For all questions related to church music; note that this is not necessarily synonymous with religious music. See also the hymnody tag.
Questions tagged [church-music]
14 questions
16
votes
4 answers
Is the tritone (A4 / d5 / DA3 / Dd6) still banned in Roman Catholic music?
The tritone is one of the most dissonant intervals in music. It is also known as the "Augmented 4th", "Diminished 5th", "Doubly Augmented 3rd" or "Doubly Diminished 6th", and it is composed of three adjacent whole tones.
The tritone was banned in…
user53472
14
votes
1 answer
Deciphering the series of numbers shown for songs in a hymn book
Consider almost any song in a church hymn book. Either at the top just above the ledger lines or at the bottom near the credits is a series of numbers usually a set of four to six numbers such as 87 87 87 or 10 10 10 10 10 or 88 88 88. They are not…
zundarz
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10
votes
2 answers
How to deal with the extreme reverberation in big cathedrals when playing the pipe organs?
While playing the pipe organs in cathedrals or churches with huge echo/reverberation, I noticed that along with the delay/latency (when the pipes are not close enough to the ears) comes the second problem: the reverberation.
How does the organist…
Ionică Bizău
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8
votes
1 answer
Which Bach chorale preludes are appropriate for different times of the liturgical year?
Is there a guide available that assigns all of Bach's organ chorale preludes to appropriate times in the liturgical year?
Bach himself began such a catalog in the Orgelbüchlein. That's the sort of thing I am looking for, but for all of the…
Mark Lutton
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7
votes
3 answers
How to learn to play the pipe organ?
I have been playing piano for about 13 years now. I want to go to the next level: playing church pipe organs.
A few weeks ago, my dream to play a church pipe organ became true, after a Catholic mass from a very important popular from Europe.
The…
Ionică Bizău
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- 17
7
votes
2 answers
Polyphony vs Homophony in Hymns
I understand that polyphony is multiple melodies, while homophony is a single melody with chordal accompaniment (in my own words).
I've read that hymns are generally homophonic, yet I find that hymns don't follow a pattern of chordal accompaniment…
HK1
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5
votes
4 answers
What exactly is a Christmas carol?
I looked up differences between Christmas carols and other Christmas songs. Generally about carols being about nativity or some other traditional songs not necessary religious while other Christmas songs are about things like love, loneliness, fun,…
Heimdall
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5
votes
1 answer
Meaning of Capitalization on The Notation of Gregorian Psalm Tone Endings
As you know, most Gregorian Psalm Tones have alternative endings. For example, Tone I has 10 possible endings.
The endings are denoted by a letter and a number. I understand (correct me if I am wrong) that the letter itself indicates the degree…
cockypup
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5
votes
5 answers
Patterns for Leading Worship with Violin
I have had engagements with my church to play my violin for worship. In the past, I've just played the root notes of the chords listed on the chord sheet, which has filled the sound in nicely, and added a little softness to the normal sound of…
General Nuisance
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5
votes
1 answer
Why isn't there a 7th note (si) in St. John's hymn?
The solfege syllables (ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si) come from St. John's Hymn, in which the lyrics of the first verse go as:
Ut queant laxis
Resonare fibris
Mira gestorum
Famuli tuorum
Solve polluti
Labii reatum
Sancte Ioannes
The first six…
user71438
4
votes
2 answers
What are the norms for naming new hymn tunes?
Anybody who knows their way around a hymnal knows that hymn tunes have names, and hymnal editors sometimes mix and match hymn texts with compatible tunes. Some of the most familiar hymn tunes have odd-sounding names like Nettleton, Darwall,…
Sam Kauffman
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3
votes
1 answer
When to play Amen
When playing Christmas songs during a Church Service, if the song's music has an Amen at the end, you play it. If the same song, being played as a Christmas Carol that a choir is singing, then you don't play the Amen. Is this correct?
Thank you very…
Mike
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0
votes
3 answers
Search for Nice Jazzy Changes for German Church Song
Lets assume we have this german church song:
Which chords could be changed that it sounds more jazzy. Please also let me know the systematic behind your suggestions.
Here is also the muse score file if you want to change it:…
myzinsky
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-2
votes
1 answer
Gregorian Chant vocal technique
What are the following vocal techniques?
on the word Quantus at 0:17
on the word mi-rum at 0:36
on the word mundus at 1:30
on the word ju-dex at 3:14
on the word Et at 3:59
on the word O-ro at 3:12
on the word dona at 6:10.
I asked this…
Ana Maria
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