If the church wanted to mainstream more,and there were only pentecostal style churches left in the world with all sorts of musical instruments used,would the church adapt and change to allow drums and guitars in Sunday services?

*gasp* Guitars in the chapel? How shocking. DRUMS? Never.

Yeah, that will happen right after they set up the large coffee carafe in the foyer with several boxes of donuts. LOL!

I still wanna hear the MTC rockin' "Stairway to Heaven"!

RB

Sheesh RB...what planet are you livin' on Bro???

I know you meant to say, "Whole Lotta Love"!!!

Or so it seems to me...

If only for the ease of tuning, a guitar would be a vast improvement over a piano in a church that is low-maintenance (IOW, Mormon-cheap). Nothing is worse on the ears than a flat piano.

Are there only certain instruments allowed in LDS churches?

In the chapel you can only play piano, organ, flute, viola, cellow, violin. I think that is the list.

For those of you who have been around the Church since the 70s you know that it was Boyd K. Packer who led the charge to keep LDS chapel music limited to piano, classical strings, and flute.
Remember his quote about temperamental musicians, ---" more temper than mental -ha ha"

Well Boyd is gone and the church is bleeding young members, many of the young women like really shitty mormon pop music, as they grow in influence I think there is more likelyhood the old guard will be forgotten and music will loosen up a bit. Don't look for gospel music real soon.

On a different note a member of my wife's family wanted me to play a certain song at their funeral. They live in a small rural ward and it was fine with the bishop. I played finger style acoustic guitar from the pulpit using the pulpit mikes. Afterward got compliments from the bishop and about everyone at the funereal. I think the members would not care one bit if the rules were relaxed everywhere.

In the psalms there are verses stating that services are to use all kinds of musical instruments - even bagpipes. I love services where there is good music. Bagpipes are the best. Go to a Scottish service someday.

What ever happened to the sackbuts told of in the OT?

Shummy asks:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What ever happened to the sackbuts told of in the
> OT?

Our circle of sackbut players in Payson is hoping to bring this lovely horn into every chapel of the Corridor.

Our bishop let us do "Silver-haired Daddy of Mine" on baritone butts at funerals twice last year.

Our hero Moroni, on top of all the temples, if examined closely, is seen blowing a classic sackbut.

When I was in my mid teens, oh so long ago, I frequently played appropriate cornet solos in SM. I have, of late, heard "Special numbers" performed on the "approved instruments" That were so poorly done as to be an embarrassment to both the instrument and the performer.

Are you kidding? They don't even allow classical music. Gotta keep that music bland enough that it won't wake people up from their naps.

That is terrifically sad. The best thing about church for me all my life has been the music. I remember the days when our Presby or UU congregations would sponsor and present wonderful Bach cantatas and oratorios, Handel, Mendelssohn, Holst, et al, most often at Christmas, but sometimes at Easter as well.

They are what started me on the path to become a cellist. Now I play professionally for some churches, and basically hate their Christian pop drivel. What makes it worthwhile is that they occasionally trot out a Bach Air or Handel chorus, and we in the orchestra love it.

Ironically, a couple of decades ago one of the staples of the Christmas season for me and my colleagues was playing the Messiah for the local Mormon church. One of my buddies was a gay black man, and he loved the Mormons. I would ask him if he knew what they really thought of him, and he would look at me blankly and say, "but they are so nice!" Well, he was a good violist...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2016 02:01PM by amiable.

Clearly guitars are of the devil...thank jehosaphat boyd was tuned in to catch that...hendrix obviously was serving up evil noise...good catch boyd...i chuckle every time my buddy declares in such an earnest tone what the handbook says...bishop roulette again...brother was gonna do my moms fav hymn with guitar...word quickly came down this just couldnt be accomadated even at her funeral...funny folks..all those rules and stuff

It didn't charge before Packer passed away. It's still the same old boring dull music.