WORSHIP LEADERS
WHY DOES (AT LEAST) ONE JAZZY YOUTUBER HATE “WORSHIP MUSIC”? | Grant Norsworthy
“I hate contemporary Christian music. I really…
truly… do.”
These are the opening words spoken by NYCbased
jazz bassist, composer and influential
YouTuber Adam Neely on his video called
“Learning to Like Contemporary Christian
Music (the music I hate)”.
Adam’s something of a big deal. Not only is
he a slammin’ musician, his popular YouTube
channel (a collection of excellent musicrelated
video essays, lessons, and vlogs) has
well over a million subscribers. At the time of
writing this article, this particular video has
generated over 536,000 views (of which I am
responsible for several) and more than 7,700
(often funny, sometimes heated) comments
since its Feb18th, 2020 release. A lot of people
are resonating with Adam’s opinions.
Worth noting: It’s not actually Contemporary
Christian Music as a whole that Adam loathes
(he names other CCM artists that he’s okay
with) but it’s actually the sub-genre commonly
known as “Worship music” that he detests
- naming several of this magazine’s and our
favorite artists.
While it might be tough for us readers of
Worship Musician Magazine to hear that
someone hates the music that is so important,
loved and maybe even sacred to us (especially
when he gets to some pretty deep and hardhitting
reasons why) I hope you’ll agree that
giving thoughtful consideration to the opinions
of others - especially when they don’t agree
with us - is a healthy thing to do.
Have you seen the video yet? You ought to.
Click the video image below to get an idea of
how we sound from the “outside”. It’ll be 13
minutes well spent.
I won’t try to explain the whole video, but here’s
the premise: Adam decided to spend a whole
week listening to nothing but what is commonly
called “Worship music” - a type of music that
he intensely dislikes - to try to learn to like it
or at least not hate it. His video presents his
reactions and discoveries as he does so.
While the exercise does help increase Adam’s
appreciation for certain elements (in particular
he likes some of the melodies, and he even
produces a really nice, bass-only version of
Hillsong’s “Oceans”) ultimately, listening to a
week’s worth does not convince Adam to like
“Worship music”. Instead, it helps him discover
and articulate exactly what it is about “Worship
music” that makes him hate it.
Perhaps surprisingly, it’s not the repetitive,
simple chord structures, the exclusive use of no
more than 7 (of the 12 available) notes or even
the “Christian” lyrical content that repels him.
It’s something else. Something deeper.
As I understand it, Adam Neely’s hatred stems
from two main conclusions that he has drawn:
1. If this music truly is in response to the
greatness of God, the musicians who make
it should be more creative, expressive, joyful
and be free to push deeper and go further
with their musical abilities.
2. “Worship music” seems fake. In Adam’s
words, “The context of CCM sometimes feels
very false. It’s a false ecstatic experience.”
I’m not writing this article to rebuff Adam’s
opinions or findings. Not at all! Adam’s an
intelligent, well-spoken, exceptionally talented
guy. From what I know of him, I like him a lot.
He has his opinions, supports them well and
he’s entitled to them. I think I understand where
he’s coming from and, on some levels, I actually
agree with him.
But it seems to me that there are some factors
worth considering that he has been unable to
see. He may have missed the forest for the
trees.
As Adam makes clear, it’s not so much the
music itself that he hates, “It’s much more all
the other stuff that goes along with it.” There
are things about the whole “church industrial
complex” (as a bandmate puts it with Adam’s
agreement) that profoundly influences how he
feels when he listens to “Worship music”. That’s
understandable. There are things about the
organized, “Christian religion” (in the negative
sense) that upset me too!
Maybe it is falseness within our “religion” that
puts him off. But maybe a contributing factor
to Adam hating “Worship music” is that the
Gospel itself is offensive to him (1 Cor 1:23,
1 Cor 1:18). In either case, Adam is unable to
assess the music on its own merits.
Late in the video, Adam lets us know that,
while he’s “not practicing”, he has a Christian
background. I think it’d be true to say that
Adam knows about Christianity, perhaps even
believes in God, but has not yet encountered
the living, risen Christ.
So, with that being the case, it’s understandable
that Adam has missed - or at least undervalued
- three important points:
1. With “Worship music”, the vocal participation
of a congregation is the primary, musical
consideration. The way the crowd makes
58 May 2020
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