Music Matters

January 2007

Tell Me the Story...of the Music!

“Tell me the story… of the music!”

I’ve been a math teacher since the late 1970’s, but it was several years into my career before I received some profound advice – talk to your students about WHY you are using a particular teaching strategy. Explain what you are thinking and how you think a technique will help their understanding.

Preachers, too, know that just reading a scripture may bring some ministry or understanding, but knowing the background and talking about the context of the scripture can greatly increase the congregation’s ability to apply a principle in their own lives.

Believe it or not, this same advice is worth consideration by musicians. How many times have you thought about how the text of a hymn you were going to use might relate to the theme for the service? Or is there a composition you perform that “has a story”? These stories should be part of the ministry we offer in our congregations.

Putting the idea into action:

• One of the easiest examples to point out to congregations is illustrated in the first line of “Joy to the world! The Lord is come:” The descending scale is a perfect musical expression of Christ coming down to dwell among us. Or, remember from Handel’s Messiah the deeply moving chords accompanying “Since by man came death…” and the sharp change to joy with the phrase “By man came also the resurrection…” We can help congregations hear how music is amplifying a message beyond mere words.
• There are countless examples of how a composer was led to write some musical composition or a poet was inspired to pen some text. In addition, our own personal testimony of how the spirit has touched our lives through music and through our service need to be shared as we praise God for this blessing. In addition to talking about how melody and harmony add to a text, these testimonies are part of OUR ministry when we share with the congregation.
• An important practical note for adding the story of the music and your testimony involves how these elements fit into the overall worship service. As musicians, we need to collaborate with individuals and committees that plan worship services. By working with worship planners you can determine how these stories can most effectively weave into the overall worship experience. Whether you provide comments in writing in the church bulletin, share a few thoughts during the prelude time, or even make your music and testimonies the “sermon” for the day, the service will be more meaningful as the participants bring their insights and ideas together in prayerful planning.

Letting congregations know these stories is one way to enhance the appreciation for various elements of our worship. Letting them know that you, as a musician, THINK about how a particular piece of music fits – the character of the melody and/or harmony, the relative musical quality of a composition, the spiritual motivation behind a work – may actually encourage the congregation to recognize that music in a service is not merely an attempt to mask the noise of gathering, collecting an offering, etc. We offer an opportunity to move closer to God in our meditation, to appreciate yet another form of offering to God.

—Blake West

If you have suggestions or ideas for future columns, please contact:
Jan Kraybill
Principal Organist and Director of Music
Community of Christ Headquarters
Independence, MO, USA

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