Miscellaneous reflections on children and music

Jim Coggins

My daughter, who is much more musically gifted than I am (who isn't?) has taken six years of piano lessons, and is frankly tired of them. She wants to quit. She also would like to become a rock musician or Christian rock musician (depending on the week). My wife Jackie and I have argued that if she wants to be a rock musician, it would be good for her to continue taking piano lessons; she will learn things that will help her be a better rock musician. She dismisses our arguments easily: "I already know far more than I need to know to write rock music."

I have heard some of the songs she has composed, and she is right. I think that that is part of the power of rock music: As a musical form, it is simple and accessible. Almost anyone can play it or enjoy it. You don't have to be a gifted musician.

I have been both a Baptist and a Mennonite Brethren. I have listened to the congregational singing and church music in both denominations, and I have no hesitation in saying that Mennonite Brethren is better. (I think it has something to do with the fact that Germans are far more musically gifted as a people than we English are. I mean, try to name a great English composer prior to John Lennon.) On the other hand, I sometimes fear that we Mennonite Brethren exclude or repel some people by our high level of musical giftedness.

When I studied English literature in university, I learned that, early in the 20th century, there was a major transition in the style of the poetry that was being written. Poetry moved from rhymed, symmetrical verse through blank verse (where the lines no longer rhyme) to free verse (where there is not only no rhyme, but also no standard line length). This transition is part of what Francis Schaeffer called "the line of despair" which has moved through all areas of Western culture in the last century or two. It represents a shift from an ordered view of the universe to viewing the universe as chaotic and meaningless.

Having written both kinds of poetry, I know that it is much easier to write free verse. You don't have to worry about getting the right number of syllables in the line, and you don't have to find words and rearrange words to get the lines to rhyme. But it is also harder to write good free verse. The trick is to be able to write a poem that has order and meaning in a form that has no apparent order; that is what makes it poetry.

Schaeffer said that the last area of culture to be affected by "the line of despair" was theology. We are cultural imitators, not innovators.

One aspect of this general cultural transition that I have observed is that, in the last 20 years, Christian songwriting has finally made the transition from rhymed verse to free verse. Hymns, and even contemporary Christian music into the 1970s, generally had four-line rhymed verses with a four-line rhymed chorus. These songs were very ordered, and were therefore easy to remember and sing. Contemporary Christian music now has fewer ryhmes, no standard line length, no standard verse length, changing rhythms and unexpected repetitions. These songs are harder to sing until you get to know them. They have to be very bewildering to older people who are expecting the older form of ordered, rhymed verse.

The question is: Which form is better to express the gospel to the contemporary generation? I don't think there is a simple answer to that question. It will depend on the individual. There are some people, even young people, who crave the order of the older, more ordered forms. (This may explain why some people today have converted to Roman Catholicism or Anglicanism—they are seeking a refuge of order and stability in a chaotic world.) Many others, however, live in such chaos that they cannot relate to strict order; it seems artificial and unreal. For them, the free verse of contemporary Christian music is the answer, speaking of order and meaning in a musical language of chaos and confusion. It offers hope to a contemporary world gone mad.

There is a pattern I have noticed in many churches in the last decade or two whenever a power struggle erupts over music style. I present it here, not because it is necessarily good, but because understanding is the first step toward a solution.

When the power struggle emerges, the older generation may insist on "keeping a balance", but that "balance" leans heavily toward traditional music because the older generation does not know how far away the other extreme is. A balance between 19th-century hymns and 1950s choruses does not come close to reaching the younger generation. The older generation will attend church business meetings and put pressure on the church leadership to enforce this (traditional) balance. They may also insist that the church have only one worship service, or only one kind of worship service, so that "we can all worship together" or "we can worship together with our kids". This approach may well win the battle, but lose the war.

The younger generation (from 50-year-old baby boomers on down) does not relate to institutions and structures and authorities. They are used to variety and choices. They do not go to church business meetings or make presentations to the church leaders. If the church does not provide the music they want, they simply leave and go to a church which does offer their kind of music. When that happens, they are not only not in the same worship service as their parents, they are not even in the same church, and maybe not even in the same denomination.

That is the pattern. It may not be good, but it is reality. What do we do about it? I have no simple solutions, but I offer four suggestions:

1. It is never good to fight about music in church (this is true for both generations). We should be focussing on God, not music. We should also show self-sacrificing love. "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4).

2. Churches (or the church) need to offer variety. People are used to choice in our society. Music tastes are so broad and needs are so broad that one form is not going to reach everyone. The pattern demonstrates this. We need variety, not just for the people who are in our churches now, but also (and maybe primarily) for the people who are not yet in our churches and who need Jesus.

3. While church members should not be loudly demanding their own way, church leaders should take a broader perspective and be sensitive to people's real needs. They should discern what the needs are and meet them. If that need is for a contemporary youth service or a seniors' hymn sing, they should make every effort to meet that need, regardless of the flack they may receive from others.

4. Church members, while not fighting about music or expecting to have everything they want, should make sure that they attend to their spiritual needs. The issues are too important. They should do whatever is necessary to seek God and to grow in grace.

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