Lesson video

Hello, I'm Miss Rivers.

I'm looking forward to working with you today, and I'm glad you've chosen this lesson.

Some of our learning will be new, but we can work hard and learn together.

This lesson is from the unit "Spirituality:" "How Do Music and Silence Express Beliefs?" This lesson is called "Different Styles of Christian Music." By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how music might be used in a church.

I wonder if you've ever heard any Christian music.

You might have heard music inside a church.

Today's lesson is all about the different sorts of music that Christians use.

We'll be listening to some different types of music during the lesson.

Keywords for today's lesson are: "service," a set time when Christians meet to worship God together; "worship," that means to show devotion or respect; "hymn," that's a song or poem of praise to God; and "choral," that means sung or chanted by a choir.

Some of these words might be new for you, so take a moment to have a look at them.

We'll be using these words all the way through the lesson, so listen carefully and see if you can hear them when we use them.

In the first part of the lesson, we'll be thinking about some of the different sorts of music that are heard in a Christian church.

How do different Christians use music in church? This lesson is a theology lesson.

Andeep explains what we mean by theology in religious education.

He says, "Theologians are interested in stories, texts, and traditions.

We can better understand people's worldviews by examining the deeper meaning of these stories, texts, and traditions.

We can also look at the difference they make to people today.

In this lesson, we'll be thinking particularly about traditions, and we'll be exploring how different Christian traditions use music in their churches.

Izzy and Andeep are talking about school assembly.

Izzy says, "I find it hard to sit still in assembly, but I love to sing the songs, especially if they have actions." Andeep says, "I like assembly time.

School is so busy, so it's good for me to have some peaceful time to think and reflect.

I like to sing quiet, thoughtful songs." I wonder if you like to sing.

Do you sing in school or somewhere else? Do you have a favourite song? I wonder if you like loud songs or quiet, peaceful songs like Andeep.

Pause the video and think about your ideas about singing and music.

If there's someone near to you, you might want to talk to them and share some ideas.

Do you ever have assembly at your school? Some schools gather all the children together into the school hall for assembly.

Assemblies might include stories and times for reflection or prayer.

I wonder what happens in your school assembly.

Do you go into the school hall, or maybe you have assembly in your classroom? I wonder if you have time for reflection.

Pause the video and think about what you do in your school assembly times.

I wonder if you sing songs in your school assemblies.

I wonder what the songs are about.

Maybe you sing songs about God, or about the world, or about other things that are important to you.

I'm going to play you an audio track of some children singing an assembly song.

Listen carefully to the words the children are singing.

I wonder if you can hear what they're singing about.

Listen out to hear if they're singing about God or the world or some other important things.

(light gospel music) ♪ Tell me who made all of creation ♪ ♪ Who designed the wonders of nature ♪ ♪ Whose idea was pattern and colour ♪ ♪ Wonderful to see ♪ ♪ Everywhere around me ♪ ♪ I can see the hand of God ♪ ♪ The evidence surrounds me ♪ ♪ In the greatness of His world ♪ ♪ Everywhere around me ♪ ♪ I can see the hand of God ♪ ♪ The evidence surrounds me ♪ ♪ In the greatness of His world ♪ <v ->I hope you enjoyed listening to the song</v> and that you managed to pick out some of those important words from what the children were singing.

Maybe you know this song, so you could sing along with it.

Louise has a Christian worldview.

She attends a type of church called a Methodist church.

She says, "Christians usually meet at church to worship together on a Sunday.

The meeting is called a service.

It's a little bit like a school assembly with songs to sing and time to think.

At my Methodist church, we pray together and read from the Bible." Did you spot that keyword, "service?" That's a time when Christians meet together at the same time to worship God.

And Louise says that the service at her church is a little bit like a school assembly, with songs to sing and time to reflect or pray.

This slide has a picture of an organ in a Methodist church.

You can see that it looks a bit like a piano, but it sounds very different.

Listen carefully to the audio recording, and then you'll be able to hear a Methodist hymn being played on a church organ.

(bright church organ music) The audio recording was the sound of a hymn being played.

Did you spot that keyword, "hymn?" It means a song or a poem to praise God.

Louise says, "We enjoy singing hymns and songs of praise.

We use a hymnbook, and someone plays the organ to accompany our singing." Here's a quick check.

What is a hymn? Is it: A, a song of praise; B, a prayer; or C, a Bible reading? Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right.

The answer was A, the song of praise.

Well done if you chose the right answer.

Here's Asher.

Just like Louise, Asher has a Christian worldview, but he attends a different sort of church from Louise.

Asher's church is called a free church, and he's talking a little bit about the music that's used in his church.

He says, "My church has a worship band with different instruments such as guitars and drums. The band leads the music for the service each Sunday.

The song words are shown on a big screen so that everyone can join in." Did you notice that keyword, "worship?" It means to show devotion or respect.

So the worship band in Asher's church helps the people in church to show devotion or respect to God while they sing.

The music in Asher's church is different from the music in Louise's church.

In Asher's church, they have a worship band with drums and guitars instead of an organ.

And they don't use a hymn book to read the words, they have a big screen so that everyone can read together.

Listen to this audio recording, and you'll be able to hear the worship band playing at Asher's church.

(vocalists singing in foreign language) ♪ I want to sing it loud ♪ ♪ Say Jesus is the Lord ♪ ♪ I want to shout in joy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I got Him in me ♪ ♪ I want to sing it loud ♪ ♪ Say Jesus is the Lord ♪ ♪ I want to shout in joy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I got Him in me ♪ (vocalists singing in foreign language) <v ->Asher is talking about the music at his church.

</v> He says, "The music is lively and modern, and we sometimes sing a worship song several times over." I think Asher enjoys the music at his church.

Here's Fiona.

Fiona also has a Christian worldview, and she attends an Anglican church.

She talks about the music at her church, and she says, "My church choir sings during the Sunday service.

Some of the choral music is complicated, so they have to practise during the week.

The choir wears special robes for the Sunday morning service.

Their beautiful singing helps us to worship." Did you notice that keyword, "choral?" Choral means music that's sung by a choir.

And in Fiona's church, there is a choir to sing some of the music.

Listen to this audio recording to hear some choral music.

That's music sung by a choir.

♪ Peace I leave ♪ ♪ My peace I give you ♪ ♪ Not the peace ♪ ♪ The world can offer ♪ ♪ In each storm ♪ ♪ In each confusion ♪ ♪ I'll be ♪ ♪ With you ♪ ♪ Peace I leave ♪ ♪ My peace I give you ♪ ♪ Not the peace ♪ ♪ The world can offer ♪ ♪ In each storm ♪ ♪ In each confusion ♪ ♪ I'll be ♪ ♪ With you ♪ <v ->Fiona talks about the choral music at her church.

</v> She says, "Sometimes we join in with the hymns, and sometimes we just listen and reflect on the words." Fiona seems to enjoy the quiet, reflective music that the choir sings at her church, and this helps her to worship.

Here's a summary of the different Christians we've met in this lesson and the way they use music in their church.

So here's Asher.

In Asher's church, they sing modern songs accompanied by a worship band with guitars and drums. In Louise's Methodist church, they use a hymnbook to sing hymns accompanied by an organ.

In Fiona's Anglican church, they sometimes listen to the choir singing choral music.

Asher, Louise, and Fiona told us some other things about the music in their church, and you've listened to some music from each of their churches.

So pause the video and think about what else you can remember about the different sorts of music these Christians use in their church.

Here's a quick check.

True or false? All Christians use the same musical styles.

Pause the video while you decide whether that's true or false.

That's right, it's false.

Christians like Asher, Fiona, and Louise use different musical styles in their worship services.

Well done if you got that answer right.

Now it's time for a task.

Can you explain three things about how Christians use music in church? Use the audio files that we've already listened to to help you with your answer.

Here's the choral music church from Fiona's church: ♪ Peace I leave ♪ ♪ My peace I give you ♪ ♪ Not the peace ♪ ♪ The world can offer ♪ <v Miss Rivers>Here's the modern song from Asher's church:</v> ♪ I want to sing it loud ♪ ♪ Say Jesus is the Lord ♪ ♪ I want to shout in joy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I got Him in me ♪ ♪ I want to sing it loud ♪ ♪ Say Jesus is the Lord ♪ ♪ I want to shout in joy ♪ ♪ 'Cause I got Him in me ♪ <v ->Here's the organ hymn from Louise's church:</v> (bright church organ music) Pause the video while you do your work.

I wonder how you got on with explaining three things about how Christians use music in church.

You might have said something like this: Some churches have choirs to help the worship.

Fiona likes to listen to the choral music while she prays.

Some church services use modern songs accompanied by a band with guitars and drums. In Asher's church, they follow the words on a screen as they worship.

Some churches sing hymns accompanied by an organ.

In Louise's church, they use a hymnbook to help them sing.

I wonder if your ideas were the same as mine, or maybe you had some different things to say.

Did you notice that I managed to use some keywords in my sentences? I wonder if you managed to include some keywords in your writing as well.

Well done for working hard and for showing what you know about different sorts of Christian music in church.

Now that we've thought about different styles of Christian music in church, we're going to think about the changes in Christian music over the years.

How has church music changed over time? Christians have used music in their worship services for many hundreds of years, but the style of music has changed over time.

A long time ago, Christians used just their voices to sing in worship services.

They didn't use instruments or anything to accompany them.

Listen to this audio recording to hear an example of some unaccompanied choral music; that's music with just voices.

♪ Our Father ♪ ♪ In heaven ♪ ♪ Hallowed be your name ♪ ♪ Your kingdom come, your will be done ♪ ♪ On earth as in heaven ♪ ♪ Give us today ♪ ♪ Our daily bread ♪ ♪ Forgive us ♪ ♪ Our sins ♪ ♪ As we forgive those ♪ ♪ Who sin against us ♪ <v ->Fiona explains about the Christian music traditions</v> in her Anglican church.

Do you remember that Fiona's church had a choir? She says, "My church is quite traditional, and some of our choral music uses ancient words.

The choir sings in harmony.

They are trying to make a beautiful sound to worship God using their voices." So in Fiona's church, the music sounds a bit like the audio track that you've just heard.

Fiona tells us more about why she enjoys the music in her church.

She says, "I like to feel a connection with Christians in the distant past who have worshipped God in the same way as I do today.

Simple repeated words and chants or uplifting choral hymns help me to focus my prayers." So Fiona likes the fact that the music in her church comes from a long time ago because it helps her to think of Christians from a long time ago who were worshipping in the same way and using the same words.

Fiona also likes to repeat some of the simple words in the choral hymns.

It helps her to focus on her prayers and to think about God.

After a while, Christian music started to change, and Christians used different instruments as well as voices to sing in church.

You can see here a picture of a church organ.

We've already seen a small church organ from a Methodist church.

This one is much bigger, in a bigger church.

And Christians started to use instruments like organs and harpsichords to accompany their singing.

Listen to this audio to hear some organ music being played in a church.

(light church organ music) Musical traditions are really important in the Methodist church.

So Louise tells us something about the music that she enjoys and the history of it.

She says, "One of the people who started my church was called Charles Wesley.

He wrote hymns to help new Christians to learn about Christian beliefs.

He put the words to well-known tunes so people could sing and remember them easily." Louise explains more about the music of Charles Wesley.

She says, "Charles Wesley's hymns are still favourites in my Methodist church today.

His hymns have lively tunes, so we sing them loudly and strongly as we worship God.

The words of the hymns help me to understand more about my Christian beliefs.

I find deeper meanings in the words of some hymns every time I sing them." So Louise has explained how important Charles Wesley's hymns are to Methodists today.

The recording from the first part of the lesson was a Charles Wesley hymn, and lots of Christians would recognise the tune.

The words of the hymns are familiar and meaningful for Christians like Louise, and it helps them to understand more about their beliefs as they sing them.

Here's a quick check to see what we've learned.

What do Christians today use to worship God? Is it A, just voices; B, voices and instruments; or C, instruments only? Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right.

The answer is B, voices and instruments.

Well done if you got that right.

So we've learned that Christian music has changed over time from voices only to voices with instruments like the organ.

And Christian music reflects the time when it was written.

Contemporary worship songs sound like modern pop songs because they've been written in the 21st century.

Contemporary means something that's happening now.

Listen to the audio to hear some contemporary worship music.

That's music that somebody has written quite recently.

(gentle contemplative gospel music) ♪ The Lord is my shepherd ♪ ♪ I shall not want ♪ ♪ He makes me lie down in green pastures ♪ ♪ The Lord is my shepherd ♪ ♪ I shall not want ♪ ♪ He leaves me beside the still waters ♪ ♪ The Lord is my shepherd ♪ ♪ I shall not want ♪ ♪ He makes me lie down in green pastures ♪ ♪ The Lord is my shepherd ♪ ♪ I shall not want ♪ ♪ He leaves me beside the still waters ♪ ♪ He restores my soul ♪ ♪ He restores my soul ♪ ♪ Surely your goodness ♪ ♪ Surely your mercy ♪ ♪ Surely your graces cover me ♪ ♪ Surely your kindness ♪ ♪ Surely your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Surely your graces cover me ♪ ♪ Surely your goodness ♪ ♪ Surely your mercy ♪ ♪ Surely your graces cover me ♪ ♪ Surely your kindness ♪ ♪ Surely your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Surely your graces cover me ♪ ♪ Surely your goodness ♪ ♪ Surely your mercy ♪ ♪ Surely your graces cover me ♪ ♪ Surely your kindness ♪ ♪ Surely your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Surely your graces cover me ♪ <v ->In Asher's church,</v> they tend to sing contemporary or modern music.

He talks about the music traditions in his free church.

He says, "God is creative, and I believe He loves it when we are creative in our music.

I like it when the worship band teaches us new words and tunes to help us to worship and praise God with our voices." So for Asher, it's important that the music is modern and up to date, and that people are sharing the music that they've written recently.

Here's another quick check.

True or false? Christians are only allowed to sing ancient hymns in church.

Pause the video while you think about whether that is true or false.

That's right.

The answer is false.

Some Christians, like Asher, like to worship God using modern songs and hymns with contemporary music.

Well done if you got that answer right.

Now it's time for you to do some work.

Sam is thinking about how Christians use music in church.

She says, "All church music is the same.

Christians all use music in the same way to worship God." Do you think Sam's right? Use the case studies of Asher, Louise, and Fiona to explain two similarities and two differences in the way Christians use music in church.

Pause the video while you do your work.

I wonder how you got on.

Did you manage to find two similarities and two differences in the way Christians use music? You might have said something like this: No, Sam is not correct.

Christians don't all use music in the same way.

There are some similarities.

Most Christians use music in worship to help them focus on God.

And most Christians sing hymns or songs at church services.

But there are differences too.

Some Christians, like Fiona, listen to choral music sung by a church choir, while others, like Louise, sing the hymns themselves.

Some Christians, like Asher, worship God through contemporary songs using a band with guitars and drums. So I hope you managed to find some similarities and some differences in the way Christians use music.

Did you manage to include some keywords in your answers as well? Well done for working hard.

We've learned a lot in our lesson today about different styles of Christian music.

We've learned that most Christians will use music as part of their worship in church services, and there are many different styles of music that Christians might use.

We've learned that some Christian churches will have a worship band that will lead music with contemporary instruments.

Other churches use hymns or choral music.

And we've learned that Christians have been using music in their worship for many hundreds of years.

Well done for working hard in our lesson today.

I've enjoyed working with you.