Worship Music in the Church

[RevTestament]

1 hour ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Well, this is interesting...

https://www.lds.org/church/news/church-announces-plans-for-new-hymnbook-and-childrens-songbook?lang=eng

Maybe our humble little posts are having some affect on the leadership!. Thanks for letting us know about this change. I invite all to submit favorite hymns which are currently not in our hymnal! Maybe now I will "compose" that song, although it is really a rearrangement. 

[Bernard Gui]

3 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Thanks for sharing, I think I'm going to have to find a different venue or church to be able to follow these rules. 

They are quite applicable to the LDS church, too.

[Thinking]

This version of Popcorn Poppin" would definitely wake up those snoozers during sacrament meeting.

 

 

[Amulek]

4 hours ago, RevTestament said:

I have been to too many LDS services that have a certain dolefulness to the singing. I would certainly like to see that improved. I think a lot of it just comes from improper singing technique.

In my experience, when it comes to 'dolefulness,' it isn't usually the singers who are the real issue; the root of that problem tends to lie somewhere between the organ's keyboard and bench. 

How can you expect a congregation to enthusiastically sing Master, The Tempest Is Raging when the organist is playing something more along the lines of Master, The Drizzle is Misting?

Now, as much as that my sound like a complaint (and, trust me, my inner percussionist does have a hard time dealing with dragging tempos), I really mean that more as an observation. Playing the organ proficiently is a challenging thing - a skill that I personally do not possess, so I try not to be too critical of others. If Sister So-and-so can't play anything at 120 bpm anymore, then me and the ghost of John Philip Sousa are just going to have to live with it.

 

[RevTestament]

18 minutes ago, Amulek said:

In my experience, when it comes to 'dolefulness,' it isn't usually the singers who are the real issue; the root of that problem tends to lie somewhere between the organ's keyboard and bench. 

How can you expect a congregation to enthusiastically sing Master, The Tempest Is Raging when the organist is playing something more along the lines of Master, The Drizzle is Misting?

Now, as much as that my sound like a complaint (and, trust me, my inner percussionist does have a hard time dealing with dragging tempos), I really mean that more as an observation. Playing the organ proficiently is a challenging thing - a skill that I personally do not possess, so I try not to be too critical of others. If Sister So-and-so can't play anything at 120 bpm anymore, then me and the ghost of John Philip Sousa are just going to have to live with it.

 

Yes, when all organists are volunteers we are somewhat subject to that. However, it is essentially impossible to play the organ flat. The organ is a challenging instrument, but usually, it is played more like a piano in church. But yes, a common problem is dragging tempos. My current ward is blessed with a few capable organists. Yet, sometimes the music still "sags." This is usually because the congregation picks up the hymnal and half of them mumble the words. They are not sung with feeling. The words are not properly supported with air, which tends to make the voice flat. Also there is usually not a choir leading the congregation to help with the tone, tempo, mood, etc of the music. There are a number of contributing factors I have discussed. I am not a professional musician, but sometimes I want so badly to make suggestions to people. Yet, I am afraid I will hurt their feelings. There is a young man who has sung a solo recently for our ward. I believe he has a very nice voice, but it is not trained. As a result his throat is tensed, and his sound is very nasal. I am confident with just a few minutes I could improve his sound dramatically - by teaching proper breath support, open and relaxed throat, and to drop his tongue and open his mouth more. Then he would have a beautiful voice I am sure. But, at least he is willing to give singing a try. When you multiply his ailment by 200 people in the audience - many of whom are not really even trying, you get nasal and flat tones. This can be complicated further by inexperienced organists, etc. 

'This is my one complaint about the size of Church wards. They generally are not big enough to support a good and committed choir. A good choir can do a lot to help lead the congregation in more inspired singing.

[Calm]

9 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

I've seen this done numerous times to varying degrees of success.

The vast majority of hymns in the hymnal are never sung. I'd guess that there are probably 75-100 hymns that get 99% of the play in church. The hymnal could be thinned out for the best of the best, and then add a few other goodies. The hymnals are available electronically so it would be easy to at least update things in that way, even while keeping the existing hymnals in circulation until they become too thread worn to be useful (like most hymnals in our building).

My ward conductor has been in the job for over a decade.  She has us sing songs sequentially for the most part so we hit every song eventually and then start again.  We have talented organists, so no song is beyond their capability.

[Calm]

7 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

Well, this is interesting...

https://www.lds.org/church/news/church-announces-plans-for-new-hymnbook-and-childrens-songbook?lang=eng

Seriously, man, are you clairvoyant?  Or just have an inside source?

[Calm]

6 hours ago, Tacenda said:

The cool kids don't sing out loud and strong and joyously. 

Do they have music class anymore in school?  They had a very limited class up in Canada in my daughter's elementary school.  I remember having it quite frequently in both elementary and junior high and doing a lot of singing.  She had choir during lunch though, so she got used to singing in a group.  And her first principal would start one day a week with an assembly where they would sing fun songs while he played guitar.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Calm

[Calm]

dup.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Calm

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

Do they have music class anymore in school?  They had a very limited class up in Canada in my daughter's elementary school.  I remember having it quite frequently in both elementary and junior high and doing a lot of singing.  She had choir during lunch though, so she got used to singing in a group.  And her first principal would start one day a week with an assembly where they would sing fun songs while he played guitar.

I was using an analogy. But yes they have choirs in jr. high and high school. I was just on a tangent, saying how in some of my wards it feels like the old days in high school.

[Calm]

13 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

I was using an analogy. But yes they have choirs in jr. high and high school. I was just on a tangent, saying how in some of my wards it feels like the old days in high school.

I am talking about something else your post made me wonder with your comment about kids not singing.

Choirs are something kids volunteer for, so most kids aren't in them.  I am talking about having music classes like math and science where everyone has to participate.  I am wondering how much experience outside of church most kids have in learning to sing in a group.  If only at church, this may affect how good they are at doing it.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Calm

[Stargazer]

On 6/17/2018 at 4:39 PM, Thinking said:

Apparently Music & The Spoken Word has different guidelines.

Music and the Spoken Word isn't Sacrament Meeting.

 

[Hamba Tuhan]

On 6/18/2018 at 1:39 AM, Thinking said:

Once in sacrament meeting a young adult member sang an original song while playing his acoustic guitar. The reaction was mixed.

Odd. We have guitar in sacrament meeting probably at least once a month, always as part of a musical item.

[Calm]

31 minutes ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

Odd. We have guitar in sacrament meeting probably at least once a month, always as part of a musical item.

I thought guitar was specified as not allowed, but apparently not.

https://www.lds.org/new-era/2014/04/to-the-point/why-are-we-allowed-to-play-only-certain-musical-instruments-in-sacrament-meeting?lang=eng

Quote

May the guitar be used in sacrament meeting?
“Organs and pianos, or their electronic equivalents, are the standard instruments used in Church meetings. If other instruments are used, their use should be in keeping with the spirit of the meeting” (Handbook 2, 14.4.2).

https://www.lds.org/callings/music/introduction-to-music/frequently-asked-questions?lang=eng

It may have been in the past as I distinctly remember being told maybe a few months or a year after we performed with a guitar at my brother's farewell (All Good Things from Godspell for you Day by Day fans) that guitars were no longer allowed.  We had a run of guitar performances, ours being one of them.  But perhaps that was just local rules (being California, perhaps the area got overly fond of guitar).  So went back to the one violinist and the concert grade pianist (there were probably others, but those were my age so I remember them).

I like this comment from the Handbook:

Quote

Most Church meetings are enhanced by the singing of hymns. Music provides a primary means by which members participate in Church worship services. Congregational singing has a unique and often underused power for unifying members as they worship together

Apparently there was something that implied no guitars in the 1963 Handbook, but it was changed in 68.  Since then it would have been in the unwritten order of things or local leadership banning it if banned it would seem.

https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/comments/68pckd/guitars_in_lds_sacrament_meeting/

Edited June 19, 2018 by Calm

[Hamba Tuhan]

Quote

Congregational singing has a unique and often underused power for unifying members as they worship together.

Amen to this! I worry that we sometimes forget this element.

[Stargazer]

17 hours ago, Tacenda said:

The cool kids don't sing out loud and strong and joyously. 

That's not cool.

In high school I was never ever one of the cool kids.  I was one of the nerds, and from my perspective the cools were the overly self-absorbed, self-conscious, and arrogant jerks who were oh-so-concerned over their public image, who loved lording it over the peons.  Here's an amusing look at a cool kid who thought he was the king of the nerds (from Good Will Hunting) until Matt Damon shut him down:

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2018 by Stargazer

[HappyJackWagon]

13 hours ago, Calm said:

My ward conductor has been in the job for over a decade.  She has us sing songs sequentially for the most part so we hit every song eventually and then start again.  We have talented organists, so no song is beyond their capability.

That sounds really terrible. It must be really awkward when they come to all of the patriotic music at Christmas time. I'm sorry  

Quote

Seriously, man, are you clairvoyant?  Or just have an inside source?

Ha, ha. No. Just hoping for change  

Edited June 19, 2018 by HappyJackWagon

[bluebell]

15 hours ago, Calm said:

My ward conductor has been in the job for over a decade.  She has us sing songs sequentially for the most part so we hit every song eventually and then start again.  We have talented organists, so no song is beyond their capability.

Our ward chorister does that with the sacrament songs, but only the sacrament songs.  It seems like it would be odd to do that with other songs because a lot of them would be sung at odd times, or not sung when they would be most appropriate (such as Christmas, Easter, songs about fasting, patriotic, etc.)

[Tacenda]

6 hours ago, Stargazer said:

That's not cool.

In high school I was never ever one of the cool kids.  I was one of the nerds, and from my perspective the cools were the overly self-absorbed, self-conscious, and arrogant jerks who were oh-so-concerned over their public image, who loved lording it over the peons.  Here's an amusing look at a cool kid who thought he was the king of the nerds (from Good Will Hunting) until Matt Damon shut him down:

 

 

 

That was good! Makes me want to watch this movie again. 

[Calm]

6 hours ago, HappyJackWagon said:

That sounds really terrible. It must be really awkward when they come to all of the patriotic music at Christmas time. I'm sorry  

It would be.  Thankfully she is intelligent about that, which is why I said "for the most part".  She does sacrament hymns in their own rotation sequence.  Seasonal hymns are done in season, again in their own rotation.

I really like the variety.