Questions tagged [church-music]
For all questions related to church music; note that this is not necessarily synonymous with religious music. See also the hymnody tag.
17 questions
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Identifying a (psalm?) tune from its notes
I recently discovered four lines of numbers painted on the inside wall of a church bell tower in Wales, and I'm trying to interpret them. From the style of the writing, degree of decay and location, ...
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Why is C the tenor of phrygian?
After teaching some students about medieval church modes, I took a question as to precisely why the tenor/confinalis of phrygian/mode III was C rather than B. I answered according to what I had been ...
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What modes is the Litany of the Saints in?
I've been looking at the Litany of the Saints. Kyrie Eleison has La as the reciting tone. But then Do is the reciting tone and the finalis. I've yet to find a mode with finalis and tenor on the same ...
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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
...
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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
...
user71438
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3
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
user53472
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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'...
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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 ...
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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-...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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