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Boulder City
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Music Director and Song Leader: Dick Fazio.
Keyboard/Choir Director: Devin Streator.
Music for week of May 11, 2008
Hymn of Adoration: Happy the Home When God is There
Hymn of Preparation: Our Parent, by Whose Name
Closing Hymn: O Lord, May Church and Home Combine
Musical Interlude - Devin Streator
Metrical Pattern
Just as in music, metered poetry has a distinct rhythm based on strong and weak accents. These accents (beats) are associated with the individual SYLLABLES in the line of poetry and generally follow the natural accents of common pronunciation. These accents are then grouped into larger units called FEET. For example:
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Poetry |
Number of syllables |
Number of metrical |
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O for a thous-and tongues to sing?my great Re-deem-er's praise,?the glo-ries of my God and King,?the tri-umphs of his grace! -- Charles Wesley, 1739 (MH 57) |
8?6?8?6
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4?3?4?3
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The bold type indicates ACCENTS, or syllables which are stress stronger than others. It is natural to say thou-sand, not thou-sand.
The groupings of accents from strong beat to strong beat form a lager unit called a metrical foot. In the above example there are four metrical feet
The METER of the hymn is synonymous with the NUMBER OF SYLLABLES PER LINE OF POETRY. For example, the METER of the above hymn text (O for a thousand tongues to sing) is 8.6.8.6. This meter was an extremely ‘common’ during the 17th and 18th century. Consequently, it is referred to as, COMMON METER. Often used meters include:
COMMON METER 8.6.8.6 (CM)?
SHORT METER 6.6.8.6 (SM)?
LONG METER 8.8.8.8 (LM)?
COMMON METER DOUBLE 8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6 (CMD)?
LONG METER DOUBLE 8.8.8.8.8.8.8.8 (LMD)
Another important issue involved with METER has to do with the organization of METRICAL FEET. A FOOT starts either on a strong (accented) or weak (unaccented) beat. A 2-beat foot beginning on a weak beat is referred to as, IAMBIC (see"O for a thousand tongues to sing"). A 2-beat-foot beginning on a strong beat is called TROCHAIC (see, "All who love and serve your city" - MH 433).
IAMBIC PENTAMETER = 5 metrical feet per line of poetry, each foot begins on a weak (unstressed) beat.?TROCHAIC TETRAMETER = 4 metrical feet per line of poetry, each foot begins on a STRONG (stressed) beat.
© 2001 SMITH CREEK MUSIC?P.O. Box 140446 Nashville, TN 37214?615-294-0968