Songwriting: Three False Reasons To Label Your Song A Hymn

Thanks to Bobby Giles of My Song In The Night, for sharing these great insights about writing hymns. You can view another great article titled, What Makes A Worship Song A Hymn, for more detailed information on what actually indeed makes a hymn a hymn.

1) Inversion

Inversion happens when you invert the natural grammatical order of a phrase or sentence (subject-verb-object). The Stars Wars character Yoda does this, as do many poets and hymn writers. It’s an accepted poetic construct, and when used in moderation it can give your lyrics a timeless, classic, beautiful feel. But it’s ridiculous when overused. [Read more...]

Why Don’t You Sing More Hymns?

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them …
(Acts 16:25, ESV – YouVersion.Com)

For all those who have heard or said, “why don’t you just sing more hymns” …

What exactly is a “hymn”?

According to Merriam-Webster.Com, a hymn is:

Etymology: Middle English ymne, from Old English ymen, from Latin hymnus song of praise, from Greek hymnos

1 a : a song of praise to God b : a metrical composition adapted for singing in a religious service
2 : a song of praise or joy
3 : something resembling a hymn

My guess is that Paul and Silas weren’t singing “A Mighty Fortress is our God”.  [Read more...]

CD REVIEW: Kyle Jones – ALIVE

Kyle Jones
ALIVE
Independent

Someone told me about a year ago that one of the “new” youth pastors in town also led worship, but our community has an abundance of gifted worship leaders, so I paid him little attention. As his debut full-length c.d. shows, that was a huge mistake.

[Read more...]

REVIEW: Come Weary Saints – Sovereign Grace Music

Come Weary Saints
Sovereign Grace Music 
(c)2008

IN SHORT: If “Suffering & the Sovereignty of God” edited by Piper & Taylor were made into a movie, this would be the soundtrack.

[Read more...]

The Importance of Understanding Music Theory

Multiple C Chords on a Keyboard

We’ve all been there.  It fills us with fear and stops us in our tracks.  It makes us wonder why we ever got into this job in the first place.  It is a question that we dread hearing.  “How do you play a Cdim7?”

[Read more...]

Becoming A Worship Songwriter: Let’s Get Started

How does one become a “worship songwriter?” On the one hand, groups like the Enter The Worship Circle musicians, say “Anyone can write a worship song.”  They encourage a “just do it” method that begins with studying the Psalms, asking the Lord to show you His heart as you meditate on the passages, then playing chords as you sing the words of psalms. You keep repeating them until new thoughts come to you. You then sing these new thoughts and phrases and “let your worship carry you” into a new song.Then there are those in modern hymnody who advocate for extensive training and awareness in poetry, music and theology, such as Timothy Dudley-Smith, who tells Paul Westermeyer in Tongues of Fire: Profiles in 20th Century Hymn Writing, that what he finds alarming in modern worship songwriting is “The apparent belief that anyone with a guitar can dash off a ‘worship song’ fit to be sung by a congregation to almighty God, without effort, consultation, or revision – and often without grammar, syntax, meter, or rhythm either!” [Read more...]