Praise song - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Contemporary worship music (CWM) is a loosely defined genre of Christian music

Christian music

Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....

used in contemporary worship

Contemporary worship

Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the twentieth century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found to varying extents in a wide range of churches, including many that do not subscribe to a...

. It has developed over the past sixty years and is stylistically similar to pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

. The songs are frequently referred to as "praise songs" or "worship songs" and are typically led by a "worship band" or "praise team", with either a guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

ist or pianist leading. It is becoming a common genre of music sung in Western churches, predominantly in particularly in Pentecostal churches, both denominational and nondenominational. Also many non Charasmatic Protestant Churches use this type of music. Some do so exclusively. Others have services that are just traditional along with servces that are just contemporary. Others simply mix this type of music in with traditional. Some protestant churches avoid this music and remain traditional. Also, Roman Catholic churches are using this type of music in some parishes. Some mix it in with more traditional music; others have certain masses with just contemporary worship music along with traditional masses; others only use contemporary; many others steer clear of contemporary worship and stick with traditional. The type of music used in such churches both Catholic and Protestant has little bearing on theological ideology or whether a church is liberal, moderate, or conservative.

History and development

In early 1950s, the catholic Taizé Community

Taizé Community

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of about 100 brothers who come from Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions. The brothers come from about 30 countries across the world. The monastic order has a strong...

in France started to attract youths from several religious denominations with worship hymns based on modern melodies.

In the 1950s and 60s the Church began to place particular emphasis on reaching to the youth. Christian Unions in university environments hosted evangelistic talks and provided biblical teaching for their members, Christian cafes opened with evangelistic aims, and church youth groups were set up. Amateur musicians from these groups began playing Christian music in a popular idiom. Some Christians felt that the Church needed to break from its stereotype as being structured, formal and dull to appeal to the younger generation. By borrowing the conventions of popular music, the antithesis of this stereotype, the Church restated the claims of the Bible through Christian lyrics, and thus sent the message that Christianity was not outdated or irrelevant. The Joystrings
The Joystrings
The Joystrings were a 1960s UK Christian music group led by Joy Webb, an officer in The Salvation Army....

were one of the first Christian pop groups to appear on television, in Salvation Army uniform, playing Christian beat music. The Jesus People in America also had particular influence, and began to create their own musical subculture, sometimes referred to as Jesus music
Jesus music
Jesus music, known as gospel beat music in the United Kingdom, is a style of Christian music which originated on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This musical genre developed in parallel to the Jesus movement...

— essentially hippie-style music with biblical lyrics. This Jesus music gradually bifurcated into Christian rock

Christian rock

Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...

(music played for concerts) and 'praise music' (music for communal worship).

Churches began to adopt some of these songs and the styles for corporate worship. These early songs for communal singing were arguably the first examples of contemporary worship music, and were characteristically simple, often only involving a three chord structure. ‘Youth Praise’, published in 1966, was one of the first and most famous collections of these songs and was compiled and edited by Michael Baughen

Michael Baughen

Michael Alfred Baughen is a retired Anglican bishop.Born at Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, he was educated at Bromley County Grammar School, the University of London and Oak Hill Theological College....

and published by the Jubilate Group

Jubilate Group

Jubilate Group is a Christian publishing house, which administers copyright for more than sixty composers and writers. The group was founded by Michael Baughen in the 1960s....

. More recently songs are displayed using projectors on screens at the front of the church, and this has enabled greater physical freedom, and a faster rate of turnover in the material being sung. Important propagators of CWM today include Hillsong, Vineyard

Association of Vineyard Churches

The Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the Vineyard Movement, is a neocharismatic evangelical Christian denomination with over 1,500 affiliated churches worldwide....

and Soul Survivor.

Theology and lyrics

As CWM is closely related to the charismatic movement

Charismatic movement

The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...

, the lyrics and even some musical features reflect its theology. In particular the charismatic movement is characterised by its emphasis on the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...

, personal encounter and relationship with God, and agape

Agape

Agape is one of the Greek words translated into English as love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for mankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term...

.

Lyrically, the informal, sometimes intimate, language of relationship is employed. The terms ‘You’ and ‘I’ are used rather than ‘God’ and ‘we’, and lyrics such as, ‘I, I’m desperate for You’, and ‘Hungry I come to You for I know You satisfy, I am empty but I know Your love does not run dry’ both exemplify the similarity of the lyrics of some CWM to popular love songs. Slang is used on occasion (for example ‘We wanna see Jesus lifted high’) and imperatives (‘Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see You’), demonstrating the friendly, informal terms charismatic theology encourages for relating to God personally. Often a physical response is included in the lyrics (‘So we raise up holy hands’; ‘I will dance, I will sing, to be mad for my king’). This couples with the use of drums and popular rhythm in the songs to encourage full body worship.

The metaphorical language of the lyrics is subjective, and therefore does risk being misinterpreted; this emphasis on personal encounter with God does not always balance with intellectual understanding.

Just as in secular popular and rock relationships and feelings are central topics, so in CWM association to a personal relationship with God and free expression are emphasised.

As in traditional hymnody, some images, such as captivity and freedom, life and death, romance, power and sacrifice, are employed to facilitate relationship with God.

Musical identity

Because, in common with hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s, such music is sung communally, there can be a practical and theological emphasis on its accessibility, to enable every member of the congregation to participate in a corporate act of worship. This manifests in simple, easy-to-pick-up melodies in a mid-vocal range; repetition; familiar chord progressions and a restricted harmonic palette. Unlike hymns, the music notation may primarily be based around the chords, with the keyboard score being secondary. But throughout the history of CWM, some songs have used more complex rhythms and metres, and, to a lesser degree, harmonies.

This sound clip is a recent example of CWM and demonstrates the variety available within these boundaries: Strength will rise (Everlasting God). With the exception of one 2/4 bar shortly before the chorus, rhythmic variety is achieved by syncopation, most notably in the short section leading into the chorus, and in flowing one line into the next. The use of a pedal note at the opening secures the piece firmly in B flat major, and the whole piece uses only four chords: B flat (tonic

Tonic (music)

In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...

), E flat (subdominant

Subdominant

In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...

) and G minor (submediant

Submediant

In music, the submediant is the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, the 'lower mediant' halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or 'lower dominant'...

), and just two references to F (dominant

Dominant (music)

In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...

) as it leads into the chorus. Structurally, the form verse-chorus is adopted, each using repetition. In particular the use of a rising four-note figure, used in both melody

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

and accompaniment

Accompaniment

In music, accompaniment is the art of playing along with an instrumental or vocal soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner...

, makes the song easy to learn.

Such techniques are common to CWM: the strong sense of home key, climactic chorus and repeated motifs. Though the styles have developed according to what is popular between 1950s and now, such music usually follows popular trends that are already well-established rather than the most current.

At more charismatic services, members of the congregation may harmonise freely during worship songs, perhaps singing in tongues (see glossolalia

Glossolalia

Glossolalia or speaking in tongues is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied with time and place, with some considering it a part of a sacred language...

), and the worship leader seeks to be ‘led by the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit

’. There may also be role of improvisation, flowing from one song to the next and inserting musical material from one song into another.

The worship band

There is no fixed band set up for playing CWM, but most have a lead singer and lead guitarist or keyboard player. Their role is to indicate the tone, structure, pace and volume of the worship songs, and perhaps even construct the order or content of the worship during performance. Some larger churches are able to employ paid worship leaders, and some have attained fame by worship leading, blurring contemporary worship music with Christian rock

Christian rock

, though the role of the band in a worship service, leading and enabling the congregation in praise normally contrasts that of performing a Christian concert. In CWM today there will often be three or four singers with microphones, a drum kit, a bass guitar, one or two guitars, keyboard and possibly other, more orchestral instruments, such as a flute or violin. There has been a shift within the genre towards using amplified instruments and voices, again paralleling popular music, though some churches play the same songs with simpler or acoustic instrumentation.

The role of technology

Technological advances have played a significant role in the development of CWM. In particular the use of projectors means that the song repertoire of a church is not restricted to those in a song book, and so CWM has a much greater rate of turnover than other Christian genres. Songs and styles go in trends. The internet has increased accessibility, enabling anyone to see lyrics and guitar chords for many worship songs, and download MP3 tracks. This has also played a part in the globalisation of much CWM. Some churches, such as Hillsong and Vineyard

Association of Vineyard Churches

The Association of Vineyard Churches, also known as the Vineyard Movement, is a neocharismatic evangelical Christian denomination with over 1,500 affiliated churches worldwide....

, have their own publishing companies, and there is a thriving Christian music business which parallels that of the secular world, with recording studios, music books, CDs, MP3 downloads and other merchandise. The consumer culture surrounding CWM has prompted both criticism and praise, and as Pete Ward deals with in his book ‘Selling Worship’, no advance is without both positive and negative repercussions.

Criticisms

Criticisms include Gary Parrett’s concern that the volume of this music drowns out congregational participation, and therefore makes it a performance. He quotes Ephesians 5:19, in which St. Paul tells the church in Ephesus to be ‘speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit’, and questions whether the worship band, now so often amplified and playing like a rock band, replace rather than enable the congregations’ praise.

Samuele Bacchiocchi expresses concerns over the use of the rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

idiom, as he argues that music communicates on a subconscious level, and the often anarchistic, nihilistic ethos of rock stands against Christian culture. Using the physical response induced by drums in a worship context as evidence that rock takes peoples’ minds away from contemplating on the lyrics and God, he suggests that rock is actively dangerous for the Church.

The theological content too has raised questions for some, including Martin Percy, who argues there is too great an emphasis on a very intimate relationship with God, using terms such as ‘I’ and ‘you’ instead of ‘we’ and ‘God’ and very passionate, physical language, and argues that this bias needs urgent correction. He explains how the emphasis on emotion can encourage hype and a need to create an atmosphere which evokes a sense of encounter with God, rather than allowing God to do so.

Despite the biblical basis employed to underpin CWM, such as , its surrounding culture tends to exclude systematic use of the psalms in weekly worship, sidelining lament from regular worship practice. The emphasis on praise, and on an interpretation of 'worship' that is overwhelmingly positive, can lead to avoidance of the psalms of lament. Michael Vasey writes: "Scripture is, of course, full of lament – and devotes its finest literary creation to warning the godly against quick and easy answers. The power of many of the psalms we are embarrassed to use lies precisely here. Of all this there is little echo in our contemporary reading." Whereas denominational churches generally use a weekly lectionary

Lectionary

A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:...

that gives a broad range of scriptural themes, including selected psalms on those themes, CWM churches tend not to have an agreed lectionary and the consequent agreement on using a broad range of material.

Pope John Paul II, concerning the role of musicians in the church, has this to say:
"Today, as yesterday, musicians, composers, liturgical chapel cantors, church organists and instrumentalists must feel the necessity of serious and rigorous professional training. They should be especially conscious of the fact that each of their creations or interpretations cannot escape the requirement of being a work that is inspired, appropriate and attentive to aesthetic dignity, transformed into a prayer of worship when, in the course of the liturgy, it expresses the mystery of faith in sound."

Some have noted that contemporary worship songs often reflect the social climate of individualism

Individualism

Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...

as the lyrics emphasize personal relationship with God, even within a group context. Christian apologist J.P. Holding cited the title of the song I Can Only Imagine
I Can Only Imagine
"I Can Only Imagine" is a single recorded by contemporary Christian and Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by Bart Millard, the song, based around a main piano track, was inspired by the death of Millard's father and considers what it would be like in Heaven and to be standing...

as one such example of a desire for "self-fulfillment" taking the place of a proper view of God's holiness.

Popularity

As a common genre of Christian music found in Western churches CWM has proven successful. Its simplicity means that almost anyone with some degree of competency on a musical instrument may join in the leading of it. It is in a style suited to the musical taste of a generation who have grown up listening to pop songs and find classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

less accessible.

Some songs now appear in more traditional hymnals.