Music as Spiritual Practice - Essay Example

Psalm 92 Is a psalm still a psalm if no one hears it but reads it instead There are clearly advantages and disadvantages to the psalms with or without musical accompaniment. One advantage that we get without instruments is the opportunity for soul searching. In contemporary music, one must admit that many of the songs sung, only the biggest fans really know the words. Many just like the song because the beat is catchy. One sad but true fact is that one in 20 U.S. adults can't read English. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/stats/developednations.html. This also means that they may not even read a psalm. That's where the elements of music comes in. The Scripture goes "sing a joyful song unto the Lord."[Holy Bible] A disadvantage of aural music is that it excludes the deaf. Technological advancements are making music accessible and discernable to the deaf.[ http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/10/26/vibrato.speaker/index.html However, this demographic can only imagine what it would sound like. Sing a joyful song unto the Lord. It is a life lived that resounds loudest. Just as David, the author of the psalms exclaimed. He who has ears, let him hear. [Holy Bible, Rev 2]When should you, as a musician choose accompaniment Is a capella the best way to go Does singing a song acapella enhance the artistic value of it These are all fair questions that need to be answered. If we look at the Old Testament Psalms, for example, there really is no clear answer. There is a history involving the use of musical instruments in Jewish and Christian Services. There are bible verses that pertain to the idea of singing a joyful song unto the Lord.[Psalm 100] This lets us know that this is acceptable worship. However, the use of musical instruments in church services still remains controversial. King David wrote the Psalms during his reign as it is discussed in the OT. He wrote them to express a different range of emotions and sentiments toward God and his people. It is amazing how Salamone Rossi essentially started out as a wedding singer for the banquets of the duchess Isabella in the 16th century. Rossi's acclaim was during the Italian Renaissance. The era was a time of creative celebration. This was during a time where Jews were tolerated rather than enjoyed. They were, according to the Historical notes on the music, ostracized, at times. Rossi, however through his music gained some acceptance. The Psalms still have incomparable teaching power. Listening to the sounds of the day and how they make you feel is in itself a tool with which to speak to God. But what happens when you face some sort of disability. That is where the Psalms', (which is indeed a form of music) teaching power is turned into healing power. The Psalms teach us to see beyond aesthetic beauty. It teaches us to listen with our souls, with our minds, with our hearts and with our imaginations. After 32 years listening to music one thing holds true: Aesthetic listening is no listening at all. And what is meant by that is this. It is that one must listen "relatively". That is, to say, be the writer or be the author. Relate the song to something in your life. The lyrics of one song may say "His love endures forever."[Psalms] God calls us to seek out this passage in life. To find the aesthetic beauty that accompanies the active listening which is aimed at getting all the senses involved. One natural way to engage in listening is to remember the setting. Where were you when you first heard that song What were you doing This is how you begin. How you become the music. For deaf children who have little life experience it is important to remember that their environment and upbringing will serve as catalysts to experiencing the music. These basic questions build a foundation for developing taste as well. We have many evidences of the rhythm of life. This may be why women have biological clocks. This rhythm suggests to us to find meaning and connection with the Psalms. Look for a song in the meadow and in the hustle and bustle of the daily grind. There is no pretext to life. It springs forward and it just is. The OT Psalms give the deaf a new way to listen to music and to sing. It is a known fact that when you lose one of your five senses the other senses become stronger. There is nothing lackluster about the voices that produced Psalm 92 of Salamone Rossi's piece. However, imagine the many different lives these words have touched. These words allow us to sing emotionally. This is one advantage the Psalms have over other pieces. Another is that, because it has no score, anyone can interpret it through different compositions. Though it stands alone on the strength of its author (not meaning David but God) the "author and perfector of our faith.'[Hebrews 12:2] Each life is given a new song to sing. This is music. The cadences and rifts between the men and women voices are powerful. One powerful skill of the Psalms is that it inspires. One has only to open up the Bible and a world of music unfolds and pulls at the heartstrings, "divides between marrow and bone, soul and spirit"[Hebrews 4:12]. This is what music is meant to do, to still the soul. It is to calm the raging waters of our minds or to soothe the savage beast. David, the author of many of the OT Psalms had a reason to sing. He was in love with God. A compromise to this somewhat philosophical dilemma is Salamone Rossi's Songs of Solomon. Rossi's vocal music is just one of many versions of the psalms. The entire CD is a compilation of Songs for the Shabbat or the Sabbath. If you are in a creative lull listen to these voices. It starts off strong with many variations or cadences. This choir has strong altos reaching songbirdesque octaves. The men and women vocalists compliment each other. Though it sounds very much like traditional chamber music the energy level is high not droning. Their range of voices are consistent in that they circumvent and play trapeze successfully throughout the ear canal. Milk in your coffee Sugar in your tea And whether you listen to classical, contemporary or not you're more than likely to get a helping of "soul" with your Psalms. That is if you read it the right way- with or without the Rossi. According to the father-daughter written book "A Song to Sing, a Life to Live", they share the same sentiment- "But at the same time, it [music] exists beyond our bodies, connecting us to larger realities. Music is much bigger than we are, pervading the entire universe both in a physical sense and in its transcendent dimensions. The challenge real musicians face in life is to explore and find music everywhere. The psalms are what we have that connects us to the music inside of us and can be a great learning tool and not just spiritually. So whether we acknowledge this observation or not the music is still there. Look for it, search for it, seek it. And don't wander too far. Remember to look just inside. Sources Internet http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/do_the_psalms_authorize_instrumental_music_in_worship http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/10/26/vibrato.speaker/index.html http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/Database/stats/developednations.html Recording Rossi, Salamone. The Songs of Solomon (Vol.1)PGM 1996 Historic Notes by Gabe M. Weiner Books Holy Bible (NIV) Saliers, Emily and Don .A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice," First ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005. Read More