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.

Monday, July 26, 2010

When God Seems Distant - TheoCenTriC

When God Seems Distant - TheoCenTriC
Learning to Sing the Sad Songs of the Bible - The Psalms of Lament
Have you every noticed how much sadness (troubles, complaints, frustrations) there are in some of the Psalms (the ancient Hebrew song book). What would it be like if we were to sing some of these words to a blues or alternative rock style of music in church? Have you ever seen a lament song in a church hymnal?