Two guitars and a tin whistle
At the end of the month I am attending the annual Summer School run by the Society of St Gregory (the national society of liturgy and music for the Catholic Church in the British Isles). One of the workshops is called "Accompanying on a budget: Two guitars and a tin whistle? Whatever your resources, you can be effective". I rather wish that this session had been available some years back when we first started the Vigil Music Group, as some of the things that I expect will be suggested in the workshop came to us slowly over a period of time.
For example, it was only after we had two flautists, both simply hammering out the melody line, that it dawned on me that this was such a waste of the available talent. So we began to introduce harmonies for at least one of the flutes, which made a massive difference all round; it made the music that much more rich and beautiful for the liturgy (a good thing), but it also permitted a greater artistic expression for the musicians; it is rewarding for a musician (as it is for singers) to create a better sound - when you do something well....it's a good feeling!! Our group's position is completely out of sight for the congregation (above and behind in the choir loft) and sometimes, at the end of a hymn or something else (almost invariably something that involves harmonies for singers and musicians) we turn to each other with a look of...........satisfaction?
Nowadays, even if we only have one flautist, he/she will generally lead the melody for the first verse and then play harmonies for subsequent verses. In fact, if you can develop things throughout the course of the hymn, all the better. (Sometimes you will hear an organist play each verse of a hymn differently - it just adds texture, prevents it from becoming repetitive).
Where do we find these harmonies? Occasionally you just know them (eg the descant for "Abba, Father, you are the potter"), sometimes you will find it in the guitar/melody version of the hymnal (eg "Sing of the Lord's goodness") and other times you have to transpose from the organ copy (eg "Be still my soul, your God is on your side"). It takes time to get these down (how to do so I will come to in another post) but, over a period of time, you build up your resources.
Talking of tin whistles, even that most humble of instruments can greatly enhance the music, if played sensitively and well. One church that I sometimes play in is a vast, cavernous building with acoustics that a monastic community would relish. We would play the celtic version of "When I survey the wondrous cross" (same words but sung to a celtic melody - I think the Iona community introduced it). We had a C-whistle (lower, richer tone than the ubiquitous D-whistle) which worked wonderfully in that church's acoustics.
For example, it was only after we had two flautists, both simply hammering out the melody line, that it dawned on me that this was such a waste of the available talent. So we began to introduce harmonies for at least one of the flutes, which made a massive difference all round; it made the music that much more rich and beautiful for the liturgy (a good thing), but it also permitted a greater artistic expression for the musicians; it is rewarding for a musician (as it is for singers) to create a better sound - when you do something well....it's a good feeling!! Our group's position is completely out of sight for the congregation (above and behind in the choir loft) and sometimes, at the end of a hymn or something else (almost invariably something that involves harmonies for singers and musicians) we turn to each other with a look of...........satisfaction?
Nowadays, even if we only have one flautist, he/she will generally lead the melody for the first verse and then play harmonies for subsequent verses. In fact, if you can develop things throughout the course of the hymn, all the better. (Sometimes you will hear an organist play each verse of a hymn differently - it just adds texture, prevents it from becoming repetitive).
Where do we find these harmonies? Occasionally you just know them (eg the descant for "Abba, Father, you are the potter"), sometimes you will find it in the guitar/melody version of the hymnal (eg "Sing of the Lord's goodness") and other times you have to transpose from the organ copy (eg "Be still my soul, your God is on your side"). It takes time to get these down (how to do so I will come to in another post) but, over a period of time, you build up your resources.
Talking of tin whistles, even that most humble of instruments can greatly enhance the music, if played sensitively and well. One church that I sometimes play in is a vast, cavernous building with acoustics that a monastic community would relish. We would play the celtic version of "When I survey the wondrous cross" (same words but sung to a celtic melody - I think the Iona community introduced it). We had a C-whistle (lower, richer tone than the ubiquitous D-whistle) which worked wonderfully in that church's acoustics.
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