Gavin,

I half-agree with you. I think it’s an issue of perception. The octave difference, I think, sometimes throws men off.

The “big 3” generally don’t publish stuff that goes above E-flat. You get the occasional E. This is all pretty safely medium-voice range, though perhaps not at 7am on Sunday morning. ;-)

Relax Gavin - this one isn't a case of laity trying to weasel out but of laity trying to weasel in to singing. The writer may well be a low-range alto trying to match tones with the sopranos. Not easy on good days and, as pointed out by Felipe, even worse on Sunday morning. I'm an a.m. bass and p.m. tenor myself.

In one of the choirs I sing with the director has the sopranos start off in descant every time it's written. In many cases this leaves nobody on melody and the congregation, already limited in sight reading, is confused. We also have a few singers whose high-range warble could send the common man scrambling for an air raid shelter. The writer may be hearing just such odd tones and becoming legitimately confused.

Perhaps she might speak to the music director and mention her concern. Maybe there is a remedy. Even an evening offering of training for non-choir singers. And maybe there isn't any simple solution. If the music director is unaware of the problem, there is not likely any solution. But if the director learns that people stop singing at B, perhaps the selection of music can be made to respect that limitation.

All ability factors being equal, I believe that the male baritone fach and timbre works more successfully across gender and voice range lines for "inviting" the PIPs to "weasel in(to)" congregational singing (great term, Prior!) This is not to say that I've never encountered wonderful soprano, alto and tenor leaders, I have and can name names! But I've learned something from teaching my kids at our K-8 parochial school new repertoire and the fundamentals of singing:
Let's just agree that the little ones begin by learning all aspects of song and singing by rote. Initial delivery of a song's content can be modeled by an adult female, a live or recorded performance by treble children, or by an adult male singing either in modal/mixed/falsetto registers. I'm in the last category, duh. I generally choose songs whose tessituras are no larger than an octave, preferably a sixth. I then choose to set them in keys that tax neither the kids' ears and voices, and my own in falsetto. You teach 'em by phrase doses, then whole verse/refrain, then whole song. Now, once I'm convinced they "own" the new song melody and text so much they don't need a melodic shadow in their voice range, I will practice them using my second tenor/baritone (if necessary) so that they can acquire the sense of good intonation across an octave range. Then, as they grow through the grades and their ranges and abilities expand, my need to be in the same register with them into early pubescent laryngel issues is diminished. By the 6/7/8th grade other factors come into play as well. But trebles can still hear and sing in tune with the parallel lower octave.
I believe there's an analagous, intuitive bias among the lay adult PIPs to this as well. My timbre/fach is clearly a spinto tenor. I don't ever "lead" using the Vennard ideal of round to brilliant mix, or bel canto, Fischer-Dieskau-like voice. I'd be more like an 8' rohrflaut than diapason. However, if the hymn melody hovers above G (below middle C) and moves up and around D, I can clearly hear less volume from those singing, male and female. But I don't compensate for that by swallowing or covering my timbre, I actually back off the volume, or point of my voice, more or less inviting or "seducing" the congregation to take up the slack.
Our psalmists are a husband/wife tandem; he's a brilliant tenor, she's a true contralto. They cant the refrain melody in unison from the ambo. I can tell whom the congregations' ear is attuned: our tenor. (They cant the verses in duet harmony, lovely.) When my wife or daughter cants the melody, they do so with supreme soprano beauty. But the congregation needs at least two responsorial refrain melody turns sung by the men of the choir to "lock in" the tune before we split off to SATB/descant.
Our organist has perfect pitch. We never lower the pitch of hymns. He'd go bonkers! ;-)

Many people have never been taught how to use their entire vocal range. I have noticed that many who claim not to be able to reach the higher notes will frequently venture into the upper register in speaking - but for some reason this idea never translates into singing.

And I agree that many people untrained in music have no concept of the octave, thus a melody sung by men might appear to the non-musician to be a more comfortable range than when sung in the same key by women, even though the latter are singing well within their middle register.

It is frequently remarked upon that the music in older hymnals was pitched too high, but one must recall that a lot of congregational music (especially SATB hymnody) was intended to be sung in parts by musically literate congregations - so only true sopranos would be singing the tune, while the other singers would land on the parts in their comfort zone. Since modern congregations are generally musically illiterate, hymnal editors have had to drop the pitch so that everyone can sing the soprano line, and sometimes this just doesn't work.

I admit I did start off using the transposer knob liberally. But I just cranked and cranked it up little by little. Now sometimes I just crank hymns HIGHER than they're written just to throw the congregation for a trip on some familiar tunes. My opinion is that E is not unreasonable for congregational singing on a very familiar tune: "Jesus Christ is Risen Today", "Hail, Holy Queen", etc. Eb is good for a moderately familiar tune. Anyone should be able to hit a D. Now I'm not saying everyone should sound good on these, I'm just saying people should be willing to put forth the effort to sing on these. I can sing up to a D in the women's range, albeit not well.

I'm much more concerned about hymnody being too low. Someone complained about the refrain of "I am the Bread of Life", but did anyone bother looking at the verses? In Catholic hymnals, it's at a low Ab! Low Ab! That's where my voice turns into the "Bass-ment" sound! That is WAY out of a tenor range, and torturous to many altos! What about all the damage to people's voices through lack of use that we're perpetuating by transposing everything to the basement register? My predecessor DESTROYED my congregation's singing by transposing everything down. Part of serving congregations through music ministry is to DEVELOP their musical skills and knowledge. Just as we may program something interesting at offertory or prelude, we should take care that their voices do not have the high or low registers left unused.

To say nothing of how this fits in with "spoon-feeding" the liturgy to people. I had a Greek Orthodox friend who was an organist at an Episcopalian church. He was always telling me "Liturgy means WORK of the people - when you're at liturgy, you're there to work HARD!"

Right. Octave jump to an Eb is not pleasant for anyone. It's less about pitch than it is about good hymn writing. Good hymn writers don't use a range of an octave plus a 5th. There's nothing psychological about that, that's just a matter of fact.

The difference between the National Anthem and I am the Bread of Life is that the National Anthem was written as a drinking song. I am the Bread of Life is (I guess?) a congregational hymn. And yes, I would say the National Anthem makes a lousy hymn, which is why it isn't one. Different song types require different singing styles, and for a hymn it is utterly irrational to have a congregation sing an Ab, or an A. When I'm drunk wailing away "To Anacreon in Heaven", I don't care if I break into falsetto at the high note or go flat at the low notes. When I'm in a crowd singing the National Anthem (which never happens anymore) I am making a patriotic gesture by singing, so the quality of my singing is not at work. In worship, we have to give God our best, and strained E's and basement Ab's are not a typical congregation's best. Have I am the Bread of Life sung by a choir or a soloist, fine. Use only the refrain, fine. But as a unit, it is unfit for congregational usage.

Which by the way, I DO love that hymn. I only speak in terms of its pastoral suitability.

Ah, yes...the three octave sound...I was shocked when I heard it for teh first time earlier this year...and decided that the decision of our resident "chant terrierist" [definition: chant lover who also owns small dogs that latch on to things and WILL NOT LET GO NO MATTER WHAT] to sing the Ave Verum chant on C was not such a bad thing after all, since our sub-Basses out in the congregation cannot sing LOW C's and maybe singing it this low and gradually raising it a bit might get them singing out the low frequency range.

But, Jeffrey, you are right. It is not something that you want to listen to. It's like have a tuned subway under the building.

noel at sjnmusic.com

Yes, I know what you mean. But truly, I'm just glad that these guys--manly men who won't sing like girls, you know--are actually willing to sing something, which itself is amazing. You should see the guys during other Masses that feature all that sweety gooey manipulative music from the 70s. They stand there mad and disgusted, figuring that Mass is for girls. So I'm thrilled that they are actually singing anything at all. That alone is quite the triumph actually.

I'm a lumberjack and that's okay, I work all night and I sleep all day....
SPAM
SPAM
SPAM
SPAM (repeat)
Lovily SPAM.....

"But, Father.....I WANT TO SING!"

Dittos to Felipe's comments. Our little pocket of Central California is just like Texas in the choral "arenas" of ACDA etc. And I've seen first hand at a couple of MegaChurch services that at least half the congregants are standing mute while the praise team rocks on.
Tell you what about manly men singing: I have the weekly honor of teaching many lifer convicts such hymns as NICEA, TE DEUM, LOURDES as well as the songs found in Flor y Canto/BB (bilingual) every Monday evening. And I do strategically include a chanted hymn as appropriate (such as Veni Creator...last Monday) and the plainsong Kyries and Alleluias when we prepare them for their Sunday Communion Services. When you see the full spectrum of character types, from the poor, uneducated little Joes/Joses who just got caught, to rough, 3 strikes lifers all trying their best (which is often quite musically sophisticated) you cannot help but be humbled in the presence of the Lord.
It's really striking. In every yard chapel I've been to I don't encounter the sub-bass or reluctant "guy" avoiding conformity.
They WANT, they NEED to be, to know that they are unified in the sanctuary that prison chapels offers. And if I'm the vessel that provides the pilot light for their voices, they try with every breath, even if they don't speak English much less Latin, to enter that light and make it a strong beacon.
I cannot tell you how beneficial this is to my own faith in Christ and informs what I do at my parish.

I heard the same complaint about "the hymns are too high" from a male friend at dinner the other night. He contended that when the director started the music it was too high and he couldn't sing it. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the pitch on these OCP classics never changes. The pianist isn't transposing them up and down based on who is directing. I know that because I worked as the assistant director. What we have hear is another clear case of "perception is reality."

I have had a similar experience to Mary Jane. I am a mezzosoprano who usually sings alto, plus I have a very low speaking voice. On more than one occasion a gentleman has come up to me after Mass with a comment like, "I'm so glad when you're the cantor. You sing so much lower than the other ladies." I smile and nod and the organist rolls his eyes because, of course, he plays the same for all the cantors but somehow, to these folks it sounds more accessible.