It was early last year during my year of service in Lucknow, India that I realized two things: 1) I hadn't memorized a lot of prayers (I often depended on my prayer book) 2) the Indian Baha'is never read prayers; they always chanted! And they sound so beautiful! So I decided to memorize new prayers. It took me time to read and memorize just like that, so I thought of creating tunes for the prayers that I read. That made memorizing A LOT easier. It also felt really really good...reciting prayers with melodies. I enjoyed it so much, that I'd find myself washing clothes and singing out loud "verily Thou art the Powerful..." hehe. It took a few weeks to memorize and come up with a new chant, and then I'd be inspired to do another one. Before I knew it, I started chanting in Baha'i gatherings, and it just felt really good - It helped me reflect on the writings even more. It's such a beautiful experience. I've video-recorded some of the prayer chants I've made. If only I knew how to play the guitar or piano, I know they would sound more beautiful. *Note: some of the prayers are not complete because I used instagram to record them (and IG has a video limit of 1 minute).
"Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men..." -Baha'u'llah
"Baha'u'llah, in this glorious period has revealed in Holy Tablets that singing and music are the spiritual food of the hearts and souls. In this dispensation, music is one of the arts that is highly approved and is considered to be the cause of the exaltation of sad and desponding hearts. Therefore....set to music the verses and the divine words so that they may be sung with soul-stirring melody in the Assemblies and gatherings and that the hearts of the listeners may become tumultuous and rise towards the Kingdom of Abha in supplication and prayer." -Abdu'l-Baha