The Blog

We’ve all seen the image: an angel sometimes an adorable cherub, sitting on a cloud, playing his harp. But where did that harp come from? The Bible contains no references to angels playing harps, so why has this instrument come to be associated with angels? In the history of Western music, harps can be traced…

For the longest time, monophony was the it thing in Western music. It was all about melody, and the simple rise and fall of a single sound of music. Polyphony came about from endless musical experiments done by composers, theorists, mathematicians, philosophers, thousands of years later, and music was never really the same after that.…

The Hallelujah Chorus is one of the most famous choruses of all time, titled after one of the most commonly used lyrics of all sacred music, a lyric that supersedes language and even religious denomination. The word ‘hallelujah’ is an intriguing one. Though it is a Hebrew word that means ‘praise the Lord,’ it is…

In the early 18th century, a trend burgeoned along the lines of American music and music education.  When the early settlers fled to the New World for religious freedom, they also brought along with them the practice of singing hymns and psalms in their worship services. Unfortunately, as a distinct body of folk American music…

The beginning of the new year was monumental, especially because it signified another decade, at least ‘numerologically’ speaking. For me, it simply marked a decade of life as a full-time missionary.

Unless you’re a die-hard SDA Hymnal fanatic or an experienced church musician, you probably wouldn’t know that such an index exists. I have taught several hymnology classes in college, churches, and homeschooling families. And whenever I introduce this special index to them, I am usually met with a surprised “whoa-this-is-so-cool-why-did-I-not-know-this-before” kind of reaction. The Scriptural…