Music's power to arouse certain emotions or resemble them by a simple structural similarity. Eg, a weeping willow looks like a person bent over in anguish.
Is there an objective component to it though the subjective response of each listener is necessarily distinct and different?
Music, however, is never heard on its own. it's a part of a range of affective factors that influence its perception.
In fact, music can affect levels of hormone in the body. Can increase melatonin or reduce cortisol (not sure if I got those chemicals right).
Music has a number of possible healing effects, in both acute and long-term settings.
What about when we add the human voice into things?
"Each of these basic emotions has a characteristic vocal acoustic signature and an acoustic profile that is associated with a strong characteristic emotional state." Graham Welch.
So even if we don't understand the words a person is using, we can generally understand which of these emotions is being expressed by the acoustic signature.
"Words make you think a thought; music makes you feel a feeling; a song makes you feel a thought." - Yip Harburg
Neuro-imaging studies have shown that while the sensory-moto processes of speaking and singing are largely the same, singing engages parts of your brain that speaking alone doesn't.
People who've experienced emotional trauma often find it difficult to sing. They shut down their emotional processes in order to protect themselves, and singing would threaten to arouse that. This is entirely understandable. And yet, singing could perhaps be a part of the process by which healing could occur.
Singing truth helps us to engage with the emotional significance of reality. To help us bridge the rational and emotional knowledges. (instance of allowing one to feel a thought)
Soundings from the word that God has spoken
a) The OT
Miriam's song in Exodus 15. Sings the song of salvation.
Isaiah 12:1-6 "sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously" (*kutz* Also an emphasis on singing as proclamation to the world in this passage)
Where there is salvation, there is joy. And where there is joy, there is singing.
These follow each other as night follows day.
Psalm 98 "Sing to the lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things..."
Yet, not only joy, but also grief, sadness and lament.
"Our common experience is not one of well-being and equilibrium, but a churning disruptive experience of dislocation and relocation." Walter Brueggeman.
And these too are also meant to be sung! A number of lament psalms are 13, 22, 51, 88, etc... are all addressed "to the choirmaster".
The importance of the vocalisation of the laments is that it aids in moving from disorientation to reorientation. The purpose of acknowledging our emotional and situational realities is to aid in dealing with the pain that's brought about by such distress and to bring us to the point of healing and finally, praise.
"As paradigms of faith and piety, the Psalms champion the affective dimension of devotion to and trust in God as elicited by the story of God's care for Israel." Karl Kuhn
b) The NT
Topic: the emotional elements of the positive work of the spirit, what elements of the fruit of the spirit are emotional? There are certainly some.
And if learning to bear some of these fruits are to grow in the image of Christ, then I take it that growing up emotionally is a part of that.
"Through the Spirit, we are given the priceless opportunity of - ... "Jeremy Begbie
"It is perhaps in worship and prayer, when we engage with God directly and consciously that this will be most evident"
"Music is particularly well suited to be a vehicle of emotional renewal in worship, a potent instrument through which the Holy Spirit can remake..." (too slow at typing... :-( )
Ephesians 5:18-21
One active verb "be filled by the spirit" along with 5 participles, "addressing, making melody, singing, submitting and giving thanks"
So, are these 'result' participles, whereby if you are filled with the Spirit then you'll do the rest?
I'll suggest that they are 'means' participles. The means by which the Spirit fills the church with the fulness of Christ (or something like that.). Thus, they are essentially a part of the command.
"To grow up into Christ is to grow up emotionally as much as anything else, and carefully chosen music in worship may have a larger part to play than we have yet imagined." Jeremey Begbie
Nervous nellies (or great ones with cautious concerns)
Augustine quotes.
On how music, when sung, actually aids in devotion to God, as well as warming the heart.
Also, on how he feared that if the music moves him more than the subject of the song that there's a real problem.
Calvin - same sort of twin appreciation and concern.
Firstly, that evil words can infect us easier with music
and also that the melody can more stick in the minds of people than the words.
More positive
Luther
Music is next to God, pretty much.
But not music in itself, but music as a vehicle for communicating about God and proclaiming God. For Luther, singing is word ministry. Not a substitute for the preached word, but a complement to it. unlike the preached word, it has this emotional component to it, an additional power.
"Music is a vehicle for proclaiming the Word of God The gift of language combined with the gift of song was only given to man to let him know that he should praise God..." too slow again.
Edwards
"'Tis plain from Scripture that it is the tendency of true grace to cause persons very much to delight in such religious exercises." Jonathan Edwards
"The ends of [singing] are two; to excite religious and holy affection, and secondly to manifest it."
The only reason to sing, rather than simply speak, is that this has a tendency to move our affections.
Conclusions
Personally
- You are not the only saint who enjoys the goodness of expressing the truth of God in song, and to find that helpful! There have been many more through the centuries.
- Make use of music. Learn to be blessed by it. Avail yourself of every gift of God to draw near to him. Particularly learn to use your voice, in singing to the Lord and singing of the Lord.
For church life
- While music and singing are not essential, they are of the well-being of the church. Not the main game, but are for the health. We'd be mad to neglect them, when they are so beneficial and stir the affections. Hence, we must also guard and protect them.
- Singing with other people engages you with them, it connects you and allows you to be sympathetic with them, as you sing the same content.
Questions:
Q: Surrounded in our world by so much commercially recorded music, that's the context in which we hear music in church, so some will be angered by the fact that our musicians aren't up to that standards, so the music may end up working at cross-purposes to its intention.
A: Well, people do need to be mature and have reasonable expectations. Secondarily, just acknowledge where we're at, and recognise the gifts that God has given us. We're not meant to sound like the CD, that's not the purpose. It's to sing together.
Q: Also, dichotomy between over-produced music, and the stuff made for more simple things.
A: It does also put on people like myself who produce music to produce stuff that is more copy-able.
Q: Why do we only sing certain sentiments, and should we move past that, and hwo can we?
A: We should do it! Write more lament songs, sing more of them, etc.
Q: Congregationaly, because it's not the same for everyone.
A: Put aside our individualism, and be mature and grow into the things in the song and recognise that it may minister to others.
Q: Are we lacking something in our culture because we don't seem to burst out into song?
A: Maybe, but we may be gaining something too. Each culture has its pluses and minuses.