This is what then-apostle Spencer W. Kimball had to say in a report of a 1955 mission tour (my source for the quote is Ardis Parshall):
Music: It is generally sung too fast.
If you’re like most Mormons I know, your complaints typically run in the opposite direction: Music is played and sung too slowly in church. This has certainly been my experience. I recall in the ward my wife and I lived in when we were first married a couple of decades ago, the hymns were so slow in sacrament meeting that I took to timing them and comparing to the suggested tempo in the hymnal and whispering complaints to my wife about how big the differences were. And that was before smartphones, so I had to do the math in my head! Along the same lines, you might notice that in my Conference review posts, I typically note particularly fast musical numbers for praise.
I was thinking about this issue while I’ve gathered some data from the hymnal in preparation for the release of the Church’s new hymnal. Like in my last post, I’m looking at the 1985 hymnal and the previous hymnal (the copy I have is from 1973, but it was largely unchanged from 1948). It occurred to me that, because many hymns appear virtually unchanged in both hymnals, I could line them up next to each other and see if the compilers of the 1985 hymnal generally suggested faster or slower tempos than the compilers of the previous hymnal did. This would be an indicator of whether they thought music was being played and sung too fast or too slowly.
For example, “The Spirit of God” appears in the 1973 hymnal with a tempo of 100 beats per minute (bpm), and in the 1985 hymnal with a tempo of 96-112 bpm. It is in 4/4 time in both hymnals, and the tune is the same. As you probably know, the 1985 hymnal always suggests a tempo range. The 1973 hymnal just suggests a single tempo, although I’m guessing it was with the expectation that there would be variation around it in practice.
I was able to find 250 matched pairs of hymns to compare across the two hymnals. I matched them on both title (taking into account that sometimes the titles changed for the same hymn) and composer, to be sure that I wasn’t comparing hymns set to different tunes. I used the 1985 hymnal as the starting point, and looked for a matching hymn for each in the 1973 hymnal. A few hymns appear more than once in the 1985 hymnal and therefore also more than once in the set of 250. For example, “Come, Come Ye Saints” is #30 in the 1985 hymnal, and also #326, for men’s voices.
This graph summarizes where the 1973 tempos fall in comparison to the 1985 tempos for the 250 matched pairs of hymns.
The most frequent result is that the 1973 tempo falls within the 1985 interval (the middle bar). But when it doesn’t, it’s much more common that the 1973 tempo is slower than the 1985 interval than that it’s faster. When the 1973 tempo is at the end of the interval, it’s over four times as likely (26% vs. 6%) to be at the slow end as at the fast end. When it’s entirely outside the interval, it’s over ten times as likely (22% vs. 2%) to be outside at the slow end as outside at the fast end. Another way of summarizing the same data, although it’s not shown in the graph, is that the average fraction of the 1985 tempo range that is faster than the 1973 tempo is 72%. Overall, it seems clear that the compilers of the 1985 hymnal were generally trying to speed the hymns up.
Here are results for some often-sung hymns, just to give you a sense. For each of these hymns, the time signature is the same in both hymnals.
| Title | 1973 bpm | 1985 bpm |
|---|---|---|
| High on the Mountain Top | 60 | 56-72 |
| Joseph Smith’s First Prayer | 84 | 84-92 |
| A Poor, Wayfaring Man of Grief | 96 | 96-112 |
| How Firm a Foundation | 104 | 100-112 |
| I Know That My Redeemer Lives | 60 | 72-84 |
| Sweet Hour of Prayer | 44 | 42-48 |
| I Stand All Amazed | 66 | 66-84 |
| Ring Out, Wild Bells | 72 | 48-60 |
Okay, maybe “Ring Out, Wild Bells” isn’t sung that often, but many of us probably sang it recently. In any case, I included it so you can see that the tempos didn’t always increase between 1973 and 1985.
So the 1985 hymnal pushes hymns to be played faster. A logical next question is how much faster. A complication I ran into in answering this question is that the unit of bpm isn’t the same for all the hymns. It’s most often a quarter note, but sometimes it’s a dotted quarter note or half note or something else. I thought it might make more sense to convert the bpm values into time: how long will it take to sing or play a verse at this tempo? For example, “The Spirit of God” is in 4/4 time, so it has four quarter notes per measure. It has 32 measures, so it is 4 × 32 = 128 quarter notes long. Its suggested tempo range in the 1985 hymnal, like I noted above, is 96-112 bpm, where a beat is a quarter note. This translates into 128/96 = 1.333 minutes at the slow end, and 128/112 = 1.143 minutes at the fast end. To make small differences in length easier to look at, I converted the minutes to seconds by multiplying by 60, so 1.333 × 60 = 80 seconds at the fast end, and 1.143 × 60 = 69 seconds at the slow end. So, played at the recommended tempo, a verse of “The Spirit of God” takes 69-80 seconds. Following the same calculation steps, the 100 bpm tempo in the 1973 hymnal yields a length of 77 seconds.
This graph shows the distribution of length difference between the 1973 tempo and the midpoint of the 1985 tempo range.
This graph is oriented the same way as the previous one, so bars to the left represent 1973 tempos being faster, and bars to the right represent 1973 tempos being slower. For 80% of hymns, the 1973 tempo is slower than the 1985 midpoint. The most common difference (the two tallest bars) is between zero and four seconds.
But how long is four seconds, really, in the context of a hymn verse? From the matched hymns, the average verse at 1973 tempo is 43.7 seconds, and the average verse at 1985 midpoint tempo is 40.8 seconds. So it’s not a big difference, but it is close to 10%.
This last graph shows the same data, but with the differences in seconds converted into percentages of the 1985 midpoint length.
The story is largely the same, although maybe converting to percentages makes the results easier to think about. The most frequent result is that the 1973 tempo makes verses slower, but by less than 10%.
Of course what I really want to know is what the compilers of the new hymnal will suggest when it comes to tempos. Will they push to speed hymns up even more? Revert to the slower 1973 tempos? Make a mix of changes without an obvious move in either direction? I do suspect that whatever they do won’t have much effect in practice. I’m guessing that tempo is a lot like grammar, in that, at least for your first language, you learn it by hearing and producing it, not by checking what the suggested tempo is. When the 1985 hymnal came out, if pianists and organists were used to playing “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” at a plodding 60 bpm and people were used to singing it at this tempo, I doubt that having “72-84” written there made any difference.
If you’re old enough, do you recall any differences in tempo when the 1985 hymnal came out? What do you expect to happen with the new hymnal? And most importantly, which hymns do you find are consistently played too slowly or too quickly?
Also, if you commented on my last post, please accept my apologies for your comments not appearing. I wasn’t watching closely and didn’t realize that Akismet wasn’t configured right and was sending everything to the moderation queue. I think it’s working correctly now. If it’s misbehaving and you want to give me a heads up, you can reach me at zdziff at gmail.
I grew up with the earlier hymnbook, and with weekly Sunday School hymn practices, which may have set my internal tempo clock. I don’t recall whether I noticed any change in tempo in 1985, but I certainly notice the slowing tempos now, to the point where I usually give up in frustration. I’ve thought that perhaps this is the case in my current ward because several of our present or recent music people have been members of the Tabernacle Choir, which sings noticeably slower now than they did in the recordings of old conferences (1940s-60s) I have listened to.
But I think they don’t appreciate the difference between singing as a choral performance where few sing and most listen, and singing as congregational participation. When we’re singing as a congregation, without necessarily caring or having the skills to blend with others, and perform the nuances of drawing out some phrase, we NEED to sing faster than we currently do — it’s the only way for people like me to feel the music, and to have the words convey meaning (as it is, you can forget how a sentence started long before you finish singing the end of the sentence.)
I have a metronome on my iPad and often time the hymns after I give up singing. Two things are true: We routinely start at 2/3 of the slowest suggested tempo, and when the conductor has us draw out a phrase at the end of a verse, we don’t pick up the tempo again at the beginning of the next verse — so we continually slow down, verse by verse.
I wish I did have some memory of any change in tempo after 1985. If those changes are the origin of our dragging and melancholy tempos today, it may have taken quite a while to drag the tempos down in practice, because conductors/organists/congregations probably continued singing at their accustomed pace for some time after the new book came out.
Thanks for your comment, Ardis. That’s a really great point that I hadn’t thought of, about the potentially different needs for congregational singing versus choral performance.
One possible reason for the slower recommendation for “Ring Out, Wild Bells” in the 1985 hymnal: in the old hymnal it was clearly marked as a choir number, whereas in the new book it’s grouped with all the other hymns, presumably intended for congregational singing. Since the recommended tempo is set to a dotted quarter note (half a measure in the 6/8 tune), 72 beats per minute is a glorious romp through the music that few congregations could keep up with unless the sacrament water had been laced with amphetamines. Presumably the choir would have practiced before performing and worked themselves up to that pace without medicinal help. (Or did they??)
I fear, though, that some untrained music leaders might have seen the 48-60 range and applied that to the eighth notes, which would leave the congregation dead in the pews and Crawford Gates rolling, however slowly, in his grave.
And, I would add to Ardis’s comment, singing faster is the only way that most of us mere mortals have a prayer of a chance of getting to the end of a line before our breath is completely gone and we need supplemental oxygen.
I was the ward chorister a while back–and I have to say (IMO) the biggest problem (in our ward at least) was that many of our dear volunteers at the organ just couldn’t play the hymns up to speed. So while there may be a genuine concern that we keep the music reverent and whatnot–I think much of the problem boils down to pure logistics.
That said, it sure was fun on those rare occasions when we’d have a rock star at the organ. But when she’s the stake Relief Society president–well, you can probably guess how often she had a spare minute to sit in as the ward organist. So even though I was frustrated at times at not being able to “pick up” the tempo–I was grateful that there were a few timid souls who were willing to offer their best effort at providing music for the congregation.
My mom always joked about congregating singing at Church being “the Mormon dirge.” In particular, she noted the same thing as Ardis, that they started out slow and only got slower.
A few notes:
All the hymns are dirges, even at their faster recommended speeds, because they are intended to be easily sung by amateurs. There is no need to slow them down even more.
But Jack is on point. In almost all wards, it is the organist that picks the tempo, not the chorister nor the congregation. I don’t know how many of them are slow by choice or because they lack the skill to play faster. I think most of the time they play it the way they are used to hearing it.
I am married to an amazing organist. She can play anything. She is a professional musician. While most members appreciate her playing she has gotten comments that she plays too loud, too fast, and a few other negative comments.
Unrelated to tempo: Years ago she attended a training for organists at the Ogden tabernacle. The person giving the training I think was associated with the tabernacle choir. They had a brand new organ on the Ogden tabernacle and they wanted the stake organists to know how to use it. His advice was to not be afraid to open up the stops and make it play loud.
So there you have it. Some members like it slow and soft. By and large I think musicians like the hymns faster. Everyone has an opinion, but the one that makes the decision is the person at the organ.
Pianist here who learned to play the organ after being called as the ward organist as a midlife adult. Jack and Rockwell are absolutely correct. For the first couple of years, the instructions from my chorister were basically “please just play it as fast as you can.” I’m better at the organ now, which combined with my tendency to rush all music means I have to use my metronome and pay more attention to the marked tempo. But sometimes I just feel like I’m dragging the congregation along with me.
A few years after I was called, the original organist had a change in calling that allowed her to move back into alternating weeks with me on the organ. She has been an organist all her life. She definitely feels that the chorister and I tend to rush the music. Is that because she understands musical spirituality differently than I do, or because her initial experiences came with the previous hymnal? Who knows.
Side note–I love 64 On This Day of Joy and Gladness. But, oh my word, that song is fast! Note that the indicated tempo is 46-56 for a dotted half note. That is the entire 3 count measure, so 138-168 per beat.
“many of our dear volunteers at the organ just couldn’t play the hymns up to speed”
This. A thousand times this.
As a sometimes ward musician who first played an organ (which I did not know how to play) in Sacrament meeting when the branch president locked the piano (which I did know how to play) and said “we will have organ today”, I can attest that this is most likely the case!
I generally play fast, strictly piano though, not organ. I did have one member comment they’d bring their inhaler next time after a gallop through the Battle Hymn. There’s one hymn in the 1985 book where the suggested tempo range is so slow that I am convinced the quaver beats specified should be dotted crotchets (apologies for the British terminology): 101 Guide Me to Thee
Your comment about the change from a specific tempo to a specified range reminded me about a BYU radio (?) episode so heard over the internet a good few years ago now about the history of music in the church. It referred to a level of control freakery about how the hymns should be sung, going so far as to instruct choirs which hymns they should be singing and detailed instructions as to how.
If I recall correctly the earlier hymn book not only specified a particular tempo for each of the hymns, but also contained dynamic markings. I regard the lack of dynamic markings and a tempo range as a relaxing of that prior control.
You never know. Perhaps the new hymn book will no longer specify tempo at all. Certainly none of the hymn books in my possession that are used by other denominations specify a suggested tempo range, mood, dynamics or anything other than the actual notes.
Two quick comments:
For me, “fast does not equal irreverent” is a hill worth dying on.
And, as to hymn 64: it is fast. But just for the organist and the congregation. Not for the director, who should beat it in one, 56 or so beats per minute.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments. You all make a great point about organists or pianists setting the tempo, and how the recommended tempos sometimes being faster than they can reasonably handle. Certainly, especially as a total musical noob, I want to cut them all the slack they need. I guess my concern is with people who are setting the tempo slow because they think it’s more correct that way.
“For me, ‘fast does not equal irreverent’ is a hill worth dying on.”
I agree. Some of the chorus numbers from Handel’s Messiah rock–but that doesn’t mean they’re irreverent.
A good organist will take into account the size of the congregation and its singing ability as well as the size and acoustics of the room when setting the tempo. It will also be influenced by the textual meaning and can vary from stanza to stanza and with possible reharmonization/other musical concerns (difficult to take the last verse a little more broadly if the hymn is already being played way too slowly). I have never paid the slightest attention to arbitrary metronome markings that would seem to be helpful only to those with little experience or musical judgment.
Of course when one is struggling just to get through the hymn without playing too many wrong notes, every other consideration is moot. Certainly the last thing a less confident organist needs is to have to try to simultaneously watch or coordinate with someone waving their hands around who may or may not have any idea what they are doing. I have played in many other denominations and there is never anyone leading the congregational singing but the organist.
Has anyone listened to the CD of hymns from the church that can be used to accompany congregations without instruments or musicians? (Simple piano, flute, clarinet trios) Oh.my.heck. It is so freaking slow. Crazy slow. Tempo suggestions were just thrown out the window.
And what’s going to happen w the new hymnal? Well, Mack Wilberg and the gerontocracy are going to pull everything down to a slow “quiet dignity” heartbeat. Outlet was much more spritely compared to Willberg. Since the 90’s everything has been low and slow, and the “peppy hymns have either fallen out of popularity or have been re-set to be sung “reflectively”. Brigham’s fav hym was “The resurrection day” which was sung at campfires fast and jubilantly in a dance. Today, we slog through Mormon dirges.
Some songs should be sung fast. We should have a VARIETY of emotions and tempos in our hymnody. But there’s a trick to singing slowly. You have to pour in the intensity. The most difficult pieces for musicians to play are not “flight of the bumblebee” frenzies (although they take tremendous skill). The most difficult pieces are slow, because you have to pour in massive concentration, utilize dynamics, vibrato (in varying cycles and sometimes not at all), and every other musical stylistic tool. If done right, these pieces bring people to tears- slowly rip your heart out. Mahler is hard. Beethoven’s 7th played slowly will break your heart one stitch at a time. Satie’s Gymnopedies should always be graceful and slow. There are lds hymns that should be played slowly- but most organists, and nearly all congregations cannot do it well. When it’s done poorly- it just becomes a drag- boring and lifeless. Frankly, I have felt the MoTab has been on the “drab” side for a long time now- especially when they have been simply rehashing hymns. They need a fire lit, and it’s not coming from wilberg’s facial expressions or dramatic conducting. (Stiff as a board!)
Sorry for the typo above…”Otley 2// much more spritely compared to Wilberg” (meaning- Gerald Otley, the previous MoTab conductor.
The trend does seem to be to let it flow. To let it not go. Slow and low, that is the tempo.
BYW, still waiting for the annual review of funniest ‘nacle comments.
Sorry, JLM. It’s in the works!
Thanks for the analysis. As a trained organist of a certain age, I remember when the 1985 hymnal appeared. At the time, I remember comparing tempos between the 1948 & 1985 hymnals, but I do not remember any actual change in the tempos of hymns after 1985. As has been noted, organists play at the tempo they’re comfortable with. I am often thanked for not playing the hymns as slowly as others.
I agree with Bill that the size of the room can make a difference in the tempo. Smaller rooms with few reflective surfaces require quicker tempos. My sense is the average ward meetinghouse chapel in the 1940s may have been a bit larger than the average chapel full of carpet in 1985. I am hesitant to attribute the difference in tempos solely to this factor, however.
I’m a piano teacher who sometimes masquerades as an organist (apologies to the real trained organists, I’m one of those who uses the dreaded “bass coupler” and just lets my feet dangle), and like many others who have some musical training, I have opinions about our hymns being too slow. I’ll commiserate with Ardis, there are times I struggle to keep singing when the song really drags. My family has heard me vent over the years on the topic and illustrate it by sarcastically singing, “There is Sunshine in My Soul Today” very slowly in a low, bored voice.
In my experience, sometimes it’s the organist not going fast enough, but it’s more often an inexperienced chorister with an organist who knows it’s their job to follow the chorister and hasn’t sat them down to encourage a faster speed.
I’ve done training with the youth in the last 4 wards I’ve been in (why so many bishops want the youth to lead is a topic for another time) and I always start with this: “The most important piece of advice I can give you when leading congregational singing is Don’t. Follow. The Congregation. They will always be singing half a beat behind you, it’s just the nature of the calling. You will always feel like you’re fighting them a bit. It’s a common mistake for a chorister to slow down because they think they’re going too fast for the congregation, and then the congregation slows down. And then they slow down. And the congregation slows down. If the fourth verse is significantly slower than the first verse, this is what’s happening. Don’t do this.”
I was fortunate to be the chorister in a ward that had two professionally trained organists who were converts to the church later in life so they’d been organists in their previous denominations, and what a joy it was to lead singing when they played. Our ward loved it, but we’d occasionally get comments from visitors, “So loud! Too fast!” It says something that culturally we’ve gotten so used to mediocrity there are complaints when it’s done well. One of our organists accompanied the choir for our temple dedication and she mentioned that they got the directive, “Please sing all the hymns within the recommended range in the hymnbook. The brethren really dislike it when the hymns are too slow.”
I’m in a new ward that has a culture of singing the hymns 20 beats below the recommended range and a new Bishop whose wife is a music teacher so he knows it’s a problem. He called me as the ward organist last week and my instructions are, “Please fix this,” and I am here for it.
Also, can I put my English teacher hat on to grumble about hymns where we end singing because we’ve sung all the verses between the staffs even if it makes no sense lyric-wise? Does no one pay any attention to the words at all? My biggest pet peeve is 116, Come Follow Me. We literally end it half-way through a thought when we sing 4 verses. (Seriously, go read verses 4 and 5 if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) And Sacrament hymns where we finish with the verse about the Savior dying – this is not the right place to stop.
Phew. Ok. I feel better now.