Praise and Worship music as musical genre

Gesa F. Hartje-Döll

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Jan 30, 2012, 1:23:52 PM1/30/12

to Sacred/Religious Music SIG

Hello everyone,

As this group is proving to be a great resource center, I am hoping that you might be able to help me with the following research aspect.

I am currently trying to summarize what makes Praise and Worship music (I have chosen to use that term for my research project, but some of you would probably argue that I am talking about contemporary worship music) a musical genre of its own.

Since it is sonically so close to other popular music genres (depending on what song one looks at, I would describe it as ranging from rock to Adult Contemporary with many in-betweens), what makes the difference?

Is it only the lyrics?

Somehow I feel that this does not capture it enough.

Thinking along Deborah's request: does it also have to do with instrumentation – or the sound mix?

Can anyone think of literature that covers this?

Any personal thoughts are equally welcome!

Thanks a lot in advance, best wishes

Gesa Hartje-Döll

Sheri Torgrimson

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Jan 30, 2012, 1:37:26 PM1/30/12

to "Gesa F. Hartje-Döll", Sacred/Religious Music SIG

You could try Kim Anthony Gentes book "2011 Ultimate Worship REsource
Guide: Songs & Media Edition". He has a good and wonderfully concise
historical section at the beginning of the development of modern
Christian worship music at the beginning of the book. You can find
part of this section at this link: http://www.kimgentes.com/storage/UWRGuide-ChapterSample.pdf

Sheri Torgrimson Pawlikowska

Allen, Carrie

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Jan 30, 2012, 1:44:41 PM1/30/12

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Someone else may have posted about this resource (apologies if I overlooked that post--having list issues)-- Deborah Smith Pollard wrote a chapter entitled "'Praise is What We Do': The Rise of Praise and Worship Music in the Urban Church" (it's the first chapter of her book _When the Church Becomes Your Party: Contemporary Gospel Music_). The chapter deals specifically with the emergence of P&W in predominantly African American churches; she helpfully and concisely contrasts the P&W movement against older forms of African American religious song (such as the lining/devotional tradition), highlights the contributions of certain artists, gives ethnographic snapshots of the movement working in "real time" at several congregations, and spends a bit of time historicizing the movement and dealing with how it has spread in predominantly Anglo churches too.

Hope this helps out!

Best regards,

Carrie Allen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Music
Department of Arts and Humanities
University of Houston-Downtown

One Main Street, Suite 1085-S
Houston, TX 77002-1001
Ph: 713.226.5550
Fax: 713.221.2704
alle...@uhd.edu

Sheri Torgrimson Pawlikowska

> instrumentation - or the sound mix?

Gesa F. Hartje-Döll

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Feb 1, 2012, 5:16:03 AM2/1/12

to Sacred/Religious Music SIG

Thanks for the helpful suggestions! These sources should provide plenty of
material to discuss and conclude for myself.
Best regards,

Gesa Hartje-Döll

Am 30.01.12 19:44 schrieb "Allen, Carrie" unter <alle...@uhd.edu>:

Michael Webb

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Feb 1, 2012, 6:18:46 AM2/1/12

to Gesa F. Hartje-Döll, Sacred/Religious Music SIG

Hi Gesa,

I thought I'd weigh in by suggesting a look at Motti Regev's 'famous' article on rock as a global transculture - the citation is...Regev, Motti. 1997. Rock aesthetics and musics of the world. Theory, Culture and Society, 14(3), 125-142. I think it is relevant since we are talking about a subset of rock-type practices here, as is Regev. In it he defines the "rock aesthetic", rather than "rock" per se, as "a set of constantly changing practices and stylistic imperatives for making music whose main signifiers are electric and electronic sound textures, amplification, ‘untrained’ and spontaneous forms of vocal delivery, frontal presence of rhythm instruments, studio craftsmanship and eclectic logic that encourages the application of these to any musical style; and whose major signifieds are extreme pleasure or fun and rage or anxiety (all as opposed to pleasant affirmation)" In relation to Christian worship, I think the last qualifier in parentheses is particularly interesting!

All the best,

Michael

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From: srm...@googlegroups.com [srm...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Gesa F. Hartje-Döll [har...@uni.leuphana.de]
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 9:16 PM

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