Confessions of a Semi-Recovered LDS Music Snob!

It’s confession time! I’m ready to spill the beans.

Like you, I’ve been really excited to see the recent batches of hymns and songs for the new worldwide hymnal the church has been working on.

But boy oh boy, have there been a lot of opinions flying around about these pieces. It’s been really fun so far to see all the commentary and different opinions.

I think some people are getting their feelings hurt by the way others are talking about the new selections.

And so, as a semi-recovered LDS music snob… who still struggles with his snobbish tendencies… like a recovering alcoholic struggles with their natural tendencies… I thought I’d share some thoughts, questions, and ideas that I hope can be helpful.

Thought #1… my confession.

I used to be the biggest raging music snob you could possibly imagine. I admit it. Guilty as charged.

I’m sure that some who know me would say that I’m STILL a raging snob. Well, fair enough.

It’s true. When I’m making music, when I’m composing, when I’m conducting a choir or orchestra, I have very high standards.

I’ve been blessed to have a lot of high-level training, which informs my music-making decisions. It’s been a joy to get to study VERY deeply a topic that I love so much… a topic that fills me with SO MUCH joy.

Of course, as I studied, I formed my own opinions about quality in music. And sometimes when I’m making music, if I’m not careful, my very strong opinions can come across as very snobbish.

The trouble was, at a certain point, these opinions grew into a “my way or the highway” kind of attitude.

And I feel ashamed about this now.

Something happened to me that turned it all around.

When I was in Poland studying at the Chopin University of Music as a Fulbright Scholar (that doesn't sound grand or snobbish at all, right? 🙄), I had the opportunity to write a large Catholic Mass for one of the major cathedrals in Warsaw. My teacher was the music director there. We performed my Mass several times, including during a special ceremony that was broadcast on national television and radio. It was a pretty big deal. And I felt pretty special.

But after the service with a packed cathedral, a humble Polish priest came to me and said…

"Mr. Pew, your music helped me to pray."

This struck me like a lighning bolt. It really stopped me dead in my tracks. It helped me remember that music isn’t about me. Music is about giving, communicating, and uplifting.

It was such a "mighty change" moment for me that, from this moment on, I’ve tried very hard to focus my musical activities on serving and blessing others rather than aggrandizing myself.

Which leads me to something I think we should all remember with the advent of the new hymnal...

...it’s the First Presidency Preface to the 1985 hymnal, which says…

"Inspiration music is an essential part of our church meetings.

The hymns invite the Spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members, and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.

Some of the greatest sermons are preached by the singing of hymns.

Hymns move us to repentance and good works, build testimony and faith, comfort the weary, console the mourning, and inspire us to endure to the end."

I don’t think any of us would argue with this statement.

For me, as a creator of music, this means that I should do all I can to focus my musical efforts, when creating music for our worship services, to focus on creating music that uplifts others.

How I do that may be VERY different from how YOU or others do that.

Which leads me to…

Thought #2… are some styles better than others in our Church music?

One of my favorite music friends in the Church is Shawna Edwards. Actually, we live in the same stake.

As you probably know, Shawna has written many beautiful, meaningful, inspiring songs.

I believe her songs do exactly what the First Presidency message prescribes.

That being said, Shawna and I write in VERY different styles.

Is my style better than hers? Is her style better than mine?

Honestly, I think this is the wrong question.

I think the question should be…

“Does our music draw people closer to Heavenly Father?”

How she does that may be very different from how I do that. And in my opinion, that’s not only okay, it’s really good for us.

Why? Because when we’re open to other ways of thinking, other ways of expression, and other ways of communication, we grow together.

It’s like that statement in the Doctrine & Covenants… “that all may be edified of all.” (DC 88:122)

Of course, we want our music to be appropriate for a worship service, which is a topic that can be a big old can of worms.

But at the end of the day, I personally do not believe one style is better than the other.

I do believe that I have certain experiences in my life with music that have brought me higher emotionally and spiritually than others. For me personally, these experiences come from a very specific type of music.

But I’ll be the first to admit that those styles of music may not do a darn thing for someone else.

There are many styles of music that don’t do a darn thing for me.

But, I think we should be open and accepting of styles that differ from ours… and we should look on the intent of the heart of the creator of that music instead of ONLY the style.

Will this change the style of music I write? No.

Will it change the style Shawna writes in? Probably not.

And that’s fine. Because I learn things from Shawna’s music. I may use them in different ways. But, hey, that’s fine.

Plus, who am I to speak against the MASSIVE following she has and her millions of YouTube views?

Thought #3… let’s be kind to the snobs.

As a struggling-to-reform snob, I’d like to ask those who feel frustrated with our snobbery for a little patience and a little grace.

Here’s the thing… most of us mean well. We really do. We’re just so caught up in a style of music that has given us some incredible gifts in our lives that it’s really hard sometimes to accept anything that doesn’t take us there.

For us, it’s like the experience of being hooked on waxy American chocolate all our lives, thinking it’s the best because, hey, it’s chocolate!

But then, the first time we taste Swiss chocolate, or Belgian chocolate, or Ukrainian chocolate… oh, mama! Our world changes. Our eyes have been opened. We can never go back to that waxy old American chocolate ever again.

This is how a lot of us look at our musical journey.

And in becoming addicted to this Swiss chocolate kind of music, we forget that many people don’t like Swiss chocolate. And maybe never will. And that’s perfectly okay.

Plus… many of us have spent years and years… even DECADES… devoting our lives to the study of high-brow classical music. We’ve become specialists. We’ve tried all the things. We’ve found ways that make music soar to higher heights than others. We’ve given huge chunks of our lives over to it. Naturally, our opinions run STRONG! And they can easily get the better of us.

We’re really not trying to be jerks. We just care SO MUCH! We really, really do. Because we’ve lived inside the incredible power of music for a LONG time. We’ve dedicated so much of our lives and our money and our time and our love to it.

So, please, on behalf of all of us snobs… reformed or otherwise… please be patient with us. We really do mean well.

Thought #4… a plea… let’s do better.

I used to get SO worked up about certain types of music in the Church. I’d get all up in arms. Certain things would drive me crazy! Certain things still DO drive me crazy!

But, I’m trying really hard to realize that there are MANY more important things than the notes on the pages of our music in the Church.

Of course, we all know that.

But it can be easy to forget that… as a teacher of mine taught me… "we do not worship at the altar OF music… we worship at the altar WITH music."

So, let’s do better.

Let’s find ways to be more careful with our words. Because words can bite.

Should you change your opinions? Personally, I don’t think you should. I think you’re entitled to your opinion.

But I also believe that you shouldn’t be rude or demeaning about your opinion.

What good will that do? Will that help us be peacemakers? Will that do anything to heal contentions?

Part of the magic of music is that it unifies us.

One of the only things we do in the Church that actually, physically unites us as one is… we sing the hymns together.

We breathe together. We voice praises in unison. And actually, our hearts start beating together. There are lots of cool experiments that prove this.

So, let’s use music to come together.

I think the WORST thing that could happen with regard to the new hymnal is the creation of an “Us vs Them” mentality.

That’s the definition of contention.

And, “if ye are not one, ye are not mine.” (DC 38:27)

That’s a bit scary.

Thought #5… are there fundamental principles of music making that should be adhered to in our worship music?

Now, this thought may sound very subjective. Perhaps it is. But, hear me out.

For me, it’s a matter of good, better, best.

Personally, I’m open to many different styles of music in Church. Yes, I like some more than others. But that doesn’t mean the others should be cast out.

What I feel VERY strongly about, however, is that whatever style you write music in, you write well. That your musical grammar is as good as it can be.

Now, maybe you’re VERY new to writing music. That’s great! Welcome! I’m so glad you’re being brave and sharing your testimony through music.

I encourage you to learn as much as you can about the fundamental principles of good music writing.

There are ways of connecting notes that cause music to sound more resonant. More warm and delicious.

And since our goal is to write music that brings us closer to God, I personally believe we should learn how to use the types of writing that create the most resonance possible.

If you were asked to write an article for the Liahona magazine, but it was filled with grammatical errors, they would ask you to fix those errors.

But, you might say… “But that’s my style of writing. I just write that way. Why can’t you just accept my style of writing and be okay with it?”

For me, it’s like the comment Joseph Smith made… “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”

Learn the grammar of music. And then use it in whatever style you’re writing in.

When I teach my students in my Latter-Day Musiversity… that’s what I call my little online music-teaching world… I do my very best to teach my students the principles of great music writing.

I never impose my style on them. My goal is NOT to make them versions of me. My goal is always to help them become better versions of themselves.

I give them examples of different ways of creating music, and I let them decide which to use.

I won’t get too deep into this because it’s a never-ending debate.

I just want to say that, in whatever medium of creativity you’re in, going to the fundamentals, to the masters, and learning all you can about the best forms of writing is NEVER a bad idea.

You don’t have to use those principles in the same way as people from the past.

But I believe it’s important to work to raise the bar as much as we can in our worship music. And ignoring the principles of good musical grammar, whatever style you write in, is a mistake.

Final confession… why I’ve decided to return to writing reviews of each of the new hymnal selections.

My purpose is not to poke or prod or preach or demean or demand or any of that.

One of the greatest joys of my life now is teaching my students to write emotionally powerful, testimony-filled music.

To illustrate, let me tell you about one of my students.

She’s very new to writing music. She’s only been writing for a little over a year. And when she started, she never in a million years believed she could write ANYTHING, let alone anything good.

Since that time, she’s written a handful of truly beautiful, meaningful, testimony-filled Primary Songs.

Here’s what she said…

"Writing Primary songs has changed my life and brought me so much joy! Words are completely inadequate to express the deep gratitude I feel to the Lord and to you for the blessing of being your student.

I had never even imagined the possibility of learning to write music, so this opportunity is a wonderful surprise. I wake up every morning thinking about the song I'm working on.

And although I'm rarely sad or discouraged, when I am, playing the songs I have written has brought me the most comfort. Writing scripture-based songs is an incredible way to do deep scripture study!"

This brings me tremendous joy! I absolutely LOVE helping my students turn their testimony into song.

In fact, I’m on a mission to help as many as I can to leave a testimony legacy for their families through music.

Because music has an incredibly magical way of conjuring up powerful feelings. And years after my students leave this earth, their families can sing their songs and immediately conjure up the testimonies and the feelings of love that connect them to each other.

That’s so special.

And so, by reviewing these hymns and songs, my goal is to be helpful.

I want to point out the techniques of good writing.

And if I notice things which could have been done another way… a way that could possibly be more resonant… I will point them out. But not to tear down. Rather, to show that there are alternative ways of expressing the same emotion.

So, to wrap this all up…

I hope that, even though we have LOTS of different emotions and opinions and feelings about the new hymnal…

...that we can all be supportive of each other and do our best to see both sides of the pancake.

And if you’ve ever wished you could turn your testimony into song, I can help.

On the home page (click this link: https://latterdaymusiversity.com/) I have a FREE Crash Course. It's 7 free lessons delivered via email that help you learn the basics of harmonization... which is a great way to start tinkering with writing music of your own. I hope you'll enjoy these 7 free lessons, with my compliments.

Additionally, I've decided to make the old Hymn Blog Reviews that I wrote a few years ago available to all.

You can get my reviews of hymns 1-100... all 338 pages... including tips about writing, organ playing, and more... here:

https://latterdaymusiversity.kit.com/hymn-reviews-vol-1

If you know anyone who would be interested in these hymn reveiws, and the new reviews I'll be writing here on this blog, please share this link with them.

Remember, as J.S. Bach said... "The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God!"

Let's put our shoulder to the musical wheel and create wonderful music to praise Him and bring the world His truth.

Doug

P.S. Please share your thoughts with me by commenting below. I'd love to hear what you think.