Music is an ancient part of the human experience. In 2012 researchers in Germany discovered what they believe to be the oldest musical instruments in the world; a pipe, or flute, made out of bird bone carbon dated to about 40,000 years ago. The first mention of music in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures occurs in the 4th chapter of Genesis when we are introduced to Jubal, “the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes.” According to Genesis 5, Jubal was one of the brothers of Noah. Music is literally older than the flood.
One website, which claims to have the most comprehensive list of music genres, identifies 41 unique genres of music each with many sub categories; “Rock Music” for example has 41 subcategories. “Inspirational Music” lists only 13 subcategories, but I could easily add a dozen from Gregorian Chant to Taize.
With literally tens of thousands of years of music and hundreds if not thousands of distinct styles, it is surprising then, that in church we often limit the conversation to “traditional vs. contemporary.” And even then we are hardly doing justice to those terms.
When we speak of “Traditional Music” in the church, we usually do not mean music of the Biblical era—that is to say, we do not mean the stringed instrument of Jubal, the tribal rhythms of praise beat out by the tambourine of Miriam as the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, nor the Hallel sung by Jesus and the Disciples on the night he was betrayed. Rather, when we say “Traditional Music” we typically mean one of two things; Classical music as inspired by Bach (1685-1750), Beethoven (1770-1827) and Mozart (1756-1791), or British and American Hymnody (1600-1900).
Our language for Contemporary music is likewise imprecise. Churches that use contemporary music can mean music from the 1960s or 70s (the last century) as often as they may mean music of this century. Contemporary comes from “con” meaning with or in and “tempo” meaning time. Contemporary music seeks to translate the message of the song in a manner relevant to the time in which it is being sung. So what we now call traditional music was really the contemporary music of the 18th & 19th centuries.
In the both contemporary and traditional music in church the goal is to give glory to God by tuning our hearts and minds to Him. This is done with a combination of lyrics and the feeling of the music. Still, one can find bad theology evident in the lyrics of both traditional and contemporary hymns and one can give examples of how both traditional and contemporary hymns inspire the heart to God. So what is the real difference? The biggest difference is personal preference.
The apostle Paul said “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” In terms of how we might understand his exhortation
· the psalms were the songs of the Bible,
· the hymns were the songs of the contemporary church and
· the spiritual songs (what we might call Praise Music) could be what the Psalmist was speaking about in Psalm 40:3 “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise.” They are the new thing God is doing!
The next time you are in church and enjoying the worship music, be it Traditional or Contemporary, reflect on where it stands the in ancient tradition of church music and how it is tuning your heart and mind.
Rev. Shannon Kimbell-Auth is the Pastor at United Christian Parish (UCP) in Lakeport where they have 4 distinct music teams. Currently UCP is looking for a volunteer keyboard player and a paid Director for their praise team, Wing & a Prayer. For more information call Pastor Shannon at 263-4788.
