e. Tune names.
Composers usually name their tunes in order to facilitate their identification. The names given them are selected quite arbitrarily. W. H. Havergal, prolific composer of church music, named his tunes after the rivers, mountains, valleys, etc., of Palestine, e.g. “Abana,” “Ahava,” “Ararat,” “Baca,” etc. Other tunes have been named for the composer, e.g., “Bradbury” ([395]); the name of a friend, e.g., “Rockingham” ([105]); name of a city or village, e.g., “Boylston” ([214]); a street, “Federal Street” ([192]); a cottage, “Hollingside” ([159]); an event in history, “Nicaea” ([1]); or the central idea in the words, “Pilot” ([161]).
In Germany, the usual practice has been to name the tune after the first line of the hymn to which it was originally set.
Some tunes, unfortunately, are known by more than one name, e.g., “St. Michel’s” ([93]) and “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” ([125]). In a few cases the same name is given to several tunes, e.g., “Wesley” ([309] and [332]). This is confusing and it is highly desirable that hymnbook editors strive toward uniformity of nomenclature.
[19.] John Wesley’s Rules for Singing.
In one of John Wesley’s compilations of tunes, Sacred Melody, the great preacher and founder of Methodism gives the following rules for singing. Some of the expressions used may provoke a smile but, as Lightwood suggests, “it would be a very good thing if these were read aloud from time to time in all churches and chapels where good congregational singing is aimed at.”
a. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
b. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.
c. Sing ALL. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.
d. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sang the songs of Satan.
e. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
f. Sing in tune. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too low. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy: and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.
g. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall our singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and regard you when He cometh in the clouds of Heaven.