Feel the Music

Emotions. We know that music is a conduit for emotions; it can both express and arouse them, including feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, trust, and sometimes even anger. The psalms—songs themselves—are categorized by type, and several types are based on emotions: lament, adoration, and thanksgiving. Music, and the emotion that is part of it, helps to shape worship and, indeed, theology. 

Many studies have confirmed the health benefits of music. When we experience music, our hormone levels are affected, and this in turn influences the areas of the brain that process and express emotion. 

So what happens when we sing? Is the experience different from listening to music? Yes, in some ways, it is. Yip Harburg, who wrote all the song lyrics for The Wizard of Oz, said, “Words make you think a thought; music makes you feel a feeling; a song makes you feel a thought.” In his essay “Music, Singing, and Emotions: Exploring the Connections,” Australian author Rob Smith says, “Singing helps us to process and express not only the cognitive dimensions of truth but also the emotive dimensions as well.”* Music gives us a different outlet for expressing emotion, which is why it is so integral in worship and liturgy. 

I have always found it a privilege to lead the music at funerals. The music helps us honour the person and praise the Creator for their life. It also allows us moments of both joy and sorrow. The music moves us, and if I can play a small role in assisting people to grieve in a different way, give them a safe space to let their guard down, and allow the emotions to flow, then I feel I have been successful in my leadership. Celebratory services such as weddings, baptisms, and praise-filled worship also give us an opportunity to allow people to express great joy and to give thanks and praise together as a community. Allow the music to be a conduit for expressing emotions in worship! 

*Smith, Rob. “Music, Singing, and Emotions” Themelios, 37/3, 2012, p. 479.