use “song” to woo … Picture of a man with a guitar serenading a lady. I wrote a song for my wife engagement

• Ccm what is it??. Take popular music and apply christian themes.
• Cultures build around forms or cultures gravitate towards certain forms or genres.

Music is a language that communicates emotion, thought and desires.

Christian music has aided directly in “disencion”.