Please read the article called "Evaluating Music Intended for Christian Worship and Enjoyment" by Leonard Seidel, here on the Highway, for a good discussion of music's morality or amorality!
Hi Ruth - looking at his criteria first for determining what is 'good music', it's decidely eurocentric/western in its' definition. There are more styles and genres of music around the world that western music.
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1. Is the Music Well-Written?
All good music, that is, music that has stood the test of time or will endure forever, is characterized by five things: a beautiful melody, supported by a rich harmony, carried along with a subtle rhythm, that comes to a conclusion or a resolution, and has meaningful communication.
Who determines what makes the melody beautiful ? There are a few classical songs and songs from the Romantic period that were very popular in their time and are still so among string players that I find to be 'average' and not necessarily 'beautiful'.
Harmony - what type of tonality, major, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, or some of the atonal music (like some pieces by Debussy which seem to have no tonal center).
A subtle rhythm ? What about some of the African drum music that our brothers and sisters in Christ worship to which have strong rhythmic patterns to them ? Are they excluded as well ?
Who exactly determines what a meaningful resolution is ? Comparing to the literary world, which one of you would've written the book of Acts to end the way it does ? No real resolution ? Likewise, there are plenty of pieces (especially in Jazz) that seem to have no real 'ending' as we traditionally know an ending to sound.
And lastly, who determines what is being communicated and how effectively ? What's your standard for all of this ? Is it universal ? So why doesn't eastern music, some African music and a host of other cultures fit into this mold ?
This is just ONE item that needs to be challenged. I don't believe music is morally neutral, but at the same time, I don't believe that one style of music is correct and others are not. Most proponents of the RPW that argue for a particular style, consciously or not, argue for a 16-18th century, western style of music and impose their values on those they criticize as the 'norm' which should be followed. It takes humility and exposure to other cultures to take off your own cultural blinders and remember that the body of Christ is indeed DIVERSE and not composed of one tribe, nation, tongue and people. And as different as the people are, expect their expression (not the CONTENT, but the expression) of the gospel and their worship (which includes the music) to be different as well.
