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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

One Sure Way To Destroy Your Child’s Musical Potential

Dr. Lucas Tappan · May 19, 2015

LMT Sound of Music EVERAL WEEKS AGO, while I waited for my oldest son to finish his last Catechesis of the Good Shepherd class before the summer vacation began, I was speaking to several home schooling mothers in our parish about music. One asked when her child could enter our children’s choir, then she made the usual comment that she herself couldn’t sing. I gave my standard reply—if she couldn’t sing, she wouldn’t be able to talk.

Unfortunately, many mothers and fathers THINK they can’t sing, and therefore don’t sing to their children. Don’t make this mistake because you will almost assuredly destroy much of your child’s musical potential! Your voice doesn’t have to be great to sing to your child, you just have to be willing to sing, no matter what.

How many of us want our children to get to Heaven, but because we aren’t a saint on the caliber of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Jean Vianney, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, or Pope St. John Paul II don’t even try to pass on the Faith to our children? Of course not; that would be ludicrous!

You can sing to your children everywhere, believe me, ask my children. Driving in the car, doing the dishes, pulling weeds, while in church, during family prayers, cleaning the house, walking around the neighborhood. (Yesterday, as my wife and I left Target, I intoned the Deus in adjutorium from the beginning of the Divine Office without thinking. There was a decent ring in Target’s entry way.) My oldest son’s favorite song is I’ve Been Working on the Railroad (he loves trains), but we sing everything, including children’s songs, folk songs, funny songs we make up (or we change the lyrics of songs we know), hymns, chants, rounds, and even a version of the alphabet song in second species counterpoint (both major and minor) I made up trying to be funny—we just have fun while we do it. Don’t deprive your children (and yourself!) of such a gift. I will admit I was very proud last week when my wife told me that she had the boys in the car headed somewhere around town when the oldest said, “Mommy, let’s sing!”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Dr. Lucas Tappan

Dr. Lucas Tappan is a conductor and organist whose specialty is working with children. He lives in Kansas with his wife and four children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “What Martin Luther Said…”
    My pastor asked me to write little columns for the bulletin each week. The article for 20 July 2025 has been posted, and it’s called: “What Luther Said…” Martin Luther (an ex-priest and apostate) was an infamous heretic whose ignorance of JESUS CHRIST was only exceeded by his filthy and disgusting vulgarity.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 15th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (13 July 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and propers for this Sunday are also provided at the the feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly

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