September 2009

Where do I start?

Derek Verso

Nowadays there are many opportunities for continuing education, new ideas, new ways of doing things, and training courses for everything from stained glass windows to gospel choirs. Perhaps you’ve been to a training day about some aspect of church music or a summer school or indeed are one of the students doing the Archbishop’s Certificate in Church Music?

So you’ve attended a course and found it good and you’ve been inspired by the course contents and perhaps it’s given you some more confidence in your own ability. Better still you feel that this is actually something that would work in your church and head back home delighted with yourself. What next? Armed with your new found knowledge and experiences and maybe some new music, a whole new world of church music beckons and you’re sure that the parish will go for it. ‘It’ll be perfect for them’ you muse to yourself as you arrive home exhausted but quietly contented.

This is where the problems start. Why? Because anything different to the usual diet of three or four hymns, (which must be from ‘the book’ i.e., the Church Hymnal) a psalm or canticle if you’re lucky, is going to mean a change. And a change is likely to raise eyebrows and raise queries. More importantly for you — it will mean more work, and not just for you, but for your singers/ congregation, for your rector/priest and for whoever types up the weekly service sheet, if you’re lucky enough to have that. And if this new music item is to happen, you will need loads of positive energy that can cut through the acres of indifference and even negativity that you could face.

Be prepared, keep cool and keep a smile on your face! You decide the best approach is to see the rector/priest first. You attempt to discuss it with him/her the next Sunday, but the Revd is too busy rushing from the first service to make it to the second or third that day. ‘Call me during the week, it sounds great’ the Revd shouts out the car window as he/she heads for St Empty Church 20 km away. Later that month you finally have your meeting when you might get any of the following responses:

‘That’s wonderful but do you think it’s really suitable for our group of parishes.

‘Is it in the hymnbook? Oh dear how could we manage that – we’d need to print a sheet.

It looks interesting but we’d need more time to prepare it, so maybe we should wait until next year, what do you think?

I’m not sure that it’s something we could do here, numbers have fallen a lot this year and we need to stick to what people know .... I’m sorry ... not for the moment’.

Anyway you persevere (remember be positive and smile) and you eventually receive agreement in principle to do this new music item.

Super. So now you ring around and get a few singers together and you tell them what a wonderful experience you had at a course up in Dublin and you bring photocopies and your own Yamaha keyboard, as it worked so well in Dublin using a keyboard rather than the pipe organ. ‘No, why are you using that, we’ve never had one of those in church before. They’re not very 'churchy' are they – it’s not church music now is it?’ complains one of the only two men who came to the practice. And in a second those gathered become totally absorbed in rehashing old complaints of yore. You persevere again, stay cool and smile, and start people singing. It’s not going the way it went in Dublin though. Woops-you can’t get the choir beyond the second line and the bit that seemed to go down so well in Dublin just isn’t moving along here at all.

Now you’re really nervous. How do you get out of this? You encourage everyone that it may take a few goes before they get the air of it. Soon people are catching on. It’s working. You’re delighted and your singers are smiling in quiet satisfaction. It’s a major breakthrough and you’re really looking forward to next Sunday ...... but in the meantime you’ve got to proof-read the service sheet, remind the Rector that the new music item is happening next Sunday after the second reading and you will be coming out from the organ console to be close to your singers and accompany them on your keyboard, and that you’re sure it will work, and having the Rector’s support is so important to you and the singers.

Congratulations! You’ve made a great start. Welcome to the world of the parish church musician.

Derek Verso is organist of St Paul’s Glenageary, director of the chir of Kildare Cathedral and a member of the Diocesan Church Music Committee.

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