5 Tips for Learning Hymns
You get in the car and turn on the radio to your favorite Christian music station. You hear the same songs everyday on your way to work and starting singing along. Its easy to learn these songs, but why is it so hard to learn hymns? There is something about singing hymns that is intimidating. Learning multiple verses to different hymns can be time consuming and difficult. How can we as parents lead family worship and teach our children hymns when we do not know them ourselves? One of the great things we get to do as parents is to grow closer to God through the discipling of our children. Lets check out some ways that we can learn hymns ourselves, and then teach them to our children.
Read
Before working on signing the hymn, spend some time reading the lyrics. It can be tempting to just turn on the songs and start singing along but that shouldn't be the first step . We should start by reading the lyrics to the hymn and determining what they hymn is about. This helps up familiarize ourselves with what we are singing. Reading the hymn first, also allows us to be able to answer our children's questions when they ask what this means.
Listen
Like we mentioned above, listening to a song multiple times day and multiple days in a row. Repeatedly listening to a song will help you learn it quicker and retain the lyrics better than just listening once. Some great ways to listen are to put on hymns while you are getting ready in the morning, during cooking, or during your drive time. I love to listen to hymns when we are cleaning or during quiet time to help set the mood and calm everyone down.
Find a Version You Enjoy
Although a hymn has been around for a long time, there are many different versions on hymns. A quick search in YouTube can produce traditional chorus signing on hymns, modern hymns, southern Gospel style and more. One of the best ways to listen to a hymn multiple times is to find a version that appeals to you. There is nothing wrong with listening to a modern version of a hymn if its what you enjoy. Our kids love to listen to some Alan Jackson southern Gospel versions of hymns.
person playing guitar with musical notes
Print Out The Lyrics
If you have followed the above steps, then I hope you have read the hymn you are learning. I find that printing out the lyrics, or watching a video with the lyrics makes a huge difference. There is something about seeing the lyrics that helps us to remember the hymn.
Sing!
This is a culmination of all the above tips. It is now time to sing! You have read the hymn, listened to the tune, found a version you enjoy, listen a few times and printed out some lyrics. Now you should feel comfortable and confident enough with the song to sing along. It doesn't matter if you are a good or bad singer, what matters is that you are singing! God has called us to sing praises to God whether or not we think we are a good singer. Sing your heart to the Lord with confidence and see how signing hymns changes your family worship.
