Musically Speaking

This episode looks at how a paraphrase of Psalm 98, written centuries ago without a single reference to Bethlehem or the Nativity, found its way into the heart of the Christmas season. From Isaac Watts’s text to the lively tune that echoes Handel’s style, we explore the surprising journey that turned a psalm into a hymn/carol many of us now know by heart.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

This week’s Friday Five features a recommendation of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones’ Christmas album Jingle All the Way. From a jazz-infused take on Jingle Bells and Linus and Lucy to a stunning twelve-key, twelve-meter setting of The Twelve Days of Christmas, this album offers a playful and virtuosic reimagining of familiar holiday music. With surprising touches like Tuvan throat singing, a Bach tenor aria arranged for banjo, and standout tracks like River, Christmastime Is Here, and The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, this is a Christmas record for listeners ready for something fresh.

Here’s the link to the album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2W76N8D76BqfRlDjzQSOKL?si=VemG571DRVeM8ygmQH296Q

And here is the link to listen on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kwmxu3QlA_NKtaU611KStU7Jqreaf_UGQ&si=Y5GDOqjgKGvjd8qP

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

This week we look at how a musical diet shapes musical desires and how teaching students to read music frees them to participate rather than just consume. Featuring recordings from Geneva Academy’s ninth and tenth grade musicianship class, this episode explores why Renaissance polyphony, music literacy, and singing outside our own time form not only better musicians but stronger communities.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this long-form Musically Speaking conversation, I sit down with theologian Alastair Roberts at Theopolis Institute to explore what happens when we learn to hear the Bible musically. Alastair argues that Scripture isn’t something we simply analyze from above like a map. It’s more like music we enter—where themes develop, time interpenetrates, and the rhythms of typology and liturgy work together like a great symphony.

We talk about why modern theology has become so flat and spatial, how recovering the primacy of the ear helps us read Scripture more faithfully, and why worship is meant to function musically, rather than as a collection of disconnected parts. We also dig into the Psalms, the creativity of Christian hymnody, and how a psalm-soaked imagination gives rise to richer and more faithful new songs.

If you care about music, Scripture, worship, or the shape of Christian time, I think you’ll find this conversation both challenging and deeply encouraging.

You can read more from Alastair Roberts at The Anchored Argosy here on Substack.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

This week’s episode reflects on the music of childhood and the way a musical mother shapes the imagination. In honor of Suzi Richey’s birthday, I look at a few songs near to her when I was growing up, from Sweet Beulah Land to music from Scott Sontag and Reba Rambo. These artists and tunes have stayed in my memory even though decades have passed.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this week’s episode, we look at how Randy Newman writes through invented characters rather than speaking in his own voice. From satire to tenderness, his songs use irony, perspective, and a distinctive piano style to help us hear truth in unexpected ways.

Here’s a link to the heartbreakingly beautiful song, Wandering Boy:https://youtu.be/I2s1WNagdA0

Here’s a link to Randy Newman’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert:https://youtu.be/1wFWR5qCB2k

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this week’s episode, we look at what happens when the words of one song are forced onto the tune of another. The result is usually funny, cringeworthy, or both. But our reaction teaches us something important. We do not just hear lyrics. We hear music as meaning. The tune and the text are meant to support one another. When they disagree, we notice instantly.

Here’s a recording of Girlfriend in a Coma if you wish to hear more than the eight seconds in the episode: https://youtu.be/tTfSYPjmTyo

Or this version of John Lennon’s Imagine sung to the Muppets Theme song, complete with Kermit the Frog voice imitation: https://youtu.be/IbzBw3Uiu48

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this week’s episode, we look at why there are two commonly sung versions of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. We listen to the familiar slower tune and then to the original rhythmic version that Luther wrote. We consider how rhythm helps congregational singing and why this hymn still matters today.

Here’s a PDF of the song if you want to sing it yourself: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gbo4baculoj49c6xo7iep/A-Mighty-Fortress-Is-Our-God_LJR.pdf?rlkey=1ydnxei10cmp2u6yzj7o2nu8j&dl=0

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

In this week’s episode, we listen to the many talents of Phil Keaggy — the guitarist, the vocalist, and the musical interpreter of great texts. From the lyrical compassion of The Little Ones to the Beatles-like shimmer of Love Divine and his haunting setting of C. S. Lewis’s As the Ruin Falls, Keaggy shows how excellence and devotion can live in the same song.

Here’s an interview with Phil Keaggy and the poet Malcom Guite talking about Lewis’ poem: https://youtu.be/BoPzW8SIBM4

Here’s Keaggy’s song Little Ones that is so moving: https://youtu.be/0SAQhl9pDM4

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com

I’m finishing up PhD Qualifying Exams in Fort Worth, TX. Enjoy this early episode of the Friday Five, which features a fun story about Artificial Intelligence and music.

The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features five minutes of music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jarrodrichey.substack.com