Category: Liturgy and Music

Singers sometimes get a little caught up in the music (or themselves) and move around when they sing. You’ve probably seen the cantor or lone chorister swaying their torso, taking a huge, obvious breath or move their chin up and down based on the pitch. All these things get in the way of good singing and music-making.
Moving too much creates your own rhythm. If you get to swaying, bobbing or tapping, changes are your tempo will be different than the conductor. Don’t externalize rhythm – watch the conductor and follow his rhythm.
Moving too much adversely effects your instrument. There’s a reason organ pipes are a fixed size – the size and characteristics dictate the pitch and timbre. Same thing with the voice – you can’t have a consistent, good sound you are moving your instrument around. The entire instrument, from air in the lungs to the shape of the throat and other areas where there’s resonance shouldn’t be moved around.
Moving around is distracting. There’s no benefit, particularly in a liturgical setting, to drawing attention to yourself in such a silly way. Someone might give you a leotard and a big, curly banner and ask you to lead the liturgical dance ministry.
Moving around means you’re probably not paying attention. If you are busy “emoting” you are probably not engaged with the rest of the ensemble.
That covers it. If you stay still, you’ll look better, sing better and be a more valuable part of the ensemble.

When I tell the choir something important, I start by saying, “This is one thing you should remember forever, and if I get hit by a cement mixer on the way home from rehearsal, I won’t be here to repeat it again.” They used to laugh at that, but don’t anymore – I need to come up with another untimely death scenario.
At the top of the list is that singers need to open their mouths. From an early age, we’re conditioned to keep our mouths closed: “Don’t chew with your mouth open” “Shut your mouth or you’ll catch flies”
In a choir, a quick way to improve the sound is to have the singers open their mouths while singing. It prolongs the duration of the vowel and encourages legato singing. An open mouth generally leads to a better resonance in the voice and better vowel color. It also encourages concentration on the overall effort.
I have to fight the closed-mouth syndrome all the time because of old habits, but all the fighting pays off and open mouths can help any piece of music sound better.

My wife and I were forced by circumstance to attend Holy Mass in a small parish in southwestern Virginia a couple of weeks ago. This was our first, and, until there is an administrative change there, our last trip to this parish. After the collect, the celebrant said (paraphrased), “The text for our Gloria can be found in the front cover of the hymnal.” Before we had a chance to even wonder what that could possibly mean, he began to intone the following, to the tune of Beethoven’s Hymn to Joy:

Glory be to God the Father,
To our God who reigns above.
May he send his peace upon us
And his everlasting love.
Songs of praise and songs of blessing
To our God who reigns on high.
Let us raise our loud hosannas,
Let us raise our joyful cry.

Fr. Keyes attended a recent consultation the USCCB liturgy office arranged with church musicians, on the subject of the new translations.

… I recently joined the Society for a Moritorium on the Music of David Haas and Marty Haugen. Here’s one of their funnier parodies:
Gather Them In (for Thanksgiving)
Here in this place, our family’s meeting –
Grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts –
Getting in place for dinnertime seating,
And to my mother they’re chanting these chants:
“Gather them in, the turkey and stuffing,
Gather them in, the gravy and ham!
And don’t forget that Thanksgiving dinner
Just ain’t complete without cranberry jam!”
Out in the den my uncles were spitting
Curse words in front of the big screen TV
While watching football (totally fitting):
Visitors thirty, home team only three.
“Gather them in,” my mother requested:
“Gather them in, lest dinner gets cold.”
And though at first, my uncles protested,
Watching the walloping quickly grew old.
Gone from this place, my sister’s new diet.
Brother’s already demanding more food.
To our surprise, the in-laws are quiet –
No petty fighting to break up the mood.
“Gather the beans, the corn and potatoes.”
“Gather the pot roast, gather the bread.”
“Haven’t you got too many tomatoes?
Just one more bite will render you dead.”
After our dinner, everyone’s groaning,
Grousing, complaining, that they ate too much.
And this one thought has my cousins moaning:
Turkey breast sandwiches for next week’s lunch.
“Gather them in, the Pepto-dash-Bismol,
Gather them in, the Pepcid AC.
Please do it quick, cuz’ we’re feeling dismal,
Next year we’ll limit our helpings to three!”