When did guitar become permitted at Mass?

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victrolatim

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Curious about when the norms of voice and organ began to loosen. Note: I am NOT advocating for or against guitar music at Mass, just interested in how it came to be.
 
When churches decided they only wanted volunteers, not trained musicians on staff.
Not saying that there are not some fine and well trained instrumentalists, quite the contrary. But often, REALLY often, a parish looks for and accepts someone who can read music and carry a tune.
 
I have never understood how instruments are outlawed. Why is an organ allowed, but not a guitar? Does the instrument really matter at all? Or just the music and lyrics?
How is secular music that is instrumental and has no lyrics a bad thing as well? It is puzzling to me.

I agree that music should be as Professional as possible, but I have been in many parishes where the volunteers are excellent, and have music backgrounds. So I don’t get “the rules” as some would have them.

And has been debated on here a million times…😊
 
I’m not quite sure, but I think a lot of it has to do with location and finances of the given parish. In Old Europe, where church buildings are very large and such building projects were sponsored by the crown, there were plenty of funds for pipe organs (remember, that originally, no music instruments were allowed at all in Catholic prayer due to them being used in pagan worship, which is why Gregorian chant is a capella).

As the Church moved into the New World, however, many of the missions were built in largely rural areas with little funds. This is especially true in the Spanish colonial areas, where the church buildings were built quickly and with locally found building materials (often adobe and wood), whereas many French colonial cathedrals (built with marble and in the same Gothic style found in Old Europe) are still standing today. And organs were rare in the Spanish colonial areas. Instead, the people used whatever musical instruments they had available, such as maracas & drums (still used today by matachina dancers) and mariachi instruments (which included guitars and guitar-like instruments called vihuelas). So, honestly, though the organ and Gregorian chant is preferred, the Church pretty much allows people to use whatever instruments they have on hand, as long as the music is played in a way that augments prayer - as opposed to distracting from prayer.
 
A guitarist was used at our youth Mass. Also the Catholic school principal is a nun and she plays guitar at the weekly school Mass. At another Church, there is a family of musicians and singers, they accompany the Mass once a month on Sunday evening. It is actually inspiring.
 
Maybe we started warming up to the idea when the beautiful Christmas carol Silent Night was written for guitar in 1818 because the organ was broken. I admittedly don’t know about the rules or permission. Maybe I was an unwitting pawn of disobedience when I played guitar at Mass with my school chums back in the '70s.
 
pianistclare said:
When churches decided they only wanted volunteers, not trained musicians on staff.
Not saying that there are not some fine and well trained instrumentalists, quite the contrary. But often, REALLY often, a parish looks for and accepts someone who can read music and carry a tune.
Click to expand...
You might appreciate this, my aunt recently died at age 94 (RIP), and she was the organist at her parish for almost 80 years! She started playing there in her teens, continued after college, and was reportedly the longest serving lay minster in the history of her diocese. She made her living teaching piano, too.
 
powerofk said:
I’m not quite sure, but I think a lot of it has to do with location and finances of the given parish. In Old Europe, where church buildings are very large and such building projects were sponsored by the crown, there were plenty of funds for pipe organs (remember, that originally, no music instruments were allowed at all in Catholic prayer due to them being used in pagan worship, which is why Gregorian chant is a capella).

As the Church moved into the New World, however, many of the missions were built in largely rural areas with little funds. This is especially true in the Spanish colonial areas, where the church buildings were built quickly and with locally found building materials (often adobe and wood), whereas many French colonial cathedrals (built with marble and in the same Gothic style found in Old Europe) are still standing today. And organs were rare in the Spanish colonial areas. Instead, the people used whatever musical instruments they had available, such as maracas & drums (still used today by matachina dancers) and mariachi instruments (which included guitars and guitar-like instruments called vihuelas). So, honestly, though the organ and Gregorian chant is preferred, the Church pretty much allows people to use whatever instruments they have on hand, as long as the music is played in a way that augments prayer - as opposed to distracting from prayer.
Click to expand...
yup. 👍
 
christofirst said:
You might appreciate this, my aunt recently died at age 94 (RIP), and she was the organist at her parish for almost 80 years! She started playing there in her teens, continued after college, and was reportedly the longest serving lay minster in the history of her diocese. She made her living teaching piano, too.
Click to expand...
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing this!
 
My parish does not have the gift of an organist for every Mass. Our long time ( i think she was our organist for 55years?) became unable to get up the choir loft stairs. She passed away like oh…probably five years ago, after basically retiring.

Sometimes we have a mass with a guitar, but its not a “rock style” type guitar. Most masses are acapella unless we have the men’s choir, the boy’s choir or this one family leading the music. It depends on which Mass (usually saturday evening we have NO organ)

When i was in grade school, once in awhile at the daily Mass we attended, a sister from school would play the guitar for the music.
 
A large number of Spanish colonial churches in the NW are built of stone and in use to this day, including mission churches in TX and Cal.

Spanish church music, however, is quite simple and modern (and with guitars). While the Anglophonic church picked up a lot of music from the Protestants, popular participation in music did not exist in the Spanish orbit until after Vatican II.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
A large number of Spanish colonial churches in the NW are built of stone and in use to this day, including mission churches in TX and Cal.

Spanish church music, however, is quite simple and modern (and with guitars). While the Anglophonic church picked up a lot of music from the Protestants, popular participation in music did not exist in the Spanish orbit until after Vatican II.

ICXC NIKA
Click to expand...
Right. Like in most areas, the laity were not really encouraged to participate, or even welcome to. We relied on the choir.
I began playing at my parish when I was 10 yrs. old.
I remember the people who thought surely a child couldn’t play that big pipe organ.
You take what you can get. Sister Winifred asked me to step up, and they excused me from class to do it every day. 🤷
 
My guess would be around the time the SInging Nun popularized it by singing “Dominique”
 
Irishmom2 said:
I have never understood how instruments are outlawed. Why is an organ allowed, but not a guitar? Does the instrument really matter at all? Or just the music and lyrics?
How is secular music that is instrumental and has no lyrics a bad thing as well? It is puzzling to me.

I agree that music should be as Professional as possible, but I have been in many parishes where the volunteers are excellent, and have music backgrounds. So I don’t get “the rules” as some would have them.

And has been debated on here a million times…😊
Click to expand...
Psalms 92:3

To declare Your loving kindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night, 3:With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, With resounding music upon the lyre. 4: For You, O LORD, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.…

Through out the Bible you will find that a Lute (a stringed instrument) is used to praise God.

The guitar is nothing more that a modern lute.

I go around and around with this question in my own mind. We have a “Guitar” Mass occasionally in our Mission Church and I personally dislike it in the extreme.

But, it isn’t because of the guitar.

It is because the musicians involved are putting on a “rip snorting” show. I don’t even try to explain to these musicians, who are my friends, whom I love etc… why I object to it. They are “singing” praises to God and for the life of me I can’t come up with a viable argument except that it is not appropriate for Mass.

The music is definitely appropriate for a wonderful fun filled youth gathering outside of Mass. I am just grateful that it is only for one Sunday a month and only for half of the year because the guitarist is a snow bird and leaves in the winter.
 
My parish only uses the guitar on “special days” when there are a lot of young people and kids present. Maybe it’s to help keep their attention. 😃
 
pianistclare said:
Right. Like in most areas, the laity were not really encouraged to participate, or even welcome to. We relied on the choir.
Click to expand...
Were the choir not made up of laity?
I began playing at my parish when I was 10 yrs. old.
I remember the people who thought surely a child couldn’t play that big pipe organ.
You take what you can get. Sister Winifred asked me to step up, and they excused me from class to do it every day. 🤷
Click to expand...
I once got to play the piano during a school Mass. I even got out of class to go practice in the church. I was about 10 as well, and really not very good, but I could get by and play “Peace is Flowing Like a River”. To this day, I remember the feeling of being all alone in the big, dark and peaceful church. I was so uncomfortable doing anything but praying, and I was worried that someone would “catch” me and I’d have to explain that I had permission to be there, in the church and not in class.
 
The guitar was became permitted when the first priest with the authority to allow it did. It was then permitted for his parish at the Mass it was allowed. The Church does not list forbidden instruments, but gives guidelines to accommodate changing times. Periodically, some will come and cite older disciplines and point out that they have not been abrogated. This reasoning assumes that they need to be specifically withdrawn. No, we are to go by our current version of canon law which places the bishop in charge of the liturgy, with the ability to delegate decisions down the line.
 
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