The “Common Meter” and Bay Psalm Book

Something I found interesting in class on 09/07 was how many different tunes could be set to the same lyrics. Some that we experimented with were well known tunes like the ABCs/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Amazing Grace. Although these tunes work with different lyrics, it does not mean they will sound right together. An example of this is when we tried to use the tune of Yankee Doodle. Although the tune fit the amount of syllables and words, it sounded wrong. In the reading, we read how the most of the writings in the Psalms book use “Common Meter” which is four lines alternating with 6 and 8 syllables, so that is why most of the different writings will still fit the common tune we recognize. Something else I learned from the reading was that the Bay Psalm Book was the first book to be printed in the American colonies. This shows how widespread and important Christianity and reading the Bible was to them.