the tritone or augmented fourth / diminished fifth) were called out as being diabolus in musica( Latin for‘ the Devil in music’). If merely playing an F # at the same time as a C-natural was once considered dangerous, it shouldn’ t be surprising that funky horn sections and distorted guitars garnered the same response on first listen for many churches even in the late 1960s.
Norman’ s Upon This Rock sounds quite tame to our ears now, but I urge you to give it a listen to help set some musical context for the history of just about any given song we’ re mixing in the sanctuary this Sunday. We would probably question the ability of someone trying to mix a secular classic rock band that had never heard Steppenwolf or The Beatles or The Who— why wouldn’ t we expect at least some familiarity with the formative examples of CCM from our volunteers at the console?
One other key point in the history of CCM hits on the distinction between music from folks like Larry Norman which was crafted as‘ pop’ music to take the gospel message to its widest audience outside of the church and the sort of music that was designed to be played in church and for church. This‘ internal’ worship-centric music for church worship services really kicked off in 1971 with the founding of Maranatha! Music Inc. by Chuck Smith and Calvary Chapel. To build upon the success of the Jesus Movement and focus its energy and overall message from an external‘ pop’ framework to one more suitable for congregations to utilize,“ other music publishers joined Maranatha! in
the campaign to equip churches for the new style of worship; some even provided training workshops to facilitate the transition further”( Griffin).
Reading up on the Wikipedia article related to the formation of Maranatha!, I stumbled upon a few artists that were new to me and yielded some great new points of musical inspiration.“ Some of the early Maranatha! recording groups were Sweet Comfort Band, Love Song, Chuck Girard, Children of the Day, The Way, Debby Kerner, Mustard Seed Faith, Karen Lafferty, and Daniel Amos”( Wikipedia). Check them out!
So now when you asked about where CCM came from, hopefully you can present a little more historically informed answer. Better yet, I’ m hopeful that you uncover some new musical examples of where the style originated and how we might be able to refine and‘ throw back’ a bit in our mix approach. Pardon me while I turn up the Larry Norman and get my groove on. See you next month!
Jeff Hawley A 20 + year music industry veteran— equally at ease behind the console, playing bass guitar, leading marketing teams or designing award-winning audio products. He currently heads up the marketing for Allen & Heath in the US.
Griffin, A.( 2023, June 29). How did the contemporary Christian music genre start?. Christianity. com. https:// www. christianity. com / wiki / christian-life / how-didcontemporary-christian-music-start. html
April 2025 Subscribe for Free... 89