The question came up in another post, and the answers were all of a different focus--they all answered different questions, it seemed to me.

I have in fact been studying with the idea of starting a volunteer schola and trying to improve music in parishes on a volunteer basis. And I now have some experience, plus experience as a Protestant worship planner. What have I learned?


I thought I would lay out what I think would be an approach, if I were a newly hired Director of Music.

First, some assumptions: the Pastor did not want you to remove all praise bands by next Sunday. You have time. He wants, above all, better music, and over time, more chant, though he does not himself know what that would entail. You are it for the paid staff.

1. First bit of advice: go slowly. Learn who people are. The smiling face that promises to help you because “it is all so exciting” may in fact be willing to help in other areas just so you don’t pry her fingers off the Casio for the 5:30 Mass with “modern” music.

2. Easiest place to start: better hymns. You can do that your first Sunday.

You can find worshipful music in virtually any hymnal. If the Pastor wants “better music” but you are for budget reasons stuck with GATHER, well, there you are. If you use WORSHIP or the OCP disposable hymnals, you have a better range to choose from. However, do not choose just things that you like. You can also run aground if you go for things no one can sing. Always sing all your selections for a Mass straight through by yourself until you get a sense of what works and what doesn’t.

3. Then, everyone will have ideas about what you need to study, but there are exactly four levels of instructions you need to know.

Number One: what the Pastor who hired you wants.

Number Two: any specific directions from your Bishop. Some bishops have mandated specific musical settings for the Ordinary of the Mass. That authority will help you. If people say they don’t like something, you can say, “Oh, I misunderstood what you all do, perhaps. I’m just doing what the Bishop wants.” Something like that was in another thread and it is perfect advice. Check with your diocesan liturgical office.

Number Three: what the Bishops of the United States want. The most important instructions can be found in the General Instruction on the Roman Missal. Run off Section Two, The Structure of the Mass, Its Elements, and Its Parts, and read it every week until you know it. The most recent statement from the Bishops also expresses a desire that American Catholics know the basic chants in Latin. Again, the authority will help you.

http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-2.cfm

Number Four: what the Church as a whole wants. There are too many documents here for someone working in a parish to read, so start with just one, St. John Paul II’s Chirograph on Sacred Music. Read it every week.

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/2003/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_20031203_musica-sacra_en.html

If you like reading documents, there are tons, with ancillary disputes and huffiness. Good to learn as you go along. Don't get distracted by them. They are somewhat contradictory. Your job is to produce music. The Holy Father intends no new directives on performing the Mass, so far as we can tell. He has restricted his comments to "you have the writings of my venerable predecessors." Learn them at your convenience. Don't get pulled off into words when your job is music.

It probably goes without saying that you cannot use Authorities 2-4 to contradict Authority 1. Rather, they are guides to fulfilling what the Pastor has hired you to do.

4. Identify people who can sing parts. Remember, someone may have such a firm grip on the music in specific Masses that people who could sing might have been scared away. Be prepared to teach. Start slowly: for those better hymns, teach the parts and have them sing those until they are comfortable. One friend didn’t even try to teach parts. He had the organist play the parts for a good long while so they got used to them. Then, they weren’t surprised.

5. Once they have learned how to sing parts, teach them something like the Tallis Canon. Then teach them some easy polyphony. It is so beautiful that only the diehards will complain. As you have eased everyone in by getting them used to hymn parts, it won’t seem odd. Here is a list of easy motets to aim for: http://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/discussion/10230/suggestions-for-easy-motets#Item_23

6. The Chant. If you yourself are well skilled at chant, then you can plan to move ahead fairly quickly. If not, take time to learn it. The videos of the Chicago Benedictines are very helpful, as are the many videos by Giovanni Vianini in Milan. The Church Music Association of America site is very helpful, as are its many wonderful opportunities for learning. Make sure your skills are rock-solid before you attempt to lead it. (Voice of experience here on that one.)

7. For introducing chant, there are a number of options. Easiest: everyone already chants the Responsorial Psalm. Explore the many options online to find the most in keeping with the general sound of Gregorian Chant, but in English. The website of Corpus Christi Watershed has many settings.

8. Start doing the Communion Psalm rather than a song for Communion, in English. There are a variety available. These are very singable: http://www.communionantiphons.org/

9. There are numerous versions of chant in English. (See the Simple English Propers, the Lumen Christi hymnal, the music from the Archabbey of St. Meinrad.)

You can introduce the idea of chant by having your hardy band of part singers branch out to sing propers in English. A standard choice is to have the Introit chanted before the bell at the start of the service, and the Communion Proper sung right after the priest has taken Communion. This allows you to keep the Entrance Hymn that people are used to. They probably will not be upset by the Communion Psalm chanted in English, so everything during Communion will be Chant. Long range, you can stop the Offertory hymn/song after the money has been collected and start the Offertory Chant for the presentation of the Gifts, if the two actions are separate. This may cause some parishioners to strip gears. (Some large parishes collect money while the gifts are brought forward. Suggest separating them.)

10. During Advent and Lent, most people seem to accept a greater degree of solemnity, and so the basic Latin chants of the Ordinary can be slipped in for the congregation at this time. When those seasons are past, if you leave the Kyrie and the Agnus Dei as they are, no one will really notice. Maybe even the Sanctus.

11. Once you are sure your hardy little band of singers is ready, you can introduce some Gregorian Chant in the spots listed under point 9.

I was in fact involved in a program that was moving along these lines quite well, until it was derailed by the young music director's need for more money and his consequent departure. But, just going slowly, by the end of the year you will have chant at all the right moments, a fair amount of Latin, four part harmony throughout. In short, “better music”…and all of that is well within the skills of the average volunteer group of musicians.

Be prepared, that’s the main thing. Plan well in advance. Know what you are doing for Christmas and Holy Week months in advance.

And pray.

That's my idea. Any others, most welcome.

Kenneth