I am not a fan of American Idol.
One day while watching a worship service at home, I noticed something. A female vocalist began a song. As I listened, I noticed how hard she was pushing. She sang from her chest and as she crescendoed through pitches, she began to shout. And drift off pitch. Her pitch was flat for the rest of the song.
It was hard to listen after that.
As a vocalist, I understand the pressure to “sound” a certain way. We hear singers on the radio belting from their chest voice. As a classically trained vocalist, I struggled for years because my voice didn’t sound like those “cool” singers. And sometimes, that sound is cool. Done well, it can be extremely powerful.
But sometimes, it just doesn’t need to be done. In this particular song, I believe a softer volume and more focused tone would have been perfect. Once the shouting began, I wanted to mute the T.V. When this type of singing occurs in worship, it makes me think of American Idol. And I really hate American Idol.
Singers, let’s stop trying to sound like someone else. Stop pushing so hard. Breathe properly, focus on your pitch, and offer your absolute best in worship.
Question: Am I being harsh? What are your thoughts on these types of vocals in worship?
That is one of the things I “hate” about so many worship services. It becomes a show. I kind of like my church in that we rarely have any solos or “special music” times.
It’s definitely one of my pet peeves. Thanks for bringing up special music. I’ve been meaning to write a post on that. I have mixed feelings about it.
On the topic of special music…in the small-ish church I grew up in, special solos were a common feature of the morning service. But 99% of the time it was done with an accompanying track on cassette tape (which the sound guy would be in charge of starting). What was this about? Do people still do this?
It was like spiritualized karaoke (performed badly). It’s always confused me. Even as a kid, I often felt emabarrassed for the performers. Don’t even get me started on “Thank You” by Ray Boltz or anything by Carman.
To be honest Jamie, it completely ruins worship for me. I like the way that Matt Redman seems to approach this in some of his books. His basic tenet seems to be this — set the stage for people to experience God, then get out of the way. At the same time, I imagine it’s hard to find the balance between a quality sound and a performance. I can only imagine, because I have a voice only my God could love
It ruins it for me too. I love the idea of getting out of the way. There is a fine line between quality sound and performance. It’s a difficult balance.
I absolutely agree. Pushing a voice like that just sound off, even to the non-musically inclined listener. I remember one singer in a church who regularly tried to sing like that; one could feel the collective tensing of the congregation when we knew she was going for those notes…. In my opinion, the focus then is on the singer, not God. Sad. 🙁