"The song, a form of prayer, in the festive dress of piety and the elevated language of inspiration, raising the congregation to the highest pitch of devotion, and giving it a part in the heavenly harmonies of the saints….The Lord himself inaugurated psalmody into the new covenant at the institution of the holy Supper, and Paul expressly enjoined the singing of 'psalms and hymns and spiritual songs' as a means of social edification" - Philip Schaff (History of the Christian Church, Vol. 1, pg. 463).
"The prevailing mode of singing during the first three centuries was congregational. The whole congregation united their voices in the sacred song of praise, in strains suited to their ability. Their music, if such it could be called, was, of necessity, crude and simple. Indeed, it appears to have been a kind of recitative or chant. The charm of their sacred music was not in the harmony of sweet sounds, but in the melody of the heart….But, however this may be, the most ancient and most common mode of singing was confessedly for the whole assembly; men, women and children blend their voices in their songs of praise in the great congregation" -Lyman Coleman (Ancient Christianity Exemplified, pgs. 329, 330).