Music and Religion

Oh where to begin.

Religion used to be a super huge part of my life and almost all of it was music based. I attended church from age 4 to age 18. I was in the church choir from 5th grade through 12th grade. I performed countless solos, performed piano works, was the keyboard player and lead singer of the praise band, and led multiple Bible studies and Worship music groups. I even became a hired pianist for 2 years with a church back home.
I was taught to perform classically for most of my solo singing, because that was what was considered proper and "most pleasing" to the ears of all. But with the praise band and in my worship services I sang pop style because that is what the people my age wanted to hear.
Our church services were riddled with music: prelude, opening hymn, prayer hymn, doxology, offertory, a couple more hymns thrown in there, and then a postlude for people to walk out during. It wasn't a proper service if those pieces were not involved. Music started, put together, and ended every service. It acted as a spine for the creature that is the Christian church.

At least a couple of times a month, I would watch people become so affected by the music that they would burst into tears and fall to their knees. I loved watching people get saved by music, and watching it touch everyone so greatly. Once I got older I figured out that the majority of those people were putting on an act to fit in, so that was nice..

I eventually learned all of the hymns in the hymnal. The church I played for had "hymns by request" for the first 30 minutes of every service. Typically the congregation would request the same songs every week, but sometimes would throw some random ones in there. Hymns are so simple to play. The bass line is usually stepwise, and they are almost all in the same keys. Same thing with the contemporary Christian pieces.

Overall, I would say that music is a huge part of the Christian religion. It affects more people than a sermon does. Music is a part of the soul, and acts as a gateway to let other things into your soul. Not to go off on a tangent, but music really does affect people and reflect how we feel. For example, if you go through a breakup, you listen to depressing breakup music, when you listen to fast music while driving, you end up speeding. It is the same concept with religion. Without music, religion would not be what it is.