The Perfect Tempo

A recent message posted to Methodist Musicians Listasked for suggested metronome tempos for "Gather Us In," and there were a number of responses with suggestions. My suggestion is to forget the metronome and use the following for setting almost any hymn tempo:

1. What is the beat? This is not the same as the time signature. 6/8 might have a beat pattern of 2 (3/8 + 3/8) or 3 (2/8 + 2/8 + 2/8) or it might have six true beats. 3/4 might have one beat or three per measure. In other words, how many rhythmic pulses or accents ("tactus") do you want to give the hymn and how does that affect the text?

2. What is the mood of the text: joyous, lament, meditative, somber? Mood should always affect tempo.

3. How complicated, dense, and thick is the text? How difficult is it to understand? How challenging is it to understand the meaning or the theology? To gallop through a difficult or dense text is to deny the people the opportunity to understand or affirm what they are singing. My very first test is to do a spoken (not silent) read-through of only the words at a comfortable reading speed that allows for enunciation, expression, phrasing, breathing, and understanding. Rarely does my final singing tempo depart from that reading tempo significantly.

4. Be sensitive to and observe how the people sing the hymn. If they are struggling to get in all the words, or to breathe between phrases of TEXT (not necessarily musical phrases!), or if they are yawning from boredom or continually pushing the tempo faster than the organist is accompanying....then you should adjust accordingly. Have some of the people shut their hymnals and jammed them back into the pew racks rather than trying to sing? The best determiner of tempo is the congregational response.

5. How difficult is the MUSIC of the hymn? Are there lots of leaps? Dissonant non-harmonic melody notes? Intricate rhythmic patterns or changes to the melody? Is the tessitura high, low, or comfortable for congregations to sing? Are there lots of rapidly-moving short notes, slowly-moving long notes, or does it rely on comfortable eighths, quarters, and half notes? Are there surprises, like fermatas, pauses, long rests, a sudden change of key, a change from major to minor, or a change in mood?

6. How apparent is the "road map" of the hymn on the printed page? Is the layout complicated or confused by repeats, D.S. or D.C., 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd endings, a coda, an interlude, or other musical instructions that may throw the congregation off? Are there page turns to negotiate? Is the text laid out between musical staves or gathered together as poetry at the bottom of the page, causing people to have to move back and forth between music and words?

7. What is the worship context within which the hymn is being sung? Is it a festive season or penitential.....is it Easter or Good Friday? Is it an opening hymn of praise or a response to confession or prayer? Is it during meditative communion or an energetic sending forth? Is the hymn tied to a scripture reading in the service, and if so, what was the sense of that scripture? or sermon? Is it related to a funeral, wedding, or baptism?

All of these considerations can and should have an effect on the tempo of a hymn. Someone's suggested metronome setting for any particular hymn is nothing more than an individual opinion or preference and it ought to be the last and least important consideration, especially if it comes from the author or composer. It used to be said that the worst interpreter of Stravinsky’s works was Stravinsky. It is the job of the musician - director, song leader, organist or accompanist, praise band & team – to intelligently determine that tempo before it's time to sing. That decision should be made by one person, not a group, and the group must agree to accept the leader's tempo. Otherwise confusion and chaos will reign and poor congregational singing will result. If your organist or accompanist consistently plays hymns too fast or too slow, then it is your job to help find the "right" tempo.

I firmly believe that there is one right and perfect tempo for every hymn. That tempo may change for the same hymn according to the context or setting in which it is sung, but it is our job to find it.