First I want to make some comments about the assertation that “the music is too high.”
Back when I first started getting involved with CAF, I came across this complaint often in music threads, and also heard it from parishioners in my home parish and other parishes where I play piano for Mass.
So I sat down and did a study.
I took ten “contemporary” Catholic hymns and ten “traditional” Catholic hymns out of the missallette.
Contemporary included hymns like “I Am The Bread of Life,” “Here I Am, Lord,” “Gather Us In,” etc.
Traditional included hymns like “Holy God We Praise Thy Name,” " Crown Him With Many Crowns," “Immaculate Mary,” etc.
What I discovered is that the TRADITIONAL hymns had more HIGH notes and phrases than the contemporary hymns.
Take a look for yourself next time you have a few minutes after Mass.
As for chant, from what I understand, the cantor can begin a chant in any key, so in theory, chant should be easier for many people to sing because it should be sung in a more “middle range.” This really places a burden on the cantor to begin any chant in a comfortable key. However, for many cantors who are trained musicians, the higher ranges are very comfortable for them, so I suspect that many parishioners will continue to have difficulty hitting the high notes even in chant. I’m thinking that a wise cantor will bring a pitch pipe along, and discreetly find their pitch before beginning any chant. It would be a kindness to the congregation.
Here is my take. The reason the music is too high is because most people in the U.S. have not been taught how to sing properly.
Yes, people need to learn how to sing properly.
But in many cities and towns (not all), music education is abysmal.
In an effort to try to improve test scores in math, reading, and writing, many school districts have drastically defunded the arts.
Also, because of various cultural factors, many music teachers don’t even try to teach children how to read music, how to sing, etc. because it’s “too hard” and children become easily bored with such drill.
Finally, in a misguided attempt to be more “inclusive” of various cultures, many music classes are nothing more than ethnic sing-a-longs, and much of the music is American street music played from a CD player, and done with more “choreography” than melody and singing.
Before we condemn our schools, though, we need to take a look at our households. In many homes, the only music ever played is pop music, either rock/pop or country/pop. Neither of these music styles is conducive to helping an infant or small child develop a musical ear. What I and other musicians are seeing when we work with children is an immense number of children who cannot hear or sing a melody. They simply cannot sing.
BUT…before we condemn the households who play pop music all day long, we need to realize that those who play classical music all day long are not really helping their children either. The complexities of classical music make it very difficult for babies and tiny children to pick out a melody. So even these children do NOT learn how to sing.
The way to develop a musical ear in children is to guard their musical development from birth. Babies and tiny children should hear mainly MONOPHONIC music–one voice. This can be Mommy’s voice, Daddy’s voice, another relative’s voice. It can be a piano with ONE note melodies. It can be ONE guitar (no drums, no bass, no fiddle, etc.). It can be ONE violin–excellent instrument for little ones to hear!
And this ONE voice needs to sing STRONG melodies. One fun game to play with little ones is to sing a few notes and then ask the child to sing it back. When they are little, all they will do is scream it back–you often hear little ones doing this at Mass during the music–they are “singing along!” (Cute.)
But if you keep playing the “game,” eventually the child will learn to match your pitch and sing back to you.
As the child gets older, more complex music (polyphonic) can be added to their musical repertoire. But again, we need to GUARD young children from being immersed in any kind of complex music until they are able to sing strong melodies and match pitches. Introducing too much complexity will muddy their musical ears and make it harder for them to hear the pitches. That’s what makes a monotone or a tone-deaf child and eventually, a tone-deaf adult.
There is much more that I can add, but that’s another thread. The gist of it is, we Americans simply don’t know how to sing anymore.
