Discipline comes in other forms in music. Choir practices in Baptist churches tend to be a bit more relaxed than a typical professional choir rehearsal. In some cases, “relaxed” is an understatement. Whether it’s the altos making small talk during the midst of a piece, the sopranos launching into gossip between songs, the basses making snide remarks from the back row, or the tenors still practicing their parts from the previous two songs, the choir director usually has his or her hands full.
I’ve often felt a bit left out, sitting over behind the piano. Everyone seems to be having such a good time! I have to admit an occasional temptation to make my voice heard. After all, the piano is a large, potentially loud instrument. Much more noticeable than that sliver of a baton the director is holding, especially when the singers’ noses are buried in their books. (The choir director wants to go fast, huh? How about this tempo instead!)
But I’ve had my fair share of sitting with the singers too. In larger churches, with many excellent musicians, sometimes I get to play and sometimes I get to sing. I have to admit that it’s just good fun to goof around in choir practice. The directors do it too. They tell jokes to us, over-exaggerate what not to do and how not to sound, pick on individual choir members, and act melodramatic in order to get their point across.
Fun is good. The laughter brings us together, and lets us enjoy this time, which otherwise might be just a drain on our busy schedules. Our joy shows newcomers that we enjoy what we do.
But we can get too carried away sometimes. Laughter can turn into silliness. Fun can turn into partying, and then the music is not learned in time, Sunday morning anthems turn into struggles to find the right notes, the meaning of songs is lost, and no one can worship. Discipline is important too. Discipline is how a solid foundation for a meaningful worship service can be built.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens … a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…
Ecclesiastes 3:1,4