The Bible and Music

Today in class we talked about what makes music from around the world different.  I never realized how much a style of music goes into my view and understanding of a culture.  Prior to our discussion, the best answer I could come up with was that music just sounds like a certain culture.

One of the big differentiators we discussed is language.  This one seems obvious – different countries speak different languages so it makes sense that their music would reflect that.  However, this rule becomes less clear when analyzing what subcategory the music falls into.  For example, we listened to a Psalm sung in Arabic.  I would never have guessed that it was a piece of biblical text being sung, just that the music originated from the Middle East.

The second distinction we talked about was instruments.  Someone mentioned that Caribbean music often utilizes a steelpan drum.  This instrument has a very distinct sound and is not used as much outside of the Caribbean, so when I hear it in music I automatically think the music is from the Caribbean.  However, not all instruments are so segmented to one geographic location.  A guitar, for example, is used to create music across the world.

I think the biggest factor in determining where a piece of music comes from is the general style that is being used.  This could be in the form of a genre or a general tone of the music.  Country music is something that is pretty consistently from the United States.  It has it’s own themes and feeling that distinguish it from other cultural musics.  Reggae is almost always from a Caribbean island.  Country and Reggae music both utilize guitars and are often both in English, but they have completely different styles.

All of this discussion led to the ultimate question: what does Christian music sound like?  Christians can be found all over the globe and some biblical composers do not identify as a Christian.  While Americans generally have a very narrow view what Christian music sounds like, the reality is that it is as diverse as all the different cultures of the world.