They’ll thank you . . .someday

Music lessons. We’ve all had them, be they for piano, guitar, trumpet, etc. And I’m probably not the only one who hated logging in that daily practice time.

My poor mom. I was a real musical prodigy, as I sat on the bench, banged my hands on the keys, and cried my crocodile tears. “You’ll thank me someday,” she said. And, of course, I was doubtful.

My piano teacher didn’t have it much better, as I creeped and crawled through the lesson book, one excruciating week at a time. Two steps forward, three steps back. I think the summers I took off were as much for her sake, as my own.

So imagine the pressure when my beloved teacher from childhood days visited our church on a recent Sunday. You must understand . . . she was good. The kind of music director a pastor dreamed about, that could follow his leading without pause, no matter what antiquated song he pulled from the back of his brain on a whim. And there she sat as I led worship. I’m glad to report nothing too horrific happened. We had a good song service, and I didn’t knock the keyboard off its stand or forget the words to every song I ever knew.

I wonder what her thoughts were as I stood up there playing. Perhaps she marveled a bit to see her hard work finally pay off. Thanks to her efforts, my mother’s dogged persistence, and a handful of other patient instructors, I am now a music director in my own right. And it only took fifteen years.

Maybe some of you have your own little prodigies at home. Whether they be your own children, or someone else’s. I’m sure there are times you want a summer vacation as they bang through John Thompson or whatever course you’ve chosen.

Maybe my musical testimony can give you a hint of encouragement. They can make it. It might take a looooong time. But they can make it. And so can you!

P. S. Thanks, Mom!

Wedding Dresses and Congregational Singing

There is a congregation in our beautiful city that recently sang "Wedding Dress" by Derek Webb as a part of their worship set. It caused a bit of a stir much like the song did when it was first released about six years ago. Some Christian retailers refused to sell the album that contained the song, but there were few discussions as to whether or not it would be appropriate for congregational use. The lyrics are as follows (for those who are not familiar with the song):

If you could love me as a wife
And for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I’d ever need?
Or is there more I’m looking for

And should I read between the lines
And look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what you want?

[Chorus]
‘Cause I am a whore I do confess
But I put you on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle, I run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
But I put you on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle
I run down the aisle to you

So could you love this bastard child?
Though I don’t trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
And with the other in your side
‘Cause I am so easily satisfied
By the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

Because money cannot buy
A husband’s jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

©2002 Niphon, Inc. (Admin by Music Services). All right reserved. Used by permission. ASCAP

It is a moving song, a call to holiness, and a song that preaches rather than exhorts. It is as viable and important to the church today as it was six years ago. The major issue is, of course, the language. Should a congregation sing, "I'm a whore..." in one accord, children and adults? How would you explain that one to a 2 year old? In the context of the song, the word simply refers to unfaithfulness. The repentant tone reminds one of "Heart of Worship" and "Hear Us From Heaven." Is this a song you should use for the larger congregational gathering? Should it be limited to smaller, and more intimate times of worship? Should the song be appreciated on one's personal iPod and not shared at all? Is it really the language that makes us uncomfortable, or the truth it speaks about the majority of the church world?

Music Dependence?

Hello, blog world! My name is TJ Walton and I’m from Alabama (please don’t be a hater). I’ve read several blogs, but have not done much blogging of my own. I consider the opportunity to write for this blog an honor and I’m thankful for the chance to be heard.

I was talking to a good friend the other day and the topic of our dependence, as Apostolic Pentecostals, on music was brought up. For some reason, maybe because I’m a musician, I got defensive about it. But after thinking about it, I realized that maybe we have become too dependent on music to lead us where we need to be or where we want to be.

We talked about how sometimes, it’s like pulling teeth to get people to raise their hands, clap, shout to God, or even come to an altar without the music. Surely, we’ve all been in a service where there was not music at some point other than the preaching and it felt like there was something missing. This might have made it a little uncomfortable for people to lift their hands and worship freely. Then there are services where it is clear that the music needs to stop and God desires time with just us lifting our voices. You may ask, “Why are you talking about our dependence on music if we still have services like that?” The thing is, those services seem to have become a rare occurrence.

My friend pointed out that it appears Saul would call upon David to play instead of seeking the counsel of Samuel early on, which to him signified choosing music instead of God or God’s Word to help him through whatever problem he was facing. I agreed. It made sense; maybe there is something to this needing the music before seeking God. Please don’t misunderstand. Music is, without question, a way that God truly desires to be worshipped. No one is questioning the significance of all the Psalms or the hymns and spiritual songs cited in our Bibles. There are simply people who are concerned that we may not be able to worship God without music and there are some who are afraid we’ll, eventually, just be worshipping music or the singer/musician instead God.

A lot of people will say that you have to watch musicians because that was Lucifer’s job when he was in Heaven. Some will say that it’s the spirit of music that causes folks to be distracted from God. I firmly disagree! God created Lucifer and God gave him the gift of music. What he did with that music was his choice! So, it’s not the spirit of the music that is our concern, but the spirit of the person playing or singing the music. If you’re a singer or musician, please cover yourself in prayer before you get up to lead your congregation in song. Ask God to not let you be glorified, but to let Him be glorified through you and we will see more of those services where the music stops and it just seems to be God and me, or God and you all alone in the room.

God Bless!

Songs Without Words

A few years ago one of my piano students gave me a paper weight with this message engraved on it: “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Depending on my mood and my circumstance, I can always find a song that speaks to me and seems to sum everything up.

I recently read an article in Christianity Today, June 2009 issue, by Carolyn Arends that talked about music’s ability to “put into words” those things which we cannot say with words alone. Whether music with lyrics or without lyrics, music has this amazing ability to transcend the message we are trying to communicate. Felix Mendelssohn, the great Romantic era composer who composed two sets of pieces for piano which entitled “Songs Without Words” said the following:

“A piece of music that I love expresses thoughts to me that are not too imprecise to be framed in words, but too precise. So I find that attempts to express such thoughts in words may have some point to them, but they are also unsatisfying.”

Whether it is thoughts of joy and celebration or remorse and sadness, music can, in Arends words, “say more than we are even saying.” She gives tells the story of Olivier Messiaen, the great 20th Century French composer, who was sent to a concentration camp by the Nazis in 1940. Rather than just waste away, Messiaen convinced a guard to get him some paper and pencils and he composed one of his most famous pieces, the Quartet for the End of Time, which was performed for 4,000 people in the camp, prisoners and guards included. Somehow, music communicated something that could not be spoken otherwise. As Arends concluded, “art must be, somehow, essential for life….an unquenchable expression of who we are.

I find that I agree with Arends when she concludes that our gift of creativity comes from the fact that we are made in His image. Arends states:
“When we meet this God, our creativity becomes one of the ways we delight in him. When we are lost in some endeavor – consumed by singing a song, dancing a jig, building a presentation, or telling a story – people say we are “in our glory.” In truth we are in God’s glory, participating in the beauty overflowing from the Creator himself.”

I’ve Got Rhythm

I've been promoted! I'm now an official "Notes" Friday blogger. No more of this part time business for me!

I thought I had a decent sense of rhythm before I came to Nigeria. I could clap on the beat, off the beat, and in any other sort of predictable pattern or rhythm I could imagine. But I never imagined what I have encountered here.

It's not the clapping that's the hard part, though. It's the clapping and singing. You see, the clapping here is nearly always some form of syncopation. You clap on a beat, then you clap a second time a quarter of a beat before the next beat. The easiest way for a music-reading person to visualize this is the dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth note.

A majority of the time, this syncopated clap pattern occurs only once during each measure (that is, for every four beats, assuming four-four time, there are two claps, one on the beat, and one immediately following just before the next beat).

So why can't I sing and clap at the same time? I have actually accumulated a fair amount of musical training over the years. Three years of music theory (if you count counterpoint) and oodles of piano and voice lessons, I would think I would be capable of ready adaptation. But no. Three months later, I am still challenged by trying to sing and clap properly during a single song.

I will beg off the accusation by claiming that I have been concentrating too much on trying to keep with the clapping, and not enough attention on the singing. I know, I know. I should simply stop clapping, and try to learn the words and melodies to some of the songs. But even when they're singing in English, I can't understand all the words. In fact, some of time, I can't even understand more than a word or two. But that's no excuse. More often than not I can pick out most of the words.

I guess it comes down to laziness, pure and simple. It's just easier to clap. I enjoy clapping. It sure beats the work of trying to learn new melodies (even to familiar tunes at times, but sung with widely melodic and rhythmic contours that vary to an extreme from how we sing the song back home). And since we're here only one more month... well, it'll be a miracle if I manage the dexterity to do it.