Thoughts on drums in mass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dolphin
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I provided a quote / link earlier in the thread from that Archdiocese’s guidelines. No electric guitars or drums…
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Well, glad I’m far away from his diocese then.
Click to expand...
I’m not in Portland, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen an electric guitar or drumset at a Mass. I think maybe I have, years ago, when travelling… but in my experience such instruments are very rare in a Catholic liturgical setting. Not your experience? As a former Evangelical Protestant, I personally don’t care for Praise & Worship band style music at Mass…but I’ve found it to be pretty rare in real life despite the heated debates on CAF.
 
I sometimes attend Lifeteen Masses and Newman Center Masses. I have also been to Mass at a Catholic Church in the middle of a heavily Evangelical area. All of these Masses used electric instruments and drum kits at worship to some degree.

I have stated many times that I like all kinds of Mass music, as long as it is sung and played well. I like organ, piano, chant, choir, Christian rock, praise and worship band, folk group, Spanish guitar group, chamber music etc, as long as it is sung and played well. I like to hear all different types of music being used at Mass.

It is rare to find an organist, chant group/ choir, or Spanish group with poor skills. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folk groups and pianists out there who are barely functional; I offer it up when I encounter such a one.

The electric bands and drummers tend to be pretty good because there is a bias against their music at Mass and if they don’t have good chops they will not be allowed to play at all.
 
Last edited:
Not interested in drums at mass. That would ruin the peaceful reverence for me.
Dominus vobiscum
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Christian rock
Click to expand...
I can see the Praise & Worship…while its not my preference, it can be done well. Christian rock? I’m not even sure what that means in this context, but I have a hard time imagining it being suitable in a liturgical setting. What distinguishes it from Praise & Worship?
 
Last edited:
It’s songs that are permitted for use at Mass. The priest whose church I hear it at the most is a fairly orthodox guy who was trying to get the tabernacle moved back to the middle of the sanctuary from off to the right pre-COVID and once admonished a Catholic on his tour for having her palm read in a restaurant. His parish also hosts Lifeteen for the whole area and the 5 pm Sunday Lifeteen Mass has electrified guitar and a drum kit. My favorite song they do is Lion and the Lamb.
 
Last edited:
All Lifeteen Masses aren’t the same.
I have seen nothing at Fr K’s Lifeteen Mass that differs from the rubrics he uses at the 10 am Mass with organ music.
The musicians at the Lifeteen Masses I attend are teens.
The musicians at the Newman Center Masses I attend are undergrads.

It’s pointless to argue these points as it will change no one’s mind. My only reason for post is to show to everyone reading that Catholics don’t all have closed minds, nor are all of us who are open to different musical styles a bunch of neohippies who want to modernice everything. With that, I take my leave of this thread.
 
Last edited:
Tis_Bearself said:
All Lifeteen Masses aren’t the same.
I have seen nothing at Fr K’s Lifeteen Mass that differs from the rubrics he uses at the 10 am Mass with organ music.
The musicians at the Lifeteen Masses I attend are teens.
The musicians at the Newman Center Masses I attend are undergrads.

It’s pointless to argue these points as it will change no one’s mind. My only reason for post is to show to everyone reading that Catholics don’t all have closed minds, nor are all of us who are open to different musical styles a bunch of neohippies who want to modernice everything. With that, I take my leave of this thread.
Click to expand...
Well, I guess @Tis_Bearself has left the thread, but I’m trying to figure out what “closed minds” means in this context. Does she mean that Catholics who try to follow the church’s instructions on liturgical music have “closed minds”? That can’t be what she means? I don’t understand how people can just openly dismiss all the writings of popes etc. on liturgy?
 
Last edited:
As long as the song goes smoothly and does not turn the whole thing into a rock concert, i went to this one mass and they had a guitar and a bongo, i almost had an heart attack between the parts of the mass becuse the thing was so loud it became disrespectful, a mass sould resemble a funeral in some aspects, becuse its the Sacrifice of God after all, happy music does NOT fit the mass at all.
 
Obviously the local Bishop has a lot of power and can decide what is best for his flock. Like I said earlier, my Bishop has no problem with these types of instruments being used during the Mass. Conversely, if a Bishop does not permit these instruments to be used, that is okay too.
 
Before attending my previous parish here in Florida, I would have opposed having a “band” perform at Mass, but after seeing how tasteful they did it my opinion was changed. One can look at the Mass as a funeral, but one can also see the Mass as a great joy, one that should be shouted from the rooftops. For example, at my Mother’s passing I was indeed sad, but there was also a joy in my heart that she no longer suffered and was now safe and pain free and with Our Lord.
 
Last edited:
Odilon said:
Obviously the local Bishop has a lot of power and can decide what is best for his flock. Like I said earlier, my Bishop has no problem with these types of instruments being used during the Mass. Conversely, if a Bishop does not permit these instruments to be used, that is okay too.
Click to expand...
But why does it seem like some bishops try to follow the instructions for liturgical music, and others don’t follow the instructions?
 
Last edited:
One could ask the same regarding many things. Despite the 2007 Motu proprio from Pope Benedict, several dioceses in the US and others worldwide have bishops who absolutely refuse to have the TLM said in their diocese through forbidding any priest to offer it. Does this directly contradict Pope Benedict? Yes.
Or how about dioceses where (Rochester NY comes to mind) the former bishop allowed and encouraged lay people especially women to give homilies over his 30 year tenure? Totally against what the Church requires but he did so.

Bishops are not infallible or impeccable, though to be respected for the office they hold. Respect does not mean that if a bishop is in egregious error that others, even lay people, cannot speak of the error itself as a wrong, just as one may appropriately speak of error as an objective thing without presuming to ‘judge the heart’ which action is reserved to the Lord.

Even one of the first bishops (Judas) betrayed the Lord, and the remaining others fled when He was arrested.

We need to pray for our bishops.
 
For the record, we’ve experienced Mariachi Bands at Mass. Also Polka Mass is held in some parishes here. The former as part of a quinceañera–quite a treat and brings tears to the eyes. The latter, a Polish heritage thing, though polkas aren’t actually a tradition in Poland.

As per the topic of tympany at Mass: the rumble of kneelers being stowed before The Lord’s Prayer–then set down again afterward–is sufficient. No explanation for the custom.
 
Last edited:
That this is even a question I find troubling in and of itself. Drums and guitars at Mass makes me cringe. To be fair, I attend the TLM. But that doesn’t change things. At my niece’s parish they have a huge drum set, and a big amplifier. Hell, the only thing missing was Jimmy Page’s double-neck Gibson EDS-1275!!! 😉
 
Drums, guitar, tambourines, protestants have them all. Music listened to on the free time of the individual for entertainment is fine with me, but the addition to mass seems “off”. It would prompt me to avoid that mass, or that church itself. It is worship, not a concert. (Before someone adds “go, but offer that discomfort to God”: if breakdancing were included in the service, I would leave just as quickly. I go to worship, not to be entertained by a “show” while being distracted from worship by the irritation.)
Dominus vobiscum
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top