Music Awakens the Divine Within Music plays a crucial role in worship by directing attention to the presence of God, engaging the emotional capacity of individuals. Emotions serve as a powerful cognitive resource, surpassing reasoning and verbal communication in their ability to encompass experiences. In worship contexts, music enhances the sense of the divine, fundamentally attuning to our bodily nature and neural wiring, which predisposes us to emotionally respond to musical stimuli. This intrinsic link between music, emotion, and spirituality highlights the significance of emotions in our understanding and experience of the ultimate reality.
Speaker 1
But music does it without even having to try. So, yeah, so, you know, whatās going on when we add music to worship and when we do music in worship, we are directing our attention to the presence of God. And weāre doing so in a way that is just like main lining into our capacity for emotion, which is maybe I got this idea from Rosalind Picard at MIT. Emotion really is our most flexible and robust cognitive resource that we have as human beings. Itās far more cognitively important than reasoning or than speech or It can encompass more experience, emotion can, than anything else. And so if we are trying to experience the kind of the presence of the ultimate, we need the resources of emotion to access the ultimate, which is why music and worship, not just in Christian History, but in almost every religion, kind of go together.
Speaker 2
So thatās really interesting. It strikes me then that itās very much this mode of sensemaking that is attuned to our very bodily nature, the fact that we are wired, you said even neurologically, to respond emotionally In our body to these different pitches and so Why is accessing emotion, then say more about this, why emotion is the more encompassing of meaning?Embrace the Analog Beauty of Music Music evokes powerful emotions that bridge the gap between beauty and sadness, often eliciting tears not just from sorrow but from the appreciation of beauty itself. This emotional response is immediate and profound, transcending languageās limitations. While language consists of discrete phonemes and structured words, music functions as an analog signal, rich in variability and depth. This analog nature allows for a direct experience that resonates deeply, particularly in live settings where listeners share the moment with musicians and each other.
Speaker 1
Tearing up in response to it, not necessarily because itās sad, sometimes because itās beautiful, but of course the beautiful and the sad are very connected. And music can do both of those. And when we talk about the beautiful, itās very hard to capture in words the sadness or the tragedy of the beautiful. And yet when you do that in music, people just immediately feel it. And so yeah, itās, I the immediacy is a big part of it and the analog nature of it, you might say. So, you know, if you think of analog signals as ones that have infinite variability, that is, they donāt break down into discrete parts. Our language is made up of these discrete units of meaning really that we call phonemes that are assembled into syllables, assembled into words. And they are, itās more like digital communication in the sense that youāre breaking things up into parts and then putting it back together to make sense. Whereas music is this analog reality, particularly when experienced in person, in present, in the actual presence of other people and the music makers,Avoid ClichĆ© and Sentimentality in Worship Musicians and worship leaders must carefully assess the cultural and generational context of their congregation to effectively engage them. Their primary role is to understand the congregationās capabilities while also challenging them to grow. It is crucial to avoid clichĆ©s, which represent overly familiar truths, and sentimentality, characterized by unearned emotions. Authenticity in both lyrical content and emotional expression is essential; worship must stem from genuine experiences rather than manipulative tactics. The focus should remain on truthful words and emotions that resonate genuinely with the congregation.
Speaker 1
So thereās like these technical and you know whatās available to us musically that we can work with and that varies tremendously by culture and by church tradition and by generation And you know the first job of the musician I think is to or the worship as a musician, or the musician has worship leader, is to really pay attention to what can this congregation do and Then how do we stretch it? Other forms of communication, the two things you have to be very, very, well, you have to have a horror of them, I would say, is cliche and sentimentality. So cliche is overly familiar truth and sentimentality is unearned emotion, emotion that comes too easily, that doesnāt kind of emerge out of authentic experience, but just is kind Of wrung out of you by manipulation, you might say. A kind of manipulation. And, so I have to be thinking both with the words in the text, like what will be truthful for this congregation to sing, and what emotions are truthful for us to express. And then, but then, and often that involves stretching beyond what weā¦Avoid ClichĆ© and Sentimentality to Engage Authentically Effective communication, particularly in musical settings, requires vigilance against clichĆ©s and sentimentality. ClichĆ©s represent overly familiar truths that lack freshness, while sentimentality often relies on unearned emotions that do not stem from genuine experiences. To foster authentic engagement, the selected words and emotions in songs must resonate truthfully with the audience. This may necessitate reinventing familiar pieces, like āAmazing Grace,ā to ensure they feel new and impactful rather than merely routine. It involves a thoughtful approach to both the content and emotional expression to enhance the overall experience.
Speaker 1
Other forms of communication, the two things you have to be very, very, well, you have to have a horror of them, I would say, is cliche and sentimentality. So cliche is overly familiar truth and sentimentality is unearned emotion, emotion that comes too easily, that doesnāt kind of emerge out of authentic experience, but just is kind Of wrung out of you by manipulation, you might say. A kind of manipulation. And, so I have to be thinking both with the words in the text, like what will be truthful for this congregation to sing, and what emotions are truthful for us to express. And then, but then, and often that involves stretching beyond what weā¦ See, once weāve already expressed it a lot, Amazing Grace is a big problem in this respect. Like, everybody knows the text, everybody knows the tune, itās extremely familiar. So, either like explicitly or implicitly, I have to be thinking as a musician, how do we stretch this so that it is new again when we do it? Rather than just, oh yeah, we sing Amazing Grace every third service and we all know how it goes, we all know how it feels, because thatās actually not going to open us up the way it needs To. Iām not sure Iāve given you the whole list, but those are like, so thereās this very technical thing, like whatās the range of the songs?Replaying Music Diminishes Amateur Creation The introduction of recording technologies, such as the gramophone and streaming services, has shifted the landscape of music consumption from active participation to passive replay. This transition has led to a significant decline in amateur music-making, with many individuals now perceiving themselves as non-musical despite the innate ability to learn music, especially when exposed to it early in life. Historically, music has been foundational to humanity, potentially predating speech. However, the current environment discourages personal music creation while promoting the professionalization of musical talent.
Speaker 1
And thatās, in a sense, the active sense of playing music. And then about a hundred years ago the gramophone is invented and now streaming music and other things are invented, YouTube and so forth. And now the 90, I donāt know how many nines to put after this. The vast majority of music that is played today is played, is actually replayed. That is, it was recorded once and now weāre replaying it through, you know, amplification in our earbuds and so forth. And what this has led to, or gone along with at least, I guess I donāt know for sure what the causation is, is a collapse of amateur music making. So that many, many people now would say they are not musical, even though itās extremely rare to have someone cannot learn music if theyāre exposed to it early, because itās actually More foundational in some ways than speech. Arguably, song came before speech in human history, and it comes before it in a way in our neurological preparation. But now thereās many, many people who have never had a chance to develop the making of music as their own ability. And at the same time, thereās been some real incentives for people who discover a talent for it to become kind of professional music makers.Revive the Art of Amateur Music Making The evolution of music consumption, from live performance to recorded playback through technologies like the gramophone and streaming, has led to a significant decline in amateur music creation. Despite most people having the capacity to learn and enjoy music, many now consider themselves non-musical. This trend undermines the foundational role of music in human culture and neurological development, where music likely preceded speech. Meanwhile, the rise of professional music makers has created a divided landscape, emphasizing talent and commercial success over personal musical expression.
Speaker 1
And thatās, in a sense, the active sense of playing music. And then about a hundred years ago the gramophone is invented and now streaming music and other things are invented, YouTube and so forth. And now the 90, I donāt know how many nines to put after this. The vast majority of music that is played today is played, is actually replayed. That is, it was recorded once and now weāre replaying it through, you know, amplification in our earbuds and so forth. And what this has led to, or gone along with at least, I guess I donāt know for sure what the causation is, is a collapse of amateur music making. So that many, many people now would say they are not musical, even though itās extremely rare to have someone cannot learn music if theyāre exposed to it early, because itās actually More foundational in some ways than speech. Arguably, song came before speech in human history, and it comes before it in a way in our neurological preparation. But now thereās many, many people who have never had a chance to develop the making of music as their own ability. And at the same time, thereās been some real incentives for people who discover a talent for it to become kind of professional music makers. So you have this division that there have always been very, very talented people, some of whom made their living making music, or at least this has been true for quite a while, in different Ways, in different places.
