Seeking advice as a chazzan in training

Nusach and Minhagim

This may seem trivially obvious - basically pick from Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Nusach Sephard, Chabad, and a few others. But you may find a Shul that has more than one (mine has Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Nussach Sephard, though constitutionally (and the most Minyanim) Ashkenazi). There are also other minor, but often important, differences that may not be obvious by attending an occasional service at a nominally Ashkenazi (or other Nusach) Minyan. Some examples:

• How much of the Davening (e.g., Korbanos) is said on a normal morning between Brachos and Pesukei Dezimrah?
• How many mourner's Kaddishes are said? After many years of confusion (and differences between Minyanim within the Shul), we formalized on "one after Aleynu, one after 'everything else'", but many other Shuls will say one after Shir Shel Yom, another after Barchi Nafshi on Rosh Chodesh, another after Mizmor Shir on Chanukah, etc.
• Yedid Nefesh before Kabbalas Shabbos? (We started it several years ago on the first Friday night after the time changed ("fall back") so nobody could complain that Davening would end too late. It worked and (except COVID-19 times) become a standard item year round.)
• Kiddush Friday night by Chazzan, Rabbi or Gabbai?
• Adon Olam or Yigdal on Friday night?
• Repetition, repetition, repetition! My Shul has very strict rules about no repetition of words between Baruch Sheamar and the end of Shemoneh Esrei (and also not during Mussaf Shemoneh Esrei), but in many Shuls repetition in Kedushah or other parts of Davening is totally normal. If a Chazzan adheres to the strict Halacha regarding repetition and the Shul allows repeats, he can just pick tunes with no repeating, and most people won't notice and few (if any) will care. But if the Chazzan likes to repeat and the Shul doesn't allow it, he will probably only get to repeat once - second time and he may be out of a job!
• Hallel on Seder night - standard in my Shul, but I have been told this is not a standard Ashkenazi Minhag, and was apparently a concession to some of the early key people in the Shul. But I think it is a beautiful Minhag (missed it this year).
• Tefillos for Israel, Tzahal, country (if not in Israel), etc. Where do you say them? Which ones do you say? Who says them - Chazzan, Rabbi or Gabbai?
• Av Harachamim on Shabbos Mevorchim (Iyyar and/or Sivan) during the Omer? (And then there is the joke about the Shul where the Minyan is to argue about it.)

There are many more examples, but you get the idea. My Shul has a Gabbai Handbook, but it (the handbook, not the Shul) is relatively new. I am sure that in many Shuls this is information in the Rabbi's, Gabbai's and "old timers" heads and not written down anywhere. But all important to know if you are the Chazzan.

posted over 4 years ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

4y ago

manassehkatz‭ staff

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suppose that a new chazzan like me were to come to your regular minyan to daven: what would you like such a chazzan to know? What general advice would you give to such a chazzan?

Meta-advice: participate in the congregation and observe for a while before stepping up to be a chazzan there. Every congregation and every minyan is a little different, and some things are best gleaned by observation:

• Are there particular melodies they always do, or do they mix it up? How much do they sing, in general?
• What's the pace? Are there parts of the service they spend more or less time on than you expected? Is everybody there trying to get through things efficiently before going to work, or is the pace more relaxed?
• What about volume and articulation? As a congregant, can you hear every word, just the beginnings and endings of blocks, not even that? (If the articulation is poor I'm not saying you should emulate that! But if they are way toward the other end, you'd want to know that.)
• To what extent, if any, do the other chazzanim give cues? What kind?
• Who else besides the chazzan participates in the service, and how? (One minyan I used to attend always had somebody else lead the psalm of the day at the end of Shacharit, for example -- don't know why, but it was their custom. As a chazzan you probably wouldn't want to step on something like that unawares.)
• Is there any optional content, like giving a short introduction to the parsha on torah-reading days? (Pay close attention; you're trying to balance honoring existing traditions and not being a burden by adding to them on your own initiative.)

As a woman I've never been a chazzan[it] in a traditional minyan. But I've been one in liberal congregations. Granted, norms are different there; that's why I'm not giving specific advice. I learned most of what I know (there's also a ton I don't know, too!) not through any formal training but by carefully observing others, sometimes even discreetly timing things. When you are doing this you're being what I've heard called a "participant-observer"; you are there to fulfill your own obligations, of course, but you are also observing the nuances of how they run things, what's going on in the room (do people seem impatient, bored, engrossed in conversation?), and your own reactions. Think of yourself as running a multi-threaded application, both doing and listening/observing. If you need to record notes, do it as soon as possible after you leave.

You'll notice that I've said basically nothing about t'filah itself or any halacha issues. I assume you're proficient in the prayers themselves and can do passable renditions of whatever melodies you know. All that is necessary, but there's another layer of skills and perception on top of all that, and that's what I'm focusing on here. There's a meta to being a chazzan, too.

posted over 4 years ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

4y ago

Monica Cellio‭ staff

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