Thoughts on Adam Neely's 'Learning to Like CCM'

I wanted to make this quick video because of a younger musician friend who reached out to me. These are just my thoughts and hopefully they can offer another opinion on this matter for you to consider. Let me know your thoughts and opinions down below!

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Link to Adam Neely's original video:

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[cmcapps]

Another thing to consider...ccm is designed in a large part to be covered in smaller churches by volunteer amateur musicians and sung by people in congregations who aren't singers. Artists know this . So unlike most other forms of music today ccm is written as much for the musicians covering it as for the radio audience.

[EmeraldRubyTea]

17:20 I think Adam Neely’s reference to “Musicking” is the “Part B” you refer to. Also, I think his main point is the stifling of the musicians from truly making a joyful noise, which, as a Christian, is one of the points of music. The Bible talks about making a joyful noise. It also talks about singing “one’s own song” and “singing a new song unto the Lord”- I think these verses or phrases from the Bible point to the Musiking Neely was referring to- making a personal, heart, spontaneous connection with music.

I guess there are various eras/zeitgeist/epochs of music to have spurred the kind of music Don Moen produced. Heck, I worshiped to Don Moen in the 90s. But I believe we as humans should not be putting a lid on how estatic we could feel about worship. Heck, Gospel music, which Neely acknowledges, does estatic, joyful, non-stifling expressions of joy pretty well and both musicians and the congregation end the session both blessed. I think that’s Musiking.

To combine your and Neely’s point of view- CCM can be functional and musicking at the same time.

To critique Neely’s point of view- Whether a CCM song is “Musicking” could depend on the time and experiences in a listeners life. Our hearts are dynamic.

Ok..gotta go.

[AmyAndThePup]

I'm going to post here a comment I wrote on Adam Neely's video. First, though, thank you for this. Without going into a huge tangent on theology, I think you really hit on some key points here.
Now for my comment, which I know doesn't really respond to your video, but that I would still like to share:
I have a lot of respect for you being willing to listen to a style of music you hate, to try to figure out what you hate about it. I'm having a million thoughts (okay, not literally), so we'll see how this goes. Warning: may be a long comment.
Sometime in the very early 2000s (perhaps a couple years earlier, from around 1998-2004 or so), there was a major shift in contemporary Christian music. It moved from what was then CCM (a more pop or pop-rock style with Christian lyrics) to more of a worship music style (meant to be played live, in church or concerts, simple for people to follow along, musically). Not all Christian artists did this, but most seemed to.
If you were to go back to, let's say, the late 90s, you would hear some of the worship music, like what you talk about in this video, but you would also hear everything from DC Talk and Third Day, who were mostly rock in influence (I'm not sure the precise genre name here), to those who hovered in more of a pop style (Avalon, Jaci Velasquez, etc), to much more subdued "tradition" praise music (I need to look up earlier 90s/later 80s artists--who were usually live performers), and everything in between. Then there's "black" gospel, which is a completely different ballgame altogether, and very fun. And no, I'm not just talking about live gospel choirs, which I love, but also studio recordings as well.
If you want a completely different style, at least in terms of the decade in which it was mostly recorded, check out Keith Green. He had a mix of lighter, happier songs, and much deeper, lyrically profound songs.
We all have influences we like, regardless of whether we're Christian or not, and Christian music does go along with that. Some people have said, in passing, that they find Christian music to be a decade or so behind non-Christian music. I don't know if that's true now as much as it may have been thirty years ago. Even then, I'm sure it depended on which artists you were into.
I became a Christian in the late 90s, right as a lot of these changes were taking place. It was weird to enter Bible college singing hymns in chapel, and leaving it never singing them at all, instead focusing exclusively on worship music. I'm not here to debate the merits of either, because I believe there is a huge amount of value in both, for different reasons. I did find myself missing the hymns, which was a strange experience, because when I first entered college, I hadn't ever attended churches where mostly hymns were sung.
That's my own personal experience, and a little bit about the transition I heard taking place.
As someone who is not awesome at the piano, but who does enjoy it and the keyboard a lot, I find the simple chord progressions easy to follow. But sometimes, it's fun to dive into completely different genres to challenge myself and try to pick out what other people's songwriting styles are like.
About the idea that it's not okay to enjoy the music you're playing, since it's supposed to be about God, and not you. The way I heard it said was this: You're there to lead others into the presence of God, not put on a show for their entertainment.
That said, while I believe there is truth to it, there is absolutely nothing wrong, in my opinion, with loving what you sing or play. And there's nothing wrong with getting others involved in whatever music you're performing. You likely wouldn't hear as much of this on the radio, but there are a bunch of online videos where you can see this in action.
I see both sides of the issue', and believe that both entertainment and worship have their place. I love both, and personally think that trying to separate all the enjoyment from the act of worship defeats the whole purpose. It doesn't have to be about glorifying self, but about letting the music speak, and enjoying it along the way. I really hope this doesn't start a debate--that is not my intent here. Just sharing my own opinions and thoughts.

[MrWCL]

I'm a huge adam neely fan and I think you did a great job providing the counter perspective. Reframing is such a valuable skill and the more of this kind of reframing we can do, the better I believe we can grow as creatives and artists.

[Billtuba]

Hey man, so I watched both videos and you make some great points. The problem I have with CCM is the repetition. Great music strikes a balance between repetition and new elements. CCM tends to go just for the repetition. Many faiths have repetitive music or chants and I have no issue with that, but it’s not presented the was CCM is. CCM has the sound of pop rock (ish) (over generalization)music but doesn’t have the novel elements that make that genre interesting to listeners. You also mentioned dance music and there you run into the same issue. If you listen to Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO, it’s a masterclass in this exact balance. It’s a mostly repetitive dance song, but upon closer listening there is a slight variation to every verse and chorus, wether it be the addition or subtraction of an instrument or handclap or even the introduction of another singer. It’s kinda genius even though I’m not a big fan of the group or song. When performing CCM I try hard to introduce those elements by switching octaves or adding 10ths, rhythmic variation etc... but I just don’t hear that in the recordings. Maybe I’m listening to the wrong stuff, but I’m just not hearing any variation in the verses and choruses.

[davidansi]

Woow, thanks man. You've helped me a lot

[PatatorSupelec]

You say CCM is functional music. By saying that you're feeding into Adam's point. His video pretty much explains how, for him, it doesn't fulfill its function.

[MrDeevo]

Try listening to Gospel that is BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC. You won't be wanting more!