The nitty gritty...
The way I see it (this will most likely never make it to a Starbuck's cup) music comes from the soul. It is often called "the universal language". But here's the thing, musical style is not universal.
I find it ludicrous that missionaries from the "civilized" West enter "uncivilized" cultures and teach the natives how to sing "Amazing Grace". Okay, so they teach it to them in their own language, I'll give them that.
But consider this little fable:
North America is a heathen society. Japan is the society in which Christianity has been native for two millennium. So Japan sends missionaries into North America to evangelize the natives. It has been a given for centuries that the only appropriate style of music for use in worship is Japanese Opera, so of course the missionaries begin to teach the North Americans worship songs (in their own language, I'll give them that).
What might be the response of these heathen natives to this tonal and rhythmic system that has no resemblance whatsoever with what they consider music? This is not their heart music.
Okay, so where does that leave us? Well, lets look at this from another angle.
Pretend you are a person. Another one, not yourself, silly. There is only one style of music that you have grown up with that really speaks to you. It is your heart music. When you think of good music, this is the style that comes to mind. Your emotions, your joys, your sorrows, your life -- it's all wrapped up in this style of music. You naturally express your heart through this music.
So someone shares the Gospel with you. You respond to God, and the emotion that you feel is like nothing you've experienced. You're natural reaction is a desire to worship, so you go to a worship service. The music begins and those around you begin to sing. But this music is not "your" music. You want to worship, but the music is such a distraction to you that you can't worship -- you can't express your heart through this music that is so foreign to you.
Then you find out that there is worship music at another church that is in the style you are familiar with and when you go there it's like going home. It's like an old pair of jeans, redeemed for a new use.
Stay with me now.
What is important to believe in as a Christian?
- God's grace through faith in Christ's sacrifice on the cross.
- One God.
- The Word of God.
- Commitment to walking in the light.
- Heaven and Hell.
These things unite the Body of Christ.
Now there are many other things that can easily divide the Body of Christ -- things that are unimportant.
Musical style is one of these things.
The unfortunate thing is that there are those who would major on the minors and divide the Body of Christ, rather than seek unity around the important things. We accept the fact that there are many different types of personalities, life experiences, cultures, etc., which bring diversity to the Body worldwide. Why then do we apply spiritual significance to cultural idiosyncrasies?
Well, it's been quite a journey. Here we are where we started -- kind of.
So now that you know my feelings on musical styles, hopefully you understand why we avoid "teaching" our style in our workshops. How do we do that?
It helps that Beth and I both have backgrounds in many different styles of music and are familiar with most of what we might come across. As we work with a band, we listen for basic musicality. We can then speak to musical technique and skill, doing what we can to help the musicians improve their ability to do the music they do within the style to which they are accustomed. If it is a style in which we feel comfortable, we will offer tips in making it work more effectively and give suggestions that they can then utilize or veto. This all has to be adjusted for each individual circumstance as the make-up of each worship team as well as their musical skills can vary greatly.
Does that make sense? It does to me, but let me know if further clarification is needed.
I'll let it lie for now.
Be blessed.
3 comments:
To continue picking your brain: you said "If it is a style in which we feel comfortable, we will offer tips in making it work more effectively and give suggestions that they can then utilize or veto." So what happens when it's a style you're not comfortable with? And would "not comfortable" refer to the genre itself or your taste for it? If it's not knowing the genre itself, I could see where you wouldn't want to jump in with comments, etc. But if it's dislike of the genre or what someone's doing with it, what do you do then?
Well, there is good musicality and poor musicality. Even if it isn't a genre that we aren't comfortable with (mostly because of unfamiliarity) musical execution is still apparent. If it's not being executed well, it can be tricky, because you don't want to embarrass anyone or make them feel stupid. We then treat it as a mini music lesson and help them to try and approach what they are doing a little differently -- whether that means simplifying what they are playing or helping them to refine their vocal technique. The thing that we find most often is simply the way a band plays together as a group and we can help them to learn to listen to one another and refine their sound to be more effective. Also, (I know this is getting long) we are mostly dealing with a fairly narrow scope of genres and we sometimes have to bite our tongues if we don't care for their interpretation of a particular song, and then just try to help them do it better within that interpretation. Taste, after all is in the eye of the beholder.
I just got through responding to a note from a group of Americans currently in Europe doing "worship concerts" and "encouraging worship leadership."
(note: this looks more like an editoral than a blog comment. Sorry. NDR)
These are people who've never lived outside the US, as far as I know, but travel the world doing this sort of thing.
I have a vision for training European musicians and worship leaders, but have been working through our local folks around Europe to do it. With the differences in cultures, languages, ethnic music heritage, etc. it’s pretty tempting as an American to want to ignore all that and step into leadership roles without having spent the time to understand such factors or earn the right to be heard.
It’s a shame that so much of the church in Europe (miniscule by US comparison) is opting for borrowing English (usually American) worship songs and styles. A lot of European church groups are actually singing them in English. (I can only compare that to having to try and use my 11th grade Spanish to share my heart with my heavenly father: not exactly satisfying to say the least)
Others are taking a stab at translating and adapting them into the local heart language. (As someone who speaks several languages and who’s also a songwriter, hearing the European adaptations of other people's music is not always a pretty sight.)
And to be honest, I’m not all that sure where “worship concerts” fit in.
I get worship (when the family gets together to love their dad, and to enjoy his love for them.) I get worship CD’s. (Everybody needs a little help opening up their hearts during the work-week, especially those who aren’t musically inclined.) And I get concerts. I love to hear musicians wear their hearts on their instruments and share it through their microphones. It’s a great place to hang out with friends. And if the music has anything to say, it give me and my friends something new to talk about. A starting point for conversation.
But as an evangelist (there, I admitted it) who sees Europe with nearly 800 million people, of whom less than 2% are Christian in an evangelical or Biblical sense, musicians have got to make sharing their faith the main priority.
Maybe I’m a pragmatist, but I’m not sure what the point of a “worship concert” is. I may be missing something. I’ve been playing in venues for the past twenty years around Europe, and I’m not shy about letting my faith show in my music, but I’m trying to share about my journey with God in ways that make sense to people unfamiliar with the claims of Christ and the church.
I’m all for worship. Half the songs I write are for worship. That’s the way my heart is bent. And writing music for use in secular venues is harder, because to create some common ground with an unchurched audience while interjecting food for thought that could start them on a journey toward Jesus means working hard to understand them.
The only thing close to what I think of as a worship concert that I’ve ever participated in are when friends who write worship music are doing the Christian version of a record launch. I’ve also seen some churches as well who are trying to make a “church in the streets” kind of experience.
Like last year when in Cologne, a group did a sort of worship night on one of the main squares of the city. My observation was that there was a group of believers who were there to worship, knowing that what was going on wasn’t going to make much sense to the average onlooker, but going for it anyway. Then there was everyone else who simply looked on and didn’t get it.
The only interaction between the two groups that I saw resembled something you’d see outside a Planned Parenthood clinic. No fist fights, but not far from it.
There’s a huge gap between believers and the unchurched in Europe. Changing venues from inside the church walls to a public square doesn’t really reduce the distance.
What we need to do is rethink how unchurched folks are ever going to enter into the community of worshippers. I think it’ll take place when we understand just to what point our friends are handicapped by sin and society. Then maybe we’ll be able to respond in compassion to make our efforts “barrier-free” the way our buildings in the US are required to be built.
Christ has made more of a difference in our lives than we realize or remember. And while we enjoy the intimacy we experience with him, we’ll need to build a couple more “wheel chair ramps”, widen a few more “doors”, and put in a few more “elevators” if we ever expect them to enter in. That’s the kind of music ministry I’m hoping to encourage among my European Christian musician brothers and sisters.
And thankfully, Gary, I know you are too.
Durand
http://songwritersesssions.blogspot.com
http://gemcreativeworks.org
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