Please do bear in mind whatever local guidelines you have been given and the most up-to-date advice from the government. I note that current guidelines (I am writing this on the 29th June 2020) say that 'all services should be completed in the “shortest reasonable time”', but would argue that this does not rule out the use of music entirely. However, some of the ideas I have written about here may have to await a future easing of restrictions.
Churches with no musical resources
Firstly, perhaps you have no musical resources at your disposal apart from a decent stereo. If this is the case then I do strongly encourage you to have a go at adding instrumental pieces behind your liturgy. Firstly you will need someone to operate the stereo. Do not try doing everything yourself! Be encouraged and reassured that, unlike streaming, for live worship you need no special licenses to use any commercial instrumental track (sacred or secular) in an act of worship, because Divine Office is exempt from PRS fees. (Projecting words to songs is a different matter, but as we are not allowed to sing anyway, this is irrelevant). If your church PA is only designed for the spoken word bring in a decent household stereo system and hide it somewhere discrete. Place the speakers so that they are pointing towards the congregation but make sure that no-one sits too close to them (or they will complain that the music is too loud, whilst those further away cannot hear properly).
So where might be good places in the liturgy to add pre-recorded music for those who have not done this before?
1- Just before beginning an act of worship (an "introit").
2 -During spoken intercessions.
3 - During the Eucharistic Prayer.
4 - During the distribution of communion.
5 - At the end of an act of worship (a "voluntary").
Let's begin by thinking about beginnings and endings. It is good to have a rousing and inspiring piece to end and act of worship. I actually think it is harder to choose a piece to begin an act of worship as some pieces that would work very well in some contexts would not work at all in others. A good guide is to have a look at the upcoming readings. I am writing this post on the 29th June, and so the upcoming gospel contains these words "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Perhaps a version of "O rest in the Lord" from Mendelssohn's Elijah may therefore fit the theme and set the scene. I believe that in our current context we should be very wary of playing hymns because the congregation will be tempted to sing along. The RSCM publication "Sunday by Sunday" (which a member of your church, a neighbouring organist/director of music or your diocesan worship advisor may already subscribe to) has other suggestions of anthems that may be appropriate for the day. I do encourage you to join the RSCM if you are not a member though as the work they do to support musicians in church is more important than ever in these troubled times and if you join you will get "Sunday by Sunday" posted to you for free. Do beware of using "showstoppers" at the start of your service - save these for the end. (By "showstoppers" I mean rousing pieces which it is very hard to follow without a sense of anticlimax). Test a piece of music at home by playing it, and then following it with the opening responses of your act of worship to see whether it fits well. One thing to beware of is the start and finish of any piece of music, including one played from the stereo system. Never simply stop a piece of music midway without fading it gently away. Never simply switch off a PA without turning down the volume. You do not want to disturb or distract others and an annoying "Clunk" will do this.You may also need to do some volume adjustment at the beginning of a piece if it starts really quietly, and then, gently and subtly, turn it down midway if it gets too loud. If there is more than one track lined up on your CD or electronic device then beware letting it drift on to the start of the next track. Check your volumes in the building itself before the congregation arrives so that the volume does not cause feedback or distortion at the loudest part of the track. (Many classical pieces have large contrasts in volume so do be aware of this).
Choosing a piece for the distribution of communion is a comparatively easy task. Although it is tempting to play a hymn, once again I would discourage this, as it will be very difficult to stop a congregation singing along. A choral piece, an instrumental piece, or a song that is not well-known may be more appropriate. Have a look at some of the works by modern (20th and 21st century composers) such as John Tavener, Jonathan Dove, James MacMillan or Kerry Andrew who write inspiring and mystical pieces.
If you wish to use music behind the spoken word, this can be really effective but it needs a little careful thought. As I have mentioned before many classical pieces have strong contrasts in volume, these are unsuitable for playing behind the spoken word as it generally drowns it out. Also most pieces with lyrics distract from the words being prayed (although if the song is in another language such as Latin this can sometimes work). Again, try out the piece in advance, speak over a track and see if the volume works and do a soundcheck in the building. Think about the "mood" of the piece. Does that suit the mood at that point in the liturgy, does it enhance the words or add a sense of mystery and Transcendence? When I used to run the Transcendence services in York Minster we used instrumental music almost constantly to undergird the liturgy so it can work almost anywhere if the correct piece is chosen, but for those unused to blending music and the spoken word I would suggest being sparing and beginning with the intercessions and the Eucharistic Prayer. You will discover that having music behind words means that periods of "silence" (or rather periods of reflection) are more available to you without it seeming awkward. A pause may be made after the consecration, or after a bidding in the intercessions and time can be given for private prayer and reflection whilst the music undergirds the holiness of the moment.
Churches with an organist (or pianist)
Once again I suggest a breakdown of places where organ or piano music would work well (which is similar to that of pre-recorded music, with one addition).
1- Just before beginning an act of worship (an "introit").
2 - A "responsorial" psalm.
3 - During the intercessions.
4 - During the Eucharistic Prayer.
5 - During the distribution of communion.
6 - At the end of an act of worship (a "voluntary").
Organists are familiar with playing introits and voluntaries, and most have a large collection of them. They may also have anthems in their repertoire which can be played during the distribution of communion. They may also be able to play variations upon hymns in such a way that the congregation is discouraged from joining in, but they still recognise the tune coming through at various points in the liturgy.
Many organists will be less familiar with playing underneath the liturgy although there is a tradition known as the French Organ Mass which was popular in the Baroque period. In some of these Masses the organ played throughout the whole of the liturgy and in others it only played for some sections. However it is good to be aware of two things with respect to Organ masses. One is that in the times when these were popular the mass itself was in Latin and virtually inaudible, and secondly that the practice itself was banned by the church as being distracting to the liturgy. Personally I think this was rather a shame, but it is good to be aware that the organ music should be there to enhance the liturgy not to compete with it, and that the words themselves need to be audible. With this in mind, voicing needs to be thought about very carefully and only the quieter stops should be used. There are many pieces which can be played throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, and in this position it is actually possible to play a version of a hymn tune or song as the congregation will be less tempted to sing along because liturgical words are being spoken. This is also true of the intercessions, and short hymns, worship songs, or Taize chants could be used during the spoken biddings of a set of intercessions with the congregation responding with a spoken response (perhaps based upon the words of the chant or song used).
This brings me to the subject of the responsorial psalm. These have been used in the Roman Catholic tradition for a number of years, and many Anglican parishes have also found them useful. A number of them can be found in hymns books and there is a section at the back of the New English Hymnal. Common Worship Daily Prayer also has a "refrain" printed at the top of each psalm so that they can be used in responsorial form, although no music is printed in this book. In their more usual form a choir or cantor sings the verses of the psalm and the congregation responds which a short sung refrain which is easy to learn. This form of psalm singing has the advantage of being biblical but also visitor-friendly, as the sung response is short enough for a visitor to learn. In our current situation (July 2020) where we are allowed public worship but not allowed to sing a responsorial psalm can be led by an organist (or instrumentalist) and a reader. The reader can read the spoken response, inviting the congregation to repeat this each time (the printed text is therefore not needed). The reader can then read the verses of the psalm slowly and prayerfully with an organist playing quietly underneath them. When the verse has finished the organist stops and the reader and congregation read and repeat the response before continuing the music and speech for another verse. These psalms can be broken up in a number of different ways, but I would suggest that the longer texts in Common Worship may work better than short texts, and that fewer spoken responses and longer verses would also work more effectively in this context.
Churches with a band (or string players).
At the present time (July 2020) some of the band will able able to lead music in worship, but not singers, and the instruments will need to be socially distanced. In this context it may be better simply to have a piano, guitar, or harp leading and please bear in mind, that, once again the sound balance of the music against the spoken word is important. Some of these suggestions will also be relevant for those churches with a choral or classical music tradition who have access to string players. As with my other suggestions instruments can undergird and enhance the liturgy at several points in the service, and they may indeed wish to play sensitively throughout (except perhaps during the sermon). For the beginning and end of a service perhaps an unfamiliar worship song from a different tradition or secular song with spiritual lyrics could be played on the PA to lead into the worship event. Places to look at for these may be Resound Worship, CJM music or Poor Clare/Lacey Brown. Classical pieces may also be used which invite prayer and contemplation, and some of these pieces may already be in the repertoire of band members. Once again I would suggest that band members avoid using the tunes to worship songs except at moments where liturgy is already being spoken to avoid the temptation for congregation members to sing along. Fragments and variations of tunes can be used and they can be taken both from the worship song repertoire, but also from appropriate rock and pop tunes and old hymns Do bear in mind, that, even though the words are not being sung, congregation members will probably know them and start singing them in their minds. The words to "Bridge over troubled water" would bring to mind lyrics of sacrifice and help in a time of trouble, but (to use a silly example) "Bootylicious" by Beyoncé may not invite the right kind of prayer and contemplation. When we were doing a Fresh Expression in York a few years ago we often found the music of Coldplay to work very well as backing to liturgy, and their lyrics often have spiritual content.
I would also encourage band members to consider leading a responsorial psalm, and Isaac Everett has an excellent setting of the psalter (the Emergent Psalter) which gives some suggestions and keys in which to improvise for those unfamiliar with this method.
There are many worship songs written on the theme of Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross, and these would make an excellent backing track to the Eucharistic prayer.
Use of Percussion
Using percussion may be a possible way forward in introducing creativity within worship in those churches which are used to having lively and noisy sung worship. A song could be played upon the PA system and congregations (after being warned not to sing-along) could be encouraged to play along with drums and shakers. The volume of the song would need to be high enough to cover the use of percussion whilst not damaging hearing.
Drums can also be used as musical responses to intercessions. For example a simple rhythm such as "Lord Jesus hear all our cries" and "Jesus hear us" (using the latter for shakers and the former for drums) can be used and improvised upon for intercessions. The leader raises their hands as a signal for the drumming to stop, and then guidelines of intercessions can be added before a further period of drumming and prayer.
To avoid having to disinfect the instruments after use, the congregation could be encouraged to bring along their own drums (buckets, tubs, wooden spoons, placemats and plastic tubs of rice also work well). The congregation should also be warned not to swap instruments between family groups, but plastic shakers could be deposited in a bucket at the exit and easily cleaned with disinfectant. Do not damage drums which use real goatskin (such as djembes) by using disinfectant upon them if they do get contaminated in some way. Instead, wearing gloves, put them away for a few days until they are safe to touch once more. Plastic drum skins should be OK to use disinfectant or soap upon, but always check manufacturers instructions.
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