I have been a musician for over 30 years and let me tell you… the music is the easiest part of my job. The personality differences are what’s difficult. We are expected to do so much for so little. The paycheck doesn’t equal the amount of stress that many of us deal with. When you’re a director, especially in the black church, you can expect to be tested and take it with a smile no matter what. One of the most frustrating issues for me is being only one person juggling the attitudes of others in addition to keeping my own in check. Sometimes, I falter. Yes. We all have them from time to time and no you cannot convince me otherwise. When you’re in a leadership role you are expected to just smile and take it … why? “Because you’re doing it for the Lord”. Truth be told, you’re doing it for the Lord on ‘man’s conditions! Let’s be honest. I love what I do but ‘man’ has expectations that God doesn’t. There’s a lot of people-pleasing that comes with this role. Bringing music to the choirs, praise team, band, congregation as a whole, and pastor that will be pleasing to their ears comes with great scrutiny. It’s very difficult sometimes and can truly take the joy out of exercising the gift of music given to the lead musician, director, or minister of music. It’s a title that consists of so many moving and squeaky parts. Again, the playing or singing of music is the easy part.
Sis. So-and-so is going through a tough time so you have to be patient with them. Bro. So-and-so is going through something or some things as well so you have to be patient with them. Others are what we call babies in Christ or babies in the church which happen to be adults but you have to go easy on them too because you don’t want to run them away. What about the music directors that are expected to deal with all of these conditions as a way to excuse the disrespect? Is anyone thinking of how this affects them on a personal or spiritual level? No! All members within the body of Christ matter and frankly, expecting a director of a department as affluent as the music ministry to suck it up in so many words affects the director over time.
Members of the music department and other departments in the church do not know what goes into the role of being the lead musician. The other musicians who are accompanying the lead musician and director may have an idea but unless they have been in the role fulfilling the same requirements, they don’t. Let’s not fail to mention what the music director does outside of music ministry. If others who take our roles for granted could just facilitate the rehearsals and plan the music from the beginning to the end of a worship service it still might not click for them because of the thought and commitment that goes into it all between church meetings.
Planning my schedule around my obligations as a musician is another consideration. When taking a much-needed break or vacation, I have to be mindful of when it’s not going to cause any inconvenience to the church ministry instead of what’s needed for me at that current time. Oftentimes, time with my family and friends is cut short or delayed due to church obligations. Just so you know, musicians and music directors aren’t expected to have too much of a life that clashes with their obligations to the music ministry they serve in. We don’t get the luxury of ‘not feeling well or not showing up for certain events due to our obligations elsewhere such as home or full-time jobs. If so, we are highly scrutinized for it. We are expected to be there for everything… no excuses are acceptable.
To make matters worse, a choir rehearsal is much like a classroom in my opinion. I come to present music, teach wording and annunciation, teach parts, and give the assignments to the choir members so that they can learn, retain, and master the music without depending on me to sing and call out lyrics while playing and being the MD for the band. Musicians get a bad wrap for not teaching new music. Those in the congregation make remarks about the choir(s) doing the same music repeatedly but they may not have an accurate assessment of why. If choir members and musicians aren’t doing their part outside of rehearsal to learn, retain, and master their parts, it’s really on the individual choir members and musicians and NOT the director.
I oftentimes find myself repeating myself over and over at rehearsals about the importance of listening to the music given, bringing lyrics to rehearsals, listening to the instruction and teaching of parts, and not doing so many other things during rehearsal time that take from giving your full attention to your director. You know what? No one likes to be ignored. To do all these other things that you know are not acceptable during rehearsal times in addition to being habitually late says that you don’t care about how the director feels yet you expect them to care about your feelings at all times. It’s time that we all take a closer look at ourselves. It’s no surprise to me that so many who were once committed musicians from week to week choose to be substitute musicians on an as-needed basis. Church experiences can do that to you. I know some who have just left ministry altogether to utilize their musical gifts in other genres of music primarily. There are others that I know that aren’t doing anything with music at all. I don’t know what the future holds for me at this time. To be honest, I didn’t see myself being this committed for this long. It’s definitely in my blood because I’ve been at it since I was 8 years old. It’s been a blessing to me in many ways but not with huge burdens.
In a nutshell, I believe music directors are viewed as superhumans in some ways but I wish that ministries would take into consideration that we are also very much human. We have needs as well that can’t be compensated with a check no matter the amount!