Welcome to our feature spotlight on HMR News Updates, where we highlight the talented individuals who are making waves in their respective fields. Today, we shine a light on Ruth Modisanyane.
Ruth Modisanyane, a 21-year-old music teacher from Krugersdorp, South Africa, is a young musician who is passionate about spreading the gospel through her music. Ruth comes from a musical family, where both her parents were choir directors, and their love for music was evident. “We used to sit and sing together at home, and my dad got me a guitar at the age of 7, and I fortunately taught myself how to play the guitar as the musical genes are running through my blood. This is one of my favorite childhood memories,” says Ruth.
Ruth started singing at a very young age, probably from as early as five years old, and the first instrument she learned how to play was the piano. She later taught herself how to play the guitar. There was a two-layer organ at home, and she would learn to play a song from a CD player and replicate what she heard from the song and transfer the melody to the organ. “I first started with one finger in my right hand, then two, built up to chords, and my left hand came in, and the whole shenanigans, and it was great. I sat there until I got it right, but I started proper piano lessons from 9th grade at school,” she says.
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| Classic Baldwin organ |
When asked about her goals for ten years from now, Ruth says, “I’ve always wanted to release my music, release a music piece, and I would love to perform across the world and make Jesus famous because he makes me so happy. I need to use what I’ve been called to do. I want to spread the gospel in the form of music,” she adds.
When asked if she was open to doing other genres besides gospel music, Ruth says, “Yes and no, but no heavy metal music. I’ve listened to the songs. I don’t see myself there, I struggle there,” she says, as she laughs. “I love me some good bossa nova song, nice jazz. I love blues, smooth jazz, classic jazz, but I am more leaning towards the new jazz, not that I can play, but I do try, and I am yet to learn a lot of movements. I love me some R&B, but the '90s is my favorite.”
When asked what she loves outside of music, Ruth says, “I love knitting; I can knit,” she emphasizes. “I like playing guitar as a hobby, but my strongest instrument is vocals, and piano is my second, guitar third, and bass is my fourth, and a little bit of drums. My only problem with a guitar is the pain from the strings, and because I don’t play enough, it hurts so much. That’s why when I think of the guitar, I associate it with pain, but I like the swell sound of the guitar, especially from Bethel Music, like Walker Smith, and her electric guitar goes in, they create these special moments for me, and I will be like, I wanna know how to do that.”
When asked if she thinks she is a good, better, or best musician, Ruth says, “Vocally, I am a better musician, but in piano, I am good, but there’s room to be a better musician. My weakness in music, vocals- used to be high notes, but I have worked on them very well, but the low notes have I’m working to make them richer and thicker because I thrive on high notes. When it comes to playing traditional gospel music, I fail miserably like it’s very bad. But I play well on contemporary music as I listen to a lot of overseas music, but
She also expressed her love for knitting and playing guitar as a hobby. Ruth revealed that her strongest instruments are vocals, followed by piano, guitar, bass, and drums. However, she admitted that playing guitar can be painful due to the strings, but she loves the sound it creates in certain music genres.
When asked if she considers herself a good musician, Ruth explained that vocally, she is better, but she still has room for improvement on the piano. Her weakness used to be high notes, but she worked hard to improve them. However, she still strives to make her low notes richer and thicker.
As for South African gospel music, Ruth said that she struggles with traditional gospel music but excels in contemporary music. She listens to a lot of overseas music, but locally, she loves Ntokozo Mbambo. Singing awakens a fire inside of her, and she loves what she can do with her voice and the emotions she can evoke.
When it comes to her favorite musicians, Ruth mentioned Nina Simone, Luther Vandross, Musiq Soulchild, Beyoncé, Tasha Leonard Cobbs, Bethel Music, Tamela Mann, Ntokozo Mbambo, Nqubeko Mbatha, Phil Tomson, and Kim Walker Smith.
Regarding South African gospel music, Ruth said that she prefers songs that glorify Jesus rather than those that are solely about gratitude. She categorizes gospel songs as either man to men, men to God, or God to men. She listens to music based on the criteria she mentioned and currently favors smooth jazz.
Despite her young age, Ruth has already achieved some of her goals. She has been performing at various events, and her performances have been well received by audiences. However, her ultimate goal is to spread the gospel through her music and make Jesus famous. She believes that she has been called by God to do this and is determined to use her talents to fulfill this purpose. |
In vocal and piano session
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