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Musicians vs everyone else

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Jeffrey Tucker writes about the isolation of musicians, saying that church musicians live in their own little world and it’s hard for pastors or parishioners to communicate with them. He says that parisioners
have a sense that they have no more business intervening in the world of music than they have in telling the plumber how to fix the pipes or the roofer how to deal with the leaks. They believe it’s not their place, and many musicians are happy to have people think this way too….
 
Everyone has a stake in the music program of the parish, and yet hardly anyone other than musicians themselves sense that they have any control over the program itself. People have a sense that they have to take whatever the musicians dish out, whether good or bad. This creates a certain detachment and even resentment toward the musicians. The musicians respond with a culture of defensiveness, resenting anyone who dares comment on what they are doing much less introduce fundamental change.
I don’t think that in Protestant churches the detachment is as severe, but I think there is a sense that musicians are members of a club that everyone else is excluded from.
As for priests and pastors, there is no sector of parish life that terrifies them more than the music sector. They have a sense that they might want improvement, especially more integration between what goes on in the loft and what goes on in the sanctuary. But they wouldn’t know where to begin to explain this the musicians. They also worry about alienating them for fear that they won’t come back — since the musicians are rarely there just for the money, of which there is usually very little.
Although the “little” money problem is more extensive in Catholic churches, perhaps, I do think that sometimes pastors don’t really know what they want out of the music, so it gets mistranslated into words like “accessible” and confused by digressions about whose favorite music should get priority. When a pastor is dissatisfied with the music, he often is unable to articulate exactly what the problem is.
 
Jeffrey’s agenda is bringing back Gregorian chant propers into Catholic services, but I think some of the alienation he described applies to many kinds of churches. His solution, to re-introduce music training in seminaries and empower Sunday School teachers to teach music, sounds nice, but unlikely.

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Comments

  1. Reading this posting was like reading a foreign language. I
    have so many concerns about it. First and foremost was absolutely
    no reference to Jesus or Scripture. If church music is not foremost
    about Jesus and preaching the Gospel, then what is the point?

    At one point, the writer questioned about what if the musician
    isn’t interested in the liturgy? Then he/she is missing an
    important part of their job by not thinking how to lead the “work
    of the people”.

    There was such an us versus them mentality in this article. Much
    of it stems from conflict. Jesus has provided an excellent example
    of conflict resolution. “How to Win Friends and Influence People”
    by Dale Carnegie is also another great resource.

  2. A lot of really good points have been made here, and I’ll try not to reiterate too many of them.  I do think that the problem of isolation comes from both sides, depending on the situation – musicians who are unwilling to change, and pastors and laity who want “Change” but don’t know what they actually want.  I have been blessed to work with some pastors who are musicians and understand exactly what it is that I do, and I’ve worked with people who try to give me feedback but don’t know the difference between the most simple musical terms that would help them articulate what kind of music they want from me.  Of COURSE it would be nice to train everyone to be a musician, but as I’ve learned from being a general music teacher – not everyone wants to sing or play an instrument!  I have worked exclusively in Protestant churches, and my personal experience is one like John described – the pastors that I’ve worked with have tried to help me understand what they are trying to convey during a specific service, and I plan the music around those themes.
     
    Perhaps one of the most alienating and frustrating situations that I’ve found myself in, is when I hear through the grapevine that “someone” doesn’t like something – the praise band is too loud (you don’t have to sit very close), the choir isn’t loud enough (please come join us!), and my favorite – why don’t you play the organ more? (because I’m a pianist, ma’am, and I have another full time job to balance here…).  I do find myself getting awfully defensive at that point, as you can tell from my parenthetical statements – partially because I wish that I could talk to the “someone” directly, instead of sending my words back along the grapevine to get twisted into something entirely unhelpful.  So PLEASE – can we bring communication back?  I WANT to talk to anyone in my church who has an interest in the music – because I want to recruit them into the program!

  3. In my situation (Protestant), the congregation seems to
    really appreciate and desire high quality music. In general, they
    do show little interest in the what, why, and how of the music
    ministry- until this ministry requrires money, whether to grow or
    maintain. Then, suddenly, everyone’s a music expert, and has
    something to say regarding what we need.

    I do think that, in terms of the Pastor’s interaction with the
    music program, collaboration and connection is essential for the
    power of music to reach it’s fullest effect. The combination of
    hymns, offeratories, anthems etc., and scipture and message become
    a powerful teaching/ leading tool for the congregation. They leave
    having a singular message reinforced in multiple forms, therby
    increasing the effectiveness of the ministry. In my situation, the
    Pastor and I work closely together and sometimes we get everything
    lined up, and sometimes not. But when it does happen, it is quite
    meaningful.

    John

  4. Having been a church muscian, I truly think that the chasm has to be breeched by the muscians themselves.  You must communicate through more than just the music.  The pastor or priest needs to be a part of the planning whether or not he/she is a musician.  
    When we introduced a new hymn tune or other communally sung piece, we took time in the service to explain it and practise.  To do that, you must communicate with the other leaders.  In turn, they will share with you what is happening.  
    Music, I agree, can become an exclusive club and frighten people from wanting to communicate.  We, the musicians, should make the first move and show that we aren’t unapproachable.  I agree that doesn’t always translate into understanding or even real communication so you can but try.  And keep connecting and you’ll never sing or play in a vacuum of your own making.
    Kitty

  5. Allen,
     
    I agree that the alienation described by Jeffrey does not have any denominational boundaries.  Some denominations do teach to seminarians, in one form or another,  “church” music which is often a component of a course in liturgics.  Empowering Sunday School teachers to teach music is an unpredictable endeavor which, as you write, “sounds nice, but unlikely”.  I do think that the Roman Catholic church in America has a long way to go in establishing strong music programs similar to those found in many non-Roman Catholic traditions.  The argument that there are wonderful music programs in Catholic Cathedrals is valid in some cases, not all; but, the average Roman parish usually suffers from impoverished music with few exceptions.  It is indeed an ongoing dilemma. 

  6. I am astonished at the hostile tone of the article by Mr. Tucker (yes, I read the whole thing), the “us against them” mentality.  In their overall training, are clergy not taught how to effectively communicate with people of all kinds in all spheres?  About problems and issues of all kinds?  Working toward effective and mutually-agreeable solutions, or at least mutually-acceptable compromises?  This article seems to me to perhaps reflect an even more fundamental issue (that seems to exist everywhere now), one of a real lack of effective communication skills at a pervasive and very basic level, a deficit that probably has a significantly negative impact on much more than the “music sector.”
     
    For example, if I were a musician reading this article, and read down to the place where the author wrote that “People have a sense that they have to take whatever the musicians dish out, whether good or bad,” you bet I would get defensive, as the term “dish out” already carries a negative connotation.  I cannot imagine a musician believing that he or she is just “dishing out” music, instead of working hard to offer a meaningful and enjoyable experience.  But if no one ever talked to me about what I was offering, in a diplomatic and respectful manner, and I only heard (sometimes perhaps “through the grapevine”) negative comments, you bet I would feel more than a bit alienated, too.  This article seems to almost de-humanize musicians, placing them in a category of “other” with whom it is impossible to communicate.  And so this article may perpetuate whatever problems exist simply because of the author’s continual choice of judgmental and confrontational words and terms, rather than truly helping to solve the problem the author believes exists.   
     
    On the other hand, what this article may really be reflecting could be an even more basic, fundamental issue, that of “the modern” bumping up against “the traditional”–an always-present issue that perhaps no level of wonderful communication skills could possibly overcome, simply because of diametrically opposed points of view that are unlikely to change–and that generates the kind of hostility apparent in this article.  A fundamental divide between many musicians, who perhaps are much more open to more contemporary, creative, and perhaps even improvisational approaches to sacred music, and many clergy and flocks who perhaps wish to firmly retain traditional and unchanging approaches to the performance and experience of sacred music in their services.  Hmmmmmm…….
     
     

  7. Allen – In reading Jeffrey’s complete blog, he has a valuable insight which also needs emphasis.  Yes, he’s talking to the specific culture of the Catholic Church here in America, but it has applicable value across the board, irrespective of the denomination – and it’s the idea that we start re-introducing music to the parish/community through the religious education leaders/teachers.  Personally, I get irritated that not only are the musicians isolated, but that in my specific circumstance, because of the peculiarities of a military base, we have further subdivision and isolation because the music ministry is scattered across six weekend Masses, three led by songleaders/cantors and three choirs – in three completely different buildings. Consequently, there is little obvious hope for a consistent musical culture across the base.  Oh, and add to that the difficulty that my specific situation is not as a minister of music and liturgy or a director of music – but that I am contracted as a choir director.  That over the last seven years I have been working quietly (and at times perhaps a bit effectively) as a coordinator of music – but with not a stitch of authority for the other groupings – is entirely because I am concerned that we need to try to act together, rather than separately – and yet, at certain times of the year when I have tried to incorporate members of the other parts of the ministry, we encounter at best indifference, and at times, outright resistance.  The idea that it is through our young people that we will encourage a revival of musical culture in our parishes/communities, AND, to Jeffrey’s point, engage the future leaders of that parish/community in a more active musical and liturgical life, is one that needs serious exploration and experimentation.  I know that I will certainly look into this, and perhaps I will contact Jeffrey directly to solicit his ideas on how to do this.
     
    I don’t know how many Catholic church musicians have bothered to read anything by Pope Benedict on liturgy, or are familiar with the Documents of Vatican II on liturgy and specifically music – but we all need to go “back to school” on this issue.  The young seminarians need to be re-introduced to music as a part of the seminary’s curriculum, not merely as a “performance” matter for daily/weekly Masses, but as a matter of serious study and understanding – even the most unmusical priest should at least know what his church is asking of us all in the matter of liturgy, in which music plays such a key role.  The bishops need to get beyond the point of offering pablum in their various statements on music in the liturgy, and become much more prescriptive in what they want – but it assumes THEY know and can articulate more clearly what it is that they are looking for in music in their diocese.  Your point about priests not knowing what they want out of the music – or more to the point, articulating exactly what it is they DO want – makes the church musicians’ jobs that much more difficult, and encourages the sense of isolation – whether self-imposed or real.  A personal case in point was the parish administrator (pastor-in-training) in another parish in which we sang and led who told us musicians that he wanted “noble simplicity” in the music, but when challenged to specify his ideas, ended up giving us a “must-sing” list of no more than a dozen songs – and an injunction not to do ANYthing outside of that list – we had an ignoramus attempting to prove he knew a thing or two and, by God, these musicians would HEEL!  It had a good deal less to do with the music, than about the musicians and him and power and who it is that the congregation was “paying attention” to during Mass – and he obviously felt it wasn’t him.  Beauty, Art, Truth?  Non-issues; Power was the real issue. 
     
    While I suspect that Protestant denominations are perhaps somewhat less severely affected by this than Catholic parishes are, I also suspect that even with the greater emphasis on the role of music in their liturgical expressions than in the Catholic Church, they too are wondering about the future of music within their denominations.  The issue will be that “accessibility” will be translated into “what’s popular” – which doesn’t necessarily translate into the whole point of why any of us are at religious services – to worship God first.  In other words, are we heading towards an “American Idol” kind of religious music?
     
    Ron

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