Resources on traditionally used tunes for Psalters?

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JH

Puritan Board Sophomore
Blessings to all this Sabbath Day,

Often I see, for example, Psalm 23 (Crimond), Psalm 24:7-10 (St. George's Edinburgh), or Psalm 100 (Old 100th) almost universally use the same tune by many congregations; as if there are some Psalms historically married, as it were, to a certain tune.

Is there is any evidence or historical tracing as to what tunes have been commonly used for certain Psalms in church history, or in the Scottish tradition?

Much thanks in advance.
 
I'm not sure how definitive a source you are looking for, but something like this would provide you with a starting point:

I grew up with a split leaf psalter, where the tunes and words were printed separately, enabling you to mix and match tunes, but as you say there were certain standard pairings. It's also possible that some pairings were less well established and individual congregations had their own preferences - otherwise, why go to the trouble of a split leaf psalter? I'm sure there are others who can give you more information.
 
Reverend Duguid, thank you for your response. I will also look into this resource, as I have been primarily using Reverend Ruddell's recorded Psalms with his congregation. Blessings to you and yours
 
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Dear Jerrod,

Iain’s reference is very good. And don’t forget the international psalter, the Genevan Psalter. For anyone interested in learning those tunes, Michael Owens’ site is a very good resource for both the English language text and the music. Like the Scottish Psalter, this is a real one (not like the 1912 or CRC that Psalm-singers would have a hard time considering to be a psalter). I wish the OPC and URC had considered drawing more from this than from those 20th century “psalters”. You are not limited to only one metre and many of these tunes actually fit the psalm. And if you ever travel to Europe, you will be able to sing with Dutch, German, Swiss, French, Hungarian congregations in your own language. The Scottish Psalter is great, but it is just for Scotland and the English-speaking world, but the Genevan Psalter is for everyone!

Michael Owens’ website is

Genevanpsalter.com


Go to Music & Lyrics and you will see squares with the 150 Psalms

Click on a Psalm

View audio, sheet music, lyrics

Now, open another screen for the website, so that you can view the audio on one screen and then open sheet music on the other screen. With both open you can sing in English with Michael to learn the Psalm. I have disagreed with these impressive music majors from Dordt, who claim that the Genevan tunes are hard to learn; but no, they are not hard to learn.
 
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Dear Jerrod,

Iain’s reference is very good. And don’t forget the international psalter, the Genevan Psalter. For anyone interested in learning those tunes, Michael Owens’ site is a very good resource for both the English language text and the music. Like the Scottish Psalter, this is a real one (not like the 1912 or CRC that Psalm-singers would have a hard time considering to be a psalter). I wish the OPC and URC had considered drawing more from this than from those 20th century “psalters”. You are not limited to only one metre and many of these tunes actually fit the psalm. And if you ever travel to Europe, you will be able to sing with Dutch, German, Swiss, French, Hungarian congregations in your own language. The Scottish Psalter is great, but it is just for Scotland and the English-speaking world, but the Genevan Psalter is for everyone!

Michael Owens’ website is

Genevanpsalter.com


Go to Music & Lyrics and you will see squares with the 150 Psalms

Click on a Psalm

View audio, sheet music, lyrics

Now, open another screen for the website, so that you can view the audio on one screen and then open sheet music on the other screen. With both open you can sing in English with Michael to learn the Psalm. I have disagreed with these impressive music majors from Dordt, who claim that the Genevan tunes are hard to learn; but no, they are not hard to learn.
Thank you a lot Dave.
 
I'm not sure how definitive a source you are looking for, but something like this would provide you with a starting point:

I grew up with a split leaf psalter, where the tunes and words were printed separately, enabling you to mix and match tunes, but as you say there were certain standard pairings. It's also possible that some pairings were less well established and individual congregations had their own preferences - otherwise, why go to the trouble of a split leaf psalter? I'm sure there are others who can give you more information.
The split leaf psalters we used in the FCC had tune suggestions by the text of each Psalm. I'm not sure how new of an idea this was, but was present in Free Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) copies of the split leaf we had in our congregation.
 
The split leaf psalters we used in the FCC had tune suggestions by the text of each Psalm. I'm not sure how new of an idea this was, but was present in Free Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) copies of the split leaf we had in our congregation.
I need to purchase for myself an individual copy. I wish there was an edition of the split leaf with Haddington's brief commentary on the selfsame page.
 
I need to purchase for myself an individual copy. I wish there was an edition of the split leaf with Haddington's brief commentary on the selfsame page.
It's hard enough to get a copy of the Split Leaf Psalter. I understand they're custom ordered and expensive to produce. Probably even less market for a variation like this sadly.
 
Is there is any evidence or historical tracing as to what tunes have been commonly used for certain Psalms in church history, or in the Scottish tradition?
I don't know much about it, but the Free Church Continuing has certain tunes associated with certain Psalms or Psalm portions. @Afterthought may know more about this.

Another very handy resource is this online integrated psalter being developed by a young man. You can match any psalm or portion with any tune and render it out into a printable sheet with words and music, and it also plays the tunes. It offers, as well, the FCC tunes associated with that Psalm. https://psalterapp.com/
 
I don't know much about it, but the Free Church Continuing has certain tunes associated with certain Psalms or Psalm portions. @Afterthought may know more about this.

Another very handy resource is this online integrated psalter being developed by a young man. You can match any psalm or portion with any tune and render it out into a printable sheet with words and music, and it also plays the tunes. It offers, as well, the FCC tunes associated with that Psalm. https://psalterapp.com/

Yes, this is very cool. We are members of the same church as the developer.
 
I don't know much about it, but the Free Church Continuing has certain tunes associated with certain Psalms or Psalm portions. @Afterthought may know more about this.

Another very handy resource is this online integrated psalter being developed by a young man. You can match any psalm or portion with any tune and render it out into a printable sheet with words and music, and it also plays the tunes. It offers, as well, the FCC tunes associated with that Psalm. https://psalterapp.com/
Yes, the Scottish psalter had some psalms traditionally associated with some tunes, like Old 100th with Psalm 100. However, there were also "common tunes" that could be used with any psalm. I think some of this history can be found somewhere on reformed books online.

These days, we do the same thing: by custom, some psalms get associated with particular tunes, and we have multiple tunes that are used with just about any psalm. The Scottish Psalmody has recommended tunes for use with the psalms (the recommended tunes can be seen in the 1650 psalter app).
 
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