In your own words...

Perhaps there’s nothing more difficult to teach than something you know really well. It is too easy to make assumptions that the listener knows more than they do or that they are bored and you should move on. I usually err on moving on too quickly. But I’m getting better.

Likewise, sometimes it is difficult to put into words that which I prefer and strive for AND to make it understandable to a novice. Below is an email exchange that took place out of the blue when a non-music major asked me some questions for a sociology project. See how I did:

-Q: How long have you been in your sacred music profession?
-A: Church organist since 1988. Concert organist since 1990. Sacred music professor since 2004.

-Q: Do you have a preference of musical style of worship in the church? If so, then what?
-A: “Traditional” is the standard word to describe it. Organ to accompany the choir and the congregation. Choral music by noted composers. Carefully rehearsed.

-Q: What is your favorite instrument to play?
-A: String bass, but I can’t play that! So I suppose the piano or organ is my favorite.

-Q: Is there anything you wish you could change about how church music or (sacred music) is done?
-A: Not really. I do prefer that church music be well-written, professionally prepared, and sincerely presented. But the world is a big place, and not everyone needs their church music to be as perfect as I strive to make it!

-Q: What are some of the biggest issues you have encountered with your profession either in a church setting or as a teacher?
-A: Over-administration always threatens creativity. Many clergy are tyrants, and many directors of music are amateur musicians.

-Q: If you could give advice to someone starting their career out in the sacred music profession what would it be?
-A: Decide where you will draw the line between being a professional musician and being a compassionate shepherd for your music department. Then decide how often and how far you will MOVE that line you have drawn. It WILL happen.

-Q: What do you think about the different musical styles of worship that are arising in the churches?
-A: It is all sociologically driven. Human beings have demonstrated their love/hatred of the ceremonial throughout all of history. Something becomes boring, and so we make it fancier. Then the fancy goes overboard, and we overreact and strip it away to nothing, which later becomes boring, and so the cycle repeats. The same is true of music — people used to enjoy cerebral, thought-provoking music. Then they wanted something more basic, something more immediately appealing with less effort. Now, I’m seeing people grow bored with that, and they’re asking for more cerebral music again! That is a very sociological cycle, but when it occurs in a church setting, it occurs behind liturgical/spiritual language, which makes it more difficult to see for what it is. Once you look at all this from a sociological perspective, it becomes much clearer.