Help with loud singer at Mass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mordocai
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
40.png
mercygate:
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.
I’m happy then that I am not a chorister! 😃
 
:bounce:
40.png
mercygate:
As in, “What kind of noise does a 500-pound canary make?”
Probably 500 times the glorious magnificence the Lord intended! :bounce:
 
You didn’t mention whether this lady sings badly, or just too loudly. If she sings reasonably well, go to her after Mass, and tell her what a beautiful voice she has, and that she should really consider joining the choir. 😃 If she does join the choir, the choir director will clue her in about blending in with others, and not drowning them out.

Meanwhile, be glad she sings at all. So many people don’t bother to sing at all, leaving those who do sing to feel like soloists (which not all of us want to be!)

Crazy Internet Junkies Society
Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
 
40.png
CarolAnnSFO:
So many people don’t bother to sing at all, leaving those who do sing to feel like soloists (which not all of us want to be!)

Crazy Internet Junkies Society
Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
:clapping: :amen:
 
40.png
Della:
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.
Keep on singing so as to encourage the rest to sing!
40.png
CarolAnnSFO:
If she sings reasonably well, go to her after Mass, and tell her what a beautiful voice she has, and that she should really consider joining the choir
Yikes! So all those folks trying to get me to rejoin the choir have it in for my singing.😉
40.png
MaryAgnes:
There are singing “rubrics?”
Indeed, at least in choir. Mercygate explained it much better than I.
 
since there has been a lady like this in every single parish I have ever belonged to in 56 years, I conclude it is a requirement for a Catholic parish, a fixture of every Church, like a statue of Mary, a baptismal font, and all the other accoutrements. Preferably it should be someone who used to be a top soprano years ago but has retained her upper register but not her range or vocal cord flexibility.

maybe she just sounds loud because nobody else is singing and she is trying to get the party going.
 
We had a priest like that for awhile. A very good man, he gave great homilies, but, wow, when he sang–very loud and very off key. It was entertaining, slightly cringe-worthy at times, but it made me feel good. He was really getting into it, and I figure if he can sing that badly in front of everyone, I can at least sing quietly along.
 
40.png
puzzleannie:
since there has been a lady like this in every single parish I have ever belonged to in 56 years, I conclude it is a requirement for a Catholic parish, a fixture of every Church, like a statue of Mary, a baptismal font, and all the other accoutrements. …
:rotfl:
 
]I totally agree with Vegpotter! We have a visiting priest who sings loud and off key–just like me!

Our regular priest has such a lovely voice and I can match (most times) my voice to his. But the visiting priest, he is sooo bad, but he tries so hard that every time I hear him I get this huge smile on my face–and giggle a little. I sing louder and more off key, but with a smile.

Smiling just thinking about it. It’s so cute, he’s in his eighties. I now know I’ll never get a good voice.

Anyway, your lady may be singing loud because no else is singing or maybe a very few.[/FONT[/COLOR]
 
40.png
CarolAnnSFO:
You didn’t mention whether this lady sings badly, or just too loudly. If she sings reasonably well, go to her after Mass, and tell her what a beautiful voice she has, and that she should really consider joining the choir. 😃 If she does join the choir, the choir director will clue her in about blending in with others, and not drowning them out.
OK, so when that nice lady complimented me on the way out of Mass last Saturday, and suggested that I should join the choir, it may have been a hint to sing more quietly? :o

If I do become Catholic, this is something that will definitely require an adjustment. Where I come from, everyone sings their lungs out (for better or worse 😉 )
 
40.png
djrakowski:
OK, so when that nice lady complimented me on the way out of Mass last Saturday, and suggested that I should join the choir, it may have been a hint to sing more quietly? :o

If I do become Catholic, this is something that will definitely require an adjustment. Where I come from, everyone sings their lungs out (for better or worse 😉 )
Thirty-five Episcopalians over the age of 80 can make more music than 400 Catholics on any given Sunday morning! 😛
 
40.png
mercygate:
Thirty-five Episcopalians over the age of 80 can make more music than 400 Catholics on any given Sunday morning! 😛
:rotfl:
You oughta hear 1200 Baptists with a 120-member choir and 20-member orchestral ensemble - or you oughta hear the echoes of the 120 or so people at our Saturday night service in our cavernous sanctuary 🙂

(I’m a recovering Episcopalian, and presently Baptist, investigating Catholicism with the possiblity of conversion, and what you’ve said is most certainly true, based upon my experiences of both Episcopal and Catholic churches. I learned to sing as an Episcopalian, and our 12-member choir could outdo a whole lotta Catholic churches I’ve attended)
 
The solution to the loud singer at Mass, is for everyone else to sing even louder and drown her out.
 
40.png
djrakowski:
OK, so when that nice lady complimented me on the way out of Mass last Saturday, and suggested that I should join the choir, it may have been a hint to sing more quietly?
Not at all! She may really have thought you have a nice voice! Maybe she’s in the choir herself, and is on the lookout to recruit new members. From my experience, Catholic choirs rarely have enough members.
40.png
djrakowski:
If I do become Catholic, this is something that will definitely require an adjustment. Where I come from, everyone sings their lungs out (for better or worse 😉 )
Please do join us – and don’t adjust your voice! We need you in the choir!
Chris Jacobsen:
The solution to the loud singer at Mass, is for everyone else to sing even louder and drown her out.
Yes! If everyone would sing out, the exceptionally loud singer wouldn’t stand out so much! The music ministries can help by picking good music (and not that sappy, cornball stuff that everyone hates), and come down from out of the stratosphere, and play in a key that people can sing in. Most of the people in the congregation are not first sopranos or first tenors.

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
 
Hey as I said in the beginning of this I still can’t tell my protestant parents why C’s don’t sing. I wish they would. I pray for it as John saw in Rev. Also I can’t sing but have complimented others for their signing. That’s why I lector.
 
40.png
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. 🙂
Be careful what you think.
The difference between Cain and Abel was that cain offered to God out of his mediocrity.
While Abel offered **the best ** of his flock.
which resulted in that Cain felt resentful , while Abel felt greatly favored. and out of jealousy Cain killed Abel. Gen. 4: 1-8

Offer to God the best most heartfelt singing you can, let the words you sing minister deeply to your soul,
and be rejoiced in that God "loves " what comes to Him from your heart.
otherwise you may drive her away and she will go join the Baptists or Pentecostals who love to “belt it out” from the heart.

It might help to go sing with THEM one time, then come back and compare ! 🙂

"God seeks worshipers who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." John 4: 23

gusano
 
40.png
gusano:
Offer to God the best most heartfelt singing you can, let the words you sing minister deeply to your soul,
and be rejoiced in that God "loves " what comes to Him from your heart.
Yes! And if the best singing you can offer sounds like a bellowing moose, then offer it anyway! Singing at Mass is not about performance – there are no auditions! Somehow, I don’t think God is judging us by the quality of our singing. 😉

And music ministers – are you listening? Come down off that octave above High C. Most parishioners who aren’t in the music ministries simply can’t go there!

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
 
40.png
CarolAnnSFO:
Yes! And if the best singing you can offer sounds like a bellowing moose, then** offer it anyway! **Singing at Mass is not about performance – there are no auditions! Somehow, I don’t think God is judging us by the quality of our singing. 😉

And music ministers – are you listening? Come down off that octave above High C. Most parishioners who aren’t in the music ministries simply can’t go there!

**Crazy Internet Junkies Society
**Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
I love that , CarolAnn,
ALLELUIA !
I wonder if people forget that God seeks worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth …
rather than sleepy-heads who go there to “watch” or drowse ?

🙂
gusano
 
40.png
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?
Amen! I’ve only been to Mass twice, but the majority of people at the one I go to don’t sing! I’d much rather be surrounded by loud singers than people whose silence makes me feel awkward about singing the hymns and responses.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top