Instructions in Singing

John Wesley wrote the following interesting "Instructions in Singing"...

1. SING ALL - See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find a blessing.

2. SING LUSTILY AND WITH A GOOD COURAGE - Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being, heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

3. SING MODESTLY - Do not bawl, so as to be heard above, or distinct from, the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

4. SING IN TIME - Whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before, nor stay behind it; but attend closely to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can. And take care you sing not too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

5. ABOVE ALL, SING SPIRITUALLY - Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing; and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Good Quotes on Music/Singing

A couple good old quotes that Bob Kauflin shared during his message "Words of Wonder: What Happens When We Sing?"

"When man's natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace. A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs." – Martin Luther....oh Martin Luther.....lol

"Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead or half asleep. But lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice nor ashamed of its being heard than when you sung the songs of Satan." – John Wesley [I take "songs of Satan" to simply be his old fashioned term for non-Christian music...so sing out loud and unabashedly like you do to Cotten Eyed Joe at a wedding dance....]