Definitions: (Work in progress)

1. Psalms

   • Must be sacred, some believe this exclude everything outside the Word of God.

   • Strong's G5568: 

   • Can be accompanied by an instrument, can be sung.

   • PSALM, n. s`am. [L. psalmus; Gr. to touch or beat, to sing.]
     A sacred song or hymn; a song composed on a divine subject and in praise of God. The most remarkable psalms are those composed by David and other Jewish saints, a collection of one hundred and fifty of which constitutes a canonical book of the Old Testament, called Psalms, or the book of Psalms. The word is also applied to sacred songs composed by modern poets, being versifications of the scriptural psalms, or of these with other parts of Scripture, composed for the use of churches; as the Psalms of Tate and Brady, of Watts, &c.

2. Hymns​

   • Strong's G5215:

   • Anthems are hymns.

   • HYMN, n. hym. [L. hymnus; Eng. hum.]song or ode in honor of God, and among pagans, in honor of some deity. A hymn among christians is a short poem, composed for religious service, or a song of joy and praise to God. The word primarily expresses the tune, but it is used for the ode or poem.
     And when the had sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives. Mat 26.
     HYMN, v.t. hym. To praise in song; to worship by singing hymns.
     1. To sing; to celebrate in song. They hymn their maker's praise.
     HYMN, v.i. hym. To sing in praise or adoration.
      

3. Spiritual Songs

   • Spiritual: Not carnal, has to do with the heavenly and supernatural.

   • Song: The literal word is "ode". A spiritual song would be "An ode which sings of the heavenly and the supernatural thing of GOD". 

     • ODE, n. [L. ode; Gr.] A short poem or song; a poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem. The ode is of the greater or less kind; the less is characterized by sweetness and ease; the greater by sublimity, rapture and quickness of transition.
       The ode consists of unequal verses in stanzas or strophes.​

   • The ode refers to the lyrics; think "lyrics put to music".​

4. Definitions that need to be place in the three categories above:

   • Gospel

     • What does the name imply? Good News music; songs that are used as an entry point; songs that may be someone's testimony.​

   • Poetry

     • Note: Most of our hymns started out as poems.​

   • Chants and liturgy

     • Most Evangelical churches ignore this category.​

     • Mainline churches have a Book of Liturgy exclusive to the denomination.

   • Spirituals

     • The name would place this in the Spiritual Song category.

     • These songs are sung in a call and response style.​

     • The spirituals are popular among the Black American churches.

     • This is an early style of American Christian music and has been influential to the development of American Christianity.

   • Contemporary existential praise (modern church music)

     • Supposed to put the listeners into a meditative state. I believe this music has been influenced by Eastern meditation practices.​

   • Contemporary Christian: Christian lyrics put to worldly music.

   • Orchestral with Christian themes: Handel's "Messiah" and similar.

5. Notes:​

   1. The music and the lyrics are separate; the music can be holy or profane and the lyrics can be holy or profane. This is important to note, as discerning the true nature of the song can be difficult due to the mixing and matching done by the writers.​

   2. Try putting the lyrics to "holy music" and see if the song holds true. 

6. Christian instrumentation:​

   1. The Western Church has developed the standard instruments and styles to Church music and they are below:​

      1. Choral-based​

      2. Organ-based (The melody leads the congregation)

      3. Piano-based (Simpler version of organ-based)

      4. Campfire or folk-based (simple strings and rhythm)

      5. Acapella (Related to Choral)

   2. The carnal West has also developed standards and these standards have degrees:​

      1. The Rock Band (Vocalist; Guitarist; Bassist; Drummer), this can change into many different forms by adding extra instruments. This also has degrees, like soft rock to metal, etc.​

      2. Jazz

      3. Blues (descendant of Spirituals)

      4. Big Band (Frank Sinatra and the like), Easy Listening is a reduction of Big Band.