How to Sing a Hymn

How to Sing a Hymn

Psalm 96

In many worship gatherings singing has become an option. We may pray, read scripture, bring offerings and speak words of praise, but some folks don’t sing. Over the years, I have heard many reasons for this. Of course the most common explanation is, “I can’t sing” or “carry a tune”. In conversation with some I have learned some have been told they can't sing. In several instances, I have witnessed someone being told they did not have the ability to sing. I have tried to undue this tragic event by assuring someone they most certainly are able to sing. Granted some can sing differently or better than others, but I have never met a person who could not sing. God has blessed us all with this fantastic ability to take spoken words and give them a whole new sound, emotion, and expression by adding a texture we call song.
I believe some of the decline in singing during worship is because many have not learned how to sing a hymn. As in most activities, when one does not know how, they don't try. They step to the side and let others who have more training and know how enjoy this precious gift from God. The novice misses the blessing of singing and becomes the wallflower. They miss the dance. They never learned how to sing a hymn. I am not referring to the technical aspects of voicing a song from the screen or hymnbook, but a more soulful part of this worship ingredient.  I have found an approach that is a tried and true technique that conquers all obstacles to lifting a great song to praise to God.

One of my first remembrances of worship is standing on the pew next to my dad, before I could read. Though the boost from the pew still measured me short to his height, he would let me hold the hymnbook between us as everyone sang. I couldn’t read all the words, but I would pick up a line or two from the chorus and join in. God had gifted me with an “ear” for music and I began to pick up on the tune at an early age. As I listened and learned I began to notice that the congregation was singing one tune and my dad was singing another. Before I was taught that questionable truth, “somebody was off”,  I remember thinking, "wow, my dad has his own song!" As everyone else was singing, he joyfully lifted up those same words to an entirely original tune. It wasn’t until a few years later, that I realized that he was not able to match pitch with the piano, or congregation, but he sang. He sang his own song. He sang a new song. He had made the song his own.

It took me about 30 years or so to figure out the secret to singing a hymn. Take the first step of becoming a singer by reading the hymn text. Reading it (it was a poem, first) gives it another sound that brings out phrases and thoughts you might have missed while following a measured rhythm in a congregational setting. Before you sing it to God, make it your own song. Identify with what the writer is saying. Remember those times in your life you walked the same path as the poet. When a hymn becomes your praise to God - your offering to Him - you will be surprised at how well you sing. Much of that self-consciousness disappears when we look up to Him. Don't worry about getting it "right"; it's yours, it's not going to sound like everyone else's. The secret to singing a hymn is to sing a new song; your song.

the friar