Mark Bowman

It is truly tragic that this scenario is much more pervasive than we often realize. John Bell calls this phenomenon “vocal disenfranchisement” (The Singing Thing, GIA Publications, 2000) and projects that one-quarter of persons in Western societies have internalized a proscription not to sing. Think for a moment about all of the joy, energy, and power that you’ve realized in singing in community through your life. Then imagine all that being taken away, never having had that experience. That is the reality for one of every four persons in our community.

Strike up conversations with persons about this and you will be amazed at what you learn. When I’m leading singing at a conference, typically someone will compliment my song leadership and I reply: “You all are doing the great singing, I’m just getting you started.” Then the person will look down and say, “Well, I can’t sing, but we do have lots of great singers here.” To which I reply “God has given everyone a voice–yours may not be diva-quality, but you can sing.” This often leads into a longer discussion, joined by other persons nearby, and I again hear the stories of being told by a Sunday School teacher, or by an aunt, or by a significant friend that they should not try to sing. This may have happened 20 years ago, 40 years ago, but is still firmly imprinted in their brain. For all these years, they have denied themselves the joy and power of singing praise to God with their community.

If you are a musician and teacher who have asked folks to refrain from singing, your halo has lost its luster. Over my years of choral directing and song leading I have heard a number of so-called “drones” whose sung pitch didn’t change much or changed contrary to the rest of the body. In every case I have found that if these persons were willing to work at it–with encouragement, affirmation and tips, they could eventually sing close to what persons around them sing. Sometimes it is that they are not really listening. Or some persons do not have a feel for the physical mechanics of raising and lowering pitch. But nothing is more gratifying as a song leader than hearing someone in the congregation whose singing used to be unrecognizable, now adding her timid voice to the song of the congregation. We have given someone else the glorious affirmation of being received into God’s heavenly chorus.

So in music ministry and song leadership it is essential that we believe that everyone has been gifted by God with a voice. Furthermore, we can exhibit the conviction that everyone can reflect that gift back to God, i.e., use their voice to join the community in melodious worship of God. When I’m leading singing and notice the persons in the assembly who are not trying, I remember that they’re only following their internalized expectations. To scold or criticize them will only entrench their inhibition. Instead it is my responsibility to affirm...cajole...entice...make singing so irresistible that they have no choice but to burst through the barrier and join in song with the persons around them. This is truly a gracious gift from God! Collapse article.

These perspectives presume that the conflict is caused by the particular musical style chosen or desired. Worshipers have an affinity for the musical style that stirs their soul and carries them to closer relationship with God. Through this scenario a sense of exclusive relationship between a musical form and the Holy creeps into the worship experience. “God speaks to me through this music.” “God doesn’t speak to me through that music.” The resolution of this conflict has typically been to segregate music in worship–one service uses this style of music while another service uses another. Efforts to compromise in “blended” worship have proven difficult and often unsatisfactory.

The limitation of viewing worship through this lens is that music becomes a performance which one listens to in worship. As one might choose a musical ensemble to hear in concert because their music is appealing, so one goes to worship to listen to one’s favorite music. The worship musicians are performers and the congregation becomes the audience. The role of the worshiper is now passive; worship is done “at” you rather than “with” you.

When one delves below the surface of the “worship wars” as they have been presented, one can glimpse a deeper issue at play. The crisis may not be so much about the style of music performed as about the reduction of the role of the worshiper. Maybe the issue is not so much whether we sing hymns or praise choruses, but whether we encourage the congregation to truly sing. Is the worshiper to be a passive listener to musical performance or an active participant in creating music? Stated succinctly this crisis can be seen as a de-emphasis on congregational singing.

In “traditional” worship the congregation is usually expected to sing standing up and looking down into a heavy book in their hands, lined up in rows facing an organ and choir that is loudly “leading” them. In “contemporary” worship the congregation is typically asked to sing in the face of a wall of booming sound that comes from a worship band elevated up and divided off by tech equipment and with a singer doing vocal acrobatics. In each of these scenarios the result is the same–the suppression of congregational singing. In fact, if one were asked to create a scenario that was most antithetical to participatory singing, it would probably look like one of the above.

Pastors and congregations are well-served to step back and look at their worship and music through this different lens–not what musical style is most appealing to us, but how can we more effectively join voices in singing prayer and praise to God? This change in focus begins to move the worshiper from being a passive listener to an active participant in worship. Engaging worshipers more fully opens them to new and deeper experiences of God. Singing together strengthens the linkages within the community of faith.

A question I am often by pastors or worship leaders is: “how can we start enabling stronger congregational singing?” My answer is two-fold: 1) recover the role of the song leader; and 2) sing one song unaccompanied in every worship gathering. That may sound radical, but let’s look more closely.

Historically the synagogue and the church used cantors to lead the congregation in song. The good cantor was not a solo singer, but an enabler who used voice and body to invite and encourage the congregation into the song. Over the last century or so, song leaders played prominent roles in camp and revival meetings. However this role has been lost in most churches today. A song leader is not necessarily the choir director; the function is different. The song leader uses voice and gesture to invite the congregation into the song, to affirm the glory of the singing, to shape the rise and flow of the song, and to painlessly teach new songs. Being a song leader is a gift to develop and skill to encourage in our congregations.

Secondly, the congregation can only begin to appreciate its singing and the individual voices that comprise the singing when everyone can hear the song. That means occasionally turning off the organ or the praise band to let the congregation hear and savor its voice. It is a fallacy to think–as many church musicians and congregations do–that a capella singing is difficult, out of the reach of many congregations. In actuality, the unaccompanied voice is the most natural form of music. Communities, synagogues and congregations sang without instrumental accompaniment for centuries. I tell congregations that God smiles most brightly when hearing their voices lifted together in song.

May our congregations become places where we live out the words of the Psalmist: “Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of God’s name; give to God glorious praise. Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you. All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name.’” (Psalm 66) Collapse article.

1. Everyone participates in making music. This is the prime directive that underlies everything else in music ministry. God has given everyone a voice and we offer that back to God in song. Yes, you will find a number of people in your congregation who believe they cannot sing. It is my challenge as their minister of music to help them overcome that block and find their voice. As the leader of singing I invite, affirm, cajole and encourage everyone to sing as patiently and creatively as I can in every worship gathering.

Of course, choirs and solo performers enhance the worship experience. But these are never the dominant musical form in worship. Whenever possible the choir and soloists are used to enhance congregational singing–adding descants and harmonies; singing verses with the congregation joining on the refrain.

The music is planned for each worship service through the lens of this value. How can the songs be planned so as to maximize congregational participation? Is there a favorite song or two in the worship that the congregation enjoys singing? Are all tunes easily singable? Or should I substitute another tune for a particular text? Is there unaccompanied singing in the worship so the congregation can hear themselves sing? How will I introduce and/or teach a new song so the congregational has a successful experience in singing it?

2. Music draws upon diverse musical styles & traditions. The music that most of us hear in our day-to-day lives is quite diverse. Many congregations are growing more diverse in heritage and age. There is no one style of music that speaks to everybody. Therefore, the more diverse styles of music we use in our worship, the more we connect with the tastes and desires of different persons in the congregation.

However, choosing music for worship is not just about matching individual musical tastes in the congregation. Our encounter with God is not always an encounter with “the familiar.” In fact, we often experience God as “the other.” Therefore, drawing upon musical styles that feel different can be quite conducive to meaningful worship. In an increasingly “global” church, God appears to the world through many different faces. Our faith is deepened and enlivened when we draw upon musical styles that spans history and cultures.

3. Music weaves entire worship experience together. The worship format in which I was originally trained as a church musician included three hymns (opening, middle and closing the service), a Doxology after the offering and maybe a Gloria somewhere. To include more songs that than was too demanding for the congregation. Considering that many hymns had four or five verses and tended be sung at a dirge-like pace, there was some veracity in that observation.

Now I invite the congregation to sing a dozen times in a worship gathering. But likely only one or two of those will be a “hymn,” a linear form with a number of verses. The rest are what I call “circular” songs, short refrains that can be sung several times. These songs introduce and reinforce key messages. They provide transitions between different acts and moods. They create a context and/or a background for a particular liturgical activity. My friend Marcia McFee talks about songs being the “punctuation” of worship–providing the commas, periods, question marks and exclamation points that enliven the worship experience. When planned and used wisely, songs become the threads woven through the worship service that give it color, depth, perspective and wholeness.

4. Songs teaches theology. The texts that a congregation sing in worship do more to teach and shape theology than anything else in its common life. My apologies to clergy, but what most congregants remember from worship and repeat over the course of the week is not a line from the sermon, but a phrase from one of the songs they sang. Martin Luther, John and Charles Wesley and other church reformers knew this well. They wrote new songs prolifically to teach theology to their followers and encouraged lively singing of those songs.

So when I am choosing songs for worship, I carefully consider the texts since that is what many worshipers will carry with them through the week and into their lives. What texts might stretch or deepen our experience of God? What words might sustain someone’s faith in crisis? What images define and impel our ministry? The core repertoire of songs that a congregation sings regularly in worship reflects the congregation’s basic understanding of what it means to live as faithful Christians in our day.

5. Singing builds community. In many ways group singing is the epitome of being community. My being, my voice, is added to the whole and is a valuable contributor to the whole. Yet in being given to community, my voice because something much larger and richer. The community needs my voice, yet it is so much more than my voice. And when my voice falters, there are others beside me to support me and carry us forward.

Congregations that are strong singing bodies value that and integrate that reality into their community identity. Members will tell their friends that “our congregation really likes to sing, you should hear us on Sunday morning.” A visitor will note right away when visiting a congregation in which most persons can be seen and heard singing and the voice of the assembly is strong.

The Rogers Park congregation was a strong singing gathering when I arrived there ten years ago. I have built upon that by teaching the congregation a diverse repertoire that includes singing songs in two, three and four part harmonies. At a church retreat years ago the pastor wrote: “Being a member of the United Church of Rogers Park means______” on a newsprint pad in the corner of the room and asked persons to post answers to that question whenever they wished. When we reviewed the responses later I could only smile to see that someone had written: “we sing in 3-part harmony.”

Church music work at the beginning of the 21st century has been become quite challenging. Musicians are stretched to respond to a growing diversity of demands and desires in music. Our congregations are discovering that following past traditions and practices is not enough these days. We must learn, grow and adapt to the spiritual needs of our communities in order to be an effective witness to God’s work in Jesus Christ. Having some clarity on why we do what we do in our church music programs is helpful to guide us through the morass of questions upon which we make decisions. What are the values that undergird and guide your music ministry? Collapse article.

Good accompanying of congregational singing is a particular skill that is not necessarily related to the accompanist’s instrumental ability. Many congregations utilize musical accompanists who are accomplished organists or pianists, but have not been trained or developed expertise in accompanying congregational singing. This is a primary cause of lackluster, tepid congregational singing—the accompanist has not learned how to use the keyboard to best enable the voice of the assembly.

The most common shortcoming of worship accompanists is the tendency to play all songs slowly, almost dirge-like. You have most likely heard this in worship before. Inexperienced church musicians often assume—incorrectly—that church music is to be holy, reverent, and respectful; therefore, played slowly. This is deadly for everyday singers who lack the breath support needed to sustain a musical phrase of even a short duration. In such a situation the singers are gasping for air every other note and any sense of the song’s musicality is lost as singers long impatiently for the end.

The tempo of the song, like the accompanying instrument above, is most often determined by the song style. Classic Western hymns typically require a more majestic accompaniment played at a stately walking tempo. Folk melodies are often associated with dance and thus move at a livelier tempo. A song of joy is typically sung with energy and spirit. A lament is slower and cries out from the depths of the soul. The same song may be played at a different tempo depending upon its particular placement and use in a service of worship. If the accompanist is not familiar with the breadth of church music repertoire it will be helpful to have occasional sessions with the pastor or a seasoned congregational singer to help identify appropriate tempos for songs used in worship.

When it is time for a song to be sung in the worship service the accompanist internally identifies the desired tempo for that song and plays an introduction at the same tempo at which the song is to be sung. Note that the purpose of a keyboard introduction to a song is to bring the melody to the singers’ consciousness and to set tempo. The introduction need only be long enough to do this, i.e., usually the first four or last four measures suffice. The tradition of playing the whole song as an introduction does not uplift and empower the assembly’s singing. More often it is a lengthy pause which distracts the singers from the expected task of singing. However, if the song is unfamiliar to most of the congregation, it may be helpful to play the whole song as an introduction. In this case, tell the congregation that the tune may be unfamiliar and invite them to listen attentively as they prepare to sing.

The accompanist may have determined the appropriate tempo for a song and played the introduction at that tempo, but several measures into the singing the tempo has noticeably slowed down. Here are several tips to keep the singing at the desired tempo.

First be aware of the acoustics of your worship space. The length of time for the sound of the assembly’s singing to reach the ear of the accompanist will vary from space to space. The reverberation time (length of time the sound persists after the original sound ends; or “echo”) varies significantly. This sound “delay” is the most common culprit in the slowing of tempo. The accompanist listens to the singing and hears each note a fraction of a second later than it was sung and so plays the next note/chord with this delay. The rapid accumulation of these microsecond delays draws down the tempo of the song.

The worship space where I frequently play is under a large dome that produces great resonance of sound at a rather long reverberation time. So it is necessary for me to set and play a song without regard to the sound of singing that I am hearing. In my head it sounds like I’m playing every note ahead of the beat, but that is because of the delay in the sound of the singing registering in my brain. It is necessary to maintain a consistent tempo despite what is heard.

Furthermore, the accompanist has to help the singers find spaces to breathe—to build the reservoir of air to support singing. This entails not playing the song in strict metronomic time, but allowing brief breathing spaces at the end of phrases. These are truly “brief,” a fraction of the basic pulse. It can be helpful to sing along—even sotto voce—in order to identify and allow these spaces for breathing in a song.

Note that singers will typically stop singing when the sound of the keyboard ceases. So by cutting off the longer note at the end of a phrase a bit prematurely and delaying ever so briefly the opening note of the next phrase, the accompanist creates and encourages breathing spaces for the singers.

Allow a longer period of time at the end of a verse for the singers to draw in a larger reservoir of air and to prepare to repeat the melody with the next set of words. This is particularly important when the song is moving at a faster tempo. This may mean extending the song by adding an additional measure to the accompaniment—or inserting a “turnaround,” i.e., an instrumental repetition of the last two or four measures (whichever is most harmonically appropriate) to create a comfortable breathing space and lead into next verse.

The principle that “inserting tiny windows of no sound makes the congregation stop and resume singing” also comes into play in situations where a congregation is persistently dragging behind the accompanist’s tempo. In this case, simply play the song in a staccato manner, i.e., create slight separations between each note, and the congregation will instinctively adapt to your tempo. An early organ teacher of mine insisted that I could always get the congregation to sing at my desired tempo simply by playing detached notes when needed.

Here are a few other tips for leading singing from a keyboard.

• If the accompanist has a microphone at the keyboard, it can be used to model singing the melody of the song when needed or to provide encouragement or instructions for singing.
• When the congregation needs assistance to follow the melody line, simply play that note more prominently in the accompaniment, even doubling it in octaves.
• Vary the accompaniment and dynamics from verse to verse to heighten musical interest.
• Guide the congregation to the conclusion of the song by providing a clear rallentando over the last few measures (think starting to brake early).

Invite feedback on your accompaniment of singing from the pastor and other trusted colleagues in the assembly. Is the volume of the keyboard playing usually appropriate—clearly audible but not overpowering? Are tempos clear and consistent? Does congregation appear to be singing easily, with appropriate opportunities for breathing? Does the assembly appear to enjoy singing the songs? With practice, feedback and experimentation the skills for good accompanying of congregational singing can be developed. Collapse article.