The Feminization of Christian Music

I do not think this is a touchy subject, but I could be surprised. Please just hang on until the end, and I think you will see my point.

Biblical Singing

We know as Christians that we are to sing. We are called to sing to each other new song and ultimately sing unto the Lord. However I have noticed a trend the last decade or so within the Christian Music sect. While I noticed it, my husband is the one who really pointed it out to me. We have had several discussions on this, and I would like to hear from you.

Biblical singing is congregational. This do not mean that specials and choirs are "wrong." I direct choirs, I have sang solos, I am not against these, but as a whole we are meant to gather and sing together and to each other. Not spectators and performers. Specials and choirs should be leading our people to sing, not to perform. Over the years, and maybe for as long as I can remember, choirs and specials were made up of primarily women. Why is this? Is piano playing and singing inherently a female skill? Of course not! So why do we have such a gender dominated musical group?

Why are boys and men being turned off by Christian music, specifically? I think I have a couple of observations that may be helpful.

Musical Leadership

This one seems a little basic and one that hits very close to home for me, as I have directed several choirs at this point in my life. Most places, especially smaller churches, have choirs and music programs that are lead by mostly women. Even our church is mainly dominated by women in the music ministry. Our music director is a male, but our other leaders are his wife and mother, me (a woman), and two other women on rotation with the music director. This has directly effected our church body. This week I taught our children music theory at a music camp at our church, and several of our boys said that singing was a girl thing. I took this concern to my husband, and he pointed out that most of our children are homeschooled by their mothers, who would lead nay kind of singing they would do in their homes, and they do not see any other man than our music director lead music.

I had never considered this, because I grew up with great, Godly, masculine men leading music in other aspects of my life. Two that come to mind off the top of my head are Stephen Butler and Jason Myers, both who taught me music and directed the choir at the North Georgia School of Gospel Music. My boys have been exposed to this as well, and therefore are less prone to think that music is strictly a "girl thing."

The Emotional Lyrics

Most main stream Christian songs have overly emotional lyrics. While emotions are not a bad thing, most men do not respond well to overly emotional lyrics of songs. Songs that are directed more towards to greatness and majesty of God tend to lend themselves more to manly men. Women are a lot more likely to want to dwell on our selves and our emotions and trials than men are. Men respond to strength, and who is more mighty that God Almighty? Especially in the age of more "boyfriend/girlfriend" like Christian music, and when has that ever appealed to men? Historically, it hasn't.

Most Songs Are Written Too High

This one goes back as far as I can remember, and unless you have people who can play in different keys, it is hard to avoid. My Pastor and I were talking about this topic the other day, and he was telling me about a podcast he was listening to concerning the Shepherd Conference and its singing. This is a conference for only men, and they were singing a Getty's song. It was so high that most men could not sing along with the melody because it was too high, and if you dropped the octave, it was too low for many men. This is something that could be an easy fix, as we could just change the key of the song so that everyone could sing to the melody, however, many people cannot change keys on a dime (or so I am told, I can but I was taught to for this specific reason). We also have this problem in our own church. The music is written in such a key that it makes it hard for most men to sing. Another rectification for this would be to write songs in lower more "mid-range" keys, or to offer many different keys of the same song.

Unison is Nice, but Not Necessary

Another simple solution to this whole debate is teaching our people to sing in parts. Almost all hymns are written in four parts, teaching our people to read and sing parts will allow everyone to sing in a range that is comfortable for them. Many thing worship music should be only sang in unison, but I don't think this is necessary. Four part harmony is beautiful and allows for everyone to not focus on whether they are able to sing the melody well, and allows them to sing a part that is in their vocal range and enjoy the lyrics more. Its also beautiful and that is a plus. People who believe unison is the only way are missing out on how God has made us all differently and how we all, as the body of Christ, work together perfectly and beautifully.

Husbands and Fathers Refusing to Sing

Ultimately, the way to rectify this, is for men to stand up and so what they need to do: sing. It does not matter if you feel like you aren't a singer. You need to sing. Church music needs you to sing. Your sons need you to sing. Your wives need you to sing. Your daughters need you to sing. God WANTS to hear you sing. My husband decided many years ago that, although I am the one with a music education, he would be the one leading us in family worship, including the music portion. He stands tall and sings and expects all of our children, even our boys, to do the same. He tries his best to make sure that our boys are exposed to solid, good, Godly, men who sing. We love Sovereign Grace Music and Matt Papa and Matt Boswell for this. We also expose them to men in their everyday life who sing and lead in worship. Stephen Butler and Jason Myers (mentioned before), as well as Justin Myers, and my many friends from music schools are all people that we encourage our boys to look up to, not JUST because they sing, but that is one reason for sure! Husbands and Fathers, step up and sing in church, sing in the car, sing in your home, ESPECIALLY Christian music (because let's be honest, most men do not mind singing to country or rock music in their cars, but for some reason Christian music is where some men draw the line).'

Final Thoughts

So to sum all of this up, we need to do better church. Our men need to sing. We need manly lyrics. We need less flowery vamping in Christian music and more singing strongly and plainly. We need our men to stand up and do what they are meant to do and lead their families and churches to God in song. Be encouraged! Be challenged! Glorify God!

What do you think? Is there a feminization happening in the Christian music world? How can we encourage our boys and men to begin singing again? Can you help me pray that men would step up and lead their churches and families?