Melody is arguably the most challenging aspect to songwriting. In attempt to keep your song from sounding silly, you might be tempted to be too complicated with your melody, resulting in sounding pretentious. On the other hand, much of the “pop” music today (and in the past) has such simple melodic ideas that it’s hard to listen to pas the age of thirteen (the upper end of the target audience for commercial music).

Melody can create a “hook” just like virtually any other aspect of a song. Beethoven was great at creating melodic hooks which are usually called “themes” in classical music. Think of the “duh duh duh DUM” in his 5th Symphony. Virtually everyone in the western world, and many outside of it, will recognize that theme instantly. Another instantly recognizable melody of Beethoven is the Fur Elise melody (You Tube it if you don’t know it). What Beethoven did is create a very simple melody of only a few notes, and then re-write it in different places within the key (transposing it), inverting it (playing upside-down), using fragments of it, and other techniques that are still used today.

You can try this yourself. Limit yourself to four notes. Play them on the piano or guitar, or sing them. Then staying within the key (assuming you are familiar enough with music theory to do so), start on another note with the same general melody. Move it around until it sounds right. Lengthen some notes, repeat notes or segments of the “theme”. It’s surprising how quickly you can come up with a really beautiful melody this way.

Another way of writing a melody is to take an existing melody and “steal” it. John Williams is probably the most important movie score composer of all time, and did this a whole lot. He’d take an old pop tune like “Tiny Bubbles” and turn it upside-down to create the theme for “Indiana Jones.” Check it out! While some might see that as a cheapening of the creative process, it only gives credence to the old proverb “nothing new under the sun.” The reality is that no matter how genius you are, you are limited to the instrument playing the melody, as well as the 12 notes of our equal temperment tuning for the most part. Don’t overestimate yourself because all of the greatest composers used techniques like this. Take their tricks (and melodies) and create!

One of the ways I’ve used existing melodies as framework, is to sketch out where the motion starts and ends up. For example, in the song “Amazing Grace” I feel like it starts on the 1 of the key, which is the “maz” of “amazing” (the note would be C if we’re in the key of C) and goes up to the 3 of the key which is the word “grace” (the E if in the key of C). It then descends back to the 1 (C) and descends again to the 5 (G). I take these notes in sequence and hum through them until they make musical sense in my head. I can add notes, change rhythms, and basically do whatever I want since I’m only using the “frame” of the other song.

Just remember, writing a song with the melody first, is one of the most difficult ways to write a song. If you have this skill down, you can write some truly memorable songs. It’s a skill that comes with practice, and the result is subject to taste.

Happy composing!

At the urging of my class, I’ve decided to post a summary of the lessons here in order to share our experiences and ideas with other songwriters and aspiring songwriters.

Our first class focused around paraphrasing of poetic texts. Several years ago, I began paraphrasing the Psalms in the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures). I did this in order to help develop my writing skills, as well as to allow a new understanding of these beautiful poems. As a result, I learned that many of the phrases and verses that I paraphrased, were prime for me to develop into songs of my own.

Here, I’ll give an example with one of the most beloved and famous of the Psalms. Psalms 23 says:

Agnes, Michael, and David B. Guralnik. Webster’s New World College Dictionary. 4^th ed. Cleveland,

OH: Wiley, 2007.

Provides dictionary definitions of words used in the study.

Apted, Meiki Elizabeth. “Songs from the Inyjalarrku: The Use of a Non-translatable Spirit

Language in a Song Set from North-West Arnhem Land, Australia.” Australian Journal Of

Linguistics 30, no. 1 (January 2010): 93-103.

This article looks at the Inyjalarrku songs from Australia, believed to be of a spirit language and handed down to humans through a dream. Apted approaches the subject from the perspective of linguist, that provides us with an analysis of the vocables used. Comparing the spirit language to known human language provides insight into how understanding about language comes into play.

Berliner, Paul. “The Poetic Song Texts Accompanying the Mbira Dzavdzimu.” In Ethnomusicology 20, no.

3 (September 1976): 451-482. http://www.jstor.org/stable/851045.

A look into kudeketera, which refers to the singing that accompanies the playing of the Zimbabwean instrument Mbira; Berliner is examining the actual texts of the songs, more so than the delivery. Berliner looks at the psychology of the music that he says is used to evoke deep intellectual consideration as well. And also examined is the improvisational aspects of the singing that comes from the playing of the instrument itself.

Berliner, Paul. The Soul of Mbira. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

This in-depth review of Mbira music of the Shona people in Africa provides detailed information on the musical practice as well as the spiritual connections of the Mbira. It allows a careful comparison between the other examples of non-linguistic vocables discussed and is an essential piece of my research.

“Chrystal Rucker feat. St. James Choir.” [n.d.]. Video clip. Accessed November 14, 2012. YouTube. http://www.Youtube.com, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7VuZ07twk4&feature=related.

Here we have one of limitless possible examples of improvisation in American “black” Gospel music, as well as “speaking in tongues” as is part of the Pentecostal tradition. Notice the repeated lines of ornamented text, moving away from any resemblance of the original text and giving the focus to the vocal sound alone.

Creech, Joe. “Visions of Glory: The Place of the Azusa Street Revival in Pentecostal History.”

Church History 65, no. 3 (September 1996): 405-424 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3169938.

This article provides information on the beginnings of the Pentecostal Christian movement that brought tongues to a forefront in mainstream Christianity. Understanding the perspective from the more familiar religious tradition helps to put the study in perspective.

Fabb, Nigel. Linguistics and Literature. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell,1997.

An introductory in-depth look into linguistics and how it compares from one language to the next. Fabb provides a different perspective from the anthropological and musical perspectives, into the language itself, helping to properly define linguistic concepts and terms.

Fleurant, Gerdès. “Song Texts In the Ritual Context.” In Dancing spirits : Rhythms and Rituals of

Haitian Vodun, the Rada Rite. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.

Within Rada music in the Haitian Vodou tradition, the author examines the use of language, that includes vocables. However, the problem encountered is that there is a language in Haiti, called Langaj from Adja tradition, that has been almost entirely forgotten except in these songs. In addition, Creole is often not used in the familiar way in these songs, leaving much open in this area of research. The source provides me with a counter-argument or problem to my initial assertion of non-linguistic vocables being a means of intimacy with the spirit-world since Langaj is an actual language. But it also supports my position by indicating that the ancient languages tend to be used in spiritual contexts, being the languages of the ancestors.

Gioia, Ted. Healing Songs. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006.

An overview of the history and study of music therapy, Gioia reaches a bit deeper than we find in the typical music therapy text. The focus is specifically on the traditions and beliefs that credit music with healing properties. Examining a range of religious traditions and ethnic cultures, the book helped to provide a solid base for the understanding of the power of music. While it does not necessarily center around the spiritual, but balances spiritual, physical, psychological and other possible reasons for the effects of music the source does touch on some important aspects of free singing used in music therapy.

Hopkins, Pandora. “Ways of Transmitting Music.” In Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe. Vol 8. Edited by Timothy Rice, 90-109. New York: Routledge, 2009.  http://libdb.mcnallysmith.edu:2083/ view/331773 (accessed November 12, 2012).

The topic of vocables is touched on as one of many ways to transmit music. The focus is not on spiritual music, but more on vocables for aesthetic purposes and as a learning tool. But the article provides a very valuable starting place for this research.

Keane, Webb. “Religious Language.” Annual Review of Anthropology 26. (1997): 47-71.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2952514.

Getting into the topic of how language is used within religion, Keane touches on a range of areas including vocables. The subject of language is sensitive in religion, and numerous traditions have spent much effort and resources fighting over which translation of scripture should be used, or in what language the mass should be given. While the traditions vary significantly, the discussion remains strikingly uniform from one tradition to the next. This provides us with an understanding of what the usage and purpose of language is in religion, outside of the context of vocables. From there, I can more closely examine the details of the instances where it is used, and see what are the similarities between them.

Keyes, Laurel Elizabeth. Toning: the Creative Power of the Voice. Camarillo, CA: DeVorss, 1978.

Toning refers to the power of vocal sound. Keyes looks at the use of the voice in a variety of ways in traditional healing, and talks about how we can use this understanding to self-heal and for other benefits. Here, we see the close relationship between spiritual and the physical and can make comparisons between the two. At the same time that the book provides a bit of perspective into the value of vocal sound without poetic or lyrical purpose, the book might also provide an opposing view, stating that what is believed to be spiritual is only a physical reaction or an emotional reaction to the physicality of sound waves.

Levitin, Daniel J. The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature. New

York, NY: Dutton Adult, 2008.

Levitin believes that there are six basic songs in any society, throughout history. These are songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion, and love. It is primarily the songs of religion that provide insight into the research. While the book is not as scientifically backed as was Levitin’s best-selling This Is Your Brain on Music, it does provide interesting insight that can be compared with the other sources, to provide an interesting perspective of the subject. The author’s understanding of the effects of music, have been solidly established in his aforementioned previous book, and so some forgiveness might be granted to his lack of scientific integrity here.

Nachmanovitch, Stephen. Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1990.

This book deals extensively with improvisation and the psychology surrounding it. Since the study of vocables is very much connected with improvisation, this book provides a good look into the side of letting go vocally (or with other instruments) without the emphasis on religion. It is probably more accurate to describe Nachmanovitch’s book as being a collection of essays on the subject of improvisation. For the purpose of this study, I look at the book as a way to balance the religious beliefs and compare with the mindset of musicians who do a similar thing, but simply for the sake of the music rather than for an encounter with the spirit world.

“Overview: Pentecostalism in Africa,” The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Accessed December 15,

2012. http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Evangelical-Protestant-Churches/

Overview-Pentecostalism-in-Africa.aspx.

This article provides an overview of the Pentecostal movement in Africa and provides statistics to support the position of growth being largely attributed to the Pentecostal “explosion.”

Romero, Brenda. “Great Basin.” In Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The United

States and Canada. Vol 3. Edited by Ellen Koskoff.  New York: Routledge, 2000.

http://libdb.mcnallysmith.edu:2083/view/328225 (accessed November 12, 2012).

Vocables are existent in the music of virtually every Native American tribe. But the understanding of their function varies from musicality and ability to communicate across language barriers to the traditional belief that all sound is sacred. This article provides an overview of how vocal music is used in Native American culture, although vocables in such music are not given much more than a few sentences in the article. It simply provides an anchor point for the research.

Schmidt-Jones, Catherine. “Mbira.” In Connexions website. http://cnx.org/content/m17623/1.4/ (accessed

November 12, 2012).

My understanding of the Mbira or “thumb piano” from the African country of Zimbabwe, is that the instrument is a hugely spiritual instrument and one that is used to communicate to the spirit-world. Using vocables in conjunction with the instrument would then imply that those vocables are also a means of communicating with the spirit world and are worthy of examining for this research. Since the article comes from a purely secular perspective and is a review of the attributes of the music, there’s little discussion of the spiritual purpose of the instrument, that requires further research.

Schmidt-Jones, Catherine. “Vocables: Easy Vocal Improvisation Activities.” In Connexions

website. http://cnx.org/content/m17623/1.4/ (accessed November 12, 2012).

Catherine Schmidt-Jones does an excellent job of providing a clear explanation of what vocables are, and how they can be used in improvisational ways. Coming from a somewhat sterile academic perspective and that of a music educator using the methodology simply to teach a technique, the matter of spirituality and psychology is largely missing from this source, that allows us to look at the subject on a more analytical level.

“Singing In The Spirit.avi” [n.d.]. Video clip. Accessed December 15, 2012. YouTube.

This video an example of “free worship” where participants are singing in tongues freely, with simple instrumental accompaniment. This video an example that I can analyze for my research and shows context.

Thompson, Frank Charles. Thompson Chain Reference Bible: King James Version. Indianapolis, IN: B.B. Kirkbride Bible Company, 2010.

The “Thompson” is my favorite Bible with which to do in-depth study of a specific topic, because of the easy manner in which topics are linked and cross-referenced. When studying a topic such as spiritual language, including the Christian teachings of “unknown tongues” or the “tongues of angels”, is essential in order to draw a complete picture. Taking passages directly from the scripture will allow us to see how the usages of vocables in various ethnic and religious traditions, coincide with that of the Christian teachings.

Titon, Jeff Todd. Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples. Boston, MA: Thomson, 2005.

Titon edited this textbook that gives an overview of world music. While it’s not the most concise source, the information is often easier to digest than in the longer entries of the Garland Encyclopedia. It also provides me with a quick glance with which to get started, and then I’m delving more in-depth into the longer journal entries. In addition, a CD provides sound examples that I will likely reference in the research.

Werner, Kenny. Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within. New Albany, IN: Jamey Aebersold, 1996.

Werner approaches a unique philosophy of music study in this book, that gets into spirituality more than science. From a spiritual perspective, Werner talks about how the musician must make sound simply for the spirituality of that sound at that moment. Vocal music is not the emphasis of the book, and Werner’s instrument is piano, so that is his first perspective. But it is clarified how a vocalist might incorporate this kind of music-making. I felt that this book was valuable to the overall research because of its numerous references to the spiritual act of music making. It is not something I anticipate will be specifically cited, but the general philosophy informs the study.

Westermeyer, Paul. Te Deum the Church and Music. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress

Publishing, 1998.

Westermeyer is a very knowledgeable expert on the musical traditions and history of the Christian church. This text is generally considered the standard to which such texts are held. While the source generally deals with the “mainstream” Christian tradition that has been largely whitewashed of most spiritual manifestations, some references are included, such as mention of the Shakers who believed in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit through signs and wonders including the use of vocables as they sing and pray in “unknown tongues.” The source provides a fantastic reference into more structured forms of religious worship, as well as the Biblical tradition of worship.

Discography

Yohe, Vicki. “One Moment” (featuring Anthony Evans). Reveal Your Glory: Live From The Cathedral.

2009 by Shanachie, audio file.

This audio recording provides an example of a recorded live concert that includes glossolalia. From this example we are able to make observations and

Humans want to communicate beyond the confines of human language. Humans strive to transcend the physical into the spiritual realm of the unknown. Virtually all cultures embrace this need for spiritual communion and use the combination of music and language to reach into that realm. From the time we are born, the need to express ourselves in non-linguistic noise is present. While the illusion of “maturity” often dwarfs that drive within us, vocal freedom returns in highly emotional and spiritual moments, such as in mourning, rejoicing, love-making, and spiritual worship. Non-linguistic vocables are not limited to one or two cultures or traditions, but are seen throughout the world, indicating that this goes pursuit beyond a religious need into the very essence of what it means to be human.

It might be that humanly comprehensible text keeps the individual locked into the physical realm, unable to ascend spiritually to the supernatural. Whatever the case, letting go of the rules and submitting to the moment of creating sound with the voice is almost universally seen as spiritually beneficial. And this letting go of words and freeing the voice is where the deepest spiritual expression comes from.

When the worship leader of the local church understands the importance of creative improvisation, church music begins to change significantly. As the vocalist and her teacher realize that greater benefit is achieved from letting go of the “correct” way to sing, in favor of simple vocal freedom, renewed “soul” and connection with the music is attained. And as the busy entrepreneur-mother-volunteer realizes that she can participate in the local vocal improvisation group (yes, they do exist), her stress lessens and she finds her spirit again.

Every culture on earth sings and every culture on earth worships. Religion can bring freedom and healing, or it can bring oppression and hurt. By reaching into the freedom of vocal expression, the worshiper and artist alike tap into the freedom and healing while defying the oppression and hurt. We learn from each other when the artist observes the emotional ecstasy of the worshiper who is “taken away” through “free worship” and when the worshiper witnesses the freedom of play in vocal improvisation. Once this freedom and play is fully realized, we can once again return without fear to the musical play of our childhood.

Listening to a happy baby coo and giggle and play with her voice does something to adults. Ted Gioia, author of The World In Six Songs says, “Watch a group of very young children for a half-hour and note how many ‘unnecessary’ sounds they make. It is clear that our body requires its moments of nonlinguistic vocal expression.”^[1] That idea of free vocal “noise simply for the sake of noise” is something we tend to shed in exchange for maturity. That is until we are in the presence of a baby when we seem to automatically succumb to the non-verbal freedom and “talk” to the cooing baby using non-linguistic vocables.

As soon as the baby learns to combine mental images with the voice, the natural sounding is curtailed and interference is imposed upon the body-voice. This begins to close the door between the conscious and subconscious mind between thinking and feeling communication.^[2]

Laurel Elizabeth Keyes, author of Toning, believes that beyond the words that travel on vocal sound, the actual vibration upon which the words travel is the underlying force operating in our lives.^[3] While her research does not come from a specific religious tradition, Keyes is clearly a believer in the spirit and the effect that vocal sound can have on the body as well as on the mind and spirit. Gioia states emphatically, “No musical instrument is more penetrating.”^[4] Both Keyes and Gioia make the connection between toning^[5] or vocal non-verbal expression and glossolalia.^[6]

When I sat down with Professor Paul Westermeyer, director of the Master of Sacred Music program at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota,^[7] he stated his opinion that worship is not something that “incites” a reaction from God. All of the “doing” is on the part of God. We simply act in obedience and He provides the experience as He sees fit. Kenny Werner, in his book Effortless Mastery, writes at length about the spirituality of improvisation. He believes that the moment of producing the sound, the musician should be in a mindset of worship or else they are tied to the idea of performing and “doing it right.” He spends the entire duration of the book, telling artists to just let go so that they can begin to create, and he gives a variety of methods for doing just that. But this “letting go” comes from putting the thought and theory behind and simply loving the sound for the sake of the sound. “Whether you believe in the Father or not, this is the principle of effortless action: Let the higher power play the music!”^[8] This is what happens when language is removed from worship. Since language is connected with thought, and thought is connected to reason, by incorporating language into our devotional singing we limit ourselves to only what our human minds can perceive. Cultures that step away from such limitations believe freedom in spiritual expression allows a deeper level of spirituality.

As we saw in the example of “free worship” at IHOP, energy comes from letting yourself go in worship and singing sounds that make sense to no one but you and the recipient of your worship. By opening my mouth and letting go of rules, I am able to return to the childhood game of vocal improvisation. From that freedom from the judgement of others of comes a deeper understanding of myself as a person and when I use that freedom in my worship, I’m able to come to God as a little child as Jesus exhorted his followers.[9] And for all the philosophizing and analysis, maybe the most profound truth of this study is that when we simply play, we are more spiritually and musically free.  As Levitin says on the subject of worship:

If God is so great that he created the entire universe, why would he care whether we praise him or not—why would such a powerful being be so psychologically needy that he wants us to sing to him? … But because He designed us, He knows what we need. He dictated that we should sing songs of religion and belief because He knows they help us to remember, they motivate us, and they bring us closer to Him; He knows that they are what we need.”^[10]

The Mbira comes from the Shona people of what is now Zimbabwe and is one of many kinds of lamellophones^[1] used throughout the world. According to author Catherine Schmidt-Jones, “The music of the mbira is considered necessary to attract the spirits of ancestors to the bira (an all-night ceremony for the ancestral spirits),^[2] so that they can possess spirit mediums in order to offer advice and help to the living.”^[3] As is the case in much of Africa, the idea of music encompasses instruments, singing, and dancing and generally is not considered whole without all three elements present. In modern-day Zimbabwe, kudeketera is the name of the vocal accompaniment to the mbira.^[4]

The song texts of kudeketera are among the most important aspects of Shona mbira music. As one mbira player reported to me, ‘mbira music without singing is like sadza without muriwo’ (that is, grain porridge without vegetables).^[5]

Ethnomusicologist Paul Berliner describes kudeketera in his book The Soul of Mbira as including non-verbal aspects such as humming and yodeling.^[6] Later he says, “The non-verbal vocal styles have a number of important functions …[including being] deeply emotional and thus can sustain or enhance the mood of the performance between the poetic lines.”^[7] It is extremely difficult for the mbira player to do both the playing and singing at the same time because of the intricacy of the instrument, and those who can manage to do so are highly respected.

Since kudeketera is considered to be an integral part of mbira music, young mbira players aspire to develop enough skill to be able to play their instruments and sing at the same time. This is viewed as a great challenge and often players wait until they have some degree of mastery of their instruments before attempting to add kudeketera words to their music.^[8]

Because of this difficulty with both singing and playing the music, the vocal music might seem to be secondary to the instrument, when deeper examination indicates that the mbira is a complex accompaniment of the singing. At the very least, the mbira and voice might be considered a duet, and in each mbira ensemble, one member is always considered a master because of his or her considerable skill in singing.^[9] Berliner refers to one kudeketera singer in particular who, “about every thirty seconds or more . . . he burst forth with a seemingly effortless “line” of kudeketera that came across as a mixture of singing, talking, and sighing.”^[10] Unlike glossolalia or Inyjalarrku songs, these mbira songs do not appear to be seen as product of a divine language, but are a means of expression on the part of the singer. It is the use of non-vernacular vocables that is relevant to this research. Though potentially perceived by the outside world as “gibberish,” this use of non-linguistic vocables holds significant spiritual value for the worshiper.

Similar to glossolalia, the singer is free to express his or her devotion outside of a pre-composed song or format. Glossolalia, Inyjalarrku, and kudeketera are all examined here in musical context and are used in very different ways, but each example shows deeper spiritual expression that comes through stepping away from vernacular into non-linguistic vocables. It is not the manner in which the non-linguistic vocables are used, but that they are used which is the common thread.

One of the other many examples of non-vernacular vocables used in religious music, the Inyjalarrku songs from the Arnhem region of Australia might rank among the least expected. The aboriginal peoples of Australia share traditional and religious similarities with indigenous peoples throughout the world including ritualistic traditions, worship of ancestral spirits, the belief in the divinity within nature, and the use of music and vocables in the religious ceremony. They also believe in a divine language called Inyjalarrku. While the wealth of culture and knowledge of the Aboriginal Australians is often overlooked, linguist Meiki Elizabeth Apted in her study “Songs from the Inyjalarrku” provides an appreciation of their contributions in her explanation of the origins and beliefs surrounding Inyjalarrku songs.

The Inyjalarrku songs . . . are passed down among the patrilineal line and played at important ceremonies such as circumcision, mamurrng (gifting) and mortuary ceremonies. Inyjalarrku, which translates to ‘mermaid’, is the name given to the spirits who continue each year during spear-grass season to sing to people in their dreams, giving them songs. Inyjalarrku is also the name of the language in which these spirits sing. This language is used only in song and appears to be comprised entirely of non-decipherable, non-translatable, non-interpretable linguistic material which is relatively stable and which phonologically resembles natural language.^[1] [emphasis mine]

Because Apted looks at the Inyjalarrku songs from a linguistic perspective, she studies how the vocables arrange into a resemblance of a real language even though the meanings are not known. Noticeable repeated patterns are used from one song to the next, but the words are not always in the same order, and sometimes only sections of patterns are repeated. This gives the song text the pattern of a real language as opposed to “gibberish” one might simply make up.

In this aboriginal tradition, the songs are intended to communicate with the divine, rather than to incite a manifestation from a higher power. In fact, the songs themselves are seen as the manifestation. In that way, Inyjalarrku songs can be seen as very similar to the Christian glossolalia. A main difference between the two traditions, however, is the need for translation. In glossolalia, translation is required when used in a congregational setting, but not in one’s individual communion with God. Because translatability is not a feature of Inyjalarrku, Apted concludes, “The emphasis, therefore, is not on one’s understanding of the spirits, but on the potency of one’s spiritual life, which manifests in one’s ability to receive and sing songs from the spirits.”^[2] The reasoning is that the language is not a human language and therefore comes from the spiritual and those who receive Inyjalarrku songs are necessarily deemed more spiritually enlightened.

Unlike our examples of glossolalia, the Inyjalarrku songs are pre-composed and the specific vocables are memorized and passed down. Clearly the purpose of vocables in this tradition is not to provide an atmosphere of “free” expression, but the value is in the Inyjalarrku words themselves, which are seen as divine. The belief that the language is spiritual connects these two traditions, and the power comes from knowing that limitations of human language have been transcended.

The Christian scriptures recounts in Acts 2:1-4 how the spirit of God came over the believers giving the supernatural ability to speak in languages not previously known to them. This is called Glossolalia, “speaking in tongues,” or just referred to as tongues. Hotly debated, tongues has split churches and families. Glossolalia plays a part in preaching, intercession in prayer, and personal edification.^[1] Today tongues is used in many different settings, but functions as a spiritual language between believer and the Holy Spirit. When believers are unable to efficiently “intercede” or pray for a situation that is not fully known to them, “The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”^[2] In this example, sometimes audible words are not even used but are replaced by internal travail given by the Holy Spirit. Tongues is also understood by some sects to be appropriately used through song, as seen in the exhortation to be “filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs [emphasis mine], singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” These “spiritual songs” are also referred to as “singing in the spirit” and range from melodic tunes with little articulation other than vowel sounds, repetition of phrases of worship such as “alleluia,” and singing melodies consisting of glossolalia vocables. Together with tongues, other signs of having the Holy Spirit in the believer include being “slain” (falling over) or being “drunk” (often uncontrollable laughter).^[3]

Sometime between the early Christian church and the uniting of church and state by Charlemagne in 800 AD, the practice of tongues lost much of its popularity. For many years, this doctrine of tongues was safely hidden inside the Latin Bibles that were scarce and incomprehensible to non-Latin-speaking, uneducated believers. However, after the Reformation, mass production of Bibles led to Christians reading the scriptures and asking questions. In the 1700s, tongues entered into the church through the Shakers who came to New York in 1774.^[4] This group was unusual in that they incorporated dance into their worship, believed in faith healings and miracles, and practiced celibacy. Not surprisingly, the practice of celibacy resulted in the group becoming all but extinct.

Starting in the 1700s, the “Great Awakening”^[5] tent services were widely held throughout America and Europe, uniting black and white seekers under the same roof. African slaves had come from a culture of great spirituality and lively worship and were enticed by this “new” Christianity that resembled their own traditions. From the new focus on spiritual power and individual relationship with the divine came “Holiness” preacher William J. Seymour, a black man who was instrumental in what would become the “Pentecostal” movement.^[6] In 1906, Seymour was at the forefront of a spiritual “outpouring” that included glossolalia.^[7] Pentecostalism has continued to sweep the Christian Church throughout the world. This is particularly notable in Africa where the number of Christians has skyrocketed from around ten million, or around nine-percent of the population, in 1900 to well over four hundred million or nearly half of the total population in 2005.[8] Much of this increase has been in Pentecostal churches, and might be attributed to similarities with indigenous religious worship traditions.

For this study, I looked at three specific recorded examples of singing in tongues: Vicki Yohe’s “One Moment,”[9] a video from the International House of Prayer (IHOP)[10] in Kansas City,[11] and a video showing a church soloist Chrystal Rucker moving into spontaneous tongues.[12] Each example is in a “live” setting, since tongues is seen as something that occurs “in the moment” when the Holy Spirit particularly moves the individual or congregation. Vicki Yohe is singing a pre-composed song in English, but is using a considerable amount of improvisational liberties by using “filler” words like “oh” and moving away from the melody. She also repeats the English “one moment in your presence” ten times in part or in whole before she breaks into tongues,[13] giving an example of the close connection between textual repetition (chant) alongside the use of vocables in spiritual music. In the same way, Chrystal Rucker is seemingly affected by the spiritual atmosphere and breaks into a burst of tongues out of the pre-existing song.

The IHOP video is different in that it does not include a pre-composed song although there was likely one sung before this particular clip, and it also has many voices including those amplified by microphones and those unamplified in the congregation. The leader simply prompts the congregation to “lift our voices and spirit” before breaking into tongues, showing less spontaneity than the first two examples. Tongues here seems to be used as a tool by the leader and includes a range of melodies and very different vocables being used from one person to the next over a simple instrumental framework. The overall texture builds in intensity and volume as a mixture of tongues and English phrases, such as “we love you, Holy Spirit,” are repeated. Such “free worship” establishes an atmosphere in which worshipers can freely express themselves without concern for the words or “correct” notes or rhythms. These examples show tongues functioning both as a result of overwhelming spiritual motivation and as intentional exercise in worship.

My research focuses on vocables that are non-linguistic sounds. This includes what is believed to be a divine or “heavenly” language handed down by a higher power or from the spirit world, as is seen in glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, within the Pentecostal or Quaker sects of Christianity and in some Native American traditions. Because these “languages” are not humanly understood, they must be set aside from ordinary linguistic study that depends on known rules of syntax and grammar. In the minds of the believers, however, this speech is every bit as real as the English I use every day. Unlike languages that consist of known and recorded vocabulary and grammar, whether currently used or not, these spiritual languages do not have known definitions for the words, and the grammar is unknown to those using the language. It is believed that the meaning is understood by the deity or ancestral spirit who gives the words to the worshiper.

The distinction between the two categories is necessary because forgotten languages may be used: for example, Haitian Langaj^[1] is now only used for sacred music and rituals. Arabic within the Muslim faith is seen as a sacred language even in non-Arabic-speaking communities, as was Latin in traditional Catholic masses particularly prior to the Reformation. Some Wiccan rituals also use Latin mass texts, and a range of Afro-Caribbean religions still use Yoruban^[2] words from West Africa. These languages are set apart for spiritual piety rather than for the purpose of human communication as we generally understand it.

Whether music or language is spiritual, or if it has been simply deemed spiritual by religious cultures, might be highly subjective. But after thousands of years of human civilization, music, language, and spirituality have become intrinsically linked. Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin explains this relationship further, “Anthropologists have identified certain features of human religious practices, believed to be universal, applying across disparate cultures, times and places.”^[3] At the bottom of Levitin’s list of eleven such features is the use of vocables: “The rituals almost always involve music or rhythmic, pitch-intoned chanting.”[4] Author Laurel Elizabeth Keyes says she discovered “[t]wo things were common in most healing rituals—sound or chanting, and rhythmic movements, either in dance or stomping.”^[5] Often these shouts and emotional expressions are produced in rhythm with the drumbeat and the dancing, moving from simple emotional outburst into a musical function. Levitin also includes “shouting” and “wailing” as musical traits^[6] seen in religious music. Sometimes the line between emotional outburst, music, and language is blurred to the point that all three areas must be looked at both separately and as a whole as is the case with glossolalia.

According to linguist Nigel Fabb,^[1] a vocable is “a sequence of speech sounds from a given language, which is organized into syllables, but does not represent a word of the language.” Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines a vocable as “[a] word or term; esp., a word regarded as a unit of sounds or letters rather than as a unit of meaning.” Vocables are not necessarily complete words but are made with the voice in the same way as words and can be words or parts of words. When used outside of a linguistic purpose or without the goal of communication between human beings or in human language, any resemblance to a word is often incidental. A vocable might be seen as being somewhere between a phoneme^[2] and a syllable and might serve as either one (or both) of those, but vocal sounds go beyond this rather rigid definition and may include musical scat syllables used in jazz singing, the sound of a yawn or laugh, or even a grunt. The common element is not the sound used, but the fact that it is produced via the human voice. A vocable is any unit of vocal sound including, but not limited to, language and can include emotional sounds such as the aforementioned laughter as well as moaning or crying. There can be a combination of both articulated sounds that come generally from consonants as well as vowels that can be sustained on a pitch or “voiced.” Vocables such as “m” are voiced; others such as the sound “sh” are unvoiced.