Deo Gloria – Music at FCA
Music has been and will continue to be a central part of Christian worship. It is one of the few activities mentioned as a heavenly occupation, and not simply of specialists but of all who participate in God’s eternity. While God’s gifts will be complete and abundant for our eternal callings, all believers are exhorted to participate in corporate worship in this life, and worship encompasses praise which is expressed in musical terms. Musical training will equip students to participate in the Body of believers. Musical training with God as its subject and object becomes a critical component of a Classical Christian Education.
In the Grammar stage, musical training should include an introduction to the essential elements of music. Students should learn to read musical notation and to follow a tune and produce it accurately as recorded in printed music. Students should also be taught the rich history of music, both within the church and within our own culture. Students should begin to learn to appreciate beauty and seek it in the music to which they listen. Students should also be encouraged to perform regularly. While vocal and instrumental experience may be limited and beginning quality, students should be encouraged to offer their skills to God for His glory from the very outset of their musical studies. Students who are sheltered as “not ready” at the beginning will only be taught that their skills must be sufficient that they bring themselves glory in its production. For a God who can summon rocks to sing His praise, even the youngest child can offer Him the gift of music. Students should be given the opportunity to worship God with their abilities from the very beginning of the Grammar stage.
The logic stage offers students who are gifted in music the opportunity to develop their talent and begin to exercise leadership in worship. Students in the logic stage should be exposed to greater complexity in music, including counterpoint and 2 and 3 part harmonies. Sight reading and sight singing skills would be honed. The styles and forms of a variety of genres of music would be included in their course of study.
Rhetoric students would continue to see beauty in musical expression and hone their own performance skills. Students at the rhetoric stage would also begin to develop the skill of leadership in their musicianship, by becoming proficient in their own performance and capable of encouraging and teaching others through the application of their abilities. Music would be selected to represent the best of the various epochs of music. Much of classical music was produced with God’s glory in mind, and it should be performed in this light. Since God’s revealed glory in creation serves as inspiration even for those who have not acknowledged Him as Lord, students in the rhetoric stage should be trained to recognize God’s truth, beauty and goodness even in these works and be prepared to offer them back to God.
