On idolatry of the high voice

In Not welcome here, I mentioned how in many churches, the song leaders have particularly high voices. This doesn't happen by chance. There's a strong tradition of what some commentators call "the idolatry of the high voice."

It's natural to admire people who can hit the high notes. This admiration has led to extreme efforts to achieve the "ideal" high voice, exemplified by the castrati. Those with high voices tend to get more encouragement to pursue music as a vocation, and they tend to receive more accolades during their formal music studies.

Guess who ends up with the training to become ministers of music and worship leaders? That's right--people with unusually high voices, who have been conditioned to admire unusually high voices, and who have been surrounded by others with unusually high voices throughout their training. This is fine if all they're going to do is perform. But if they're going to try to lead people with average voices, it takes a conscious effort to remember to make an adjustment.