Music is one of the most fundamental things in the human experience. Since people were cavemen, music has been seen throughout almost every cultural in the history of the world. One could say that music is one of the foundations of creating a culture. Music has been used for many celebratory purposes, from songs celebrating one's country (Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" is one of many examples), to songs advocating political change ("A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke), to ones glorifying one's religious affiliation (Amazing Grace).



Especially in religion, music has been an extremely powerful way to convey the message of one's religion. It can be used to represent a somber day like Good Friday, or aid in celebrating on a joyous day like Easter Sunday. There are many songs in religions, but in terms of writing a good hymn, Christian music is a genre that is full of them. When looking for great examples of an exceptionally-written hymn, Christian music is chock full of some of the most well known hymns in the world. Yet, how did they start? Post a prayer request today.



Originally modeled on the Psalms and other poetic passages -- sometimes referred to as "canticles" -- the Christian hymn is generally directed to praise what is known in the Christian religion as the One True God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the subject of many hymns, but they were there even before his time. There are many examples in the Bible of Jesus singing hymns with his followers.

What is a hymn exactly? It's a lyric poem, conceived in reverence and devotion to one's religious figure, in the case of Christian hymns they are directed towards God, and it is meant to be sung. The purposes of hymns are to unify a congregation. For centuries, music has brought communities together in a way that is not entirely communicable through words, but needless to say music has a unique way of connecting people emotionally. When one is singing a song with someone else, they both are feeling the emotions of the song in harmony with one another.

One characteristic of hymns is the simplicity in which they are written. Hymns are written with the purpose of being sung by a large group of people, so there is an art to writing a hymn that is simultaneously beautiful but also simple enough to be sung by someone who isn't trained musically. The group Fleet Foxes has acknowledged the role that hymns played in its musical development, as their songs are simple enough that anyone can sing to them but musically interesting enough that they captivate the passive listener as well.

Christian hymns are often written with a specific purpose, to celebrate a feast day or a seasonal theme. There are specific hymns for Christian seasons like Lent or Advent, or Christian celebratory days such as the Feast of All Saints and of course, Christmas. Some hymns are written for individual saints -- one notable and common recipient being the Blessed Virgin Mary -- and some are written to accompany rituals such as the Eucharist or baptism.