Does anyone here besides myself like the contemporary music at mass

  • Thread starter Thread starter SacredHeartBassist
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Honestly, I’m not sure what I like. I tend towards the more traditional songs, but then I don’t really like it when it’s just the organ and some cantor singing a melody that no one else can follow. I prefer to sing along. I don’t mind some contemporary praise & worship, but some of it is distracting to me. Having a full band with drums, bass, and electric guitar is usually distracting to me, but not always. I guess I’d say my favorite moments of music in the liturgy are at those bigger celebrations where they have the horns and the timpani in addition to the organ.

But really, I just resign myself to whatever is there. I know I am certainly not going to step up to the plate and do music ministry myself. So I just try to appreciate the people that are there giving of their talents and time, even if it’s not my favorite liturgical music (like a harmonica solo for the meditation after the Eucharist 😝).
 
Last edited:
We don’t have drums. I think drums can be distracting if played wrong and most the time they are.
 
One of my alma maters would use the drums, particularly at bigger all-campus Masses. It did get less distracting to me over time. 😁

I think I’ve been to enough different places with different kinds of music that nothing really grates on me anymore.
 
When it comes to music at Mass, I am more of a traditionalist. Those hymns seem a little more reverent.
I am a member of the rock-and-roll generation, but I never liked it when church choirs tried to use pop music during the late 1960s and 1970s at Mass.
 
I think if they’re done well it can work. But maybe a cajon and some bongos over a whole set or even worse an electric drum set

Shudders
 
I don’t mind any type of music at church as long as it’s no too loud. I’ve come out of a mass with my ears ringing a few times.
 
Really? Palestrina was pop music? Tell us more. I think you might be misinformed. I see that he wrote two volumes of secular madrigals, which I guess you could call pop music, but most everything else looks like sacred music to me.
Maybe some Mozart was “pop music”, but certainly not his Masses. Anyway, as the Church herself tells us, Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony have “pride of place”, not that that is reflected outside of a few locations…🤣
 
Last edited:
Just curious if folks know that the Church has music (known as the propers), which are Biblical texts that most parishes just ignore, and replace with hymns 100% of the time?
 
EricF said:
For me, it’s Eagles Wings…that’s the one song that makes me cringe.
Click to expand...
🤣

Everybody says that, but I love that song. Now, don’t get me started on “Peace is Flowing Like a River”… (Am I dating myself?)
 
Please don’t eat the chop-ped liv-iv-errrr
It is bad for you and me-ee- ee,
Let us cut straight to the des-es-sert,
Choc’lit cake will set us free. . .
 
I plan music in a blended style. I will use a traditional hymn at times (Trinity: Holy, Holy, Holy), the 80’s classic contemporary tunes, and some of the newer modern songs: “10,000 Reasons,” which the people love as only one example. I feel that in doing so, we are providing music that will satisfy all tastes.
By the way, I can use a bass player. Do you travel? LOL!
 
Last edited:
At a Mass many years ago, I heard a string quarter perform Schubert’s Ave Maria. (No singing.) It was such a beautiful rendition that it brought tears to my eyes.
 
I’m aware Palestrina wrote sacred music but polyphony as a style was popular when the church exclusively only allowed monophonic music

Mozarts masses were controversial amongst Catholics when they were performed because trafitionalists only thought chant or organ should be played
 
We have eight masses every weekend and we have eight different Choirs, or Bands to provide music.
Saturday English Vigil Mass is the Guitar ensemble.
Saturday Spanish Vigil Mass is a small Spanish band.
Sunday Morning 7:30am is a revolving group of volunteers, sometime only a piano and one cantor
Sunday 9:00am and 11:00am is the traditional English choir with Hymnals, Organ, Piano, Strings and brass.
Sunday 1:00pm is a full Spanish group with percussion, strings, guitars, brass and choir.
Sunday at 3:00 is either the Polish Choir or the Filipino Choir (on alternating Sundays)
But Sunday at 6:00pm is the Life Teen Mass. Now we’re talking Tom Booth, Ike Ndolo, Matt Maher, the Newsboys, Hillsong, Steve Angrisano, Jackie (Francois) Angel and many more, and we rock!

I’ve been singing there since 2004 and I love it. But that;s not to say I won’t sing a Latin Ave Maria or a Greek Kyrie from time to time. All of it is beautiful to the Lord.

I cite Psalm 150 and this:

“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy. ”The composition and singing of inspired psalms, often accompanied by musical instruments, were already closely linked to the liturgical celebrations of the Old Covenant. The Church continues and develops this tradition: “Address… one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.” “He who sings prays twice.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1156
 
Last edited:
I like some of the songs. My current favorite is “Lion and the Lamb” which is on the greatest hits list at one of the parishes in my home town for their weekly youth mass. They have a band with electric guitars, keyboards and drummer.
 
SacredHeartBassist said:
We don’t have drums. I think drums can be distracting if played wrong and most the time they are.
Click to expand...
I kind of like the drums at Mass. Why shouldn’t a drummer be able to praise God using his instrument too?
The only problem with drums is that they can be really loud for the people sitting anywhere near them. You need to have someplace to put them, like the choir loft, where they won’t be destroying someone’s eardrums.
 
SacredHeartBassist said:
I play electric bass at mass and I feel that a lot on caf don’t like contemporary music in mass. I’d like to hear from people that do like the contemporary stuff from Matt Maher and others in mass. I know you guys exist because people come up to us after mass and tell us we sound great
Click to expand...
If I want to listen to key-tars and dubstep, I’ll go to a rock concert!

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
Last edited:
michaelhager said:
We have eight masses every weekend and we have eight different Choirs, or Bands to provide music.
Saturday English Vigil Mass is the Guitar ensemble.
Saturday Spanish Vigil Mass is a small Spanish band.
Sunday Morning 7:30am is a revolving group of volunteers, sometime only a piano and one cantor
Sunday 9:00am and 11:00am is the traditional English choir with Hymnals, Organ, Piano, Strings and brass.
Sunday 1:00pm is a full Spanish group with percussion, strings, guitars, brass and choir.
Sunday at 3:00 is either the Polish Choir or the Filipino Choir (on alternating Sundays)
But Sunday at 6:00pm is the Life Teen Mass. Now we’re talking Tom Booth, Ike Ndolo, Matt Maher, the Newsboys, Hillsong, Steve Angrisano, Jackie (Francois) Angel and many more, and we rock!

I’ve been singing there since 2004 and I love it. But that;s not to say I won’t sing a Latin Ave Maria or a Greek Kyrie from time to time. All of it is beautiful to the Lord.

I cite Psalm 150 and this:

“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy. ”The composition and singing of inspired psalms, often accompanied by musical instruments, were already closely linked to the liturgical celebrations of the Old Covenant. The Church continues and develops this tradition: “Address… one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.” “He who sings prays twice.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1156
Click to expand...
All of it is beautiful to the Lord? Hmmm, maybe. How do you know this for sure? I am serious - - how do you claim to know this? How do you reconcile the pop style with the instructions from the Church herself? You know, the instruction that say that chant and sacred polyphony should have pride of place? I look forward to your answer! 🙂
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top