Making Joyful Noises

Introduction

Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. ~Ps. 66.1-2 (KJV)

Our God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is worthy of praise. His command in Psalm 66 is to make a joyful noise, that is, to make music for the glory of his name. The Lord inhabits the praises of his people (Ps. 22.3), and we ought to learn to praise him with excellence, skill, and passion. Our infinitely worthy God deserves our best and highest praise. This booklet contains the basic fundamentals of music. Each of these fundamentals is explained briefly, not with an emphasis on theory alone. The focus is on the fundamentals so you can using that knowledge to master them. I encourage you to spend much time seeking to understand how music works (the fancy term for this is “music theory”), so you can know not just to play a chord or rhythm, but also to understand and you are playing it. This is the key to becoming truly excellent inmusic for the sake of giving God our highest praise. Nothing is assumed in this book. It is written from a very non-technical standpoint, although it is a treasure of music theory. Focus on the fundamentals, learn the theory, and translate the theory into practice. And don’t forget; practice doesn’t make perfect; only makes perfect. Concentrate on learning each technique slowly, and concentrate on mastering each fundamental as you go. Take your time, though. Only those who are natural geniuses can do things perfectly the first time, and even they have to practice to keep up their skill. God will honor your discipline and effort. Above all else, please remember the reason for all of your hard work at developing your music skill–your love for our triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Obey him by trying to make a noise to the Lord, and seek to make each practice session fun and relaxing. Never forget you are bothering to learn about scales, rhythms, keys, and beats and such. We are learning the rhythms for a remarkable reason–the high praise of our immortal and wonderful God! learning practice how what is happening why right practice joyful why

May the Lord bless your efforts as youmaster music tomake ourMaster goodmusic!

Don L. Davis

Making Joyful Noises: Master ing the Fundamentals of Music • 5