An overhead with the lyrics and music of the older hymns would be OK, but how can a person “sing” a song he doesn’t know if only the lyrics are provided? Without the printed notes, a person has no choice but to flail along, on the off chance he’ll hit the correct note once in a while. Most people can’t read music any more; it’s a lost skill and consistent with the general dumbing-down of our society.
In the age of rap where melodies, harmonies, etc., are non-existent, I guess we can’t expect better.
>>>Most people can’t read music any more; it’s a lost skill and consistent with the general dumbing-down of our society.<<<
You are correct, but doesn’t this make the notes in the hymnbooks of little help? If most of the congregation can’t get the tune by reading the notes, the main advantage (other than portability) of the hymnbook over the screen is lost.
Don’t get me wrong, I love hymnbooks and own several. However, they hold a limited number of songs, and none of them contain anything close to all the great hymns of the church. I like singing out of them in church, but I’d love to see some great hymns that are not in them go up on the screen.
I think most people learn the tunes of hymns (or any song for that matter) by listening to them being sung or by the musical accompaniment. I usually learn new hymn tunes by listening to them over and over on Cyberhymnal.
In my experience, the tunes to hymns are generally easier to pick up after hearing them a couple of times than those of modern songs. I also find the melodies of many modern songs more difficult to sing, especially for men.