I think classical guitar, where the notes are “picked” rather than strummed (don’t know if this is the technical term) is really beautiful. I’ve also heard that it’s quite difficult to learn, so that’s probably why I’ve never encountered classical guitar at mass. If I did, I wouldn’t have a problem with it but I think it would need appropriate classical music. I just can’t imagine classical guitar and “One Bread, One Body” LOL.
Most of the “guitar masses” that I’ve attended are more of a folk-style playing, the type of strumming one would hear around a campfire. I can’t say this is my favorite as it generally invokes the 1960’s Peter, Paul and Mary vibe that a previous poster alluded to. This doesn’t seem to fit the bill for “sacred” music.
I currently attend mass where we have an electric guitar. (And an electric piano.
And a drum set.
) I can’t think of one good reason to have an electric guitar at mass. It seems like once it’s introduced the drums inevitably follow.
Fingerpicking isn’t that hard if people will actually put forth some effort. If someone is going to play in public, in any setting, they need to be practicing at least one hour a day, every day, unless they’ve reached a level of virtuosity. With that said, I’m about to add a few bees to this hornet’s nest of a thread.
To the original poster- Go in confidence to the traditional EF Mass. Go a few times and your concerns will seem like a weird dream.
As far as guitar music at Mass goes, it was one of the big things that drove me out of the Church a few years ago (there were plenty of other issues, also).
I’m a classically-trained pianist and guitarist. I’m the son of a professional pianist, the grandson of two bluegrass guitarists, and the father of a soon-to-be prodigy, I’ve recorded two albums, composed the scores to two low budget movies, so I’m going to add my 2 cents to this musical discussion, because I am begging people to support the traditional music and organ,* to the exclusion of other instruments and styles*.
As for the guitar, one of the biggest problems is that these guitars are staidly strummed in the 60’s folk style. The people who support this style of music don’t realize that most peopel don’t want to hear the neutered music of secular culture de-sacralizing the liturgy. The secular music it’s based on is trite and dated, so why put it into the liturgy? Yes the guitar is an ancient instrument, and yes there are masterpieces by Bach and others that were written for the lute (and even some for the guitar itself), but you will almost never hear these. I would interpret Cardinal Arinze’s “special group” exception to no guitar to mean this kind of situation, but that’s just my opinion.
I guess I’ll speak from the heart, even though I know I’m going to get lashed out at. Based on my experiences, the reason for all of this musical devastation is that these Church guitarists are, frankly, not very talented on the whole. In a secular music situation, if any one of these musicians wanted to open up for us, even at a no-account dive, I would have to say no, even though it would make me feel bad, not because of elitism, but because frankly, we wouldn’t be asked back to that venue, due to the lack of quality in the opening act.
The over-arching issue is this. There was an era where the best musicians on Earth were Christian. This is a far cry from today’s reality. Generally speaking, guitarists play “Christian” music because they know there will always be an accepting audience. There may be a few who play out of a sense of piety, but on the whole it’s an attempt to be a faux-star in an environment where people are just going to take it.
Most talented guitarists of today are not going to play in Church. It’s just a fact. They aren’t going to write pop hymns or anything like that. They are going to be playing in bars, going on tour, recording albums, etc., and taking full advantage of things like drug use, the devotion of women, etc. I know because I’ve been there. To be honest, whenever someone became a “Christian musician,” we’d unfortunately lose respect for that musician, knowing that this change of genre was ultimately due to a lack of creativity and craftsmanship. This is why Christian pop music is largely the same stylistically year by year (though there are some deviations, like hardcore, which ironically, I like a little). I mean, forget fingerpicking. I’d actually like to see one
flat-pick.
In theory, a great guitarist could come in, play a guitar work by a master composer, make it completely reverent and mysterious, and help bring people closer to the divine. This isn’t going to happen, though. There’s too much allure in the bars and festivals. Most organists, though, are very talented. The main outlet for an organist is Church, so the better the organist, the more likely he/she is going to play in Church. This is partially true for the piano. There are also too many guitarists, period. Most are grossly incompetent.
Does the guitar music at Mass point hearts and minds towards a mystical reality? Towards a transcendent God that can’t be fathomed? I’d say no. While there’s nothing inherently “wrong” with it, it’s grossly simplified. Frankly, I think it’s banal and childish. I don’t have the mindset of a fourth grader. No adults do. I don’t know why they want the liturgy to be that bare and dumbed down. I benefit from a theologically and artistically in-depth experience at Mass in regards to music. “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” is a song I would teach a 1st grader, both from the standpoint of learning music and learning the Catholic faith. It drags the transcendent down to the level of something too easy to grasp, and that is always a very bad thing, in my opinion. The liturgy should be awe-inspiring, not easily-digestable for us. Only the very best composers should be writing music for the Mass.
Of course, I violate the previous statement myself. I’m not experienced in writing choral music at all, outside of the bluegrass harmony trio setting, but when I became a Christian, I wrote an OF Mass. I actually simplified a lot of it. Some of it ended up being kind of banal. I was spurned on by the hope that God would still regard it as an act of penance. Unfortunately, I was ultimately told that it would be too complicated for a parish choir to sing. It was a big let down.
I went to the EF, and they were casually implementing music by Mozart and Palestrina like it was nothing, so you can imagine what the special music at Masses is like.
I guess to sum it up I’ll ask a few questions. Does the music at Mass create a sense of mystery, history, and the transcendent? Is it art in the strict sense?
These questions are part of a broader issue, at least for me. Can the thinking man, the artist, the theologian, the historian, etc. be fully involved in the life of Christianity? Or is our religion inseparably linked to the banal, simplistic, overly-democratized and aesthetically trite patterns of our secular culture? I firmly believe that if people falling into the categories above are not won over to our Catholic cause, we won’t see a renewal anytime soon. It’s these same exact people who are currently fueling the secular attacks on our faith, in art, in philosophy, etc. The faith has to have a widespread high culture element if western renewal is in the future.
Exactly why the Organ and Chant should always have “Pride of Place,” at every Latin Rite liturgy in the world.
My two cents. Now it’s time to duck and cover…
