The Sing! Hymnal from Keith and Kristyn Getty is more than a songbook. It’s a blend of music, poetry, and popular hymns. It’s designed for private and family worship at home (or for public worship, but many of the songs require a license for public usage). It includes 497 classic and contemporary hymns, liturgical readings, psalms paired with popular hymns, stories about the hymns, and indexes. The Sing! Hymnal website includes a full list of the hymns with downloadable sheet music. It was printed by RR Donnelley in China.

Covers

The Sing! Hymnal is available in several covers. They are larger than most hymnals in all directions, which could make them difficult to use. Some are easier than others, depending on how you need to use them. The cloth-over-board seems to be a good option for almost anyone, since it stays open. The goatskin cover doesn’t stay open well, so it needs to be held with two hands, so it’s not a good option for musicians. The overall size is 6.25 x 9.25 x 1.75 inches, and it weighs around 2 lbs, 13.5 oz. This is a touch large and heavy when compared to most hymnals. Both editions have white page edges.

There is another option that’s great for musicians, which is spiral-bound and includes chords, but I don’t have it to compare. That’s the one I’d recommend the most, since it would lie perfectly flat on every page, which is ideal for playing an instrument while singing.

Cloth Over Board

The green cloth-over-board includes gold printing on the front and spine, and includes debossed designs and spine hubs. It looks elegant and is my favorite of the two I have. It stays open to any page, but pages in the front and back don’t lie flat, so some of the lyrics and sheet music bend into the gutter on these pages. This one has two 1/4 inch ribbons- one in cream and one in brown. They’re long enough to use easily. I like that it has two ribbons. This makes it easy to turn to a few songs quickly.

Goatskin

The goatskin is a thick leather and has a deep pebbly grain. It looks the same as their Heirloom Bibles, with perimeter stitching, raised hubs, gold printing, a leather liner, a decorative gilt line, and it is edge-lined. The edge-lined tab is stiff, making it close for the first 120 songs. Also, it causes a hump, so the words bend away from your eyes. Unfortunately, this one is not practical for musicians. It works fine if you can hold it open with both hands. I’m sure this is its primary purpose. It has a 3/8 inch gold ribbon. The ribbon is a touch short, but it’s still usable. I prefer the two ribbons in the cloth over board, because there are two and they’re longer.

Paper

The paper is 70gsm. This is a custom paper that’s creamy in color, and it’s acid-free. It’s highly opaque and easy to turn, and it looks great. This is the kind of paper I expect to see in a hymnal.

Content

All of the text is set in the Trinité typeface. The content includes songs, liturgical readings, and Psalms, together on the same pages. The top of the page shows the topic of the content. All content is numbered in a large, dark red font. The font is around 9-point, and there is a lot of space between the lines. This is great for singing and reading.

Songs

The Sing! Hymnal contains 497 classic and contemporary hymns. They include simple sheet music above and below the lyrics. The spacing is excellent. This is the easiest layout to sing from any hymnal I’ve used. Many of the songs are in copyright and require a license to sing them in public worship. You’ll have to obtain the license from each license-holder independently. All can be sung in private worship at home.

Liturgical Readings

Throughout the hymnal are 403 liturgical readings. These liturgical readings include quotations from classical and contemporary writers and theologians. This includes Augustine of Hippo, John Bunyan, John Calvin, H. B. Charles Jr, Billy Graham, Francis of Assisi, C. S. Lewis, Martin Luther, J. I. Packer, John Piper, Dane Ortlund, Charles Spurgeon, and Joni Eareckson Tada. They match the theme of the song and verse, and identify the author. They’re presented on the page as poetry.

Psalms

Psalms and other verses are paired with the hymns. They’re from the ESV and KJV. They’re printed in a poetic format. They do not include verse numbers in the text, but it does give the reference in the title.

Stories

In the back are stories about each hymn. It provides the hymn number, title, and a brief story about the hymn, including information such as the author, when it was written, the circumstances of its composition, the Scriptures it’s based on, thoughts about the hymn, and more. I enjoy stories about music and found these fascinating.

Indexes

There are several indexes to help you find songs and other information.

Readings Copyright Index

This lists the sources for the liturgical readings. It’s a bibliography.

Hymn Sources

This lists the writers of the hymns, along with the song numbers for all of their hymns. This is good if you want to find all of the hymns from a specific author.

Hymn Meters

This lists each meter and shows all of the song numbers with that meter.

Hymn Tunes

This shows the song that’s known for the tune, and then provides song numbers for each of the songs that use that tune.

Scripture Index

This shows the Scripture and all of the song numbers for each Scripture. This is great for finding all of the songs that go with a specific theme or message.

Topical Index

The Topical Index includes lots of topics to help you find the right song for the occasion. Unfortunately, the topics listed don’t match the headings on the song pages, which could make the songs difficult to find. Topics such as Christmas and Easter are hard to find. They’re listed under “Jesus, Birth of”, “Jesus, Death of”, “Jesus, Resurrection of”, etc. The songs themselves show Christmas and Easter as the headings.

Titles and First Lines

This provides the title of each song along with a portion of the lyrics, making them easier to locate. This is the one I find the easiest to use.

Conclusion

The Sing! Hymnal and an excellent hymnal for home use. It’s made well, and the interior is gorgeous. It does have a few quirks, though. The goatskin edition wants to close, and the text bends away from the singer if it’s not held open. The Topical Index and headings on the songs are mismatched. For example, Christmas songs include the heading “Christmas”, but “Christmas” is not a topic in the index. I’d like to see these headings included in the topical index. Many of the songs require a license to sing in public worship. Not everyone will need liturgical readings or Scriptures on the page with the hymns. I still like this hymnal, though, and I think it would be a great edition for home use. For musicians, I recommend getting the spiral-bound edition with chords, which I hope to review next year.

For more information about The Sing! Hymnal, including the full songlist and downloadable sheet music, please visit SingHymnal.com.

Crossway provided these hymnals in exchange for an honest review.