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.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Always Be Prepared - with a Descant!

1 Peter 3:15 says that we are always to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within us. I would like to modify that a bit for the church musician - always be ready with a descant! You just never know when a music need may suddenly arise in a worship service. With your handy book of hymn descants it is easy to suddenly step up when asked; the only other requirement is an accompanist to play the melody for an already familiar hymn tune. So keep practicing and finding those descants!

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