Movin' on up the Scale!

It truly is a scary thought that I am already a Junior. I can vividly remember the day that I auditioned for the Music program at UMHB. I didn't know anything about audition etiquette, I auditioned in jeans, converse, and a toby mac album t-shirt. I had no idea how to sight read, in fact I didn't even know sight reading was a thing. I also remember learning that you could actually listen to a piece of music and find Do, the tonal center freshmen year. It's crazy, I feel like I've barely been here at UMHB, yet I often forget how much I have learned. It's not really until you go through a situation and look in retrospect that you realize what you have learned.

This was the case when I was helping with Wednesday Night Focus. I just started assisting with the planning and leading of worship for FOCUS this past week. Now I just joined, but there are roughly 5 other people who are helping and leading the worship (songs) aspect. The majority of them are freshman, pretty much making me the only upperclassman and they aren't all music majors. When we were practicing before the service, there were two songs that the guitarists used capos. The problem with this is that we also have a keyboardist and we all play with chord charts. Chord charts with capos only dictate the chords the guitarist needs to play, but they aren't the chords that are sounding. So, since this was the case I was like okay I'll help figure it out. I merely asked them to play intro phrase with the I IV V chords on the guitar. I fiddled around the notes on the piano until I found do and then changed the chords respectively. This took only around 30 seconds tops. They told me that the week before it took them nearly an hour to figure it out. I realized that that was me two years ago. I didn't know how to find Do, I didn't know how chords worked or what to hear in chords. If anything it's a testament that I have learned and have developed skills that I haven't had before. And even as a bonus, I can sing harmony- which I didn't know how to do well coming into college as well.

It's insane to compare where you were to where you are. I had no clue how to do many of the things I do now two years ago. Now many of those things are second nature. It makes me excited to find out what else I'll be able to do in another two years. Though yeah, a nonchalant moment of assisting in worship pretty much sums up all the skills I've learned so far. Crazy Stuff

Praying Rocky Hill Worship

Reflecting on the most worshipful experiences of my life, I can think of two that stand out. The first was during a retreat for MEW that happened this year. The second one was picking up rocks at camp this past summer. The first included music, the latter did not include music. Here they are:

During the retreat for MEW, we had an hour sanctioned out for silent prayer. We were in the sanctuary of Miller Heights church and spread across the room were several interactive prayer stations. You could choose to sit in the pews and pray, read your bible, or you could go around and interact with the various stations. Afterward, we all came together to sing songs of worship to the Lord. We sang around three songs and the atmosphere was quiet and calm. Still. I felt led to pray out loud for everyone so I did. Prayer is something that I am constantly improving on and praying in front of people can sometimes be a struggle. Though that prayer was something completely different. There were words coming out of my mouth that were not mine, and there was this burning passion as these words were being spoken. (It was about spreading the Gospel to those who don't know it). This was the first time I've ever felt this way before and I was really taken aback when it ended. I knew that those words weren't mine. I consider this one of my most worshipful moments because it was one of the most transcendent moments I've ever experienced. It was not of me, it truly was of God. Now I definitely say that music played a role in the development of that moment. The 45 minutes of prayer set the tone of solemness, stillness, and rest. Then coming into worship with guitar and voices elevated the mood to one of yearning, to one of seeking connection with the Lord. We were in a different place from when the musical worship started and ended. The atmosphere was different and I believe that there is no way we could have arrived there if it wasn't through the work of the Holy Spirit through worship in song. There is mystery that surrounds worship through song that unifies and transports us into a different state of being. As the guitar continued through the prayer I prayed, it set up the perfect space for the Holy Spirit to move in my heart and to flow out through my mouth. It was a mysterious and transcendent moment that I truly believe could not have been reached without the music involved. It allows us to be aware of the presence of the Lord, to humble ourselves before the Lord, to take away the belief that we are gods, and to realize that we messed up and need to ask for forgiveness. As to how this transpired, I am not entirely sure in terms of tangible terms. Yet, music provokes an emotional response from phrase to lyrics. Perhaps it reminds us about our faith and in what we believe and makes us aware of the Holy Spirit that is present upon as to which it uses music as a medium to move our hearts.

The second worshipful moment was without music. To make a long story short, the camp I worked at had a discipline exercise for campers who continually misbehave. The punishment is to fill a bucket three times, transport it three times, and empty it three times. Now the camper, counselor and senior counselor all work together on this. So the empty bucket is at the bottom of a hill, and we all have to go up the hill take 1 rock, go down and put it in the bucket until it is fill. Then the camper and counselor bring it up the hill only to dump it out, and do it two more times. The catch is that on the third time, the counselor does it alone and the senior counselor takes the camper aside and uses it as a parallel to the Gospel. So far, that was the most demanding thing in my life. By the third time, I was exhausted and I had to go up and down the hill 15 more times by myself in mid 90's degree weather. By the last 3 times, I had barely any energy and was wheezing. Though at one point my camper said "stop" softly at first and then yelled it. For some reason, that gave me the energy to not only continue but to sprint up and down the hill to finish. It made me realize that I would not stop. I was doing this for him, not for me. This was his punishment and I was taking it on for him because I loved him and would suffer for him. It was in that moment that gave me a different perspective of what Jesus did on the Cross for us. I would love to get into details, but that's for another day. Though realizing that my own suffering for this camper was what Jesus did for us on the Cross. Except that his was for all and the pain he went through makes my suffering look like nothing. That moment did not have music, in fact it was done in complete silence. Yet what my camper and I experienced was completely transcendent. I do believe firmly that music has the power to enhance worshipful experiences. Yet I think this was a case in which a lack of music provided a more meaningful, worshipful, and transcendent experience. This is due to the thought that this was a time of meditation and thought, in which silence without distractions needed to be observed. I would even go as far as saying that music would disrupt the atmosphere and be distraction, no matter what was played.

These two experiences I contradict myself, one I say that music enhances worship and can transport you to a state of being that couldn't be achieved without it. The other I say that music can be distracting and take away from the experience. Yet, I believe that both are true. There is always a balance to things and I do truly believe there are times in which music is a tool that can be used to move us into more worshipful experiences where we feel the hand of God, but I also truly believe that the same can be achieved through a lack of music. In both cases, I experienced transcendent moments and as to the question which was was the greater moment I would say they were the same. I think it comes down to the atmosphere and the setting. Music can create and take up space, as well does silence yet there are just two of a myriad of mediums that the Holy Spirit uses to transform our hearts to be like Christ.

Sol....Sol......................................................Do!

Music Theory is one of the classes that many students who pursue a degree in music regard useless or not useful. They question the real world application of doing roman numeral analyses of musical scores, knowing how to write proper voice leader, and being able to meticulously label everything in a piece of music. Of course there is so much more to theory than those concepts, but some students see these skills as worthless and that they will not use them during the job. Perhaps they want to teach elementary music and they don't really need to know the concepts for their lesson plans, or even working in the church where they might just be singing and playing chords. Personally I think that those are just made up excuses and in fact theory is always being used, whether actively or in a subconscious manner. This has been my experience since I've been learning music theory.

I do personally enjoy learning about music theory for it seems like you are archaeologists discovering relics of the ancient past. You are essentially deconstructing a piece of music into elements and smaller and smaller parts where you can explain the function behind each musical element. So if music theory is deconstruction what use is it when performing music? Well this has been my experience so far. From music theory, you learn that there are patterns and that there are such things as musical clichés. One of these is that the V chord really wants to move to the I chord since the leading tone really wants to resolve upward to tonic. Now what use is this? It's actually quite amazing. If you have ever sight read the bass of a piece of music or an excerpt you can sometimes feel the tension of a V chord wanting to resolve to I by just singing on the 5th scale degree. One of these passages is if a bass line is Sol-Sol-Do. This pattern in the bass, usually toward the end of a phrase or excerpt, is most often a cadential 6/4 chord to a V chord to a I. When sight-reading the bass of a piece for the first time this tell can really help with the sight reading. I personally am not a strong sight reader, but when I see that occur in a piece of music it assists me singing the accurate pitch and also giving me an idea of what solfegé can come next.

Of course that particular pattern does not always go to a I chord, as composers do not compose with music theory in mind since it comes after the composition. But from learning about the pattern and hearing it and recognizing the tension it assists me with my sight reading in choir. Currently we are working on Mozart's Requiem. If there is anything about Mozart that you should know it is that he loves is I V I patterns and strong dominant to tonic progressions. That is the staple of the Classical period and one of Mozart's musical idioms. From just learning the bass part in sections or sight-reading the line for the first time, I can get a light understanding of what the chordal structure is in some phrases. I am not actively doing a detailed roman numeral analysis, but I am applying what I know from theory and what I've trained my ear to hear in Aural Skills together to sight read in choir.

So with that, theory has in fact improved my ability to sight read and be able to understand the flow of the music. 

Dynamically Intriguing

Have you ever wondered about the effect dynamics has on music? I mean we always use different dynamics when we're singing and playing an instrument but usually we focus on having the right notes and the right dynamic level that we often forget to actually hear the difference in the quality of what we play when we compare it to a different dynamic level. This has been something that I have been listening to lately because I have been really focusing on my dynamics on two of my piano pieces and it's just crazy how a change can affect the music

The two pieces that I have been working on are Melody by Aram Khatchaturian and the c minor prelude op 28 no 20 by Chopin. Both of these pieces have phrasing that have a drastic change in dynamics and require a lot of control and precision. Though before I talk about that, lets examine dynamics a bit further. Dynamics essentially, as far as I'm talking about, is soft and loud. I will be looking at crescendos and decrescendos and even terraced dynamics, which is when the dynamics change instantly. A purpose of dynamics in a piece to to create a sense of movement. It adds color to the piece. How often do we listen to music that retains the same level of softness or loudness? Not that often, it is something that is usually utilized in almost every type of music. It can also be used to emphasize emotion in music. Loud music can usually refer to anger, and soft music can refer to gentleness and frailty. So with this in mind, I'll talk about my experiences so far as I have focused on the dynamic levels of these two pieces.

The Khatchaturian is a very interesting piece in a dynamic sense. The loudest it indicates is mf and the softest is pp. Crecendos and descrendos are indicated within certain phrases and are generally lengthy indicating a slow increase or decrease of volume. The one part that I struggle with the most though is the very beginning. The dynamic that it indicates is mp, however I feel that piano is a better interpretation. The reason I say that is because this piece's focal point is the melody. Starting at piano allows the ear to hone in and focus on the melody when it enters in the second measure. Dr. Steinbauer, my piano professor, says that it should have a feeling of "oh where did that come from?" when the melody enters. He also describes the melody as very haunting, in which it should be colored with a slight swell and collapse with the phrases. It's very difficult to achieve this effect because I have to work torward having slightly different dynamic levels in both hands. Otherwise, if I keep a common dynamic level the melody starts to get muddied and isn't as clear as it should be due to the many dissonances that are created with the harmonic accompaniment in the left hand. So in this case dynamics is used not only as a sense of movement and emotion but also as a tool for separating what is important and what is the background.

In the Chopin, this piece has a dynamic level of ff to p, to pp exactly in that order. This piece usually retains its dynamic level for quite some time then quckly makes a terraced changed to a new level. The B section of the piece repeats twice, each at a different dynamic. The first time it is piano, and the second time it is pianissimo. At this level, with the same exact notes the second time around has a completely different tone and quality than the first even though it is exactly the same in everyway. Unfortunately I cannot quite describe it in words but I think it would be best if you heard the difference yourself.




Isn't it interesting, the difference between the repeated sections? How a change in the dynamic level of a piece can create a big enough constrast? Rather than the really firm introduction of fortissimo which gives this huge strength as it does a standard i iv V7 i in c minor figure, the light progession at the very end gives a very melancholy emotion to it. The tone is colored with a lighter touch which gives off a different essence.

Sometimes we often just do dynamics because it is written, but dynamics are written in for a reason. They are used to create a certain effect, to embellish a particular aspect within the music. So, perhaps we should pay more attention to how that dynamic affects a piece by experimenting with a dynamic level that is opposite and determine what effect is created. It is an important aspect of music that shouldn't be taken lightly.

The Daily Discernment of Music

When I think of Christianity and Music, one of the first things that pop in my head is Sunday Morning Worship. In the churches I have attended, and as well as the majority of churches today, they use music as a form to worship the Lord God Almighty. Though, as I just did, that was the only instance that popped into my mind when it comes to Christianity and Music. It seems as though not much thought, according to my experiences, has been given about the role of music of a Christian outside of church; in other words I mean the life of a Christian day in and day out outside of the regular Sunday and Wednesday night church worship. So lets try to investigate these seldom thoughts and discover the role of music in the Christian life.

To start off, I think it is best to give an example. Personally, music has quite the role in my own life as a Christian. Outside my studies as a Church Music/Music Education double major and my regular Church attendance I use music as a cure for the silence in my life. An example of this is playing music as I am doing homework, which I am doing as I am writing this blog. I can also vouch for many of my Christian brother and sisters that they use music in this same fashion. Another way music is used in the daily life of a Christian is that it is used for comfort, hope, and joy. Much like seeking comfort in the Word of God often we as Christians, especially in my generation, look for comfort in songs. As to why, I am not entirely sure but the best conclusion I can come up with is that we might feel drawn to listening to a particular song. It could be the melody, chord, the lyrics, or even a combination of all three aspects. Usually the song is, and excuse me for using this term as it is the best way to convey it to the public reader and I believe in no way that a song can be saved, a "Christian" song which usually is to describe a song that is either used for worship, created to praise God, or even to specifically reach out to Christians (or non-believers in addition). Though as I've been learning in my studies, I feel as though it is the Power of the Holy Spirit that is working within our hearts that creates this feeling of comfort, joy, and hope when we either listen or sing those songs. Then there are times where we seek silence, the absence of music. This can be during the occasion of meditation on God's Word and His Glory or during prayer. To which the silence is used represented as solemness and reverence toward God and that a person is devoted to take all distractions in his or her life to focus on the Living God.

These are my thoughts on the matter from my perspective and beliefs, but what does it mean on a Biblical level? Are these thoughts true/biblical and are there specific sections in which we are to use music outside of Church? Is it necessary to have silence in certain periods of the Christian life? What does the Word say about interacting with music outside of the regular worship service?

 One of the first biblical examples that I will use is Act's 16: 23-26.

" (23)After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. (24) When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

(25) About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. (26) Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose."  (New International Version)

Here we have an example of music outside of a regular church service. To give some background, this is in Acts which is an account of the ministry of the Apostle Paul. In this particular instance Paul and Silas were in Philippi and they were thrown in jail because Paul exorcised a spirit that was in a women that her owners were using to make profit. They were enraged that their income was halted so they accused Paul and Silas of making an uproar and they were arrested and put in jail. Now lets examine their position. They were wrongly accused of something they didn't do, they were severely punished physically, and the people they were administering to turned against them. In this position the normal person would be angry, cursing at the people, and distraught at all that is going on; however Paul and Silas chose to sing hymns and praises to God. This is probably a biblical example of our desire to sing praises or to listen to songs in times of struggle. Despite their position they are praising the Lord. It doesn't say for what reason specifically, but I would say for comfort and hope, or perhaps they are praising God for they are being persecuted for preaching. Or even they are using prayer and hymns to keep their focus on God. Many of these things can be debated, but regardless here are two Christians who are singing in troubling times to God; not to mention that this resulted in God granting them freedom from their chains, their cells, and the other prisoner's shackles and chains! Perhaps we sing these songs because, like Paul and Silas, we wholeheartedly believe that God will bring us comfort, hope,and freedom during times of high and low. Though what does it say about the use of silence?

Richard Foster in his book Celebration of Discipline speaks about the disciplines of solitude and silence: "If we are silent when we should speak, we are not living in the Discipline of silence. If we speak when we should be silent, we again miss the mark." In Ecclesiastes 3:7 it says: "there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak." Although this may be out of context to some, I think the same thing goes with music, especially in terms of worship which is the main use of music for Christians. There should be a time of worship with songs and praises, but then there are also times in which silence should be used. This can be in times of complete depression and distraught. However, this completely contradicts the story of Paul and Silas mentioned earlier so what is this difference? The main difference, I believe and interpret, is that it is a matter of the heart and of the soul rather than your physical displacement. Paul and Silas had burning hearts for God, this can easily be seen through their journeys and ministries. Whereas, if the heart and soul is in a place of brokenness then silence, especially silence before God, I think is a better action. Take the captives of Jerusalem for example in Psalm 137:1-6

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars
    we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
    my highest joy.

These captors are those who were taken by the Babylonians after Jerusalem was destroyed. There are many interpretations as to what this passage means, but a common thought is that they choose not to worship because they were called to have a time of weeping and mourning. That their spirits and hearts would be too drained and distraught to be able perform praises to God. Another common thought is that the songs of Zion were sacred songs to God and should not be performed in a foreign land, therefore they are choosing silence to stay reverent to God. There is still quite some uncertainty to the passage, but I believe that there are times that we as Christians encounter that can render us unable to be able to worship. To where being in complete silence before God is worship as well. Jesus even did this several times. He searched for a place of solitude when He went to be with the Father.One example is seen when he was in Gethsemane in Matthew 26: 36-40.

All and all, I believe that these passages do support my thoughts on the role of music in a Christian's daily life. We use music and the absence of music as a means of communication with the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that dwells within our hearts that we are connected to the Father and the Son. Although I've only discerned that music continues to be used for worship in the daily life of a Christian, there are also other reasons such as entertainment for we are human.  Though I argue that the primary role is worship, whether it be listening, singing, or even sitting in silence.  It plays a vital role in our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for God uses all things to speak to us.