Sing out -- or not

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

The people and church musicians have spoken. And they don't agree.

Last Oct. 27 we invited readers to take part in an online survey the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) was conducting on what helps congregations sing. The results are in from 1,541 people who said they were involved in church music ministry and 808 people who said they weren't.

Respondents were asked to choose from up to 14 factors that help them sing at liturgies. And the results give some clues about why Catholics don't sing more in church.

More than half of Catholic music ministers opted for these five factors: "Leadership of organ or instruments" and "meaningful text" (nearly two-thirds picked these), followed by "leadership of cantor or director," "linked to liturgy of the day or season" and "enthusiasm of the congregation."

But for most of the people in the pew, two factors mattered most: familiar melody (52.2%) and "easy to sing" (51.4). Those factors ranked seventh (46.7%) and eighth (43.5%) with music ministers. In third place for the people in the pew was traditional song (47.9%); it ranked 11th (30.7%) among music ministers. Interestingly, both groups put contemporary song in 12th place by almost identical percentages -- 25.6 (musicians) and 25.7. (Complete survey results are at www.npm.org/Articles/singlitresults.htm.)

The survey leaves some things unanswered. For example, everyone agrees that people prefer singing traditional rather than contemporary songs. But how do we define that?

As J. Michael McMahon, president of NPM, told Catholic News Service, "It's a generational question." Noting, for example, "You Are Near" by the St. Louis Jesuits, McMahon said, "People in my generation would see it as a contemporary song, and people in their 20s would see it as a traditional song." Or perhaps, anyone younger than 45 or 50 would consider it a traditional song -- it's hard to tell.

Then recall that a 2005 NPM poll found that respondents' favorite songs were "On Eagle's Wings," "Here I Am, Lord" and "Be Not Afraid," all written since Vatican II. Certainly there's a lot of good and bad traditional and contemporary music.

While the survey has no scientific validity since it was not a random sample, it still contains some valuable information that music ministers should take to heart. First, rely mainly on the tried and true. If people sing it, make that song part of the regular repertoire. Second, when picking new songs, make sure they're easy to sing. Third, introduce new music slowly. If, after a couple of months of weekly use, people are still not singing a song, shelve it -- or at least ask a few people at random about it.

St. Augustine said, "He who sings prays twice." That means it's up to music ministers to pick music that the average person has a prayer of singing.