x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Musically Speaking

Jarrod Richey"s Musical Meanderings on music education, church music, hymnody, and more. jarrodrichey.substack.com

music music commentary

All Episodes

5:00

Friday FIVE: April 10 - This Joyful Eastertide

Musically Speaking ·

2026/04/10

Easter is not just a day. It is a season. In this episode, I reflect on This Joyful Eastertide, a resurrection hymn set to a 1624 Dutch tune. With its bold proclamation of bodily hope and a refrain that climbs higher with each “arisen,” the music does more than accompany the text — it enacts it. Fifty days to rehearse what we confess. Christ is risen.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: April 3 - Hope in the Passion

Musically Speaking ·

2026/04/03

On Good Friday, hope can seem out of place. Yet after hearing Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Tokyo, Japan, audiences often ask conductor Masaaki Suzuki to explain what “hope” means in the Christian sense.In this episode, I reflect on how Bach’s music carries the logic of death and resurrection across cultures, and why even in the shadow of the cross, Christian hope is never absent.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples,

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: March 27 - Directions for Singing

Musically Speaking ·

2026/03/27

We tend to think of hymnals as collections of church songs. But they once taught people how to sing.In 1761, John Wesley included seven “Directions for Singing” in his Methodist hymnal. They are not suggestions. They are instructions. Sing all. Sing in time. Sing modestly. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Above all, sing spiritually.In this episode, I read Wesley’s directions in full and reflect on how seamlessly he integrates technique, participation, unity, and spiritual focus. Congregational

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: March 20 - Colors of the Voice

Musically Speaking ·

2026/03/20

Two singers can sing the same note, yet we instantly know who it is. Why? Because before we hear melody, we hear tone.In this week’s Friday Five, we explore the colors of the human voice — bright and dark, nasal and warm, gritty and clear. Through a few rapid contrasts, we consider how tone color shapes interpretation and even carries biography. This week, listen differently. Don’t just hear the notes. Hear the color.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: March 13 - Strange Praise

Musically Speaking ·

2026/03/13

On this “on location” episode from a cabin in Branson, Missouri, I reflect on one of the most unusual and powerful choral works of the twentieth century: “Rejoice in the Lamb” by Benjamin Britten.Drawing from the eccentric and deeply devotional poem Jubilate Agno by Christopher Smart, written in part while Smart was confined in an asylum, Britten’s choral work bursts with rhythmic energy, playful strangeness, and persistent praise.From the famous “For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry” solo to the

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: March 6 - Love Unknown

Musically Speaking ·

2026/03/06

No dialogue. Just four minutes of music — and an entire marriage. In this episode, I reflect on Michael Giacchino’s “Married Life” from Up and how music functions as narrator. Through melody, orchestration, and tempo, the score carries decades of joy and sorrow without a single word. Music does not decorate the story. It interprets it.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.Here's

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: February 27 - Music As Narrator

Musically Speaking ·

2026/02/27

No dialogue. Just four minutes of music — and an entire marriage. In this episode, I reflect on Michael Giacchino’s “Married Life” from Up and how music functions as narrator. Through melody, orchestration, and tempo, the score carries decades of joy and sorrow without a single word. Music does not decorate the story. It interprets it.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.Here's

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: February 20 - Singing to One Another

Musically Speaking ·

2026/02/20

In this episode I ask a simple question: when you sing in worship, who are you singing to? Drawing on Paul Munson’s helpful framework, I reflect on three audiences that show up in Scripture, especially in the Psalms and in Paul’s epistles: sometimes we sing to our own souls, always we sing to God, and often we sing to one another through teaching and encouragement. Remembering the audience of congregational song can change the way we think about worship and the way we participate in it.The Friday

en

50:08

Training Our Musical Loves

Musically Speaking ·

2026/02/18

In this bonus longform episode of Musically Speaking, I sit down with Maestro John Mason Hodges, music director of the Monroe Symphony Orchestra and founder of the Center for Western Studies, for a wide-ranging conversation about music, meaning, and maturity. Maestro Hodges also teaches for us at the Redeemer School of the Arts.What happens when we are surrounded by constant sound but slowly lose the ability to listen? Why does so much modern music feel instantly accessible and instantly

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: February 13 - The Voice of Bryn Terfel

Musically Speaking ·

2026/02/13

In this episode, I introduce listeners to the Welsh bass/baritone Bryn Terfel, a singer whose career has spanned the world’s great opera houses while also reaching audiences through concerts, recordings, and broadcasts far beyond them. I offer three observations about what makes his artistry so compelling: the depth and flexibility of his voice, his gift for communication and character, and his rare ability to move authentically between opera, musical theater, folk song, and hymnody. If you are new

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: February 6 - Scoring the Big Moments

Musically Speaking ·

2026/02/06

As the Winter Olympics begin, I reflect on the music of John Williams and how his work has come to define some of our most recognizable public moments. While he is best known for film scores, Williams’s music reaches far beyond the cinema into television, football broadcasts, and Olympic ceremonies. In this episode, I consider how his commitment to the symphony orchestra, his use of fanfare and leitmotif, and his trust in musical development have helped bring orchestral sound to a global audience,

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: January 30 - Songs for Slower Days

Musically Speaking ·

2026/01/30

In this episode, I share a handful of musical recommendations centered around Joshua Lee Turner and Carson McKee, musicians I first discovered during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning with their delightful banjo and guitar cover of ABBA’s “Mamma Mia,” I reflect on what drew me to their work and to collaborations with Tony Lindgren and Elle Cordova, including memorable covers of “Stuck in the Middle with You,” Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” Paul Simon’s “Baby

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: January 23 - Why Silence Matters

Musically Speaking ·

2026/01/23

In this episode I reflect on silence, not as the absence of sound, but as an active and necessary partner to music. Drawing on musical examples like rests, cadences, and communal pauses before and after singing, I consider how silence shapes meaning, gives weight to words, and trains our attention. In a culture filled with constant noise and distraction, this episode invites listeners to notice silence again and to let it do its quiet work.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: January 16 - Saturday Morning Symphony

Musically Speaking ·

2026/01/16

In this week's episode, I reflect on how many of us were quietly introduced to orchestral music through cartoons long before we ever set foot in a concert hall. From Tom and Jerry to Looney Tunes, familiar animated worlds trained our ears to recognize musical gesture, drama, and beauty. This episode explores how public domain classical music became the soundtrack of childhood and why those sounds still shape how we hear and feel music today.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: January 9 - The Burrs of Music

Musically Speaking ·

2026/01/09

In this episode, I reflect on why lyrics tend to stay with us when they are sung, but often fade when they are merely spoken. From familiar popular songs to Scripture memory projects, I consider how melody binds words to memory and shapes how those words live inside us. With examples from Integrity Music and Dr. David Erb’s Cantica Sanctorum, this episode invites listeners to reflect on what we allow to lodge in our minds, as what stays with us often shapes us.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute

en

43:26

Why Truth Fails Without Beauty

Musically Speaking ·

2026/01/03

What happens when truth is communicated without beauty?In this bonus episode of Musically Speaking, I sit down with Dr. Scott Aniol to argue that beauty is not an optional accessory to truth, but the means by which truth is perceived, embodied, and lived. Drawing from theology, philosophy, and the Western artistic tradition, they explore why aesthetics shape belief, why all art is inherently interpretive, and how modern culture has detached the arts from formation and worship.The conversation also

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: January 2 - Auld Lang Syne

Musically Speaking ·

2026/01/02

In this episode, recorded in the first days of the new year and still within the twelve days of Christmas, I reflect on the meaning of Auld Lang Syne. Tracing its roots in the poetry of Robert Burns, I consider how this simple and enduring song gives us words for memory, friendship, gratitude, and hope. With reflections on recordings by Harry Connick Jr. and Lou Rawls, I invite listeners to make room for remembering, giving thanks, and carrying what is good into the year ahead.The Friday FIVE is a

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: December 26 - December Turned to May

Musically Speaking ·

2025/12/26

In this episode, I consider the quiet richness of the days that follow Christmas and why the season is worth more than one day. Drawing on Robert Herrick’s Christmas Carol poem, I invite the listener to make room in their mind and heart for the joy that continues beyond December 25.The Friday FIVE is a weekly five-minute podcast series from Musically Speaking that features music commentary, examples, and recommendations from Jarrod Richey.Here’s a recording of Rutter’s musical setting of Herrick’s

en

4:35

Christmas Eve Mini-Episode

Musically Speaking ·

2025/12/24

Merry Christmas Eve - Bonus Mini-Episode 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

en

5:00

Friday FIVE: December 19 - The Sacrament of Song

Musically Speaking ·

2025/12/19

In this episode, we reflect on singing as a communal act that forms us in ways private listening cannot. Drawing on recent performances by my Delta Youth Chorale and Geneva Academy students, we consider how making music together binds singers and listeners alike, especially during Advent and Christmas. In an age of earbuds and individualized playlists, this episode invites us to recover the joy, fellowship, and shared presence that come from singing aloud with one another.The Friday FIVE is a weekly

en

77 results

Similar Podcasts

Pasquale Maassen Soundcloud

Pasquale Maassen

Marian Klose

Marian Klose

sevenism

sevenism

Dean Delray"s LET THERE BE TALK

Cactus Radio Network

Word In Your Ear

Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold