I’ve been thinking about how to help our congregations sing more heartily. I find that if the congregation isn’t singing well, then I tend to blame them, the weather or general morale (as I did last month — oops!).
Here are some ideas that people often think are solutions to the problem:
Pump up the volume?
Volume can be good, but if the musicians overpower the congregation, then they can’t hear each other, so nothing is achieved apart from a few headaches and blown amps. I went to a meeting once where the band was ear-piercingly loud. There was no point in me singing, and the words were banal, so I did what everyone else was doing — gawp at the band. No one was singing.
Beef up the numbers?
‘More musicians should do the trick.’ However, the quantity thing doesn’t achieve lots either, apart from giving us the opportunity to say, ‘ooh, we’ve got lots of musicians at our church’. On Good Friday this year, I stripped everything down for one of the songs, and used just a softly miked piano to accompany 400 people. The sound everyone made was far bigger than when I’ve used loads of musicians.
Polish up the quality?
Quality, like volume, is important, but even the most beautiful sounding music sometimes isn’t the best way of serving a congregation — especially if quality becomes our main goal. The finest cathedral choirs in the world can fail miserably at getting congregations to sing.
It’s important to work at this, though, because when the congregational singing is strong, we’re all encouraged, and hearts are lifted. When it’s weak, then both we and our guests are embarrassed, and the preacher has to work so much harder to restore confidence.
Confidence!
I think that’s the key word — confidence. Musicians are there to give people the confidence to encourage each other in singing. As far as volume is concerned, there should be enough to give a good lead on the tune, a good rhythmic support in the bass, and something in the middle to help out harmonically. Put simply, the priorities are:
1st Top
2nd Bass
3rd Middle
This helps out with the numbers issue too. A piano or organ on its own should be able to do the job perfectly well, because they can do all three things. A guitar will need help with the tune and possibly bass too. The tune can most obviously be provided by singers, but again, a huge choir isn’t absolutely necessary and isn’t a mark of authentic church music. Someone commented to me once, ‘We’ll never have a proper choir will we?’ My answer was, ‘Probably not, but we’ll probably never have a proper thrash metal outfit either, or a proper country and western ho-down, or a proper concertina/steel band combo.’ (Though I’m gutted that I only thought of that answer the next morning. On the other hand, afterthoughts do spare you from getting hit.) Choirs can be great, but they aren’t necessarily the answer to getting a congregation to sing better, and certainly aren’t the definition of what is ‘proper’. One or two singers are sufficient if they lead well or are adequately miked.
Once the three foundations are in place, then one or two instruments and drums can provide extra colour and vibrancy.
The thing about confidence is that it is built before people even start to sing. The battle for confidence is won or lost in the introduction to the songs. A congregation needs a strong lead and, for the sake of guests, the tune should be clear in that intro. They need to know (however subliminally) that the musicians know what they’re doing.
The rhythm should be completely established within the first bar, and the congregation should have no doubt as to when to come in. If there are singers, then they need to be looking up, away from the music so that the congregation can see their eyes. This is because those leading the singing are like mirrors — if they look confident, give clear leads, are looking out into the congregation, and if they smile, then it instils an enormous amount of confidence.
Making introductions
Another big help is if the leader of the meeting introduces the song in a way that helps us want to sing it, if he’s singing with all his heart, and is also looking out into the congregation. The leader of our meetings is always more visible than our singers, and so becomes more of a mirror than the musicians! If he is looking down at his shoes during a song, or is fishing around in his pocket to make notes about the next link, then, as the focal point of people’s attention, there will be an apathy about the singing too.
If you lead meetings, or if you’re a singer, do a test on yourself during the songs. Look at the faces in the congregation. Their faces will reflect what they see in your face. Are they looking grim and half-hearted?
Cheer up, look up and sing up!
Richard Simpkin
