Author: kemartin1

The meaning of the crucifixion to Christians is that it was the ultimate sacrifice for people in order for their sins to be forgiven. Jesus is seen as the metaphorical lamb that was sacrificed so those who follow him can receive salvation and the forgiveness of their sin. After the crucifixion, animal sacrifice that was… Continue reading Significance of the Crucifixion

In the original text of the crucifixion of Jesus, there is not a lot of emotion. In the original text it is simply the facts of the story, there is not a lot of detail used to describe the crucifixion or how those closest to Jesus felt.  In the St. John Passion, emotion is added.… Continue reading Passio(n)

Today in class, we discussed three different examples of music with lyrics that paint a picture of the words they are singing in the song. All three of these examples are directly from Handel’s Messiah. The music and symphony behind these lyrics is what makes the picture painted so vivid in our minds. These examples… Continue reading Painting a Picture

As we discussed in class, Handel’s Messiah contains many texts that can be taken out of context. Because of the prophecies that Jesus fulfills, Christians tent to interpret old testament texts in a way that they were not intended to be interpreted in.  Because of Jesus, texts take on a new meaning and Christians take… Continue reading Out of Context

In class today we discussed how we mindlessly add context, background, and setting to the stories that we read in the bible. A specific example that we talked about was the story of the Birth of Jesus. In the text, it states that Jesus was placed in a manger when he was born. Because this… Continue reading Adding Backgrounds/Settings That Don’t Exisit

When I was a sophomore in high school I got a guitar for Christmas. Throughout the years, I have learned how to play solely in order to sing with the music I was creating. The songs I enjoy singing are contemporary worship songs that basically only have 4 chords, G, D, Em, and C with… Continue reading Learning Guitar

Something we discussed in class today was the idea that the music we listen to and love runs a fine line of predictability and unpredictability. When I think about this, I think of the usual structure of songs that is familiar to me: verse 1, chorus 1, verse 2, chorus 2, bridge, chorus 3. The… Continue reading Predictability & Unpredictability

In class we briefly talked about how we started to write our song, whether you started with the melody and then put words to it, started with the words then put the melody to it, or wrote both at the same time. I answered that I did both at the same time. However, I was… Continue reading Method of Songwriting

In class and in the reading, the use of paraphrase to make words fit into a specific meter was a big topic of conversation. It was also mentioned that this can be seen as wrong and how changing the words of the Bible seems almost a little dishonorable. However, I have grown up in a… Continue reading Paraphrasing

I found it very interesting to learn that one of the reasons chanting/singing was used is because as the crowds grew larger, they needed a way to be heard. So they chanted/sang simply because they thought it projected the sound more and made their voices heard. I also find irony in the fact that if… Continue reading Projection