Your frustration is palpable. While I wish I could say something helpful, about the closest I can get is to empathize - this is a problem everywhere, I think.

Still, I'm sorry.

Another way a choir is like a baseball team is that if you don't make practice you don't play in the game, you're not even on the team! Um, this is the way it works... um, isn't it? The moral of the story is that if 'you' want to be on the team and play in the games 'you' will be there whenever the coach says. And the obverse of all this is that if you don't get this level of commitment from at least an appreciable core membership, you really really don't have a choir any how! You just have a random collection of people who show up ad libitum and sing something that they can throw together in and hour. This, no one should delude him or herself, is not a choir. If this is what you have you don't even have a choir.

It is a great sickness of American culture that for the most part:
I can't come to choir this week because..
!. childrens' sports.
2 Parish council meeting
3 Some other meeting
4 You have enough there without me
5 The music is too hard = (it's not really really easy)
6 It takes too long
7 I have to watch Downton Abbey... or....
8 This list is really endless and as you can see the excuses are every one of them extremely compelling to the point that the church's liturgical song takes a back seat to almost everything.

I live to see the day that a coach, full of his usual confidence and presumed lordship, announces that there will be a game on ___, and that all on the team must practice from 4 to 8 for the next two weeks, only to have everyone tell him that they can't come because the choirmaster was having extra choir rehearsals at those times for festal evensong.
What a glorious day that would be. It might even cause me to dance. Certainly to sing a Te Deum. Certainly things would into their proper perspective have been put.

Never does one hear 'I can't come to _______ because I have choir.

BUT! Let us not fail to give due note to those choirs which enjoy a magnificent amount of cohesion, bondedness, dedication, fine repertory, desire to learn while always wanting the bar to be raised, who will even stay late to 'get it right', who allow nothing to interfere with their sacred calling and spiritual outlet, their conscientious ministry to others with the gifts which they have been given. These are the exceptional ones who are paradigms for all others.

There are at least three ingredients when starting out
1 A competent choirmaster-organist who can bond with his or her choir
2 A body of singers who, through catechesis if necessary, are on fire to become a genuine liturgical choir
3 A Pastor who wants the best that his competent choirmaster can do and supports him or her enthusiastically.
4 A people who are pleased to learn what they do not now know, and to surrender some of the less desirable items that may be in their repertories.
5 An evident, almost palpable love of the liturgy and the God and his people for whom it exists on the part of Priest, Choirmaster, Choir, and, ultimately, the congregation.

Liturgy is an act of love whose constituent parts flow (preferably while being sung) from one to the other like a seamless garment. Whenever it becomes a series of sections, or now we do this, and now we are doing that, that rhythmic unity that should flow from the first to the final ritual word, has been lost, and the liturgy has become a disjunct progression of parts not conceived of as one inviolable whole. The choir's role in this is crucial. Its importance cannot be exagerrated.

They are teaching you something: that what they get out of maintaining that culture is more important to them than what they get when they buck that culture. You have to decide if you can coexist with that.

I deal with similar practical problems for reasons not nearly so much related to personality issues. That is- I work in a very small parish, with an aging choir. Health issues (of members, and sometimes of their spouses or family members) make it nigh impossible to know whether we'll end up with 3 singers or 10 on any given Sunday.

So I have no "change the culture!" advice- but I can provide a series of random and probably unhelpful tidbits of advice as to how one deals with this just from a musical/practical standpoint...

Three part music (SAB) and two part (F-M) music is your friend.

Hymns, sung SATB and unaccompanied, make excellent anthems. The benefit of this is that adding accompaniment back in (if not enough people show up who can really support it) doesn't disrupt anything, and if no one at all shows up you can fall back on having the congregation sing it.

Use Gregorian chant hymns, in Latin and English (see The Parish Book of Chant for Latin; a good source for English adaptations is almost any Anglican/Episcopal hymnal- my favorite being The English Hymnal from 1906.
The 1906 has really excellent and easy SATB arrangements of most of these hymn tunes. This is great because you can use them as choral pieces, and if you end up with only a few singers, you can fall back on melody-only, since that is perfectly idiomatic for chant. (Note: Later editions of The English Hymnal have simplified organ-based harmonizations that work better for accompanying a unison chant, but do not work as well for SATB singing.)

It never hurts to have a backup piece (or two) in your bag.

Things that can be done seasonally help a lot. Why learn a whole new Psalm every week when you could sing the text to the same Psalm tone through the whole season? At my parish, it has become a custom to sing a congregational post-communion meditation- usually unaccompanied. We sometimes we do Taize, sometimes an Iona piece, sometimes a Gregorian chant hymn, etc. During "The Seasons" (Advent, Christmas, Epiphant, Lent, Easter), I usually program the same thing for the whole season. During the post-Pentecost Ordinary Time, I only switch it every three or four weeks (unless something already in-repertoire jumps out as being particularly appropriate for the lessons or something).

On more than one occasion I have created flexible choral arrangements out of existing pieces of unison+accomp music by (essentially) transcribing/adapting the accompaniment into an SATB (or ATB) harmonization. Benefits: if the choir is strong, we can sing it unaccompanied- nice!; if they are weak, we can sing the choral part with support from the instrument; if they are mostly non-existent, one or two of us can sing the original melody only.

Anytime the Sopranos can sing a descant instead of the melody, that's a good idea. If none of them show up, you still have the melody. If they do show up, but none of your altos are there (or you have one S and one A) they can both sing the melody. You can either ditch the descant or work it into the accompaniment.


Basically, I've just learned to be flexible. I try not see the-music-as-it-is-written to be a rigid "this is the only way it can be" sort of thing, but rather view every printed arrangement or composition as the starting point for our own expression of it. That goes against all of our Western Classical Music School Training, but its the only way to stay sane. (Philosophers of music can debate which approach is more right. I have a choir to run.)

I have been dealing with a similar situation for two years. I tried everything I could think of to make it clear "if you're going to sing at Mass, you have to be at practice." I was just ignored. After Easter, we've gone to practice before Mass (lasts about 30 minutes) so at least I have those singing at Mass familiar with the hymns we will be singing.

Then I have done basically what "chonak" suggested. The only choir members I can count on are my own children (16 yo son who is the organist, 14yo son chorister and psalmist, 13yo daughter chorister and cantor) so we have a Saturday "schola" practice at home where we learn the antiphons and other music for each Mass.

I'm not sure what we'll do next season. I will try to recruit new members but don't anticipate much success. If we have no one new, I will probably continue as we are doing now.

Kathy

I like you, MT56. I think you have a great fire and enthusiasm for church music, which is inspiring to me and I'm sure others. So I hope my comments will be read as between friends, and not as personal attacks. Because what follows is not going to be phrased in the most charitable way possible, but it will be the most charitable way I know how to phrase it:

You don't get to decide how "dedicated" your choir members should be. You don't get to judge them on it. They don't owe you anything. You need to realize this, because I suspect you are accomplishing nothing by your outlook other than causing yourself anguish.

I'm not saying you should give in. Or thank them for graciously honoring you at all with their inconsistent and indifferent presence. Quite the opposite. But you must recognize the dedication they are offering. Recognize what they are offering. Not judge them as "dedicated" or not, according to what you think they ought to be offering.

Now if they offer to you "we will come to rehearsal as we please," then you plan around that, however you need to. It's a regrettable attitude, I TOTALLY agree!! But nothing you do will make them be more dedicated. You need to realize this.

I would suggest that you speak about this VERY honestly, WITHOUT JUDGMENT. I mean literally ask the choir, "I am becoming concerned about our ability to accomplish the musical tasks of the liturgy with the sporadic rehearsal attendance here. What do you all think is a reasonable expectation regarding attendance?" Note the absence of telling them what they need to do. Do not tell them what to do, rather ask what they will give. Sure, you might offer suggestions as things get going, "I feel that you will be more confident at Mass if you attend the rehearsal prior," but again note that it's suggesting WHY they might make a commitment rather than denigrating that they will not make it.

Next, HOLD THEM TO IT. Maybe they'll decide that someone shouldn't miss the rehearsal immediately prior, and they should give you two days' notice before an absence. As a human being, you have a right to expect someone to reasonably live up to their word. So if they go back to skipping willy-nilly, call them (collectively) on it. "We agreed you would give me notice, and you didn't really have good reason not to. I am hurt that you could not do this for my ease of planning. Do you think this is a fair policy, or should it be changed?"

And then in time, maybe you can get a larger dedication from them. "Hey everyone, Easter is in 2 months, and I have this great piece for us to sing. I'm really excited! Do you think we can all agree to attend at least 6 out of 8 of the rehearsals between now and then?" Perhaps after Easter... "wow, you guys sounded great on that piece! How do you feel about it? I know we have X rule, but perhaps if we could commit ourselves to a more strenuous standard, we can do things like that more regularly. What do you say?"

I saved myself a lot of mental health problems when I realized that I can only direct the choir the church gives me. And I can only work with the commitment those singers give to the church. I can't make 10 more people's schedules open up, or kick their kids out of the little league. So I hope, MT56, you understand this in the spirit it's offered, and gain some clarity for your situation.

It sounds like you've tried a bunch of good things with setting expectations and trying to hold people to that. I have a couple of other suggestions.

1. Expressing gratitude. Many people get involved with activities like this because they want to know that people appreciate it. In my experience, the congregation rarely speaks up, especially to the choir members. And if all they're hearing from you is frustration, they may not feel good about being involved. Yes, we should all be doing this for purely altruistic reason. But, being human, it helps us to be getting some warm fuzzies and good vibes as well. Let your people know how much you appreciate their dedication and talent.

2. Start a high-skill schola from scratch, that gets to do all the beautiful challenging stuff. But a ground-rule needs to be that nothing will be sung at Mass if it's not ready, no matter whose "fault" that might be. A good example: We were intending to sing a beautiful piece last week but had to rejigger a bit because a couple of people were sick. The director tried to get creative by singing and playing at the same time, and just didn't get comfortable with it. So he pulled the plug on the song, at least for that week. He was gracious, and it reinforced the point that the MUSIC and MASS are primary, and we are just servants to it.

It's hard to be grateful for what you have, especially when you can see how much better it could potentially be. But you have what you have, good or not, and it's the resources He has given you right now. Work with what you have.

Thank you for all your comments and I take no offense in any way. I started the thread asking for constructive advice, and it was given. It's been very difficult. Our former pastor and DM were very "liberal" with the music, allowing anything to happen and allowing a "singalong" every Saturday/Sunday, believing that anything that had the word "God" in the lyric was sacred music at its finest. When the new pastor came in and I took over as DM, there was a lot of discontentment. Most of the old ministry left to go elsewhere. Rehearsals used to be an excuse for going out afterwards...."oh, tonight is choir rehearsal night...let's get it over quickly so we could go out". When I took over and tried to engage them in true sacred music, along with structured rehearsals, the trouble began. But, I do believe, that, like Gavin says, I must deal with what I've got. God put me with this particular group for a reason. Perhaps it was time to re-educate them on true music ministry and sacred music. But, in the meantime, it's been a very frustrating experience. Again, thanks for your comments. God bless to all and may we all be instruments in God's hands.

I keep reading the title as "uneducated"

as far as choirology goes

Hmm, shouldn't that be choironomy?

"Went from weekly choir Masses to twice-monthly." Yes, that makes sense (well, so do the other policies listed in the post). A church where choir Masses are considered to be quasi-special occasions is much more likely to have parishioners enthusiastic about attending, than is a church where choral singing is doled out every week in a spirit of "eat your broccoli."

pray for them...:)
extend to them the love and mercy of Christ...
you probably need to re-evangelize the evangelized...
choir isnt just about singing right notes but singing with a good and grateful heart too..
hopefully you will be able to bind together your parish by extending to them the mercy of God..so that the message of Gods mercy and salvation may be renewed in them...after all your not dealing with just a bunch of singers...but souls..may your words and ACTIONS bring about a spirit of reverence, humility , love for God in all your friends...may God bless u Musicteacher 56

In the meantime, start a new choir- invitation only or audition, with expectations clearly defined at the outset. Teach them interesting stuff.

Jenny, ever the professional, always with a solid solution, is absolutely spot on here.
I made that a mandatory condition upon being offered my current gig 20 years ago, and the core of that choir and those who've joined subsequently is solid and reliable as the sun shining. This may sound weird, but this is what we do:
We only rehearse chant and choral works. That's it. 1.5 to 2hrs. Just sing what we exist to sing for. We don't practice hymns, ordinaries (after we master new ones, we're only two into Mueller and as soon as I pay Chris $ we'll start integrating MR3 Mass) or other congregational stuff. We've gotten SEP and SCGrad. metiers down, so we're capable of preparing them just before Mass. RR's Choral Communio, 'nother story, they're rehearsal material!
Real choirs hate wasted time, whether its promulgated by the director or a member. They thrive off of achievement in the rehearsal room, which strengthens and propels both comradery and artistic improvement. And here's the real deal: find a minimum of six to eight of these sorts of folks (2 to a part minimum), hone them methodically from learning notes, applying secondary concerns (vowel precision, dynamics, diction, blend/balance, etc.) through to the real goal, aesthetic intensity by communicating the text and subtextual "beauty" and you'll grow a really fine choir.
Let choirs be choirs. Oh, and discourage people from becoming and remaining "cantors" in perpetuity. They're not helpful in that modem.

In our choir I make sure that the list of songs is sent out a head of time.
Everyone in the choir knows which songs will be rehearsed at our weekly rehearsal.
I was just asked to sub at the Sat 4pm Mass this week and next. Although they do not do chant I will expect them to learn it. I have invited the Sat choir to attend our reg Tue rehearsal. but I have also made sure that they have a copy of all music a head of time and I recorded myself singing the chants. Or sometimes I will find the hymn or chant on Youtube and send it to everyone.
I think I will do this every week now so that the singers can be more prepared and we can work on diction, dynamics or fine tuning rather than some singers being bored while we teach the less trained singers the pieces.
Cut your rehearsal time from 2 hours to 1 hour.
Make it fun.

I like the idea of starting a new choir.
I also like the idea of cutting the choir all together except for once per month. Make it special for them. There is nothing wrong with having Cantor and Organist most Masses.

When people have to commit 2 hours which takes them away from the their kids or other hobbies it can seem more of a burden then it is.

I know that during O.T. I will be holding singing lessons at the church. I am hoping this will encourage others in the congregation to join.

Another option would be, from time to time, to just have the organ leading the congreation...no cantor, and no choir. This is how it was for decades at my home parish, and only in the last few years have they begun having a choir on any sort of regular basis. They have never had cantors. Although this made it difficult to introduce new hymns, this system always worked well provided the organist (or pianist) was competent enough to LEAD the congregation.

I agree with donr. What gets me is spending all the time we do preparing special pieces (just the other day working on the Panis Angelicus from frogman's book), only to have people out, and others who never practice, show up, and mess things up. That in itself is very distracting to participation in the Mass. It seems better to just have 1,2, maybe 3 dedicated, than 15 undedicated.

We are pretty much in the same predicament as MT56. 1-2 faithful choir members, and 4-5 that couldn't carry pitch, don't show up to practice, feel entitled, and bring down the whole atmosphere. One thing I appreciate is, hearing all the responses in this thread as it has helped me to understand that this is not just a small thing that occurs in only 1 or 2 parishes here and there, but seems to be an indication of a wider problem.

All of us in sacred music must remember that membership in the choir is NOT A RIGHT-
it is AN OBLIGATION. Our "audience" is not the "assembly"- but rather THE CREATOR. As an old man, I can get away with saying that, "If we, for fear of low membership, put up with behavior that no coach, military commander or CEO would accept, we are in truth driving away the very talented and faithful singers whom we hope to encourage." There are no easy or pat answers. However, with planning of repertoire, including possible
"back-up" selections, and rehearsals that start preparing music as early as four to six weeks in advance, depending on difficulty, you will draw people who truly want to be a
member of the team. The great advantage of "head-start" rehearsal scheduling is that, in a few years, you find the choir accomplishing things you'd never have imagined early on.
Musicianship, sight-reading, tuning, blend, rhythm, etc. all start to coalesce in your team. That way, when you are faced with the unavoidable problems of faithful singers such as those Adam outlines above, you have the wherewithal to help them as they in turn help you. Start a children's schola and then encourage, with very high standards, high-school choral-scholars. I currently am indebted to four high-school students, who make invaluable contributions to our singing of chant, Palestrina, di Lasso, Bach, Handel,
Mendelssohn, Schubert, Franck, Widor, Vierne, Durufle, Nestor, Near, etc, etc, etc. The sad thing is having to say good-bye as they go off to university. The consolation is that if they don't come back to us, they may one day show up in your choir, inquiring about audition information!!! And, if I'm fortunate, I might have the opportunity to welcome one of your former choral-scholars!!! "Teach the children, and then, they will teach the adults."

I always try to remember it is NOT my choir but GOD'S.