- Throughout these articles we’ve mentioned our Cardinal Rule: Make all the elements work together to enhance the feeling of the message.
That rule can be summed up in one key word:
In message songwriting, the ideal we strive for is to make every melody line, every chord, voicing and progression, every rhythm pattern, every choice of words appropriate to the feeling of the message; to create the Perfect Wedding of words and music that makes the message come alive.
Notice we said the ideal. Most of us rarely achieve that level of perfection.
When all the elements of writing and performance are working together, each doing what it’s supposed to do, the song has life and warmth and humanity. We don’t just hear it, we experience it.
By appropriateness we mean good taste and common sense, not necessarily spirituality.
Even in a secular song, doesn’t it seem inappropriate to express feelings of tenderness and love in a brassy tone of voice with a raucous accompaniment? The loved one might think we’re kidding.
The same might be said for setting the Lord’s Prayer or any other reverent expression of worship to a slick, frivolous dance beat. Some styles were never intended to carry the weight of message—they’re just dance music.
Another form of inappropriateness is overfamiliarity with the Lord, as in two imaginative titles submitted to a publisher we knew—“Curly Hair, Eyes of Blue—That’s My Jesus,” and “Holding Hands With Jesus on the Beach at Waikiki.”
Now let’s take it a step further. Let’s apply the Cardinal Rule to arranging and performance as well as to songwriting. The instrumentation, tessitura, tempo, volume, dynamics, tone colors, gestures, facial expressions, instrumental “licks”—all the elements together can support the message, or any one of them inappropriately used can distract from it.
Perhaps the most insensitive kind of all is “Jesus died on Calvaree, Shed his blood to set me free” snap snap groove groove grin grin— a careless disregard for the gravity, pathos and meaning of the Passion.Although there is a wealth of subject matter within our Christian experience to celebrate in “fun” music, Jesus’ agony on the cross is not a subject of fun for any thinking person, especially a Christian.
We aren’t suggesting that the quality of improvised licks be diminished, just that they agree with and support the message. For this reason, we believe it’s important for the improvising musicians to know what the lyrics are saying, or at least know the feeling they convey.
Just playing licks to show off the coolness or cleverness or virtuosity of one’s playing is equivalent to standing behind a speaker or preacher and making faces and gesticulations that draw attention away from the subject. But properly done, the fills can dialogue with the singer and say “Amen” to the message and help bring it to life.
Next time you hear a performance that makes your hair stand up, analyze it. Was it the song, or the singer, the arrangement, or the performance? Probably a combination of all of the above, working together to breathe life into the experience.