Help with loud singer at Mass

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Mordocai

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There is a particular woman during Mass who loves to sing…
Opera Style!
And o boy can she carry a tune! I mean CARRY it! For miles! This woman sings very loud, and quite… distractingly…
What can I do? My first step would be to turn around and just stare at her until she quiets down.
Then politely tell her to hushin’!

Any suggestions? Any sprays out there that cause temporary muteness?:rotfl:

We affecionately call her “the bird lady” in my family. 🙂
 
OK you aren’t going to like my answer…
I say thank God that she is praising God the best she can…as our deacon once said…since I can’t sing well, I will sing loud and let God hear my songs I offter to him. If he doesn’t like it, he will change it or shut me up…we all laughed but truly, this is not a singing cklass it is mass…a CELEBRATION, let her celebrate! If it distracts you that much pray about it…best advice I can give.
 
Which saint was it who said, “Singing is praying twice”? I understand how loud, off-key singers can grate ones nerves, (professional musician here) but I think in this case you should just be grateful that she is singing to Lord in whatever voice He gave her. Afterall, how many people don’t bother to sing at all?
 
Sit way far away from her if it bothers you so much, offer it up for poor sinners and think about how St. Teresa handled the Nun’s clicking teeth when she would go to Adoration and have to sit there at the same time as the elderly Nun was there, (she offered it up too.) Apparently the sound got on her nerves. (I wish I could sing.)
 
I completely agree with everyone. Let her be! She’s praisin’ in her own way! 🙂
 
Drown her out. My experience with Catholic singing is that it is more a contest to see who can sing the softest.
 
I have a friend who can’t sing well, but she sings anyway because the Bible says to make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord. Hers is truly a joyful NOISE. :yup:

There is a lady who sings in the choir who reminds me of a foghorn. And she sings with all her heart. God bless her.

Arlene
 
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Mordocai:
There is a particular woman during Mass who loves to sing…
Opera Style!
And o boy can she carry a tune! I mean CARRY it! For miles! This woman sings very loud, and quite… distractingly…
What can I do? My first step would be to turn around and just stare at her until she quiets down.
Then politely tell her to hushin’!

Any suggestions? Any sprays out there that cause temporary muteness?:rotfl:

We affecionately call her “the bird lady” in my family. 🙂
Click to expand...
Sit far away!
It sounds great to to “give it up” but I sat in front of a lady last week who was so out of tune, it messed my whole family up. We were doing responses in Latin and we don’t know them all by heart, so it became difficult.
One week, sacrifice. Many weeks, move!
 
I must say it is better to sing than not, remeber you may think you know how to pray yet we cannot without the Holy Spirit. My parents came to town a few weeks to visit and my Dad a protestant asked why the majority of the congregation did not sing. I had no good answer
 
Put your energies into singing more loudly yourself.

Us Cathoics are very bad when it comes to singing we seem to murmer everything.

Let her be.
 
Hi Mordocai,

As someone else said, the problem is usually to get Catholics to sing!

The rule of thumb for community prayer as well as community singing is “do it loud enough so your neighbors can hear you, but not louder.”

Maybe you should get the music director to recruit her for the choir. That way there will be someone to control her.

Verbum
 
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Affirmed:
Which saint was it who said, “Singing is praying twice”? I understand how loud, off-key singers can grate ones nerves, (professional musician here) but I think in this case you should just be grateful that she is singing to Lord in whatever voice He gave her. Afterall, how many people don’t bother to sing at all?
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The quote is often attributed to St. Augustine. However, since I am a singer 😃 I did some research … Augustine actually said, “To sing belongs to lovers!” I think I like that even more. :love:
 
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Mordocai:
There is a particular woman during Mass who loves to sing…
Opera Style!
And o boy can she carry a tune! I mean CARRY it! For miles! This woman sings very loud, and quite… distractingly…
What can I do? My first step would be to turn around and just stare at her until she quiets down.
Then politely tell her to hushin’!

Any suggestions? Any sprays out there that cause temporary muteness?:rotfl:

We affecionately call her “the bird lady” in my family. 🙂
Click to expand...
Some people are distracted by babies crying, children eating Cheerios or the smell of someone who chose to marinate in perfume before coming to Mass! 😉 My suggestion: Pray that you overcome the distraction and if that does not help–move to another pew.
 
I guess I’d sit to the side or behind her.

I would have reported the singing rule as you are supposed to still be able to hear your neighbor singing beside you, otherwise you are too loud.
 
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Pug:
I guess I’d sit to the side or behind her.

I would have reported the singing rule as you are supposed to still be able to hear your neighbor singing beside you, otherwise you are too loud.
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There are singing “rubrics?” :whacky:
 
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Pug:
I guess I’d sit to the side or behind her.

I would have reported the singing rule as you are supposed to still be able to hear your neighbor singing beside you, otherwise you are too loud.
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There’s a gal that cantors at our parish that sings like she’s an opera star, which she certainly isn’t, dear lady! Ha!

I sometimes feel like I am the only one singing in my pew. My husband really tries but he has a hard time staying on key, bless him.

I try not to sing so loudly that others are distracted, but I often notice that others take their cue from me because our church is one of those large open spaces that make you feel like you are standing in the middle of a barn, so it’s hard to follow the cantor or choir for folks not musically inclined.
 
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Mordocai:
There is a particular woman during Mass who loves to sing…
Opera Style!
And o boy can she carry a tune! I mean CARRY it! For miles! This woman sings very loud, and quite… distractingly…
What can I do? My first step would be to turn around and just stare at her until she quiets down.
Then politely tell her to hushin’!

Any suggestions? Any sprays out there that cause temporary muteness?:rotfl:

We affecionately call her “the bird lady” in my family. 🙂
Click to expand...
If she’s on key, what’s the beef? In a choir, she would be expected to blend her voice but sometimes people with BIG voices have trouble modulating. There’s a woman in our choir like that: she’s worth five other singers and her softest voice is still huge.

If your opera singer is NOT on key, she’s probably tone deaf and can’t hear herself. So cut her a little slack.

Don’t try to sell me on “joyful noise.” If you CAN hear yourself and you KNOW you’re off key, pipe down. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t sing but you need to be considerate of others who may be able to carry a tune but are not strong enough to stay on pitch with an off-key claxon blaring from the next pew. Know thyself and have mercy.

The quote about praying twice is from Augustine and it is more correctly: He who chants **well **prays twice.
 
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MaryAgnes:
There are singing “rubrics?” :whacky:
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Yes. The guideline is that if you cannot hear your neighbor who is singing in a normal voice, then you are overwhelming him and need to lighten up so that the sound is unified. Admittedly, this would be for choristers. But it’s not a bad idea for pew singers – not that enough Catholics actually sing to make this in any way applicable to real life.
 
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