Musical Terms in the Old Testament Today when we see a piece of scored music, we will notice that at the beginning of the score, and indeed throughout, we will often find information about that piece of music. Information such as the tempo, the key signature, the time signature, the instruments that should accompany the song, the composer, and the expression of how the music should be sang or played. However, one of the most important things is the title of the piece. Above the majority of the Psalms there are titles, have you ever noticed? These titles are actually musical indications of how to express the song when played or sang. They are not translated but they are transliterated from Hebrew. There are some Psalms where additional to …show more content…
Found in the title Psalms 57, 58, 59 and 75. Gittith means ‘a wine press’. It is commonly understood to be a stringed musical instrument from Gath (a city of the Philistines). Interestingly David was a hiding from King Saul in Gath (1 Sam 27:1-7; 2 Sam 15:18). It is said by scholars that David learned to play one of the instruments from Gath at the time. Or could it be that whilst David was in Gath he actually made the gittith and then attributed Ps 8, 81 and 84 to be played on this? This is not unusual, as David was known for making new instruments for praise unto God (2 Chron 7:6). Jonath-elemrechokim - means ‘the silent dove of far-off places’, and is probably the name of a melody. Found in the title of Psalm 56. Leannoth this means ‘to afflict’, ‘oppress’, ‘humble’ and ‘be bowed down’. It is found once in the Bible as Mahalath Leannoth and together the phrase means ‘to humble or afflict’. Finally it is said that the mahalath is a guitar, and that leannoth refers to the character of the psalm. It is found solely in the title of Ps 88. Mahalath means ‘sickness’, ‘a company of dancers’ or ‘a harp’. Mahalath could also be the name of a melody. It is found in the title of Ps 53 and Ps