The Folk Singers Psalter!?

[Wynteriii]

I been toying with this idea for awhile and I've started doing it a few days ago. It started when I heard a man play a song on the guitar and found out that it was actually a Psalm! This gave me the want to bring singing Psalms and Folk guitar style of playing together. Putting simple Chord progression together and making it fit the Psalm while keeping in mind the type of Psalm it is (We wouldn't want an upbeat progression to go with a Lament would we?).

My work with Psalm 1 has been interesting but I have finished it. I will have to post on the PB soon. I find that the arrangement that I used really allows my fellow brethren to sing along. Which was my desired outcome.

I hope to bring Psalms back to daily reading, worship, and prayer. I found that singing the Psalms have been an experience that has been missing in my life and my congregation.

Let me know your thoughts, comments, and disapproval if there is some.

 

[Wayne]

Waaayyyy back in the 70's, I remember using a booklet called The Psalter: Scripture set to Music.
Stiil available, apparently, and you might find some of your work done for you already.

Psalter: Scriptures Set to Music (5th Edition): Unknown: Amazon.com: Books

Among the tunes, the rendition of Psalm 48:1-2 was one that easily comes back to mind.

 

[reformedminister]

Unless the songs reflect the majesty of God and inspire reverent worship I would not waste your time. Such an idea seems to draw more attention to the musician than God. This is what we are seeing in contemporary forms of worship. They are people centered rather than God centered.

 

[Wynteriii]

Folk style music is not really about the musician. I know some think other wise but they are wrong. If people cannot sing along and worship God then its wrong.

 

[Miss Marple]

I endorse it, because I think a guitar or similar is portable, inexpensive, and easily available. As opposed to the more common piano or organ. So I think from a practical point of view that guitar accompaniment makes a lot of sense.

There are those who oppose instruments in worship; I don't go along with their arguments but they would be important for you to consider.

 

[JennyG]

I don't like guitar accompaniment much - it seems rigid and samey to me, but if people do like it and find it aids their worship, I can't see a problem.
I feel sure though, that there must already be any number of versions of the Psalms made with the same aim - some more and some less modern, some more and others less singable!
The Scottish Free Church has its own, fairly recent metrical Psalter. It's ok, but on the whole I prefer the old Church of Scotland psalter. Not that it's theologically or poetically or stylistically superior, but the inevitable infelicities become endeared by use.

The Lord shall keep thy soul; he shall
Preserve thee from all ill.
Henceforth thy going out and in
God keep for ever will

...that's awkward, to say the least, but it stops mattering after a few decades

 

[Jack K]

For those of us who believe instrumental accompaniment is allowed, the guitar makes an excellent instrument for family and other small group worship. My family often sings psalms with a guitar as part of our family worship.

Not every guitar tune, even if it falls broadly under the category of "folk music," is necessarily un-majestic. And certainly, not every psalm must always be sung to a majestic tune. There is huge variety of expression within the psalter, and many sorts of occasions for singing. It only makes sense that there can be significant variety, at least, in the kinds of tunes used.

In choosing the psalms, Wynter has focused his attention on the best possible material for songs of worship. It sounds to me like his efforts could be useful to the church.

 

[Martin]

Sounds like a neat idea to me. When you started describing it to me I had a thought of a lament Psalm with a mix of guitar and sad, slow fiddle.

A friend and I tried to do something similar once with the Psalter.

 

[Miss Marple]

I hope you post your work here as it gets accomplished.

 

[Wynteriii]

Thanks and I will post audio and chord sheets on my website soon.

 

[Sola Fide]

On the subject of psalm singing using the guitar, maybe the following will be of interest. A man named Dinnyes Jozsef is quite famous in Hungary for his renditions of the Genevan psalms:
Krjk ajnlja honlapunkat ismerseinek is!
He plays the original Genevan melodies rather than his own tunes, but it shows, I think, that psalm singing in a folk style can work well. The site opens with him singing my favourite tune (42) but if you click on the link (Tartalomjegyzek) in the top right you can access others too.