Tanglewood Hymnal

Resources

Books, links, and apps: you can find them here. Most apps listed are for Apple devices. Where I know of Android apps I do list them. Most of these apps are not free. The good ones never are. Ditto for the books. The book links point to “The Amazon” but is not intended as an endorsement to buy them there. Amazon is one of my favorite research resources. The Internet sites of course are a marvelously free resource. Enjoy.

Mobile Apps

  • Sing Your Part – Sheet music and MIDI files for hymns from several hymnals. This is a marvelous app for learning to sing parts. It is currently available for Apple devices only, but I hear there is an Android version in the works. There is a web version that works on all desktops. A great resource. It works best on an iPad.
  • Learn My Part – Another good app for learning to sing parts. Learn My Part is only available on Apple devices, and it is best used on an iPad. Unlike Sing Your Part above, this app has to be loaded with the hymns you want to learn. It is an older app that has not been updated in a while.
  • Sweet MIDI Player – This is just a MIDI player, so it works best when you have a hymnal in front of you. The MIDI files you want to practice with need to be uploaded to the app. Feel free to download them here.
  • Tonal Energy, or TE Tuner – A fancy pitch pipe/tuner/chord thingy. It is a bit pricey, but it is a nicely built app. There are many free apps for Apple and Android if you just want a pitch pipe.
  • Tunable – Another fancy pitch pipe/tuner/chord app. It’s just like the one above, but different.
  • Trinity Psalter Hymnal (Apple) – This digital hymnal is a joint project of the OPC & URCNA. It is nicely done, and each hymn has an audio file to play while you sing from the sheet. No MIDI though, and it is best used on an iPad.
  • Trinity Psalter Hymnal (Google Play) – Same as above, but for Android phones.
  • Baptist Hymnal – This is the official app of the 2008 Baptist Hymnal, produced by Lifeway Christian Resources. There is no audio files of any sort connected with it, and it only comes free with 200 or so hymns. To get all 674 hymns you have to pay an in-app purchase of $9.95. It is only available for iPad, and it hasn’t been updated in over six years. It’s a decent digital hymnal, and it is cheaper than a hard copy. It is nothing special, kind of like the hard copy.
  • The Psalter 1912 – This is the psalter you see referenced so much as the hymn author in the Trinity Hymnal. It’s available for smartphones, but it is best used on an iPad or Android tablet. There is also a section of historic creeds and the Heidelberg catechism.
  • 1650 Psalter – This is the Scotish psalter that the 1912 Psalter descended from. It too is available for iPad and Android. This and the 1912 Psalter are great reference apps.

Internet Sites

  • Hymnary.org – This site has become the go-to site for information on all things hymns/hymnals. The author, composer, and translator biographies make a fascinating read.
  • SmallChurchMusic – A wonderful site with an extensive downloadable hymn tune library of audio resources in MP3 or MIDI formats. If you don’t have a pianist or a piano in your church, this site may be a valuable resource for you.
  • The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland – This site is a treasure trove of articles on hymnals, hymns, hymn writers, composers, and translators.
  • Hymnology Archive – Very informative articles on hymns and hymn writers (and other things). Hymnology Archive has an exaustive linked list of resources.
  • Christ Church Music Library – This is the library of hymns from the Cantus Christi hymnal.
  • Powerful Poetry – an expansive and growing library of hymn lyrics and poetry.
  • 1650 Psalter – A great resource to all 150 Psalms from the 1660 Scottish Psalter.
  • The Genevan Psalter – modern engravings of the tunes of the Genevan Psalter, plus many articles and links to other resources; a fine website of resources.
  • Note Worthy Music Service – Do you need something musical worked up? Check this site out for custom work on all things musical. Michael Owens does music typesetting, arranging, harmonizing, and much more.
  • Trinity Psalter Hymnal – Lyrics but no score of each psalm or hymn in the Trinity Hymnal Psalter (2018 © Trinity Psalter Hymnal Joint Venture – OPC, URCNA) , but each page contains a beautiful piano recording of the tune.

Online Articles

Here are some thoughtful articles from the internet regarding Contemporary Christian Music, praise bands, and overhead projectors:

Substack

  • Word and Song, by Anthony Esolen – Meditations on the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in Word of the Week, Hymn of the Week, Poem of the Week, Movie of the week. Co-authored with his wife Debra, Anthony Esolen has created a resource that grows daily. Everyone in love words and music should subscribe to this jewell.
  • Musically Speaking, by Jarrod Richey – Richey is a music teacher in a Classical Christian school in West Monroe, Louisiana. He shares insights into his musical work there and in the church. His articles are a delight to read.

Books

  • Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns, by T. David Gordon. This is a well written and compelling book outlining the multifaceted problem of musical illiteracy in the church. It lacks concluding chapters on remedies to the problem, but that is not necessary, as the solution in many ways is obvious in the description of the problem.
  • Church Music and the Other Kinds, by Douglas Wilson. A much shorter work than the above. Pastor Wilson is a capable wordsmith able to turn a few succinct phrases to make short work of this topic.
  • A New Song for an Old World: Musical Thought in the Early Church, by Calvin R. Stapert. What did the church fathers have to say about church music? This book is an exercise in the “Musical Thought in the Early Church”.
  • Singing and Making Music: Issues in Church Music Today, by Paul S. Jones. This book is a bit more technical in nature, but still very good. Dr. Jones was Organist and Music Director at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1998 to 2014, serving with Pastor James Montgomery Boyce.
  • Sing with Understanding. This textbook is a bit hard to come by and a bit pricey on Amazon ($50 bucks in hardback), but if you keep an eye out for it a good used one can be found around the internet. A good resource for the history of hymnody, and church music theory.
  • 101 Hymn Stories: The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns, by Kenneth W. Osbeck. This book with the one that follows is a delightful collection of brief stories about the (mostly) fine hymns of the church and their authors, composers, and translators. One of my favorite stories is about Isaac Watts as a small child: at a very early age, he picked up the habit of speaking in rhyme, which would irritate his father from time to time. On one occasion Isaac’s father threatened to whip the boy if he didn’t stop. Watt’s reply was ”O father do some pity take, and I will no more rhymes make.”
  • 101 More Hymn Stories: The Inspiring True Stories Behind 101 Favorite Hymns, by Kenneth W. Osbeck
  • Hidden in the Hymns, by Rivers Houseal – Intended for children, yet this book is a wealth of information for traditional hymn lovers of all ages. there are short hymn-author biographies, verse-by-verse paraphrases (explanations in plain English of archaic words and phrases) with scriptural references.
  • Psalter Hymnal Handbook, by Emily R. Brink and Bert Polman; Publisher: Faith Alive, 1998. This book is no longer in print but a digital copy is freely available at the above link. This is a vast biographical resource of the psalms and hymns contained in the 1987 edition of the Psalter Hymnal (Christian Reformed Church in North America). This is a great book if you are one of those nerdy types who like to read about the history of church music, or if you are looking for biographical snippets to include in your service bulletin.

Hymnals

Here is a short list of good hymnals if you are interested in the hard copy version:

  • Cantus Christi, 2020 – If you could only own one hymnal, this would be the one. I don’t care what denomination you are. Get one! Buy a dozen for your small group hymn-sing. In addition to what most worshippers are familiar with, the Cantus Christi 2020 also contains quite a few chant style Psalms. It would be a perfect choice to replace your church’s pew hymnals. It’s a hefty volume, so you might check to see if it will fit in your pew’s hymnal racks.
  • Treasury of Psalms and Hymns – If you need to replace your church’s worn out hymnals, or you are tired of those “denominational” ties that insist on the latest fad in hymnals, then this is the hymnal to buy. This is not a hymnal filled with only old hymns. There are many hymns written by contemporary authors and composers, not CCM swaying hymns, but serious hymnody.
  • Trinity Hymnal, 1961 – This is the standard. Sadly this hymnal is out of print, but it can still be found online and at used book shops. It is well worth the effort to find a a few of these for your small group hymn sing.
  • Trinity Psalter Hymnal, 2018 – As the website states: “A compilation of Hymns, Psalms, and Confessions in the Reformed Tradition.” and “… a robust collection of ancient and modern psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, faithful to the heritage of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the United Reformed Churches in North America.” If your church is looking to replace your worn out hymnals, this would be one to look at very seriously.