Songbook/Tunebook
"Sing till your whole soul is lifted up to God, and then sing till you lift the eyes of those who know not God to Him who is the fountain of all our joy.” William Booth
History of Songbook
Like many denominations, The Salvation Army publishes its own hymnal. However, what is unique is that the Songbook, as it is known, contains just the words - the accompaniment is published in a separate book, the Tunebook. There are a number of reasons for this:
- Many people don’t read music so why include it?
- With no music it can be used as a devotional/poetry book
- Not including music cuts the cost of printing
- Allows for flexibility in using alternative tunes
The Revival Hymn Book, the first hymn book known to have been compiled by William Booth was published in August, 1866, Our current Songbook was published in 1986 (with the North America edition arriving in 1987). For more information see: Timeline of Songbook & Tunebook publications and History of The Salvation Army Songbook.
Meter
Each song has a specific rhythmic pattern of a verse as determined by the number of lines and the number of syllables per line. This is the song's Meter. At the top of each song in the Songbook are suggested tunes to which the song can be song. However, many songs have several more possibilities beyond those listed. To find out what these are we use the Metrical Index. Another useful resource is a Tune-to-song index which lists all the songs that can be sung to a given tune (this one comes courtesy of my friend Robbie Schramm).
Also see: Poetry Terms.
Use of Secular Tunes
It was common practice for the early Salvationists to take well known music hall, popular and folk/traditional tunes and put religious lyrics to them. Many of these have survived and are included in our current song book. For a full list see: Original Names for Salvation Army Tunes.
