The third hymnal is included to provide additional titles from a source used by some non-United Methodist churches of a more conservative, evangelical bent. These titles and dates of copyright or composition are taken from three sources, and page numbers are indicated in parentheses for the first two hymnals, which are United Methodist publications. Does the recent appearance of the new favorites indicate a generational shift in the church and an accompanying style of music preference? The reader might wonder which three previous favorites have been replaced. For example, three of the current top five United Methodist favorites ('Spirit Song,' 'Here I Am, Lord,' and 'Hymn of Promise') were composed within the past twenty-five years. The reader may see connections between the popularity of any given hymn or song and any specific generation active within the church at that time. Reading the entire list chronologically shows the evolution of musical (and to a degree, textual) style.

(See 'United Methodism's Favorite Hymns' by Dean McIntyre.) The list below provides a chronological context for these favorites.

The titles below in bold are those named as favorites of United Methodist and other Christians. The list may be used in a number of ways: Implications for current theories, future research, and the relationship between music perception and melody identification are discussed.What follows is a chronological listing of hymn and song titles frequently used in United Methodist and other churches. The data suggest that melody identification is a holistic, all-or-none process and that parallels can be drawn between melody and spoken word identification. As well, identification peaked after listeners heard moderate amounts of information (i.e., 5–7 notes). Identification was most strongly associated with notes located at phrase boundaries, notes that completed alternating sequences of rising and falling pitches, and metrically accented notes. Multiple regression analyses determined which musical characteristics predicted identification performance. In Phase 2, each note of the melody was analyzed along a variety of musical dimensions. In Phase 1, the participants heard familiar melodies that were played on a note-by-note basis until they were identified.

What information do listeners use to “Name that Tune”? This question was investigated in a two-phase experiment.

Marking Melody by R.E. Butler