Learning how to sing hymns

[beloved7]

I have a confession, I don’t know how to read music. We sing out of the Trinity Hymnal (Baptist Edition) primarily and I tend to just try to follow along with the brethren.

It’s my desire to know how to read music so that I may be able to worship Him with all of my given capabilities, where and how do I start?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Ethan]

Memorize the lines and spaces on a treble clef and learn the circle of fifths for scales.
Lines: egbdf (every good boy deserves fudge)
Spaces:face (spells face)
Order of sharps:fcgdaef (fat cats go down alleys eating birds)

If you familiarize yourself with scales you’ll be able to pick up on tunes but it would take a lot of practice. You look at the clef to determine the key of the hymn which gives you the framework to understand the tune.
It would probably be easier to listen to the hymns regularly outside of the worship service.

 

[timfost]

Are you able to sing along with familiar tunes? Are you able to match a pitch? Do you have access to a piano?

 

[VictorBravo]

Probably the easiest to start with is to go to the Trinity Hymnal online and listen to MIDI files of the various tunes. Most of the Baptist Hymnal tunes are on this website too:

https://opc.org/hymnal.html

 

[beloved7]

Are you able to sing along with familiar tunes? Are you able to match a pitch? Do you have access to a piano?

I’m able to sing along with the hymns I’m familiar with, yes. Even the ones that are new to me I’m able to sing of course, just not to the ability to which I desire. The most important is the content I’m singing of course, and our Pastor does an amazing job matching the hymns/ psalms to the applicable readings.

I don’t have a piano in my home.

 

[beloved7]

Probably the easiest to start with is to go to the Trinity Hymnal online and listen to MIDI files of the various tunes. Most of the Baptist Hymnal tunes are on this website too:

https://opc.org/hymnal.html

I will do this, thank you for this response.

 

[timfost]

I’m able to sing along with the hymns I’m familiar with, yes. Even the ones that are new to me I’m able to sing of course, just not to the ability to which I desire. The most important is the content I’m singing of course, and our Pastor does an amazing job matching the hymns/ psalms to the applicable readings.

I don’t have a piano in my home.

Thanks for the info. I think your answer rules out amusia.

Practically speaking, I think Vic's advice is good. By learning the lines and spaces of the treble/bass clef, all you are doing is memorizing what letter is attributed to each line or space. This does not mean that you will be able to "hear" the music, only attribute arbitrary letter names to a hypothetical pitch with no practical value. Without a piano or other meaningful way to associate note with pitch, this won't give you what you're looking for.

If you do want to learn how to read the music notes, I would suggest memorizing "guide notes"-- one of the most practical set of guide notes are the Cs and Gs of the treble, Cs and Fs of the bass. You'll then learn to build the other notes around these reference points. (I've found that the mnemonic devices often encourage "vertical" reading of the staff, though "horizontal" reading is far better.) However, you will need a way to associate the notes with actual pitch, otherwise it is just an intellectual exercise with no practical value.

Of course like anything, what works for one person may not work well for another. I've been teaching music for 20 years, and these are just some of the ideas that have worked for me.

 

[beloved7]

Thanks for the info. I think your answer rules out amusia.

Practically speaking, I think Vic's advice is good. By learning the lines and spaces of the treble/bass clef, all you are doing is memorizing what letter is attributed to each line or space. This does not mean that you will be able to "hear" the music, only attribute arbitrary letter names to a hypothetical pitch with no practical value. Without a piano or other meaningful way to associate note with pitch, this won't give you what you're looking for.

If you do want to learn how to read the music notes, I would suggest memorizing "guide notes"-- one of the most practical set of guide notes are the Cs and Gs of the treble, Cs and Fs of the bass. You'll then learn to build the other notes around these reference points. (I've found that the mnemonic devices often encourage "vertical" reading of the staff, though "horizontal" reading is far better.) However, you will need a way to associate the notes with actual pitch, otherwise it is just an intellectual exercise with no practical value.

Of course like anything, what works for one person may not work well for another. I've been teaching music for 20 years, and these are just some of the ideas that have worked for me.

Thank you for your well thought out and informative response.

 

[Ethan]

(I've found that the mnemonic devices often encourage "vertical" reading of the staff, though "horizontal" reading is far better.)

Very insightful, I've never heard of that before!

I was a violinist and percussionist in high school but am incredibly rusty now at all things music. I have found that the bit of theory I know has been helpful in learning hymns now as a Christian. It can be difficult when one hasn't grown up with any of them.

 

[Ben Zartman]

Be encouraged--I also don't read music, but I learn all the tunes by dint of hearing them over and over. We have learned many hymns as a family with the MIDI files Vic mentioned. We actually went through most of the Trinity that way, singing most of the selections, and learned many new and glorious hymns, as well as learning that not all tunes are tuneful to our ears.
I think most important is practice: we sing daily as a family, and have sung twice through the 1689 Psalter, spent much time in the Trinity, and use the blue Psalter Hymnal from time to time.
I won't say that practice makes perfect, but it does improve.

 

[Logan]

Part of it is just practice and familiarity. As you sing tunes you are familiar with, watch that highest line of notes (almost always the melody) as it goes up and down and get a feel for how going from low to high feels, or just a small step feels.

Also, it's very helpful to familiarize yourself with how long notes should last. The vertical lines you see in music are a "measure" and you might think of that like a musical paragraph. Each measure will have the same number of beats, but you could have 1 or a half dozen notes making up that beat. Here is an example:


A whole note (with no staff attached to it) lasts the entire measure, in this case four beats. Two half notes (open but with staffs) will take up the entire measure (four beats). Four quarter notes (black with a staff) will take up the entire measure (four beats with one beat each). A dot adds half again to the note's value (a half note has two beats so a dot next to a half note makes it 3 beats).

And they can be combined, so for example you could put one half note and two quarter notes together to fill out the measure with four beats. Familiarizing yourself with this will give you a sense of timing.

I think just understanding the basics will get you a very long way, you don't need a lot of music theory. Learn the relative length of various notes, get a feel of how much up or down a note goes, and practice.

The basic explanations found in this set of videos is very helpful in my mind (it's a series on playing the Ocarina but gives an excellent introduction to basic reading of music):

 

[beloved7]

Part of it is just practice and familiarity. As you sing tunes you are familiar with, watch that highest line of notes (almost always the melody) as it goes up and down and get a feel for how going from low to high feels, or just a small step feels.

Also, it's very helpful to familiarize yourself with how long notes should last. The vertical lines you see in music are a "measure" and you might think of that like a musical paragraph. Each measure will have the same number of beats, but you could have 1 or a half dozen notes making up that beat. Here is an example:

View attachment 8934
A whole note (with no staff attached to it) lasts the entire measure, in this case four beats. Two half notes (open but with staffs) will take up the entire measure (four beats). Four quarter notes (black with a staff) will take up the entire measure (four beats with one beat each). A dot adds half again to the note's value (a half note has two beats so a dot next to a half note makes it 3 beats).

And they can be combined, so for example you could put one half note and two quarter notes together to fill out the measure with four beats. Familiarizing yourself with this will give you a sense of timing.

I think just understanding the basics will get you a very long way, you don't need a lot of music theory. Learn the relative length of various notes, get a feel of how much up or down a note goes, and practice.

The basic explanations found in this set of videos is very helpful in my mind (it's a series on playing the Ocarina but gives an excellent introduction to basic reading of music):

I really appreciate this well thought out and insightful response. I will be sure to watch this video, thank you.