LDS Hymn Stats
Welcome to the LDS Hymn Stats project! The purpose of this project is to discover what hymns are most commonly sung generally and in certain times of the year in sacrament meetings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have gathered data on what hymns were sung in 20,568 sacrament meetings from 1,019 wards.
Project Overview
Have you ever wondered what the most common hymn is in sacrament meeting? I can tell you right now: it’s
What is the most popular Christmas hymn? It looks like it’s Joy to the World (201). If that matches your intuition, then that’s good news because it’s means I’ve got good data! But, what is the most popular Mother’s Day hymn? Thanksgiving? Valentine’s Day?
With this project, I have been able to answer some of these simpler questions, but I’ve also been able to uncover some subtler patterns as well. Like, what Christmas hymns are typically sung the third Sunday in December? (The First Noel (213) might be the most likely.) On the Sunday after Thanksgiving (in the United States), do people sing more Thanksgiving hymns, Christmas hymns, or neither? Are there “unofficial” sacrament hymns that are sung more than any of the “official” ones? What percentage of wards outside of Utah (but still in the US) sing Pioneer Day hymns around Pioneer Day?
I’ve also uncovered some of what might go through a music coordinator’s head as they select what hymns are to be sung in their ward. It seems like the more popular Christmas hymns are reserved for Sundays when it is anticipated that the most number of people will be in attendance, and the less popular ones are used during peak travel dates. Even though the entry for “Thanksgiving” in topic index in the back of the hymnal directs readers to the “Gratitude” for more hymns, very few people actually use those gratitude-themed hymns around Thanksgiving. Easter hymns trump both General Conference– and Fast Sunday–themed hymns in April, and Fourth of July trumps Fast Sunday hymns.
Furthermore, I’ve been able to uncover patterns that say something interesting about Mormon culture. For example, Mother’s Day hymns are typically about earthly mothers while Father’s Day hymns are about Heavenly Father. Enough Utahns have relocated to other parts of the US that Pioneer Day may be considered a de facto LDS holiday. And a decent number of wards systematically cycle through the 28 sacrament hymns, sometimes for years without any deviation.
As a secondary part of this project, I’m also addressing questions about the music of the hymns. What hymn has the highest melody note? Well, if you exclude the women’s arrangements in the back of the hymnal and the optional note at the end of Carry On (255), it’s the F# in the rarely-sung Lean on My Ample Arm (120). What part has the narrowest range? What is the most common key signature? How many hymns could you sing the tenor line for if you can only go up to a Bb? What is the most common final chord? How many hymns don’t end on “do”? How many add9 chords are there in the hymnal?
More Information
If I have piqued your interest, great! I’ll be posting more results on this site and on various social media platforms as I dig into the data. If you would like to contribute, please see the contribute tab above.