Welcome to the Hymn Descants Blog
A descant is a counter melody written above the original melody. Its main purpose is to enhance the original melody without overpowering it. It heightens the effectiveness of the worship experience by adding a sense of climax and joy to a hymn.
Why hymn descants? I felt a need to expand my flute playing in church to more that just playing the various lines in the hymnal. Descants allow me to do this and bring more glory to God through my music. I found a few descant resources scattered here and there about the internet, but no one comprehensive site, so www.hymndescants.com was born.
This blog provides a forum for all to discuss descants as used in hymns. Posts can cover finding descants, writing, playing and/or singing descants.
Handbook for Creative Church Musicians
A highly recommended book. It is a practical guide to composition and arranging by Harold Owen. The very first chapter covers descants - lots of examples for both instrumental and choral descants, including a section on problems and solutions. Available at
SheetMusicPlus.
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