What Are The Lyrics, Again?

Martin Luther held music in high regard. He is quoted as saying that second to the Word of God, music is one of the best and most powerful things out there. In a traditional Lutheran service you are bound to find a lot of music being used.

Such is the nature of my home church. There is a whole lot of singing done in the service, be it hymns or things with strange Latin names - the Kyrie, Nunc dimittis, Sanctus, and so on. Even the word "Amen" is sung. Personally I don't mind this, since singing is strongly present throughout Christian history, and I would imagine there was plenty of it in ancient Judaism.

The hymnals contain something like 650 songs, and each week we seem to use different songs. Then there are the ones which are considered normal parts of the service. Trying to learn how to sing all these songs is quite the hassle. I know how many beats a half note or full note with the dot next to it lasts, but otherwise I never learned how to read music. I couldn't tell you what a C flat or a G sharp sounds like. I don't know what octave I sing in. I learn music by listening to it repeatedly and getting a feel for the tune and lyrics. The hymns are easier to learn since they at least have a repeating rhythm, even though they don't normally rhyme too well. It's the Kyrie or Sanctus that gets me - they have no obvious rhythm. Of course they were also made centuries ago, in a totally different culture where tastes in music were different.

Right now, I don't really chime in with the singing. Or if I do, it's really, really crappy singing because I barely understand the tune. And I've yet to hear the same hymn twice. Getting a feel for the musical aspect is something that I will need to get used to. I'll probably just take it one thing at a time, learning one then moving on to the other.