- This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
What has happened to liturgy being the prayer of the people of the parish? Why are we so often relegated to just singing in the pew? When I have asked about the emphasis on singing at an NPM convention, I was referred to the church document, Sing to the Lord, where it says: “Of all the sounds of which human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are capable, voice is the most privileged and fundamental. Musical instruments in the liturgy are best understood as an extension of and support for the primary liturgical instrument, which is the human voice.”
Whoever wrote the above statement does not know what it is like to have difficulty singing. I have experienced a paralyzed vocal cord which left me unable to sing at all. It was repaired with surgery, but then I developed a tremor on my larynx from Parkinson’s disease. And someone is trying to tell me that the best way for me to pray is with my voice, when I know that the sound of my classical guitar playing a hymn is far more pleasing to anyone to hear than the sound of my voice trying to sing notes that are always too high? Why should everyone be expected to pray with a singing voice? I would like to see a parish where everyone is welcome to pray musically however they feel fit. That would include people bringing egg shakers or a small hand drum to mass with them. (Did you ever try to clap your hands when you have arthritis?) That also would include people joining the choir with whatever instrument they play. No one would be asked to sit out on any song, they would only be asked to adapt the sound of their instrument to the song. Trumpets can play softly with a mute. Guitars can strum softly or fingerpick and not be any louder than a singing voice.
Back in the 70’s, everyone who could play 4 or 5 chords on guitar was encouraged to join the music group at church. Sometimes the music was not the best, but people were participating in liturgy. Now we have gone from the extreme of letting everyone play an instrument at mass, to only letting the very best musicians play and telling everyone else to sing. I heard music directors at an NPM convention complain about the guitarists who want to play every song. The answer to this complaint by the leader of the workshop was to say the music ensemble at church should be compared to the school band, where not all the instruments play all the time. No, the instruments in a school concert band do not play all the time, but they do play every song.
I have been involved in music ministry consistently since 1971. In 2009 I moved to Florida’s Treasure Coast and music ministry is very different here. The pastors look for music directors that are great performers rather than ones with knowledge of liturgy or good ability to lead the congregation in sung prayer. My opinion is that they are trying to impress rich snowbirds. The pastors will argue that their very good professional musicians do lead the people in prayer, but I do not see it and I have found others to agree with me.
When you are used to playing guitar at mass every Sunday and holy day and now you are sometimes told to come to church without your guitar, it is very hard. I am used to praying with my guitar. I have done so since high school. Now that my singing voice has greatly declined due to medical problems, my guitar is even more important. Even if the arthritis in my hand is acting up, I can still get a pleasing sound from my guitar, unlike my singing voice that causes me to choke and cough when Parkinson’s disease makes my neck stiff. One holy day, I sat in the empty crying room and played along on the hymns from there. I am trying to get the nerve to play my guitar from a back pew whenever I am at a mass where I am not in the choir or music group.
At my old parish in Pennsylvania, where I played guitar at mass several times a week, someone once asked me if my guitar was an appendage, because I seemed to always have it with me. I like thinking of my guitar as an appendage. My guitar is a part of me. I think I should be just as welcome to softly pick on my guitar as to sing at any mass I go to, and I would like to see everyone made more welcome to pray with more than a singing voice.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn and your faithfulness throughout the night, With 10 stringed instrument and lyre, with melody upon the harp. Psalm 92:2-4Joette, thank you for those thoughts. I’ll admit, at first glance I was taken aback by your idea of folks bringing guitars into the pews. I need those guitarists in my choir! 🙂 All kidding aside I’ve been blessed to have the musical ability (or to have directors that have the ability) to teach, write music, and integrate a wide variety of instruments into a choir – the churches I have belonged to have almost all had very welcoming music ministries. However, I have experienced what you described as well – well intentioned and talented musicians that are putting on a show instead of leading a congregation in worship.
Its a challenging issue no matter how you look at it. I guess my question for you would be – have you talked to directors about bringing shaker eggs into the pews? Even the priest?
I don’t see why anyone would have a problem with egg shakers. They are not even as loud as hand clapping. I have taken egg shakers in my purse when going to a healing mass where I knew the music would be contemporary. I gave a set of egg shakers to a friend on her birthday after she was told she was not allowed to ever play the tambourine again with the 8 am choir after one Sunday when she played tambourine on “too many songs,” but I have not seen her use them.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.