Okay - I don't like to complain, but I've been to several parishes over the last two months. The thing that strikes me as important to getting the people to sing is SIMPLICITY. This is doubly true for mass parts.
I don't remember the setting, but one particular "Glory to God" used weekly is just painfully hard to learn from the pews. Additionally, this week the difficulty in singing spilled over into the mass parts (the Holy, Memorial Acclamation, and Great Amen). The cantor had a fantastic voice, but on its own it could not compensate for the non-repetitive notes that accompanied an extraordinarily long setting. I'm a musician and (without notes) I just could not follow it. In addition, the memorial acclamation they chose was the one least fitting to the notes of the "Holy". As a result, people mumbled - no one sang, and as a result, our prayers were distracted by an inability to participate.
So, to put a positive spin on this: "Keep it Simple".
God bless you in your ministry.
(c) 2007 by Art Leonard. All rights reserved.
