I thought I gave satisfactory spiritual reasons why Catholics generally don’t sing. Please forgive me for my lack of clarity.
Thank you for your honesty. I’m sure that you’re not the only one who feels that way at Mass. We all have our quirks and faults to overcome and your honest insight is appreciated.
I agree that these are nine ways to set yourself up to fail, if the goal is to get the congregation to sing.
Yup. that’s one of my pet peeves: our previous Director used to sing Advent music at random times…like in the summer.I agree that these are nine ways to set yourself up to fail, if the goal is to get the congregation to sing.
- Choose hymns; not “songs.” Appropriate hymns tell us that we’re at Church; not at a concert.
- Choose familiar hymns; the ones that people like to sing.
- Sing them in a key that works for the congregation. If you have mostly men, drop it down an octave.
- Jesus isn’t my boyfriend - especially not if I’m a middle aged man with six children. Make sure the lyrics are suitable to the parishioners and where they are at in their faith journey. (If it’s a Mass for a group of teenage girls, you can use the “Jesus is my boyfriend” songs, but otherwise, not.)
- I’m not God. Watch the lyrics and make sure people aren’t being asked to claim to be God - they won’t sing those hymns, because they just feel blasphemous.
- On that note, hymns with lyrics that affirm our Catholic identity go over quite well, even if they’re new.
- Use the headings in the hymn book that tell you which season of the year you’re in. If it’s Lent, don’t pick hymns from the section labeled “Pentecost” - not even if they’re fun and bouncy to sing.
We do not have enough talent to do much beyond basic melody, or enough people to intimidate parishioners with our talent. However, even when we occasionally sing different parts, I always hold back one verse for this very reason. I want the melody clear so no one is confused.
Our adult choir takes a break in July and August and we generally do not sing on weekdays (other than Christmas and the Triduum) so I have an opportunity to sing alto when in the pews. We don’t have parts in the songbooks but if I know the part I might sing it. (In a few cases I have never actually learned the melody and so would have to see the notes to sing it!) I do pay attention to the people around me; if no one seems to be singing then I am more likely to sing melody in hopes of encouraging them to join in.
I always sing alto. Mostly because I can’s sing as high as they play the hymns. With the advent of digital pianos and organs ( no pun intended
) I don’t know why accompanists and directors insist on keeping the hymns high. It doesn’t take much more than a half step or a whole step, and it makes a huge difference.Regarding “approving authority”, well, steps were taken by the pope in I think the 16th century, after the Council of Trent, to make such an authority, but it never exactly took off. There were probably a handful of bishops or something that tried to carry out directives regarding music but for whatever reason, directives were never widely enforced. I believe a few popes in the 18th and 19th centuries tried to resurrect those directives and the “approving authority”, but didn’t really meet with much more success. The 18th century and especially the 19th century was when much secular music (which at the time was opera) was finding its way into “sacred” music repertoire, so getting this “secular music” out of churches was the reason those particular popes tried to enforce the directives which had been laid out in the 1500s/1600s.well, if there is no approving authority, i guess we’re all good then!
As I mentioned above, “Daddy sang bass . . .”, at least on hymns that are familiar from my Protestant days, or on songs where I can distinguish a bass line.
Whenever the congregation sings Immaculate Mary, some, or a few of us in the pews (not me), always sings the harmony. Happens every time.
FYI:
Same here. I miss hymnals that have all four parts.
Gather comes in 4 parts.
So does the Adoremus Hymnal (Choir edition).
Oh, I am sure that publishers get approval from bishops. I think my main point I was trying to say, is that the group I talked about that previous popes tried to start consisted of Vatican appointed members, and basically, they were to keep a library of all true sacred music from which music directors could choose their music at their parish. They were to review anything under question, and had the authority to declare it either fit or not fit for use at Mass. I don’t mean disrespect for any bishop, and I know I have not read every single document that has been issued regarding sacred music (and there are loads and loads of legislation about it throughout the history of the Church), but what I DO know is that it seems much of the musical history in the Church’s tradition has been largely ignored. And I know I’m biased toward more “traditional music”, but I would definitely say the documents in the 20th century before Vatican II have been at best only partially observed, but otherwise just ignored. Like the ones by Pius X, Pius XI, and Pius XII. There has been a lot of legislation, even stuff before the 20th century, that I think even many bishops aren’t fully aware of.
Does it? I know we have expanded choir edition for our parish which uses Gather Comprehensive, but the regular hymnal has very few parts. Does GIA have a traditional four part hymnal as well?
I’m just guessing here, but I suspect that the four-part choir editions of hymnals are somewhat more expensive than the one-line versions, and therefore parished aren’t likely to be buying 300 copies of them to put in the pews.
Why, is God hard of hearing?