Musician and no Cantor

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I play piano for Masses at several different parishes in my city, including my own parish. I do not sing well enough to cantor, especially while I’m playing at the same time! (No Elton John here!)

Most of the time, everything goes fine. But occasionally (about 10-20% of the time), no cantor shows up.

I really hate this, but there’s no use getting upset about it. After all, Mass isn’t a “show.” But it is still an incredibly awkward situation that always reminds me that “Catholics don’t sing.” I often wish I could just leave when there is no cantor, and the Mass could be done with no music. But so often, people tell me they would rather listen to the piano then hear no music at all at Mass.

When it happens, I always ask the priest what he would like me to do. Some priests, especially the Franciscan friars, will just sing the Mass parts themselves. Most of the priests ask me to go ahead and play the hymns and Mass parts, but not the Gloria. (They just recite it.) The Alleluja is always a little dicey, so I usually play something simple like “Celtic Alleluia” and just play it through twice, and let the congregation fend for themselves. And I always play “Creation” Mass parts, since almost everyone seems to know them in this city.

It is always kind of blah, and I feel sorry for the congregation fending for themselves. I’ve actually considered investing in a life-sized cardboard cut-out of a typical cantor, rigging up some kind of fake “moving mouth,” and setting it up whenever there isn’t a cantor. Often the cantors don’t actually lead the congregation in singing anyway, but I think seeing the “body” up there reassures them and helps them to sing.

I assume that the priests are knowledgeable about the rubrics when there is no cantor. Even if they aren’t, I feel that they are in authority over me and I should obey their wishes in regards to music. So if a priest ever asked me to not play at all during the cantor-less Mass, I would obey willingly and not be upset.

What do the rest of you do? I am mainly interested in hearing from pianists, organists, and guitarists who provide the accompaniment for the OF Mass. (I don’t think there are other instruments that are used, but if there are, feel free to chime in.)

Is there a guide to the correct course of action for the instrumentalist? Again, I would obey the priest, but I would certainly be happy to go the priest during the week with any information that would be helpful when this happens.

BTW, I do talk to the liturgical planners, but I truly believe they are doing the best they can to arrange a schedule of cantors. I think sometimes the cantors just forget and don’t show up. And sometimes, I think that the liturgical planner just can’t find someone who is willing to commit to cantoring. Sigh.

Thanks so much.
 
Soooooooo …

Ya don’t want to hear from Cantors?? :confused:

Richard
 
Hi Cat - You know that I’m not an organist/pianist/guitarist, but being in the music ministry myself as cantor and knowing a lot of musicians who play those instruments, I can tell you what some of them have done when they went cantor-less.

If they can, they will make sure to play hymns that the congregation sings well. For the psalm, the lector will read if the instrumentalist cannot sing and play at the same time. For mass parts, familiar ones that the congregation and priest knows well and sings well works. For the Gospel acclamation, they have done the simple Alleluia chant which the priest will intone and then chant the verse.

In regards to cantor schedules, I know for parishes that do have volunteer cantors, no-shows can be a problem, especially if they are on every weekend. I believe you are right when the music directors or liturgical planners are doing their best with the scheduling and such. It can be very difficult when you are scheduling volunteers. Personally, I think that if it is a wealthy parish, they should think about hiring one or two cantors to pay per mass, just like they would pay the organist/pianist. Maybe not the same amount as the instrumentalist mainly because responsibility is not as technically difficult or challenging as what the pianist/organist/guitarist has to do. Hymn melodies and psalmodies are pretty easy. That way, they don’t have to worry about no-shows and they will also get a quality voice because people want to get something of quality when they pay for it. AND the cantor doesn’t have to be some professional singer like myself. She/He could also be someone in training who has a very lovely voice, but would like to sing for their parish. Giving a little stipend could help that singer with his/her lessons and encourage them to sing more for mass. I remember taking my music for mass at my lessons sometimes when I was a teenager and in college.

Sometimes, it can be worked out that if there are two paid cantors, they can trade off weekends doing all the masses for each weekend. That might also be an idea for parishes that uses volunteer cantors. It might keep people from doing no-shows if they find out that they just have to cantor all the masses one weekend per month, per every two months, etc.

I don’t know… just thoughts.
 
Cat said:
I’ve actually considered investing in a life-sized cardboard cut-out of a typical cantor, rigging up some kind of fake “moving mouth,” and setting it up whenever there isn’t a cantor. Often the cantors don’t actually lead the congregation in singing anyway, but I think seeing the “body” up there reassures them and helps them to sing.
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Hahahaha, that made me laugh!!! :rotfl: :rotfl:

This 5’6 cutout would be perfect as you wouldn’t need to set up a real microphone and his face looks really emotionally in tune with the music:

http://www.cardboardcutouts.com/0471.jpg

If you need a “cantor” for a LifeTeen Mass, you can use this:

http://www.cardboardcutouts.com/0499.jpg

For major feasts where decorum is more appropriate, you can use this one. Ash Wednesday is coming up, haha.

http://www.cardboardcutouts.com/0842 elvis presley blue suit.jpg

This would work great for the children’s Mass:

http://www.cardboardcutouts.com/0639 Belle.jpg

But seriously, If you live anywhere me, I’m a cantor. :cool:

But getting back on topic, it’s not a big deal. Just play the hymns on the piano and people will sing along if they know them.
 
Hi Cat,

I have at times been all three of these things in my travels, except I’ve never been a guitarist without a cantor - when playing guitar I am the cantor/one of two cantors. I don’t do the “cocktail cantor” thing - I sing or I play organ (piano if there’s no organ or it really is idiomatically a piano piece) but I don’t do both.

Guitar and no cantor - forget it. I lead with my voice and a few supporting tricks in the guitar parts but when I have laryngitis or whatever I get some one else to sing or I decline to play. My congregation sings well and I would even grab one or two of the readers/commentators who I trust and who will start off unaccompanied hymns or Mass parts at weekday Mass to sing for me if necessary. I simply would not attempt to accompany on guitar with no cantor.

Organ - I have always maintained that if the congregation doesn’t know where to sing, the organist is not doing his/her job. Clear intro on the swell with a very clear break at the end of it, then people’s parts on the great (plus pedals if the player is up to it) with a noticably stronger registration (i.e. clearly unmissable to the non-musician who doesn’t even know the organ has more than one manual) and with the organ clearly taking big “breaths” where the people do and playing to the words of each verse.

Piano - registration changes not possible and it is harder due to the decay for the piano to “breathe” with singers as noticably as the organ can.

For both piano and organ with no cantor - as you and the wise Saraband both say, stick to really well known hymns and Mass parts, but I would also suggest you stick to either those in traditional style or those that suit a traditional introduction i.e. where you can play the first line, or the last line, or the last two lines, have a clear pause and start off again.

When you don’t have a cantor, intros such as the written ones for Mass of Creation are a problem because they are a written introduction rather than a repeated phrase from the melody itself (such as you might play for a traditional hymn). An untrained singer without print music doesn’t know where to come in for say the Creation Holy, Holy until four bars too late. They hear a bit of music that isn’t their bit, which runs straight into their bit at tempo but they then have to work out "Oh yeah, that now sounds like the bit I sing … ",

If you were to play instead the, “Holy, holy, holy Lord” bit, hold the last chord, lift hands and pedal right off for a really clear break, then off you go, the congregation has heard a phrase they recognise as their own part and they have heard you come to a big clear halt, so they have been alerted that this is the introduction, sing NOW … if you see what I mean? I don’t think I’m explaining this very well. :o

Same thing for the Celtic Alleluia - you can play the last line, “A-lle-lui-a-2-3 OFF A-a-le-e-lu-ia” etc.

If being cantor-less is a regular issue, it is important you have a system for your intros and apply it absolutely consistently from one hymn/Mass part to the next so that you train the congregation to follow you instinctively. You should play them that way even when you have a cantor so that when the singer doesn’t show, the people can just keep doing what they are already used to. I personally favour strict time intros with a consistent strict time pause. My congregation without even thinking about it starts pretty much dead on the beat with me most of the time. (But then as I say I am rarely cantor-less so I haven’t trained them to do this in the absence of a singer.) Without a cantor, you have to work really hard at alerting the congregation that you are playing an introduction and ensuring they can work out for themselves where their bit starts and at what tempo. Sometimes if they miss the starting gun they just don’t try to catch up and you’ve lost them at bar one.

The other problem is that folks are sometimes shy of the sound of their own voices - even more so when there is no cantor. One way of helping is to get your congregation to trust that you will never ask them to embarrass themselves. Bods in the pew are not embarrassed about burbling low notes but they are very embarrassed about screeching high ones. And they won’t sing all of a hymn except that one high note, leastways not my lot - they’ll just opt out of the whole piece. I’ve always made sure pieces are in keys I know my congregation is comfortable in (especially in the morning or when we are learning a new piece) and after all these years they trust me to the point where I can sneak things up to where they “should” be by the end of Mass and they will just “go for it”. If a piece has to be lowered so much that it sounds bad, we don’t do that piece as a congregational item.

Sorry that’s so long, hope some of it helps.
 
Thanks for useful comments. It sounds like I’m on the right track.

One question that worries me. There are so many rubrics for the Mass that people debate about on these boards. I’m amazed that there is no rule about this issue. How did they miss this when they came up with the rubrics?

Or is there a rule? Is there any rule that says that without a cantor or choir, there can be no instrument played in Mass?

It seems to me that this situation really puts the instrumentalist in a position of being the center of attention, since it’s “different” and everyone is wondering what’s going on and they look at who is playing. (As an accompanist, I’m not comfortable with people looking at ME–they’re supposed to look at who or what I’m accompanying!)

It seems to me that this would be a practical rubric (and cheaper for the parish!) to add to the Big List. I personally would rather attend Mass with no music (like the weekday Masses) than attend Mass with just an instrument and no cantor or choir. That’s JMO, and as I said in my OP, others have told me they would rather hear piano with no singing instead of no music at all.
 
Sorry, I know this is not helpful at all but the last four or five times I’ve have been to Mass, I would have loved it if we had no Cantor. The Cantor detracted from the music and made it harder to sing because they were in a pitch/tone/whatever that was to hard for the Congregation to follow.

The congregation will sing, with/without a Cantor, as long as you pick music they are familiar with. What songs did you chose?
 
turtle18 said:
Sorry, I know this is not helpful at all but the last four or five times I’ve have been to Mass, I would have loved it if we had no Cantor. The Cantor detracted from the music and made it harder to sing because they were in a pitch/tone/whatever that was to hard for the Congregation to follow.

The congregation will sing, with/without a Cantor, as long as you pick music they are familiar with. What songs did you chose?
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I don’t select the songs for Mass. The liturgical director chooses the songs, with the approval of the priest. In the past, when the cantor doesn’t show up and I think that a song might be too difficult to sing without a cantor, I ask the priest, and try to change it to something familiar like “Beautiful Savior.” (Just an example–whatever we choose should compliment the readings.)

This weekend we had “Holy God, We Praise They Name,” “Eye Has Not Seen,” “Cry of the Poor,” and “Blest are They.” I did the Creation Mass parts, which actually worked OK.
 
I’m a Cantor, and sometimes pianist.

Our schedule is such that I usually end up singing once or twice every six weeks. What really helps me, and I know this might be just another thing to add to your plate, is the accompianist always calls the Cantor the evening before and asks if we are having any difficulty with any one piece. We all usually meet 1/2 an hour before Mass, and that way we can concentrate on which piece is giving the Cantor the most difficulty, if any.

It’s also a really good reminder for the Cantor that they are scheduled the following day!! 👍

in Christ
Steph
 
I’m not a musician, but since I presume the OP was directed toward an OF service, I have a question: what has a cantor to do with the OF? Isn’t it all about the congregation? Is there something that I don’t know about in the OF that calls for a cantor? Or is it just a matter of “a cantor can do it without the hassle of training a choir”? (That last, btw, I’d buy in principle, if it were not for the entire post-conciliar theory behind the OF which prevents me from doing so.)

Cantors were (whistfully speaking, of course, from the days before the post-conciliar age destroyed tradition, (and yes, the Orient and the East were not exempt from the axe of the “spirit of Vatican II”), an important part of Oriental (and Eastern) liturgies, but sadly that is no longer the case.
 
malphono said:
I’m not a musician, but since I presume the OP was directed toward an OF service, I have a question: what has a cantor to do with the OF? Isn’t it all about the congregation? Is there something that I don’t know about in the OF that calls for a cantor? Or is it just a matter of “a cantor can do it without the hassle of training a choir”? (That last, btw, I’d buy in principle, if it were not for the entire post-conciliar theory behind the OF which prevents me from doing so.)

Cantors were (whistfully speaking, of course, from the days before the post-conciliar age destroyed tradition, (and yes, the Orient and the East were not exempt from the axe of the “spirit of Vatican II”), an important part of Oriental (and Eastern) liturgies, but sadly that is no longer the case.
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I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’ve never been to a Mass without a cantor, and I’ve only been to one Tridentine Mass in my entire life.
 
Lujack said:
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’ve never been to a Mass without a cantor, and I’ve only been to one Tridentine Mass in my entire life.
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I think he might be talking about Eastern Rite liturgies.
 
malphono said:
I’m not a musician, but since I presume the OP was directed toward an OF service, I have a question: what has a cantor to do with the OF? Isn’t it all about the congregation? Is there something that I don’t know about in the OF that calls for a cantor? Or is it just a matter of “a cantor can do it without the hassle of training a choir”? (That last, btw, I’d buy in principle, if it were not for the entire post-conciliar theory behind the OF which prevents me from doing so.)

Cantors were (whistfully speaking, of course, from the days before the post-conciliar age destroyed tradition, (and yes, the Orient and the East were not exempt from the axe of the “spirit of Vatican II”), an important part of Oriental (and Eastern) liturgies, but sadly that is no longer the case.
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I think I understand what you are meaning by this. I’m not very learned at all with the role of the cantor for Eastern liturgies, but to my understanding cantors in the Eastern liturgies and even cantors in the Jewish faith have a much more intricate and trained role within their liturgies than the cantor for the OF mass.

For instance, one of my former voice teachers became a professional and trained Jewish cantor after she retired from an international career on the opera stage. Unlike for OF masses where they tend to just take practically anyone without any real need of training, my teacher had to study with a well-known cantor. Thus, she did not sing as an opera singer, but as a cantor. She had to learn all of the chants in Hebrew needed to lead their congregation for their services as well as to sing/chant the solos which were part of their prayers during the services. As cantor she was also in charge of preparing the children for their Bat/Bar mitvahs. I remember sitting in on their lessons along with them learning their chants and their Hebrew. There were also many other things she, as a cantor, was responsible for.

For most Catholic cantors, they receive virtually no training. So, I can understand why you would find the role of a cantor for an OF mass insignificant. They are not taught how to chant, which is often times requires in certain psalmodies and many times in the Gospel Acclamations. In some parishes they also chant the Prayer of the Faithful (such as at my parish) and they are also expected to chant sequences or the Penitential Rite, etc. Many times, cantors do not know how to do this and they rush through it without a special rhythm and pacing.

To me, speaking as a cantor for the OF mass, I believe the important role as a Catholic cantor for the OF mass is when he/she is chanting/singing the psalm and the Gospel Acclamation. They need to be sung if there is a cantor available. The words are very important, so they need to be sung with comprehension, clearly and simply and reverently. I think many times, cantors don’t like to do sing the psalms because, musically-speaking, it’s not that “interesting”, but that is the beauty of it. The music, especially when it is in a chant form, has a pure simplicity about it so that the words are the focus - not the music, nor the voice (although it is important for the voice to be in tune and pleasing to the ear otherwise it’s just horrible). The “steadiness” of a chant-like psalm creates a more angelic mode and almost an angelic “drone” (when done right by someone who knows what their doing) to keep the focus on the Scripture itself.

Of course, the other role of a Catholic cantor is to lead the congregation in singing the hymns, but to me that role is less important. They can be helpful in terms of getting people to come in or helping them along with a hymn that may not be so well-known. But in my experience, if the congregation knows the hymn/mass parts AND if the instrumentalists - usually the organist or the pianist - really can give clear entrances and decisive tempi, the congregation can do it on its own without the cantor. At the country church I attended as a child and as an adult, they have never had a cantor, yet they sing with full vigor. For many years, they just had a humble, little organist/farmer who led them with his decent musicianship. What they used were traditional hymns with simple rhythms - nothing complicated. And they did chant some, as well.

Unfortunately, the role of the cantor has been, for lack of a better word, abused. The microphone really has been the source of the misuse of the cantor. Where it can be a friend during times that it is truly needed or like when doing the psalm and Gospel Acclamation or other parts which need to be chanted and heart, it has also been a foe where some cantors will use it as a way to sing over the congregation rather than just use it to help lead. So, it gives the people in the pews an idea that these hymns are “solos” rather than congregational singing.

I think that is why in many parishes congregations won’t sing when the cantor is absent - unless, of course, a favorite hymn is played. I know that some parishes in my areas have been working on fixing this, especially with the cantors. But with my old parish, when the music director tried to do this, there were a number of cantors who forgot to leave their egos at home and were quite upset that they couldn’t sing with all their might into the microphones. They wanted to be the soloist. And that is the route of the problem due to the fact that they probably had little to no training to what a cantor truly is supposed to be for an OF mass.

Anyway, hope this has some explanation regarding the cantor’s role.
 
Sarabande said:
I think many times, cantors don’t like to do sing the psalms because, musically-speaking, it’s not that “interesting”, but that is the beauty of it.
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I totally know what you mean, the psalms are my least favorite part. 😃

Unfortunately, the Vatican II documents indicate that the Psalm is the main role of the cantor, haha.
 
Cat said:
I personally would rather attend Mass with no music (like the weekday Masses) than attend Mass with just an instrument and no cantor or choir. That’s JMO, and as I said in my OP, others have told me they would rather hear piano with no singing instead of no music at all.
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I think, what I believe you also know, is that music (especially religious music) can tap into certain depths of a person’s soul. Some people are not spiritually moved by music whatsoever, but there are many others who are. So, there is a real reason why people do prefer to hear the organ or piano during the liturgy rather than just silence. Even if no one is singing, the music can help them focus spiritually. They are thankful for your gift of spiritual music to them and that is wonderful.

At the same time, as I addressed in my previous post, there are parishes which do not have cantors, yet they sing with all their hearts. This is because they have a good organist or pianist, etc. leading them. For congregations that are not used to having cantor-less masses, it can sometimes take a little time for them to get used to singing without a miked voice singing over top of them. But once that is handled, it really isn’t any different than when a cantor is singing - sometimes it is even better. This is not only something I saw with my country church, but also with other parishes that don’t have cantors during the summer. Only the organist or the pianist plays. People don’t even give a second thought about it. So, don’t worry about becoming the center of attention. 😉 Actually, whether we like it or not, by the very nature that most cantors are constantly placed in the front for the hymns, we are placed as a center of attention. I love it when I get to lead hymns from the choir loft. No one turns around, I’m anonymous and just a helpful voice for lesser-known hymns or to lead in chanted responses should the priest want to chant everything during the mass. And the people still sing. I know that is not always the case in other parishes, but if the parish is “trained” it can be that way.
 
JPUSC said:
I totally know what you mean, the psalms are my least favorite part. 😃

Unfortunately, the Vatican II documents indicate that the Psalm is the main role of the cantor, haha.
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haha! Yes. That is why I believe it is so important that there are good, trained cantors for our Catholic churches. So many either just don’t know any better due to lack of training or they really just can’t leave their egos behind (which is why they don’t like singing/chanting the psalms). It’s strange that instrumentalists have required training, yet a Catholic cantor can just walk in off the street with no vocal training what-so-ever. Is it any wonder that people don’t like cantors and sometimes end up “idolizing” the cantors that actually do have good, trained voices? If they heard quality all the time, that wouldn’t be the case. It would just be a given. And a trained cantor who knows how to leave her/his ego at home and really doing it for spiritual fulfillment is golden.

That is the real unfortunate thing about it. The Psalm can be so beautifully simple and prayerful when done right, yet so many cantors toss it out either because they don’t find it “interesting” or because they don’t know how to chant the verses to those chant-like psalms or they really just don’t have the proper vocal training to sing on their own. OR they try to sing it like a diva, a singer from a musical, or a rock star and it is just so wrong or horrific, I’d rather just hear it recited - and this is coming from a cantor!
 
Sarabande said:
haha! Yes. That is why I believe it is so important that there are good, trained cantors for our Catholic churches. So many either just don’t know any better due to lack of training or they really just can’t leave their egos behind (which is why they don’t like singing/chanting the psalms). It’s strange that instrumentalists have required training, yet a Catholic cantor can just walk in off the street with no vocal training what-so-ever. Is it any wonder that people don’t like cantors?

That is the real unfortunate thing about it. The Psalm can be so beautifully simple and prayerful when done right, yet so many cantors toss it out either because they don’t find it “interesting” or because they don’t know how to chant the verses to those chant-like psalms or they really just don’t have the proper vocal training to sing on their own. OR they try to sing it like a diva, a singer from a musical, or a rock star and it is just so wrong or horrific, I’d rather just hear it recited - and this is coming from a cantor!
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Well, the OCP’s psalm settings do not resemble chant at all and sound rather bland and uninspiring. I’d like to see it recited too - this coming from another cantor.

Though, I do get a few comments from people who say that the psalm does lead them into prayer and they thank me for my diction and volume. They said that when the Lifeteen-ish band does the Responsorial Psalm, they can barely hear or understand them. I think some teens think they’re R&B singers when they sing in the church teen group. Save the off-key Christina Aguilera impersonation for karaoke night, haha. :rotfl:

I think most paid cantors in (wealthy) Catholic churches are Protestants. My theory is that Catholics don’t have a history of congregational singing as the Protestants do, so there are fewer Catholics developing their musical ability. I know some cantors who take church jobs part-time as they audition for opera roles. This leads to some cantors not knowing the church documents on liturgy.
 
JPUSC said:
Well, the OCP’s psalm settings do not resemble chant at all and sound rather bland and uninspiring. I’d like to see it recited too - this coming from another cantor.
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Thankfully, where I sing, we don’t use OCP. 🙂 For the parishes where I’ve free-lanced and have had to use OCP editions, I do my best to make it as chant-like as possible. But only so much can be done.
JPUSC said:
I think most paid cantors in (wealthy) Catholic churches are Protestants.
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That might be true. Sort of like how many organists in Protestant churches are Catholic. That said, I’m a paid cantor and most of the paid cantors I know are Catholic. But you know, sometimes I think Protestant musicians/cantors can be more reverent and even more understanding of the liturgy than Catholic ones. It’s like they do tons of reading about it before they get their jobs whereas Catholic ones tend to take it for granted.

I’ve been hired to be a “cantor” and a “leader of song” for Protestant churches and did my research about it so that I would be respectful of their services and not do anything out of place.
JPUSC said:
My theory is that Catholics don’t have a history of congregational singing as the Protestants do, so there are fewer Catholics developing their musical ability.
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This is true. Although at the same time, we had a long history of the highest quality of instrumentalists and choral singers for centuries and that has died or is dying. The people today are not encouraging it. That is the problem. Whereas 50 years ago, you would have seen many of Catholic musicians being trained. Now many of the organ/piano students people are seeing are Protestants.
JPUSC said:
I know some cantors who take church jobs part-time as they audition for opera roles. This leads to some cantors not knowing the church documents on liturgy.
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This can be true if the cantor is not Catholic or if she/he is Catholic but has never really been trained in the “art” of singing church music. I’m both a professional opera singer and a cantor, yet I know when to use my cantor voice for our psalmodies and hymns and know when to use my opera voice for on stage. 😛 I was fortunate to have for my first voice teacher an opera singer and a trained Jewish cantor.

Unfortunately, some opera singers don’t know how to turn it off, so-to-speak. (And that’s the same as singers from other genres - I’m not just picking on my own kind.) One of the more recent articles from Classical Singer magazine talked about being a Catholic cantor and although the girl said some good things, there were other things that I TOTALLY disagreed with. I really need to write a response to that article, because it gives the wrong idea of what a Catholic cantor is - and she was Catholic, so she should have known better!
 
Guitar said:
The other problem is that folks are sometimes shy of the sound of their own voices - even more so when there is no cantor. One way of helping is to get your congregation to trust that you will never ask them to embarrass themselves. Bods in the pew are not embarrassed about burbling low notes but they are very embarrassed about screeching high ones. And they won’t sing all of a hymn except that one high note, leastways not my lot - they’ll just opt out of the whole piece. I’ve always made sure pieces are in keys I know my congregation is comfortable in
.
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👍 Guitar.

I’m not a musician but thought I’d add my two cents’ worth here anyway.

I enjoy praying through singing or chant. But why do so many organists/pianists ignore our limitations and continue using so many high-screechy notes? They seem to be calling the shots in my parish (with regard to music in the liturgy), not the cantors. Pianists have some training and some parishes give them a stipend (albeit usually small). It seems to me they should get off their high horses, be more flexible, and HELP the congregation to sing by lowering the keys of many songs. I’ve seen cantors struggle because they can’t reach the notes, let alone the rest of us.
 
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