When I was in high school, I started assisting with the music at my church on a regular basis. Through those experiences, which I will write about some other time, I began to discern a possible vocation as a church musician, and I was very blessed to have the music director at the church offer to mentor me in music ministry. I have no doubt that his generosity played a significant role in my eventual pursuit of this career.

I don’t remember many details of our meetings and discussions, but there is one lesson that stands out to me. I remember standing near the relatively new Allen digital organ, between the music area and the sanctuary, and him explaining that, when accompanying congregational singing, it can sometimes be quite beneficial to cut off the organ or piano a tiny bit before the singing stops. The reason for this is that it allows the sound of the instruments to clear in the room before the voices, allowing the people to have the experience the sound of their collective voices blending in the room, on their own, while still being fully supported while they are singing. This is a good feeling, and it encourages the development of their singing skill as a congregation, which is different from solo and even choral singing. The trick is to do this ever so slightly before, such that most of the sound of the instrument is still in the room while they are still singing, so that it doesn’t sound like the accompanist cut off “too early” or that the people held on to the note too long, nor that they are exposed and singing uncomfortably by themselves! (The more reverberant the space, the more forgiving it is of the timing) I will write more about cut-offs in a future post, but in the meantime, try the above and let me know what you think!

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