Musical instruments and musical styles carry with them a series of implications and subconscious references. I believe the Church’s conservative policy recognizes that in our worship services, those references should eliminate mundane (read “worldly”) distractions as much as possible, so as to invoke worshipful meditation. A guitar solo can easily call to mind the plethora of rock/pop music common today. Brass instruments can call to mind jazz and/or militarism. Of course, all instruments could do similar things. One interlocutor has asked if there is anything sacrosanct about the organ. My question to that person would be this: what major cultural venues have come to be associated with organ music other than church services? I can think of very few. As to music from other cultures, we ought to adopt an attitude of seeking and promoting the best. The occidental music tradition is indeed noble in its own right in that it uncovered a wide gamut of melodic and harmonic possibilities, based on the physics of sound itself. It represents knowledge inspired from on high, if you will, and can be used and abused accordingly, as most of the other tenets we adhere to. Certainly I think we need a cultural re-enlightenment with regards to the sacred/popular (i.e. “Mo-pop”) music we espouse. I, too, have seen Peter Breinholt’s fireside and didn’t think to get offended, but when we as a people don’t reach any higher for cultural appreciation, we egregiously disregard the 13th Article of Faith.

It is almost always harder to understand the words when they are being sung. For this reason, I have often thought it would be cool to have the words projected on the wall in time with the music in karaoke fashion. Too bad that using a projector during sacrament meeting is also frowned upon.

I try not to be a musical elitist; really I do. But I have learned over a career of twenty-five years as either a Ward or Stake Music Chair, or even just a choir director, that simple and humble always wins the day. Much like the Gospel itself. It was no surprise, for example, that when we dedicated the Newport Beach Temple, the planners mandated songs from either the Hymn book, or the Church-published “Choirbook.”

I don’t think it has anything to do with how we form our vowel tones. It has everything to do with realizing that we as choristers are merely mouthpieces for a more significant voice than our collective one. When we approach Sacrament music with that attitude, the Spirit presents himself.

By the way, there’s a far more prosaic reason those “guitar” chords exist in the songbook: some pianists can’t really read music, but they know their chords. If they know what chord they’re supposed to be in, they can fake their way through pretty much any song.

Also, to partially answer Don, local leaders often do experience inspiration that trumps what our General Authorities often preach. Just a couple of years ago I was counselled by our Bishop to be a little more “lenient” on choices for our Christmas program, so that more people would enjoy the meeting. He knew that we frequently get folks in that meeting that may only show up one other time in a given year. So, against my own judgement, I followed Bishop’s counsel and, to my knowledge, no one left the Church. Me? I hit the TUMS when I got home.

No pain, no gain. It’s heck to be a curmudgeon at my age.

Is there truely something independantly spiritual about 19th century occidental congregational hymns?

A great question. I sometimes think that the organ might have been an inspired instrument of proper meditation–I know it would be hard for me to imagine another instrument in the temple chapels, though there were certainly some other instruments associated with the tabernacle in ancient Israel. As far as 19th-century hymns, Packer goes on to speculate that we should still be writing hymnns, and there are some good things being written, but not enough, and tradition makes it difficult to imagine what the modern hymn would be like. It will take someone with the vision to reinvent LDS worship music in ways that keep the contemplative tone and feel of cummunal knowledge that our hymns represent while adapting themselves to our lives now. As Packer advocates, perhaps this will happen when someone is dedicated enough and the time is right for the Lord to reveal new music. I’d post more of his thoughts, but they aren’t online anywhere, and it’s copywrighted material, and I wouldn’t know what parts to choose under fair use.

The difficulty with Elder Packer’s analysis (and dare I say – church poicy) is that it is completely ethnocentric. I imagine that some Aftican cultures might respond to an organ the same way we might respond to drums. It seems a bit tragic to forbid them the use of drums in their worship.

At the same time, I sympathize with the church’s desire to keep worship music away from ska. The larger the church becomes, the more challenging this is. Is there truely something independantly spiritual about 19th century occidental congregational hymns?