Do you have good lead singers at Mass?

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goodcatholic

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I mean the music ministry. How are the singers?
My experience is plenty of instrument skill such as piano, guitar, banjo even. But the lead singers are often disappointing. Not strong enough.
I’m thinking of one exception now. She is about 75 years old but sings the house down. One Mass I even saw her get up and do a Reading for the Liturgy of the Word as well. Hope she is with us for another 20 years. We need her.
 
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Our lead singer has a rich voice and pretty vibrato, but who’s really special is our piano player. His songs are published in the missal by OCP. Very talented.
 
We live in a small town. The organist is fantastic, and we have a range of singers. Some certainly better than others, but God bless them all for doing it. I couldn’t.
 
Our parish is blessed with many whose musical talent is exceptional.
 
You get what you pay for. While there are talented amateurs who have had no training, singing is a skill, one that is expensive to develop and maintain.
 
Why does it always have to be about the money?

If I was blessed with a good voice or musical talent I would sing unto the Lord for free.

I honestly can’t even imagine saying “gee Father I’m sorry but since you can’t pay me 1,000$ I can’t sing at Mass this month…”

Does that seem like something Jesus would have said?
 
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Spyridon said:
Why does it always have to be about the money?

If I was blessed with a good voice or musical talent I would sing unto the Lord for free.

I honestly can’t even imagine saying “gee Father I’m sorry but since you can’t pay me 1,000$ I can’t sing at Mass this month…”

Does that seem like something Jesus would have said?
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You are lucky you are in a situation where you could do that. My family has varying levels of musical talent. One contributes for free, nearly every week, singing and guitar. However, he is under the guidance of a very knowledgeable and talented professional musician who needs the money from the church to live (which by the way is more like $50-$100 for a Mass and rehearsal, not $1,000).

Musician is a job. Some people are extraordinarily talented and need no professional help. Most people are ordinary or above average and need education to be able to operate at the level where the laity would consider them a “good singer”.

As an FYI…most people can sing. Even Deaf people have been taught to sing well. It takes time and money. Almost no one is beyond redemption. If you went to a professional voice trainer and dropped a few grand and worked on your voice over a few years you likely could sing like those professionals I mentioned.

Oh? You don’t have a couple of grand and years to drop on voice training?

Hmmmmmm.
 
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goodcatholic said:
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Xanthippe_Voorhees:
You get what you pay for.
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I need to put more on the plate, you mean? How did you know I put so little on there?
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I’m saying that when it comes to the Catholic Church most people not only donate little, they also prefer the money go to charity rather than music or the priest. Often in the same breath, they will complain about the music.

In America especially we are conditioned to expect music for free, and good music at that. However we forget that music–both insturmental and voice–is a skill that must be developed and that development is pricy.
 
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
If you went to a professional voice trainer and dropped a few grand and worked on your voice over a few years you likely could sing like those professionals I mentioned.
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If you knew me, you wouldn’t say that.

My voice is truly cacaphonic.

I sing at Mass because I’m singing to God and I have no shame - but trust me, it’s not nice.
 
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
America especially we are conditioned to expect music for free, and good music at that. However we forget that music–both insturmental and voice–is a skill that must be developed and that development is pricy
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It’s probably my Eastern-ascetic sensibilities.

I don’t care for a choir or an organ… (I like them, but not having them wouldn’t bother me).

I wouldn’t mind having one single Psalmist going acapella and just being joined by the Congregation.

I’m not one of those Catholic musicophiles.

I’m kind of a musical minimalist I guess.
 
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Spyridon said:
If you knew me, you wouldn’t say that.

My voice is truly cacaphonic.

I sing at Mass because I’m singing to God and I have no shame - but trust me, it’s not nice.
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Almost no one without a physical defect can’t be helped. This is why training is so important. Most people don’t know how to sing. They use the wrong parts of their diaphragm, don’t understand pitch, reading music or scales.
 
Parishes have Cantors and Choirs, not “lead singers”.

Some parishes hire professionals to Cantor or lead the Choir, some rely on volunteers.

A non-professional will not have the vocal skills of a trained professional.
 
Luke 10: 7
1 Timothy 5: 18
Matt 10: 10

We have Christ speaking exactly about this topic twice in the Gospels, and St Paul reminding us that the workman is worthy of his wages.

Also, we know that one of the sins that cry out to heaven is to deprive a worker of their wages.

If someone has other income and can donate their time to the parish, that is good. In the same way, if someone is hired to do a job, it is in no way unChristian to expect to be paid just wages.
 
We have good cantors, OK cantors and acceptable cantors at our parish.

I have a silly dream of being a cantor, actually. hahahah. But my voice needs much training and development. LOL
 
At my old church, we used to have an awesome choir. People would come from a distance to hear them. I really loved their harmony. But it went just beyond mechanics to a really awesome dynamic-- you know how it is when you have a great group of individuals who are individually talented, but are able to make something really click when they get together, and become greater than the sum of their parts.

When I was away at school, the group started to break up due to personal issues. A few of them stayed active. Others changed parishes. The choir that’s there these days is good, and competent— but they’re missing that really vibrant spark that I took for granted back then.

At my current church, I miss them all the more, because I’m in a very un-musical parish. 🙂 Our former priest used to be a very accomplished musician, so he would lead the singing, and we had a pianist. But our pianist has been sick for the last couple of years, and our former priest’s illness forced him to retire. Our last two priests have been trying to work with the congregation, and they’re finally getting somewhere. 🙂 I do most of the lead singing— I have no range, but at least I can read music, I know most of the songs, and at least this way, I get to pick the key. 😛 (Did I mention I have no range?) Singing a few notes by myself is better than an awkward silence waiting for the song to magically start. 🙂 Occasionally, if the priest picks a song I’m not solid on, it turns into a terrible fiasco… but at least God knows we’re trying to make a joyful noise. 🙂

But being able to enjoy a good choir is one thing I look forward to when I travel!
 
no, we don’t

my parish music ministry is bad

and the only reason i say is this is because i visit other parishes
 
I gotta say, the music at the parish my family attends is awesome. The church is within walking distance of a world renowned music school, so we get students who are very skilled.
 
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