Punctuating Our Worship Music part 1

Punctuating Our Worship Music part 1

            Sunday morning I was delighted to see the music texts come up on the screen all punctuated nicely.  It was a delight because most often we have to endure the text being shown before us with absolutely no punctuation.  If the presentation of music texts without punctuation marks bothers a music teacher, I wonder what it does to the psychic of an English teacher who is trying to worship.

            Use a comma to make sentences easier to understand by creating a pause between elements need to be separated Use a period at the end of a complete thought Although there are several rules concerning the use of a semicolon let me over-simplify by saying that it allows the writer to imply a relationship between different ideas without actually stating that they are related A colon is used to mark a major division in a sentence to indicate that what follows is an elaboration summation implication etc of what precedes it Use an explanation mark at the end of a declaration that should be greatly emphasized Use a dash when you wish to have a greater separation than a comma but perhaps less formal than colons or parentheses

            Was the paragraph above hard to conceptualize?  What was missing?  Why was it difficult?  One might argue that all the words were there and that the beginnings of sentences were marked by capital letters.  So, why all the fuss over punctuation marks?  Below I have included some (there are fourteen) of the punctuation marks and their use in the presentation of the English language to make it clearer to the reader:

1.     Use a comma to make sentences easier to understand by creating a pause between elements need to be separate. 

2.    Use a period at the end of a complete thought.

3.    Although there are several rules concerning the use of a semicolon, let me over-simplify by saying that it allows the writer to imply a relationship between different ideas without actually stating that they are related.

4.    A colon is used to mark a major division in a sentence, to indicate that what follows is an elaboration, summation, implication, etc., of what precedes it.

5.    Use an explanation mark at the end of a declaration that should be greatly emphasized. Use a dash when you wish to have a greater separation than a comma but perhaps less formal than colons or parentheses.

            Ministers of Music and Worship Leaders should remember that “Punctuation marks are signals to readers. When you speak, you can pause, stop, or change your tone of voice to make your meaning clear. You cannot do this when you write. When writing, you must use punctuation marks such as commas and question marks to make your meaning clear”.   http:www.how- to-study-skills.com   We should all remember the purpose of placing punctuated music texts on the overhead screen.  They are there to engage the worshiping body in more effective singing because they assist the musicer in his or her understanding of the meaning of the text.    If a worship leader really wishes for the audience to muse—to think as they sing-- then he or she should want the meaning of music texts to be presented as clearly as is possible.