Scottish Psalter and Church Hymnary question

[MichaelNZ]

Today I got a Scottish Psalter and Church Hymnary. The Psalter (metrical) and also some Scripture paraphrases are rendered in a split-page format - the top part of the page (containing the tune) is cut horizontally from the bottom half of the page (containing the words). The top half of the page can be opened to a different page than the bottom (see picture below)



Is the reason that the book is split like this because each psalm can be sung to different tunes? I can see how it would allow you to have the words of one psalm and the tune of another. Can each psalm in the book be sung to each tune, or are there restrictions?

Thanks for any help.

 

[au5t1n]

If the tune and the psalm are in the same metre (usually "common metre") then you can sing them together. The purpose of being able to choose your tune is that it allows someone who knows only a few tunes to sing the entire psalter. You can sing nearly the entire Scottish Psalter to the tune of "Amazing Grace" or "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" (Azmon or Desmond, I think) or "O God Our Help in Ages Past" (St. Anne), if you so desire.

 

[irresistible_grace]

We use split leaf. And, it takes a bit to get used to but the benefit far out weigh the adjustment from hymnal to split leaf. We're singing through the Psalter and learning the tunes as we go. So, we have a tune of the month. Since the split lead allows us to use that one tune with several Psalms, learning a new tune each month does not hinder us from sing through the entire Psalter in corporate worship each year.