How to Play the Guitar at Mass Appropriately

[jclangfo]

The guitar has become a common instrument at mass across the U.S, and its appropriateness has been hotly debated. I suggest that much of the controversy is a result of bad guitar playing and that the guitar is capable of sounding sacred. I think that we need to insist that guitar players are qualified before we let them play for mass and educate people on how the guitar can be used to sound sacred. This includes:
-outlining the melody on the guitar using some finger picking rather than strumming the whole way through
-when strumming, be subtle and support the singer, not overpower them
-Use sustain and clean channels on the electric guitar to model how the organ produces a continuous sound

Silent Night was written for the guitar. Sacred guitar is doable, we just need to educate people!

Here’s a post I wrote about this that goes into greater detail, and also discusses how the church documents on the liturgy support appropriate contemporary music.

contemporaryorthodoxy.weebly.com/blog/guitar-in-liturgical-music

 

[Roseeurekacross]

The guitar has become a common instrument at mass across the U.S, and its appropriateness has been hotly debated. I suggest that much of the controversy is a result of bad guitar playing and that the guitar is capable of sounding sacred. I think that we need to insist that guitar players are qualified before we let them play for mass and educate people on how the guitar can be used to sound sacred. This includes:
-outlining the melody on the guitar using some finger picking rather than strumming the whole way through
-when strumming, be subtle and support the singer, not overpower them
-Use sustain and clean channels on the electric guitar to model how the organ produces a continuous sound

Silent Night was written for the guitar. Sacred guitar is doable, we just need to educate people!

Here’s a post I wrote about this that goes into greater detail, and also discusses how the church documents on the liturgy support appropriate contemporary music.

contemporaryorthodoxy.weebly.com/blog/guitar-in-liturgical-music

In rural Australia, we are fortunate if someone can sing or play an instrument, even badly. So we thankfully and joyfully sing along. Even badly
Even the pipe organ at the Cathedral hits questionable notes. The historic, very beautiful pipe organ that really only cuts loose with professional musicians during Carols festivals. But is bravely and gamely played every Sunday.

Who cares. Seriously song is song. If the good Lord wants Handel’s Messiah, I am sure the Angels will cut loose.

We are there to worship. Even if that means songs out of tune or time.

If there is no music, my priest brings along his ipod with songs to sing along too. He does this during parts of Adoration too.

 

[randomuser]

The guitar has become a common instrument at mass across the U.S, and its appropriateness has been hotly debated. I suggest that much of the controversy is a result of bad guitar playing and that the guitar is capable of sounding sacred. I think that we need to insist that guitar players are qualified before we let them play for mass and educate people on how the guitar can be used to sound sacred. This includes:
-outlining the melody on the guitar using some finger picking rather than strumming the whole way through
-when strumming, be subtle and support the singer, not overpower them
-Use sustain and clean channels on the electric guitar to model how the organ produces a continuous sound

Silent Night was written for the guitar. Sacred guitar is doable, we just need to educate people!

Here’s a post I wrote about this that goes into greater detail, and also discusses how the church documents on the liturgy support appropriate contemporary music.

contemporaryorthodoxy.weebly.com/blog/guitar-in-liturgical-music

I don’t see what the “controversy” is about, particularly when parishes need to keep expenses in check. A good guitar and amp average $200-$300, compared to thousands of dollars for…for an organ? Which is easier to insure for dioceses – that guitar, or an organ, which increases the diocese’s insurability considerably?

 

[DaveBj]

I don’t see what the “controversy” is about, particularly when parishes need to keep expenses in check. A good guitar and amp average $200-$300, compared to thousands of dollars for…for an organ? Which is easier to insure for dioceses – that guitar, or an organ, which increases the diocese’s insurability considerably?

For a couple hundred more one can buy an electronic keyboard with usable organ sounds.

Edit to add: Sooner or later someone is going to post that the best way to play a guitar at Mass is to leave it in its case. I didn’t say that, but sooner or later someone will.

 

[dnu]

Edit to add: Sooner or later someone is going to post that the best way to play a guitar at Mass is to leave it in its case. I didn’t say that, but sooner or later someone will.

Sooner…

Best way to play guitar at the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass is to not play one at all. Save that for youth group and other Parish activities.

 

[RPRPsych]

For a couple hundred more one can buy an electronic keyboard with usable organ sounds.

Edit to add: Sooner or later someone is going to post that the best way to play a guitar at Mass is to leave it in its case. I didn’t say that, but sooner or later someone will.

Dang, you stole my joke.

But on a more serious note, I’ve seen the guitar (along with a keyboard / organ) used to play some truly reverential music during a Mass I attended at Lourdes. The trick is to get away from the preconceived folk / rock / pop mode in which it’s predominantly played.

 

[Edmundus1581]

In rural Australia, we are fortunate if someone can sing or play an instrument, even badly. So we thankfully and joyfully sing along. Even badly

I’m glad that someone said this!

I don’t live in rural Australia, but with my travels I attend several Masses per year in the country, and indeed any sort of musical accompaniment is always valuable, and we don’t want to discourage anyone from playing if they can.

Not, however, to undermine the OP’s point that there are certainly better ways than others to play guitar at Mass, and they are worth promoting.

-when strumming, be subtle and support the singer, not overpower them

Yes, and, in general, with any instrument or singing, avoid overpowering the congregation. It seems to be a constant temptation.

 

[Mintaka]

Re: cost of organ –

Acoustic guitars are affected by temperature changes in a way organs are not. Organs are several instruments in one, and imitate the human voice to boot. Thus its favored status. And they are cheap at the price, if well maintained and used.

A lot of electronic instruments are actually played in a forbidden way, not that anybody knows that. The most important thing is to avoid using recorded or pre-programmed music; all music for Mass must be played live. Live music is an offering to God and a living prayer, whereas prerecorded music is just audio wallpaper.

The human voice is cheap and totally approved, so budget-conscious congregations should go a capella!

That all said… Yes, playing a guitar more like a harp or mandolin is a more appropriate way to play sacred music. Neither guitar nor piano are really ideal for the purpose of supporting and accompanying singing, though. (And yes, that is a lost cause in our culture, but the piano tends to to do some weird things to singers who unwarily imitate it. But that is a whole other discussion.)

 

[RyanAquinas]

The trick is to get away from the preconceived folk / rock / pop mode in which it’s predominantly played.

I agree with your suggestion!

As a teen, I find that some of the teen-oriented stuff tries to cater to more popular music styles, which is all fine and dandy if they would, say, give me an album with real good (what I would call lit) music that happened to be strongly Catholic (in a good way) and I could listen to it when I’m working or something like that, but I don’t particularly care for their forcing the music on us when we’re trying to pray or during Adoration.
Personally, I see the merit of the pop music style, but I like to separate the music styles for the holy stuff, like how we separate some of the prayers with sacred languages (Agnus dei, Kyrie, etc.) or even how we separate holy vessels, places, and clothes and such. When I’m in Adoration, I don’t want to think I’m listening to just any kind of music. Hearing the hymns in a different style than what’s on the radio helps me separate the secular and the holy, so hearing some jangly guitar combined with really non-thought-provoking lyrics (better than downright sinful but shallower than a kiddie pool spiritually) really throws me off when I’m trying to focus on God.

Now if someone can do renditions of the traditional Latin hymns used in Mass in a contemporary style, I’d be all for it! I’ve been looking for some kind of way to listen to some of my favorite hymns when I’m working anyways because they help me keep focused and pure.
Pax et bonum,
Ryan

 

[WingsOfEagles]

The guitar has become a common instrument at mass across the U.S, and its appropriateness has been hotly debated. I suggest that much of the controversy is a result of bad guitar playing and that the guitar is capable of sounding sacred. I think that we need to insist that guitar players are qualified before we let them play for mass and educate people on how the guitar can be used to sound sacred. This includes:
-outlining the melody on the guitar using some finger picking rather than strumming the whole way through
-when strumming, be subtle and support the singer, not overpower them
-Use sustain and clean channels on the electric guitar to model how the organ produces a continuous sound

Silent Night was written for the guitar. Sacred guitar is doable, we just need to educate people!

Here’s a post I wrote about this that goes into greater detail, and also discusses how the church documents on the liturgy support appropriate contemporary music.

contemporaryorthodoxy.weebly.com/blog/guitar-in-liturgical-music

I agree that guitar sounds more Mass appropriate when playing broken chords. However, I’d keep in mind that your average guitarist at Mass isn’t really a guitarist at all. The strummed chords you hear are sometimes the extent of the capability, especially if that person is also the cantor (it’s a lot easier to strum and sing than outline chords in a pattern and sing).

 

[pnewton]

The strummed chords you hear are sometimes the extent of the capability, especially if that person is also the cantor (it’s a lot easier to strum and sing than outline chords in a pattern and sing).

For many this is true.

This thread was actually a good idea, as long as it is taken as a suggestion, and one that is more of a matter of progress than a set of rules, which is what I think the OP is getting at. Sure, parishes have to make decisions within the budget that they have and with the people available. I never did care much for criticism from those that do not understand or are not part of the solution (helping out with music or funding for music). But the point remains from the first post. Just as a CCE teacher should not only study, but train to the extent possible, if one is a musician, he should never be satisfied with giving God second best, that is, his personal second best. If strumming and singing is all he can do, that is honorable before God.

But why not try and learn more?

I think the best example of this is a man in my parish who started helping by playing his only instrument, a saxophone, sometimes. He is an exceptionally brilliant man and was highly motivated, so he took guitar lessons and started helping out with that. Then, so he could help more, he took voice lessons. He is now taking piano lessons. Now he is an extreme example, but everyone can help somewhat.

 

[Wandile]

Don’t… that’s how

 

[RPRPsych]

Don’t… that’s how

First time is funny, second time is silly…

 

[Solomonson]

Re: cost of organ –

Acoustic guitars are affected by temperature changes in a way organs are not. Organs are several instruments in one, and imitate the human voice to boot. Thus its favored status. And they are cheap at the price, if well maintained and used.

A lot of electronic instruments are actually played in a forbidden way, not that anybody knows that. The most important thing is to avoid using recorded or pre-programmed music; all music for Mass must be played live. Live music is an offering to God and a living prayer, whereas prerecorded music is just audio wallpaper.

The human voice is cheap and totally approved, so budget-conscious congregations should go a capella!

That all said… Yes, playing a guitar more like a harp or mandolin is a more appropriate way to play sacred music. Neither guitar nor piano are really ideal for the purpose of supporting and accompanying singing, though. (And yes, that is a lost cause in our culture, but the piano tends to to do some weird things to singers who unwarily imitate it. But that is a whole other discussion.)

I don’t really think that’s true. I don’t see such a proscription in the GIRM or other binding Church documents for the Latin Rite. I have seen on the web a reference to an old and rather obscure document that makes this proscription but I hardly doubt that it is in force. Depending of course on the position of the cognizant ordinary.

I have been to a few Masses over the years which have been masterfully accompanied by prerecorded music. The selections were beautiful and their execution were flawless.

I will add that some Eastern Catholic churches allow only the human voice to accompany the sacred liturgy and it’s beautiful The thinking in parts of the East is that only the human voice is beautiful enough to accompany the liturgy.

 

[psalm90]

How to Play the Guitar at Mass appropriately …??

Well, I’d appreciate it if the guy with the guitar wouldn’t spend a half hour tuning up his guitar and strumming before Mass, starting and stopping to talk with other musicians. He often sits there, strumming, while people are entering church. He seems not to be aware of being a distraction. I’ve left that parish.

I’m sure (because I’ve been there) that the guitar can be a grand accompaniment to Mass singing, especially several guitars, in Spanish-oriented congregations. It’s beautiful.

But, the folk singing style of guitar playing is not an art form, as far as I am concerned. And, guitar + music synthesizer is just noise. This one Sunday evening there was either some Divine or satanic influence, because the guitar player plugged his amplifier into the same circuit as the EXPENSIVE music synthesizer. When he flipped on the amp, there was a power surge which burned out the electronic music synthesizer – took them both out with one fell swoop. I was in heaven.

But…NO! There was another, older portable organ in the sacristy, which was hauled out to save the day. The EXPENSIVE music synthesizer could not be repaired, it was a total loss. So, the organist DONATED ANOTHER expensive music synthesizer, but ensured to buy a cheap $100 surge protector for it.

 

[psalm90]

The Holy Father is from Argentina, but, do you ever hear guitars at the Vatican? exactly my point.

 

[WingsOfEagles]

The Holy Father is from Argentina, but, do you ever hear guitars at the Vatican? exactly my point.

This doesn’t prove much at all. There is a well-established culture at the Vatican that they maintain. More telling would be if he came out and banned guitar at Mass, which he hasn’t.

 

[PPeterson]

Few parishioners have heard the guitar played as a proper accompaniment. For example, without the sweep arpeggios and pinch harmonics which follow the four fingered tapping solo between the second and third verse, Lord of the Dance rarely fulfills its potential as a communion hymn.

 

[Marysann]

WingsOfEagles, I nearly fell off my chair, but I did hear guitars in the Vatican! Every Sunday afternoon Vespers are celebrated followed by Holy Mass in the chapel behind the main altar in St. Peter’s. I can’t remember the name of the chapel, but it is the one with the famous Bernini piece which includes the well known stained glass representation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Father does not offer this Mass himself, but the times when I attended it was offered by an elderly Italian cardinal with priests who are assigned to St. Peter’s. It seems that visiting choirs from all over Italy, provide music for this Mass. It does make for quite a contrast with the choir that sings for Vespers! I was not very impressed with the music that I heard when we attended Mass at Italian parish churches. The music here in my parish in Northern Virginia was much superior.

 

[WingsOfEagles]

WingsOfEagles, I nearly fell off my chair, but I did hear guitars in the Vatican! Every Sunday afternoon Vespers are celebrated followed by Holy Mass in the chapel behind the main altar in St. Peter’s. I can’t remember the name of the chapel, but it is the one with the famous Bernini piece which includes the well known stained glass representation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Father does not offer this Mass himself, but the times when I attended it was offered by an elderly Italian cardinal with priests who are assigned to St. Peter’s. It seems that visiting choirs from all over Italy, provide music for this Mass. It does make for quite a contrast with the choir that sings for Vespers! I was not very impressed with the music that I heard when we attended Mass at Italian parish churches. The music here in my parish in Northern Virginia was much superior.

Wow! I suppose that backs up that there is nothing inherently “wrong” with it.