What makes a hymn

O risen Lord! Margaret Clarkson is a well-known and widely published hymn writer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Used by permission. By Edith Margaret Clarkson. Good hymns are God-centered, not man-centered—-looking upwards, not inwards. They have loftiness of concept, and dignity and reverence of language. They adore the eternal Godhead for who and what he is, worshiping him for his holiness, wisdom, power, justice, goodness, mercy, and truth.

They praise him for his mighty acts—for creation, preservation, redemption; for guidance, protection, provision; for the means of grace and the hope of glory. They offer petition suitable to their theme; they praise, worship, nourish, encourage, teach, exhort, inspire, and rejoice in Christian community.

Good hymns are not subjective; they are free from introspection. When man enters the the picture, it is to acknowledge the darkness of his own sinful nature in the presence of such a God, to seek his mercy, and to grasp more closely his redeeming grace. Good hymns are doctrinal in content and theologically sound, rooted solidly in the Word of God. Christian leaders should be more aware of the doctrinal content of the hymns they choose than many of them are, for many hymns in common use today contain theological errors or untruths.

All too often attractive or well-known tunes are allowed to take precedence over truly biblical texts, and our congregations absorb false doctrines unwittingly. For as Erik Routley has written, "A congregation's disposition towards right belief or away from it is subtly influenced by the habitual use of hymns… The singing congregation is uncritical; but it matters very much what it sings, for it comes to believe its hymns.

Wrong doctrine in preaching would be noticed; in hymns, it may come to be believed " Erik Routley, Hymns Today and Tomorrow , Nashville: Abingdon Press, The worshiping congregation with a good and wisely used hymnbook, however, is constantly instructed and blessed as the great doctrines of the faith are brought before it in review: so truth is kept vernal. When biblical truths are set to music, that music bears a great responsibility to support the truths of the text.

Music Ministry Articles. In the fourth century, St Augustine described a hymn as follows: Do you know what a hymn is? Musical Characteristics of Good Hymns Strong tune: singable, easily learned Logical form, pleasing rise and fall Comfortable in range Unity of text and tune: accents, climax, mood Suitable change of harmony within the phrase Relatively longer rhythmic patterns A more melodic bass line and some melodic character to the inner voices.

What standards shall we use? Simply put, what makes a hymn or song good or bad? What criteria should we use in deciding whether a hymn, song, or chorus is worthy of including in the people's worship of God?

Here are twelve suggestions. The best hymn texts exhibit these twelve characteristics, and they do so while using language that is simultaneously natural, often conversational.

They use language that raises us out of our suffering, grief, and emotions. In his own time and manner, there was no one better at this than Charles Wesley. Take note that these twelve characteristics for judging the quality of texts for congregational singing have not included a single word about musical style. These characteristics will be present in the best texts regardless of the style of the accompanying music. There are good and bad texts in traditional hymns, praise choruses, and all the contemporary musical styles in use in today's worship services.

These characteristics may be applied across the various musical styles. Some of the characteristics numbers four, five, and seven may be related to musical style. The style and quality of the music, in interaction with the text, will promote or inhibit these characteristics.

It is the task of the composer, the director, and the performer to take care in such matters. Chuck Knows Church: Episode 49 Handbells. Ever seen a handbell choir? Ever wondered about their history and place in the church? Well, you're in for a treat as Chuck explains about handbe.

Chuck Knows Church: Episode 33 Doxology. Chuck sings! Bet you can't guess the name of the most played piece of music in Protestant churches each Sunday? You looked at the title of. Chuck digs into the book usually within an arm's length each Sunday. And he starts. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please read our Privacy Policy page. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform.

By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here. In the context of Christian worship, the term hymn gets tossed around fairly regularly. But what exactly is a hymn? Is there something that makes a hymn different from your average worship song? But the point is not that syncopation is bad. Songs that are not hymns are not therefore bad songs. Anyway, there you have it.

My best attempt to explain what a hymn is, and what makes it different from general worship songs. A hymn is a song composed of melodies that inherently carry the timing, making them ideal for singing by a large group of people without the need for instrumentation.

I do think the term hymn should be reserved for songs that are actually spiritual and worship-oriented. Its melodies carry the timing of the song.