s point also, and the very much larger number of boys and girls
who are receiving training as the result of the development of high
school music, ought to make it considerably easier to secure the right
type of choir director in the future than has been the case in the
past. As a result of the present widespread interest in music and
music study, it should be possible also to get very much better
congregational singing, and withal to interest the congregation (and
the preacher!) in a better type of music. All in all, the outlook is
extremely promising and we venture to predict a great improvement in
all that pertains to church music during the next quarter century.

[Sidenote: IMPORTANCE OF CONGREGATIONAL SINGING]

Let us close this discussion by urging the choir director to remember
that the most important music, at least in the Protestant church, is
the congregational singing; and to consider the fact that if music is
to help people worship without becoming a substitute for worship, it
will be necessary for him not only to inspire his choir with high
ideals of church music, but also to devise means of inducing the
congregation to take part in the singing to a much greater extent than
is now the case in most churches. It is usually true that the finer
the choir, and the more elaborate the accompaniment, the less hearty
is the congregational singing. If there is to be steady growth in the
efficiency of chorus choirs, therefore, it will not be surprising if
congregational singing sometimes falls off in volume and enthusiasm.
The reasons for such a decline are: First, because the people take no
responsibility for the singing, knowing that it will go well whether
they join in or not; second, because the choir often sings so well
that the people would rather listen than take part; third, because the
director frequently stands with his back to the congregation and
apparently does not expect much singing from them; and fourth, because
the choir leader often insists upon a highly musical interpretation of
the hymns, this involving the carrying over of phrases, _et cetera_.
These latter things may well be done after a long period of training,
but in the early stages the way to arouse interest in congregational
singing is not to insist too strongly upon the purely artistic
aspects, but to remember that most of the congregation are musically
untrained and not only do not see the point to all these refinements,
but will frequentl