They will Play your Name!

To a non-musician, the above interpretation of these verses might seem very strange and you are probably asking yourself, "How can you play someone's name?" If you are classically trained in music, you may be familiar with the Italian phase soggetto cavato (literally meaning carved theme or subject). In a musical sense, the phrase soggetto cavato refers to a type of compositional device in which the letters of a word or name are mapped to specific tones of a musical alphabet or scale. It is a technique that has been utilized for centuries by composers to come up with new, innovative melodies and themes. For example, during the Renaissance period it was a common practice for composers to honor their patrons, rulers, etc. by composing musical works using the letters of their names as the source for the themes (melodies) used in their compositions. A few examples of the composers who utilized this type of compositional device include:

     To get an idea of how this type of compositional device works in a practical situation, let's assume we want to write a simple song for three of our friends: Gabe, Deb and Abe and we can only use the white keys on the piano for the song (i.e., the 7 natural tones A - B - C - D - E - F - G). As each letter of their names maps directly to one of these tones, we can simply make up a melody using the tones A -B - D - E - G.

The Ballad of Gabe, Deb and Abe

     From the Hebrew texts, David, who was directly attributed as the author of four of the five instances in which this technique was alluded to in the Scriptures, was apparently familiar with this type of compositional device. This single long, lost secret proved to be one of the keys used to unlock the musical system employed by the Levites. This compositional device of David literally enabled the Levite musicians and singers to not only "sing the Name of God," but also "to play the Name of God" as the Scriptures state.
     If this indeed is the case, there must therefore be some type of correlation and mapping possible between the Name of God and the tones of some type of musical scale. At first glance, there does not appear to have any logical relationship or possible interface between these two languages (i.e., the written language and the language of music). In the written Hebrew we have twenty-two basic letters in the alephbet and in the language of music we have twelve basic tones - 22 into 12 does not quite work...
     The first clue to unraveling this mystery occurred by expanding the base of possible tones to be mapped. In our traditional Western musical system we use the basic twelve tone, equal tempered scale below. It forms the basis for 99.99% of all music that is and has been composed, sung, and performed for centuries. These are the notes playable on a guitar, a piano and in fact most instruments we use in our time.

     In addition to the use of the twelve tones of our present musical system, the music of the Hebrews most likely included the use of quartertones (i.e., the tones that occur in-between the twelve tones above]. This is borne out by the fact that many of the melodies and ethnic songs of the Oriental culture that have been passed down orally through the generations and that are still in use by some communities today utilize quarter-tones [1.].

ascending twenty-four tone quartertone scale

(quartertones are shown above with small note heads)

The Davidic Cipher