Posted on by Jeffrey Tucker

Chant with Guitar, and the contemporary style

We’ve been talking recently about instruments at Mass, what is preferred and what is ideal and what is permitted. This subject is inseparable from the issue of style, since every instrument carries with cultural associations. With contemporary styles – pop music really – pervasive in liturgy today, it is very possible that the pathway to purely vocal chant, sung with decorum and discipline, might lead through the styles of contemporary music.

I’ve heard several people make this claim, and I can’t entirely discount it, though it is not an issue we struggle with in our own parish. The current situation is probably an unprecedented in Church history, so the pathway toward the pure music of the Church could take some unpredictable directions.

One blog that is struggling with these difficulties, transitioning from one approach to another, is theCatholicWorshipBlog.com, which has a forum, a store, and a podcast as well. The blogger here is working his way toward chant, and below is an example of some of what he is doing in earnest.

My own reaction in listening to this is to imagine how his vocal inflections might change if the guitar were to be removed altogether. For my own part, I associate these vocal inflections with a degree of egoism that is certainly not intended. As Mary Jane Ballou is fond of saying, less is more and simple is often just better.

In any case, you will find this instructive.

27 Replies to “Chant with Guitar, and the contemporary style”

  1. Having read your insight about vocal inflection, I easily observed what you were speaking to. To me, there is an almost sub-conscious association of style and genre with certain instruments. It seems to subtly creep into the music. This style of singing and playing sounds like Jim Croce to me. As such, it would not be a way to help remove distractions at mass.

  2. As the author of this video, and founder of The Catholic Worship Blog, I am really humbled to be put on THIS blog. To be honest, I do not feel "worthy" to have this "work" of mine anywhere near the incredibly "anointed" compositions I have found on the forum and throughout this blog.

    I know this production isn't the best representation of the chant itself – especially with some melodic imperfections evident. My goal wasn't to produce any grand work with this video, but rather to open up the door to saying, "Can this work?" "Is this doable in a parish setting?" "Would this make the people more comfortable to the idea of chant?" I've read through many of the forum threads and so I'm aware of what Jeff means by how the vocal inflections may change if the guitar were removed. I've heard the missa simplex with pure vocals before and love it, again, this was an effort in bringing two worlds together. The "egoism" evident, may simply come from my concentration on what I was doing since I was definitely out of my comfort zone, however like Jeff said it was purely unintentional.

    I welcome any criticism and discussion this post may generate and look forward to stimulating conversation. God bless!

  4. Tom,
    I like the effort. You present the Latin chant ordinary as something that anyone can do- which is so true! You are clearly not intimidated by the Latin and your style of instuction is very apporachable.
    The vocal style points are important as chant is at its best when done with a more straight tone- but as you said you were just doing a bit of experimenting.
    I don't know that I would prefer the piano. Pianos tend to really take over whereas the guitar can allow the vocals to be most prominent. Keep up the good work!

    Jenny

  6. I think this is fine as a transition to unaccompanied chant. Most congregations do use instrumentation (usually the organ) to accompany chant as a sort of pathway to unaccompanied chant.

    I would find this especially useful in a congregation that is very, very used to guitar and piano. That is not that uncommon. One thing I would stress is the importance of keeping the vocal line pure and accurate. I've noticed some embellishments, and I think that they detract from the chant.

    I would also suggest having an organist friend play an organ accompaniment or two, to hear what is going on.

  7. On my journey to sacred music a while ago I arranged Sanctus XVIII in a 6/8 time signature in a chord chart suitable to the "contemporary parish ensemble"… not very proud of it now (especially since several parishes in my diocese still use it!). It was definitely a step along the way for me, though.

  8. Thanks for the feedback Kathy. I'd like to get further clarification on the vocals in terms of being "pure & accurate", "straight" and free of "embellishments". Can you guys give me examples to listen to about how this should sound?

  9. As an AGO organist, I can say that I found this attemtp to accompany chant with a guitar, even an acoustic guitar, to be a less than appropriate step to restoring purely vocal chant at Mass. I feel that it is a concession to the pop-folk style of contemporary music so common in American Catholic churches. It would be an easier transition if quiet organ chording were used and then eventually eliminated as the church became used to chant. The use of guitar might be more appropriate in cultures where the organ is not heard, but where it is the most used instrument. Also, the vocal stylization of the singer does not match with the chant he is trying to sing.

  11. Thanks for the feedback RedCat, I think it's as an unfortunate result of the many liturgical abuses that happened following the second vatican council that every time a guitar is introduced into the liturgical context the notions of "folk" and "pop" and "rock" come into the picture.

    Many will argue that it's the "nature" of the instrument, I would disagree. While the instrument may have primarily been used in the above mentioned genre's, by no means does this mean it cannot be used in the liturgy for fear of a "hearkening" back to these "secular" or as some would put it, "profane" genres. If the only place I heard the organ played was at a stadium or at a heavy metal concert, I might reach the conclusion that the organ (especially when it's played poorly as is the case in many parishes today) is an instrument which "profanes" the mass.

    Some might say this is why voice alone is preferred – on this I would still disagree. It appears to me that the heavenly liturgy as is portrayed in John's vision in the book of Revelation, there are a multitude of instruments (harps, trumpets, etc).

    The reason for creating The Catholic Worship Blog, and for engaging in discussions across other blogs, is because I believe that the American, European, and Australian churches are finding their "culture" of worship. And it involves guitars, piano, drums, etc. I will grant that about 90% of evangelical protestant "contemporary Christian worship music" should be relegated to the "private devotion" arena, however I believe there is a SMALL pool of songs that can be used in the liturgy. My goal is to get a better understanding of liturgical music, apply those principles to contemporary christian "worship" music and try to lead the Church into a better understanding of how she worships in the 21st century. And how the Church worships is not "Traditionally" "contemporary", "charismatic" "contemplative", etc – it's all of the above, it's Catholic.

    So please, with all your strength, bear with me, and my fellow music ministers who have such a great passion for Holy Mother Church and her celebrations of worship, we mean her no harm or disrespect. Rather, we are learning from her wisdom, and encouraging her with some "fresh air" that we have found to be helpful in our relationship with the Lord. Thank you 🙂

  12. Thanks Adam! This is incredible, and I LOVE this, however correct me if I'm wrong, but the "congregation" is full of trained music ministers who "get" what's going on in the liturgy and are all about expressing that by means of chant. Don't get me wrong, I think it's beautiful, but I'm not sure what I should be taking away from this.

    Now imagine a congregation full of "contemporary music ministers" of the ilk that I tend to hang around with. For starters, they would equally be impressed and really "into" this youtube link as well and would be incredibly blessed by singing this liturgy along with the CMAA congregations. But take it the next step further, I could tell you that a group of contemporary music ministers could get together and celebrate the liturgy with equal beauty and reverence since we'd all be on the same page. THIS is the primary reason why I want to have these discussions: because I've seen all the beauty and I have had all the "experiences of aw and wonder and mystery" that I hear many pro-chant speakers discuss – by means of contemporary worship music. So there has to be something that is "good" "true" and "beautiful" about praise and worship music in the liturgy – I'm just trying to get a grasp on what that is, and challenge other music ministers if they ARE going to use contemporary praise and worship music they should do it well. 🙂 PS I'm SO excited about the Simple Propers Project!

  13. Tom Lelyo's efforts should not be summarily dismissed as either inappropriate or transitory. Tom, as a liturgical guitarist/composer of forty plus years (with Bachelors/Masters in flute, string bass, and sacred choral lit/conducting as well,) I commend your efforts to utilize your guitar skills in order to attract people of your and the following generation towards "plainsong."
    That said, your harmonic/chordal vocabulary is rudimentary (not a bad thing) and, in some cases, unrealized to more natural, modal "necessities." For a very basic example that can be taken or rejected, your opening chordal assignment to the Sanctus is simply a D minor (capoed at 3rd) which supports the melodic interval A to G (Sanc-tu-us.) Unattended, that isn't a major problem; but you maintain the F as the third of Dm while singing scale 4, again no biggie, but nebulous. You're already modal, so using your formula, you could employ the bVII chord, a Cmajor (Amajor in capo) for a more solid repose of the melodic statement. Little stuff like that eventually opens up some pretty elegant and enriched harmonic realizations.
    I cannot, in good conscience, agree with all that RedCat stated. But what I agree with is that you need to carefully consider how you use your right hand- I hear RC saying that a simple sustained chord (as from an organ) would better suffice. So, likewise, arpeggiation can become an impediment to chant because it overlays a clear rhythmic pulse under music that avoids strict rhythmic interpretation. OTOH, such a "push-pull" feel might judiciously be applied in more mensurate chants, "Adoro te" comes to mind.
    The only advice I offer you as you proceed is to consider using the classical guitar. There is a whole book devoted to chant and classical guitar that I'll get around to posting on this blog eventually, that takes a very serious approach to the nature of the instrument vis a vis the nature of sung chant. That, and listen to early music ensembles such as the Baltimore Consort and other artists who are conversant with Dowland lute songs as inspiration.
    For a final coup de grace, I was at a weeklong workshop a few summers ago with Paul Salamunovich, who among all his accolades, is a profound supporter and benefactor to Morton Lauridsen's works. During a break, I asked the maestro if he'd ever heard of the L.A. Guitar Quartet. No. Then would he be interested in hearing their interpretation of the famous "Dirait on" fourth movement of Rilke's Flower Songs. "Dirait on" is the number one choral octavo in sales worldwide to this day. The maestro/chant master was enthralled, astounded. I gave him the CD, he played it for the other 200 choral directors that afternoon in a plenum session. The guitar, when in the hands of disciplined, imaginative and devout musicians, has a real voice.

  14. This thread has hit such an interesting area that surely hasn't been much explored, discussed, or even begun to be reconciled.

    Some day soon, (maybe!), I will tell my story; my journey to sacred music. When I do this I think that many many people are going to be very surprised by it. Both many of my old friends who remain on the cutting edge of the "modern worship" scene in the Catholic world, and my newer friends who are on the cutting edge of the "new liturgical movement".

    I won't tell the story right now, but I think that you would be interested to know, Tom, that I was the first electric guitarist to play "Your Grace is Enough" in a worship setting. I was playing in Matt Maher's band for a short season and I remember the night that he rushed in for rehearsal, clutching some lyrics and chords he scratched out the night before and that afternoon and the rest is history. Anyway, a brief anecdotal tale that is sure to raise a few eyebrows here. I'm sure that Tom and Charles both would also be interested to know that the guitar was my academic instrument in my music undergrad–classical and jazz both. After I graduated I mostly put the guitar in the closet though, and turned my attention to the sacred music tradition of the Church, and the liturgy, as given to us by the Church, which has been the focus of my attention ever since.

    This is surely a paradox to two groups who may seem to be on two sides of a divide. Perhaps I'm living proof that the "divide" is not as far, wide, and deep as we might think.

    Tom, I would love to take up a conversation with you offline. Can you give me your email address?

  16. Adam, Oh "YEAH?"
    Seriously, couldn't have prevailed upon Matt that first rehearsal to either keep the preposition "For your grace," or "Yes, your grace…"? First time I saw that in OCP BB I thought "You gotta be kidding me!" It did make for some pretty raucous laughter when we'd play the tune as a respite at rehearsals, and we'd change "yeah" to other languages-German, French, Spanish, Latin, Tagalog….makes for a good hoot.
    Nice that you shared that tale. It was interesting that in three colloquia, I first encountered some folks who "outed" themselves from the guitar closet. Kind of quaint, actually.

  17. Haha, Charles! Yes, that is pretty silly. "Yeah! Your grace…" I think that he uses Chris Tomlin's version now though which fortunately did away with the "yeah".

    Well the guitar is in the closet, I'm not in the closet with it 😉 But sometimes I do pull it out for fun. Was a big part of my life at one point, but I have chosen not to use it in liturgy which is where my work is focused.

    It's funny, I have a friend who's a fantastic jazz drummer and he has lately begun to resonate deeply the Church's understanding of sacred music. The only thing he feels that he can do right now is "protest playing drums at Mass"! But he'll be joining my schola now in a couple weeks.

  18. Well, I've certainly enjoyed all the posts on this one because I came late to the conversation. Kathy's right about singing with a "non-pop" voice, which is very hard if you're used to singing that style. (I occasionally have to cope with the products of Baptist praise training.)

    As someone who plays an instrument with lots of strings, aka the celtic harp, I would simply play block open fifths below the chant or octaves and only at the beginning and (maybe) mid-point in a line. The instrumental function is primarily to maintain pitch.

    I used to play the guitar but ceded the field to Joan Baez in 1970. Charles and Adam obviously have more "problematic" histories.

  19. "Charles and Adam obviously have more "problematic" histories."

    You may have ceded to Joan Baez in 1970, but I gave it back to Green Day at age 24 😉

    "Problematic" as it may seem, I had the opportunity to understand intimately where Tom's coming from, and there are a lot of "worship leaders" playing in Mass around the country. If any of you are reading this and want to know how I went from this to chant schola director and organist please feel free to email me!

  20. By the way, I'm not angry about the time that I spent in the world of the worship band, it was very helpful in instilling in me a loving devotion to the Lord. But I discovered that there was more, much more, and had a "conversion" of sorts to the liturgy, and the mind of the Church.

    I think that Tom's video may be a step along a path. I was doing similar things at one point. But it's not too far away from yearning and longing for the "real thing".

  21. Thanks, Tom, for posting this and for your blog. I believe that your effort of bridging the "us and them" gap is truly what is needed in order to be unified as Catholics in worship.

    I am a concert classical guitarist, and I have led liturgical music in both "traditional" and "contemporary" settings. First of all, I have to explain to many skeptics that the guitar can be as dignified as any other instrument, and capable players can make an acoustic guitar a perfectly viable accompaniment. I lead music with an acoustic guitar, often changing between right hand strumming or arpeggios, depending on the need of the piece. For instrumental preludes for weddings or funerals, I play the Ordinary settings of Josquin's Mass transcribed by vihuelist Alonso Mudarra. For intros and interludes of other pieces during the mass, I play the melody with arpeggiated accompaniment or improvise as necessary for time considerations. In general, I believe the guitar can do all that an organ can except as many octaves and volume range. Furthermore, IMO, the austerity of the guitar's dynamic and tonal limitations lends itself to more emphasis on the voice more-so than an organ drone with its many competing overtones and sustain.

    As one who tries to see both unbiased sides of this topic, your open-minded approach may be the most diplomatically successful transition for your congregation. I lament when people dig their heels in only one camp and look down on others who feel called to offer their services slightly differently. Seeking common ground is an essential way of building unity and peace with a diverse community.

  22. Thanks, Anon, it is always time to move forward beyond preconception and, with the grace of God and the wisdom of Mother Church, help each other towards authenticity in sacred artistry. Jesus Christ is the Way. And despite a kind of liturgical GPS that is constantly present and available, many of us will opt for many paths and detours on journey to the Way.

  23. Anonymous – you must have heard either a poor organist or an egotistical organist drown out the vocals on a hymn or chant. At Mass, the organ accompanies; it should not dominate. Likewise, the Mass is not a concert for the organist. If he/she plays as if it were, then the beautiful classical and tasteful contemporary style of guitar would be preferrable. I joined musical forces for a while with an excellent modern acoustic guitar musician who accompanied with a harp guitar. What a glorious combination that was! Organists need to study registration so that the harmonics and drones that bothered you are eliminated.

  24. Great point, RedCat. I've had the privilege of working with two extremely gifted organists since 1987, both masters of improvisation and registration. I firmly believe and teach that "all things bright and beautiful" in sacred music occur because of musicians' skills in listening first, obviously when leading hymnody, but also in collaborative efforts with diverse instruments. I've experienced many moments of absolute bliss when, say, my organist and I engage in an improvised duet after the Offertory inwhich our woven melodic and harmonic lines venture into chromatic transitions simultaneously and seemlessly…Thank you, God.

  25. Tom,
    I agree with mjballou's comments above. While it definitely falls short of the ideal, guitar accompanied simple chants might work as a bridge for the contemporary crowd. Improving the voice technique and keeping the guitar subdued would help your efforts a lot!

    That being said, I think your motivation is to be commended, and I hope that God will bless you for your efforts to increase awareness of chant!

  26. Not perfect, but… beautiful. Not to mention hundreds of times better than Mass of Creation.
    This would be a vast (VAST!) improvement over average parish fare.
    This kind of work will be the redemption of contemporary-styled liturgical music.

  27. I must say I quite enjoyed it.

    I think that we should be composing and arranging for both the liturgical and para-liturgical/popular devotional streams.

    The fact that contemporary modern music has a flavour which is incompatible with liturgical and even devotions because of its emotionally charged character (coming from a recovering charismatic baptist LOL)

    Is there not a way to create a new idiom/style? Why should we remain content with what is current and transitory. What would it sound like? Perhaps the East can shed some light on this…? If the New Apostolic's can create their own mod-flavour, I don't see why we can't.

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