Suggestions for learning hymns for a musical novice

[Rob Marsh]

Hey everyone,

We use the Trinity hymnal for our family worship at night, and although we know the melody of many of these hymns already, I'm curious to find some resources to listen to some of these hymns during the day to learn some of the more obscure hymns we aren't necessarily familiar with already. I know that there are sights like the OPC hymnal site that have midi versions of the hymns, but does anyone have other album suggestions (say for instance, certain albums on amazon, or even sites like Spotify or Pandora?) that would have actual, real examples of these hymns being sung?
Free is ideal, but I'm open to any suggestion for resources.

Thanks!

 

[Jake]

If you are interested in learning the Psalms, I can point you to a few resources. My preferred psalter is the classic 1650 Scottish Psalter. At least two Psalms from this Psalter appear in whole in the Trinity (Psalms 23 and 100) along with a few others in part.

You can find recordings of many of the Psalms at Christ Covenant RPC (several members of this church are members here, as well as the Pastor and precentor of these psalms): Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church: Psalm Singing

You can find more recordings here: The Scottish Metrical Psalter (1650) | The Psalms of David - Sung a cappella

I find it much easier to sing with recordings of congregations singing than those awful MIDI files myself.

 

[Andres]

Hi Rob, have you ever considered singing from the Psalter for family worship? If so, I could point you to several resources, including recordings of congregations singing the Psalms.

EDIT: Looks like Jake beat me to it! However, my preferred Psalter is the Book of Psalms for Worship. One of the reasons I like this version of the Psalter is because many of the tunes are highly recognizable. I came out of a background where all the worship songs I sang where from the red Trinity Hymnal and as soon as I transitioned to the Psalter, I already knew multiple tunes! Makes the transition quite quick! Oh, and if you're into technology, another nice feature is that the Psalter has an app with all the tunes!

 

[Rob Marsh]

Hi Rob, have you ever considered singing from the Psalter for family worship?

I would love to learn more about this, so yes, if you have some suggestions for getting started I'd love to hear them (e.g. Psalters for musical dummies like me, hymnals that aren't too difficult for kids, etc.) I will look into the Book of Psalms for Worship that you mentioned. Thanks!

 

[Andres]

Rob, do you have an iPhone? I'd suggest downloading the Book of Psalms for Worship app. It's a little pricey at $9.99, but well worth it - I use it daily. Also you can find CD's/mp3's of recordings of folks singing the Psalms here.

 

[Rob Marsh]

I'm going to look into this, thanks. Probably not the iPhone version, as I'd like to get some hymnals for the family to use for our nightly worship. Thanks again.