Musical Offerings ⦁ 2026 ⦁ Volume 17 ⦁ Number 1 7 The ways in which the psalms were taught also varied from region to region, which became a cause of controversy in the eighteenth century. Around 1630, the lining-out method found prominence in England, where a song leader would sing out a melody line followed by the congregation singing in unison,36 and this found success in smaller, rural churches.37 The singing school developed around this time as a way to unify the collective musical culture of the time and simplify how the music was taught.38 With roots beginning in Scotland,39 churches included a “rigorous programme” that included music education and psalmody, teaching mostly the common and illiterate.40 One surprising aspect of this development was the expectation to sing in four-part counterpoint,41which would continue even in the colonial period, where the singing school developed into a marketplace for innovation in psalmody.42 Elements of music theory and pedagogy were disseminated in the “rudiments” or “grounds” of music, often attached to the preface of tune books starting around 1698.43 The idea of a county church choir was developing at this time as well, with psalm tunes written less for congregational singing and more for the strengths of the choir (yet still capable of being sung congregationally).44 By the eighteenth century, psalmody was seen as a status symbol. There was a massive growth in the selling and publishing of psalm books,45 similar to the boom in the 1560s, as the middle class flocked to learning polyphonic psalmody to show a sense of modernity and progress, showing the divide between those who wanted a more permanent tradition, and those that wanted to achieve a sense of superiority through novelty.46 The rural class became noted by “antiquated manners and old ceremonies of worship including, of course, old-style psalmody,” resulting in methods such as lining-out being sidelined and criticized by 36 Duguid, 195. 37 Turner, 27. 38 Macdougall, 100. 39 Macdougall, 101. 40 Duguid, 207. 41 Duguid, 223. 42 Richard A. Crawford, ed, The Core Repertory, x. 43 Macdougall, 103. 44 Temerpley, 2. 45 Crawford, The Core Repertory, x. 46 Turner, 37, 40.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=