Earl Armstrong

A SHORT HISTORY OF MUSIC IN THE BLACK CHURCH

As observed by this old deacon

Music has always been in the hearts of mankind from the very beginning. All of our emotions, thoughts, and desires are displayed through music and poetry set to music. There is no wonder that music displays our faith and acknowledgment of God. Although we don’t know the musical arrangements, we see that music and songs are in the Bible throughout the Old and the New Testament. We find the book of Psalms located in the midsection of the Bible is often referred to as the music book of the Bible.

I’ve heard some ministers say the music ministry is good and it prepares the heart to receive the word. But music alone can not save you, only the preached word can. Then they take their text from the book of Psalms. Now the Bible is the inspired word of God so God must also inspire music.

As the Church of today developed from the early Church of the New Testament to the Catholic and Protestant Churches, so has the music developed somewhat differently within the different denominations. One Church’s doctrine teaches that they are a New Testament Church. They follow the teaching of the New Testament. So if it is not printed in the New Testament text, it will not be practiced in their worship. They don’t see musical instruments or choirs in the New Testament so the whole congregation sings A Cappella without the accompaniment of instruments. But most modern churches follow the teachings of Psalms #150 that tell us to praise God with the sound of trumpets, with psaltery and harps, with timbrel and dance, with string instruments and organs, and upon the loud cymbals and the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

When I look at the Churches I'm most familiar with (back when I was young), many did not have instruments. Some even believed that too many instruments made the church look worldly. The majority of churches only had an upright piano mostly out of tune and some with missing or broken keys. Tambourines were used for percussion. Very few churches had organs. Most choirs sang with 4 or 5 part harmony with bass, baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano. The voices were positioned like a musical instrument with the basses to the far left and sopranos on the far right. In fact, a choir is a musical instrument. The churches without instruments would sing A cappella and the choir director would give a single note from a tuning fork, sometimes called a pitchfork, or from a pitch pipe to give all of the voices their starting place. Some choirs would place the sopranos on the front row and basses on the last row so the congregation could better hear all of the voices because, at that time, most churches did not have PA systems. Today I see that most choirs only use 3 voices with alto at the left, tenor in the middle, and soprano to the right. Nowadays you also might find the choir accomplished by a full orchestra, at least a Hammond organ with Leslie speakers and drums. Also in my early years, the Deacons led devotional singing, most from the church hymnals but sometimes with a song from the Doctor Watts 100 or black spiritual some my call slave songs. Today most churches have praise teams to lead the congregation in devotional singing.

This was not meant to be a complete history of music in the church, but to show the change that has taken place as I view it. In the early black church, the music was spirituals and Doctor Watt's 100s. We should remember that much of the congregation could not read. When church congregations were able to read, the hymnbook became a large part of musical worship. I'm not saying these changes are bad or indifferent, some might even say it was necessary.

I am just reflecting on what I remembered then, what I learned that took place before I was born and what is taking place now. Many of us from the older generation and those who have heard the old spirituals and hymns occasionally still enjoy hearing some of those old songs. I have put together a few of these from back in the day, we like to call them old school. But I’ve added instrumentation to give the hymns a slightly different musical balance or flavor. Please check them out. They are on the pages at the beginning. I hope you enjoy them.

If there is a song you want that is not on my list, please go to our About Us Page and let me know and if I’m able I will add it.

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