Eric E. did a presentation in defense of praise music for the folks who dis that kind of music because, 1) it's repetitive; 2) the lyrics and music are simple; and 3) its music makers are't as musical. He laid out a pretty good, lawyerly case for some of the same complaints about praise music being true for classical music and hymns: he noted that Alleluia chorus's repetitiveness (26 times in the first couple of minutes), in contrast to "Open the Eyes of My Heart." He further noted that some praise music has beautiful, thoughtful lyrics. Finally, he acknowledged that praise music may be composed of only a limited number of chords, but argued that it is nonetheless richly textured by the different instruments and the work that goes into obtaining a particular sound.
I'm not musical enough to have thought about it befeore. But, I must admit it did open my eyes. I'm not ready to embrace praise music, but perhaps I shouldn't be such a snob. Ironically, many people seem to have the same problem for the music played in black churches, which I very much enjoy. Apparently, with respect to praise music, one criticism is that it's too "happy", but compared to black gospel music, I'm just missing the happy-ness of praise music.
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