A much much lower stakes church music thread:

One of the reasons it's difficult to incorporate a lot of "modern worship" into a more formal service is that MW was born in concerts, festivals, and conferences /

So some seven minute Delirious anthem with four minutes of holding an E maj chord on an electric keyboard as we quietly sway is fine in that context, but it very difficult to situate in our own context

I've heard some pretty good fraction anthems done in a MW way, but even here the 30secs-1min intro build sits awkwardly in the service (in my opinion, obvs). I think it's possible to relate these two styles, but it's not a plug and play thing. Intentional choices are needed

It was sort of a revelation to discover that several of the major UK writers were brit evangelical anglicans. Tim Hughes is even a priest!

I once got into an argument with a professional worship leader because he said Chris Tomlin is better than David Crowder because it's easier to sing. I see now in what way that's actually right. The concert/service difference makes a tangible difference for length, flow, etc

But some writers get that "hymn flow" (for lack of a better word) just right. Ex: Gungor's "Glory" would make a killer entrance hymn for a Christmas service. It's "modern" but despite the banjo and bells it's more hymn-like than other MW songs

With respect! When some non-musicians talk about "preferring MW to the ACT" I think sometimes what they like is the informal production, or the "non-traditional" instruments (guitars rather than organ). Cause often there's not a musical difference, just an arrangement diff

Take this gorgeous Advent hymn. Everything about it is in keeping with "traditional" choral hymns, but the Sufjan'esque instrumentation makes it feel more like MW. That's what I'm talking about. Nothing particularly modern about it

What's "modern" and what's "traditional" can be strangely blended. Take this early DCB version of All Creatures: Much more traditional temp (about 80bpm), and synthetic organ. But digital drum track and intentional distortion of the keys

But then this one is much "less traditional," being 10bpm slower, and having guitar and drums. But for most people this one *feels* more traditional

Note also the additional "non-traditional" alleluia refrain at the end. So it's all kinds of "modern" but for most it "feels" more traditional than the first. The second one has the virtue of being much easier to play. Pretty sure it's just in D as well. It's been a while

Sorry all my references are dated. I haven't really touched this material for almost 15 years