Successful Qualities of CCM (Contemporary Christian Music)
Can be read in conjunction with my "Critique of Some Elements of Contemporary Christian Music & Culture" piece, which also touches on numerous strengths of CCM
There are many things that make many (not all) CCM songs wonderful not just for listening in the car and doing dishes in the kitchen, but for personal devotion (although perhaps not for the public, sacred liturgy of the Catholic Church - for more on that, consider seeing my article on which musical instruments are appropriate in the liturgy and which ones are not).
Here, I seek to enumerate some of these reasons.
(When I say “CCM”, I am of course including what is arguably the biggest wing of CCM - praise & worship (P&W) - but I do not have only P&W in mind.)
There are many very pleasant and authentic folk - Irish Celtic, bluegrass/Appalachian, etc. - influences present in the melodic/rhythmic writing and musical instrumentation of many songs in certain wings of CCM. (In the P&W wing, perhaps less so.) Banjos, fiddles, mandolins, mountain dulcimers - bring it on!
This contrasts with what we might name the quite inauthentic “folk” influences of composers like the St. Louis Jesuits (such as Dan Schutte), Marty Haugen, and David Haas (who was recently cancelled due to sexual assault allegations), whose liturgical “folk” music Catholics have been hearing for the last 50 years.
Much of CCM exhibits very tasteful, well-constructed, aurally-pleasing melodies.
Many of these CCM melodies are very catchy! This helps texts to stick in the brain. When the texts are of high quality, this is a very desirable musical feature.
Many CCM songs contain very well-written, very poetic lyrics that A) display good imagery, figurative language, sophisticated vocabulary, and elegant syntax and B) are very doctrinally sound, containing direct Scriptural quotes, referencing solid theological concepts, etc.
Many CCM songs exhibit very tasteful musical instrumentation (especially in acoustic/live recordings).
Many CCM singers are very vocally talented.
CCM SUCCESSES
A few CCM groups that usually or almost always fire on all or almost all 6 of the aforementioned cylinders, I would say, are Sovereign Grace Music and Keith & Kristin Getty. The latter, in particular, are known for attempting to be “contemporary hymn writers.” Indeed, Keith & Kristin Getty’s original melodies move in ways that are similar to those of traditional hymnody. The Gettys’ melodies typically follow an AABA structure, which is a classic, even ancient hymnic formula (used by the early Church). Finally, the Gettys’ songs are typically strophic/stanzaic, as are traditional hymns (different verses sung to the same melody), as opposed to following the chorus-verse format that is so popular in many wings of CCM.
In this discussion, certain very tasteful CCM renditions of Gregorian chant (the original melody and text but with contemporary piano/guitar instrumentation), like this one, also come to mind.
Countless tasteful CCM renditions of traditional English hymnody (again, the original melody and text, but with contemporary piano/guitar instrumentation), such as Audrey Assad’s “Holy, Holy, Holy” and David Crowder’s rather folk-y “Be Thou My Vision” also come to mind.
Finally, countless tasteful a cappella arrangements of traditional hymns come to mind, such as Vocal Point (Brigham Young University’s premier male a cappella group)’s “Come Thou Fount of Blessing” rendition.
A NOTE ON HILLSONG
While I do not find the melody of Hillsong’s “I Believe” (Credo) to be very well-constructed, I find their attempts to paraphrase of the Apostles’ Creed interesting and worthy of respect. Melodically, I find Keith & Kristin Getty’s “We Believe” to be a bit more successful, and I find their Irish Celtic fiddle musical interludes very tasteful.
While I find Hillsong’s “Good Grace” overproduced, I think that their interwoven Scriptural quotes and paraphrases are rather interesting to track. For example, the lyric “Don’t let your heart be troubled” is a direct quote of John 14:1. “His kingdom come” refers to Matthew 6:10. The lyric “remember where our help comes from” refers to Psalm 121:1 (the answer is “the Lord”!). “Don’t fear no evil” calls to mind Psalm 23:4. “Swing wide, all you heavens” refers to Psalm 118:19. “Everything with breath” refers to Psalm 150:6. “Clean hands, pure hearts” refers to Psalm 24:3-4. “Let the praise go up as the walls come down” is a clever play on the adage “when praises go up, blessings come down.” The idea of walls coming down evokes Joshua 5:20.
The verse melody of Hillsong’s "King of Kings” is not unlike a simple Gregorian chant tone. The lyrics of this song are also rather rich, making the song a fine listen for the Feast of Christ the King, for example. The chorus’ resounding “Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one” is clearly a contemporary paraphrase of the Gloria Patri.
As usual, I welcome any and all thoughts and comments below.