I used to sing, when younger. But age and the climate in the allergy capitol of the world, have destroyed the voice I used to have. I still play, but had the good sense to quit singing before others said they wished I would.

When I've seen this done, I've thought it was lacking. Even though the organist could both sing and play, it seemed to me that he wasn't attending well enough to the Mass. You can imagine why. There is only so much attention that anyone has. Liturgical music is always multitasking anyway, and one is always looking at several things at once, and singing and playing, words and music, vocalization and playing--that's all most people can do. It's too much to be that PLUS be the point person for timing and decision making, which you would need to be.

I find myself in this situation all the time and it's difficult. Somethings always suffers when I have to play and sing at the same time, especially with hymns that go beyond 2 verses, since it's hard to read the music AND the lyric lines. With hymns I know by heart, there is no problem and it comes naturally, but with most hymns, I have to read beginning with the second verse.

I am also one of these repugnant people. I regularly cantor and play at the same time.

It is good to sing and play because then you can really follow the text. The organist should phrase each verse to highlight the punctuation of the different lines. Singing while playing also helps the organist to give breaths for the singers.

I don't mind cantoring and playing the organ at the same time. It goes better if I have actually rehearsed all the verses. It is a better option than having cantors that can't sing.

"It is a better option than having cantors that can't sing."

From your lips to God's ears, BethE!!

From Palestrina, to Bach, to nearly every Master of the Music in a major parish or cathedral, one was expected to be proficient in chanting, playing, composing and arranging. This was the common outline of study for anyone majoring in sacred music. If you want to teach others to do it, you'd better be able to do it yourself. Believe me, it isn't repugnant, it's considered a prerequisite for any trained Director of Music.

Another one here - I often just sing when I play anyways...partly because I used to have to cantor and play all the time.

Sure, maybe not desirable in the most ideal situation. The fact is that it must be done in many less-than-ideal situations. In fact, it was a requirement for every MD/organ position I've interviewed for.

Also, I'm sure some of us are on the road towards that "ideal situation" but can't quite push that far yet.

And I do realize that many organists ARE required to do this by priests who have no concept of taste. I have no issue with someone seeking to keep their job, though I've usually found that most churches don't pay well for such doubling-up.

For a priest and music director of good taste to willfully continue such a practice, however? I don't see it.

I do take some issue with the idea of "on the road to the ideal." I understand what Ally is saying, and it's a good point. But in this case, I've laid out two easy and successful alternatives: a capella psalm/Alleluia, and hymn singing led by the organ. These aren't some Sisyphean task which must be carefully planned, prepared, and worried about. Show up today and do it. The quality of your music performance will instantly improve.

I live across the street from a delicious pastry bakery, which I will probably visit before leaving for church. I could sit in my parked car, fretting about fuel calculations, wear and tear, the possibility of a breakdown, saying "I'm on the road! I'll get there eventually!" But it's right across the street. All I have to do is walk there, same distance as walking to my car.

So, too, is basic good taste in music an equally easy destination to arrive at. And equally delicious.

I'm of the opinion that all organists should sing as they lead hymns. That does not mean that they should cantor, but they should sing so that they can be aware of the text, phrasing, breathing, eighth note runs in melody lines that deserve a little pulling back and pitch/rhythm differences between verses.

I sing along with the choir, but my cantoring days are definitely over.

Amen.

But there is a wide-spread practice in American Catholic churches where the organist plays Mass, singing the congregation's music into an amplified microphone. This practice needs to end. Today.

There we agree. I suppose I'm the one that didn't know we were talking about that.

For all of my life I have suffered from sheer terror at the prospects of either publicly playing the organ or singing. Through default (retirement of our former organist), I am now in the position of doing both of these things, and have stumbled upon the elixir for my ailment: When I play the organ, I am so terrified, that I forget about my fear of singing, and vice versa. The competing fears cancel each other out, to the point where I can function as a musician. Good grief! Do accountants start sweating when they see numbers on a page? It's quite an affliction.

.

@marajoy: Hi! To use purple lettering, add tags around your text like the following:

<font color="purple">Here's the text in purple</font>


@castlewood: I'm sorry that some of the talk was a little overwrought, but the thread was still a good one! Welcome to the forum!

@castlewood Why should you apologize? Your question was worthy and it provoked some good discussion. Some have strong opinions here. One must read carefully and discern trends and see "through" the answers that are received.

I would say if you can do all three - sing, play, conduct - more power to you. If you can't, don't spend any time worrying about it. At my age, I am grateful to still play and conduct. Someone else can do the singing.

We have one "contemporary" mass per week - I don't know why they call it contemporary, since it is straight out of the seventies. The singer/guitarist croons lovingly into the microphone. What he doesn't realize, or won't admit, is that his vocal skills and voice quality have declined over the years. There is something to knowing when to quit.

Thank you, Samuel Dorlaque. Singing and playing the organ at the same time (while directing a schola) has been a requirement for a well-educated music director for centuries. If I hadn't somehow acquired these skills, there would have been plenty of miserable Sundays at Immaculate Conception (and plenty of unsuccessful rehearsals). As for microphones in one's face, that is a totally different matter, and I agree with the prohibition most people have voiced here - but don't confuse that with a set of skills that has been a time-honored and necessary part of being an organist since who knows when.

I am not sure. The way I learned it was like the old-fashioned way to learn swimming - somebody throws you in the water and you start flailing around. Of course I did have the individual skills. But the trick is putting them all together - I am sure you will do fine! Think of all the people who have learned to do this; you can do it too.

Just thinking - I learned to lead the congregation by singing while playing the organ. Maybe put two of the skills together first (singing and accompanying would be most logical, I think) and then when that's no longer bothering you, add the conducting. I find that the biggest challenge, especially because singers HAVE to pay close attention. You have to use body language a lot and they have to be watching.

I think the singing organist is a more recent phenomenon. In days of yore, the organist was face forward into the tracker, fighting the mechanism. Some of those old clunkers didn't play as easily as the newer machines, made of better materials.

I find it interesting that organists abandoned those old trackers in droves when electronic and pneumatic actions permitted detaching the consoles. It would appear there is a neo-Calvinist streak in some organists, coming from the so-called "organ reform," causing them to think there is salvation in doing everything the hard way.

People directed musical groups from keyboards quite a lot, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, and I suspect one just had to be flexible.

That's the key, isn't it? Flexibility. Most of us have to work with what we have. I suspect that was always true.

I think modern materials and technology have made the new trackers much more responsive than the older ones were. I have played a few old ones that were quite unwieldy. Granted, some late 19th and early 20th century American instruments had a lovely sound. Of course, I don't want that immediate sense of involvement. I would rather hear what the congregation is hearing, or as close to it as possible.

Well, I am thankful for my singing organist today! No cantors to be found, and I am home sick. Thanking God for small blessings. He won't be singing the hymns, though -- he'll leave that to the congregation. I wish I could be a fly on the wall downstairs to see if my congregation will still sing!

Two years ago I frequently had to play an organ the majority of whose pipes and mechanics is from 1704 (mechanic of course); I never played another organ that reacted so lightly on touching the keys (not even electric organs). It is no big problem to learn singing and playing at the same time and I had to that often on this baroque instrument with my back to the altar.