Sarcouncil Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

Abstract: This study aims to analyze and describe the musical aesthetic dimensions manifested in the practice of praise and worship during the Sunday Morning Service at GBI Sekinah Glory, Karang Panjang, Ambon City, Maluku. Academic studies that specifically examine musical aesthetics in a technically measurable manner within the context of Charismatic church worship in Eastern Indonesia remain limited. This research seeks to address that scholarly gap. Employing a qualitative approach with a case study design, the study utilized two categories of data. The first consisted of musical data, including audio recordings, melodic transcriptions, chord progressions, instrumentation, and dynamic structures obtained through participatory observation and documentation. The second consisted of experiential and interpretive data collected through semi-structured interviews with nine informants. Musical data were manually transcribed from audio recordings and visualized using MuseScore 3.3.4. The analysis was informed by Hanslick’s theory of musical formalism and Piston’s theory of harmony as complementary analytical frameworks. The findings reveal that musical aesthetic dimensions are systematically manifested through melodic construction, harmonic construction, dynamic architecture, and instrumentation across the three songs analyzed. Each song demonstrates distinctive melodic and harmonic characteristics, including nondominant seventh chords, borrowed chords, modal degrees, added ninth chords, suspended fourth chords, and carefully designed dynamic architectures supported by musical scores as verifiable evidence. Furthermore, GBI Sekinah Glory exhibits three consistent aesthetic practices: the use of the piano as the central instrument, the gradual entry of accompanying instruments, and deliberate aesthetic consideration in chord selection. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on musical aesthetics in Charismatic worship and provides a significant scholarly contribution by representing the underexplored context of Eastern Indonesia.