Singing in the Ward Choir

I’ve been singing in our LDS congregation (or "ward") choir for, I don’t know, over 30 years. When we moved to this neighborhood with two tiny little girls and a baby soon to arrive, we started going to choir practice. When the kids were little, Paul and I would take turns attending rehearsals. When they got older we would leave them in the care of the oldest child while we practiced. Neither Paul nor I are great musicians, but we go because we enjoy making music, and we enjoy being with friends while we do it. Over all these years--as I have practiced a harmony line over and over, or listened while the bass line practiced, or stood to sing the song through—I have often thought about the parallels between singing in the ward choir and serving in the Lord’s church.

First of all, a ward choir has no audition. Anyone is welcome—in fact anyone who shows up to practice is welcomed ecstatically. We are so glad for any warm body who is willing to join us. Our choir size has fluctuated over the years from as big as 20 to (more often) as small as 8. We are thrilled to have another member. We will take you as you are and help you to be better, but there will be no criticism. The director might gesture toward the sopranos as a whole and chirpily suggest, “Let’s tune up!” Someone in your section might say, “I think we tenors need to go over the harmony in measure 32.” But you won’t be singled out and shamed. All are welcomed and all have an opportunity to improve. That is what church is for. Everyone can come; everyone can learn.

Also, everyone is different. In our choir we have Kim and Maria, who are high, pure sopranos; Glenn who is a profoundly deep bass; and every other vocal range in between. This is good. The music is written for this kind of variation, just as the Lord created us all to be different and designed His church to take advantage of that variation. Some are great teachers, some are great at organizing, some are super with children, some are good speakers. Each of us has something different to contribute and thank goodness for that. Nobody can sing all the parts of a four-part harmony—certainly not at the same time! And we don’t need to feel that we should be able to do everything as well as the next person. I never feel bad that I can’t hit that low G like Brother Glenn. Likewise, I don’t need to feel bad that I’m not very good at thinking of crafts for Relief Society (the women's organization). We need each person with each different talent.

But here’s the deal. Though all our voices are very different, being a choir means we need to work together to sound like one “voice.” Our director is always saying, “Listen to each other.”  She has us practice saying our vowels the same way, practice scales so we hit the same notes on the same sound, and she keeps saying “listen.” When I was a teenager singing with my mom in our ward choir, I had a different idea. I thought, “I want everyone to hear my pretty voice.” I would sing out over my neighbors so I would stand out. That is not the way to have a successful choir. The woman who stands by me in our ward choir has a beautiful solo soprano voice. The director often reminds her to listen to the other sopranos and match her tone to them. As a whole, we have a goal to sound unified and to present the music in a way that sounds lovely. As we serve in our wards, we also need to keep our minds and hearts on the overall goal, that of helping each other to grow closer to God. We need to listen to one another, we need to help each other. We need to beware of pride.

In the choir we are helped in this goal by our good choir director. She listens to all of us and each of us. She has studied the music carefully. She has prepared herself to know how to help us become better. She helps us know which passages we need to practice more carefully. She has us practice exercises that will prepare us to sing more beautifully. She will talk to us about the meaning of the song and how the composition of the music reinforces the message. And when we sing, she uses her arms, her fingers, her face, her whole body to help us interpret the meaning of the song, singing softer or louder, tenderly or powerfully. But sometimes we don’t watch her; we bury our heads in our music following each written note, trying to figure this out on our own, rather than looking up to her to get the spirit of the music.

Sometimes I think we have the same problem in the Lord’s church. He is there to lead us through our “music.” He will help us know what we need more practice with. He will provide us with exercises to learn better. He will help us to work together to bring about His purposes. He will show us the spirit of what we are doing, the meaning behind each individual note, the purpose of all our individual actions. But in order to benefit from His direction, we need to look up, we need to connect with him. We need to listen to His guidance.

About once a month our ward choir performs in church. Often we assemble in the choir seats feeling unprepared. We are a small choir of volunteers with few really good singers. We practice once a week, and not everyone can come to every practice. Sometimes we wonder why we are even trying.

But somehow, every time we perform in Sacrament Meeting, we sound better than we did in practice. Somehow the spirit of the song, praising God, comes through. I have come to believe that, as we have tried so hard to prepare, when it comes to performance time, the singing of our little choir is augmented by heavenly voices. We somehow accomplish, together, in our good purpose, what we could not do alone.

In just the same way, I have found that as we try to serve the Lord, as we listen to others, as we humbly accept both our failings and our abilities, and, especially, as we ask for and heed divine help, we are able to do whatever is necessary to build the Kingdom. The angels are there to help.