An interesting survey was conducted by the NPM.org website, and the results are reported here. The survey asked people in the pews what factors influence whether they sing during Mass. People said they like a familiar melody that is easy to sing--no surprise--while musicians in leadership believed that people need good accompaniment and--again, no surprise--strong leadership. It is hardly news that leaders overestimate their own worth but this survey is instructive simply because it illustrates that gap that separates people from song leaders.
There are many factors that were not considered, such as the underlying assumption that the masses of people do (or should) go to Church in order to belt out a familiar hymn rather than have time for prayer and quiet contemplation. There is also the problem that the survey was taken online at the NPM website, which has an Alexa rank of 1.15 million (that's, well, rather low). In contrast, NLM has a rank of 223,786, which is so much higher that it puts it in a completely difference class of traffic.
In any case, interesting:
WHAT HELPS YOU TO SING THE LITURGY? | % of Those Involved in Music Ministry (1,541) |
Leadership of Oragan or Instruments | 66.4 |
Meaningful Text | 65.6 |
Leadership of Cantor or Director | 60.9 |
Linked to Liturgy of the Day or Season | 59.6 |
Enthusiasm of the Congregation | 58.7 |
Leadership of Choir | 47.3 |
Familiar Melody | 46.7 |
Easy to Sing | 43.5 |
Church Building That Makes Singing a Pleasure | 35.0 |
Leadership of Priest Celebrant | 32.9 |
Traditional Song | 30.7 |
Contemporary Song | 25.6 |
Something I Can Sing by Heart | 23.9 |
Other | 22.0 |
WHAT HELPS YOU TO SING THE LITURGY? | % of Those Not Involved in Music Ministry (808) |
Familiar Melody | 52.2 |
Easy to Sing | 51.4 |
Traditional Song | 47.9 |
Enthusiasm of the Congregation | 47.0 |
Meaningful Text | 46.8 |
Leadership of Cantor or Director | 44.7 |
Linked to Liturgy of the Day or Season | 42.2 |
Leadership of Organ or Instruments | 39.9 |
Other | 33.4 |
Leadership of Choir | 29.6 |
Something I Can Sing by Heart | 26.2 |
Contemporary Song | 25.7 |
Leadership of Priest Celebrant | 20.4 |
Church Building That Makes Singing a Pleasure | 18.7 |
