THEY provide a stunning soundtrack that ensures the right notes are played at everything from joyous celebrations to the most sombre of services.

But some church congregations are having to rely on ‘hymn karaoke’ machines” at services due to a growing shortage of traditional organists.

Local churches are also enlisting the help of musicians who are skilled at playing other instruments, such as a viola, to support the singing.

These musicians may not even be churchgoers but are glad to make their skill available to ensure services have a tuneful backdrop.

Churches across the UK are facing a shortage of new organists, with less than 4 per cent of congregations having an organist who is aged 30 or under.

A recent report found that organ backing tracks were less successful because they tended not to leave enough time between lines which rushes the singing as a result.

PA systems originally designed for speech as opposed to music are also increasingly being used but many do not have enough bass for singers to be able to follow the tune properly.

Some churches To combat the shortage, the Kirk launched the Scottish Churches Organist Training Scheme (SCOTS) which works with pianists to help them graduate to the organ.

The scheme also helps existing organists to increase their skills and it also holds local organ workshops three times a year all over Scotland, which can attract up to 30 people a time..

It was launched in 1997 by the Church of Scotland in partnership with the Royal College of Church Music and the Scottish Federation of Organists, Around 40 pianists from all denominations in any one year work, with the help of a mentor, towards recognised certificates.

But the scheme has been unable to fill all the vacancies for organists with many churches currently advertising for positions, particularly across the Central Belt.

Rev Dr Douglas Galbraith, a church organist and the Honorary Secretary of the Church Service Society said: “In Scotland, not many churches are entirely without an organist, since the shortage is not so much of organists as people who can commit to playing in church every weekend.

“Some congregations do have to fall back on ‘hymn karaoke’ machines, but others approach the problem by having a rota of as many as four organists who share the Sundays between them. Often they are pianists who have been persuaded to try the organ”.

“In Scotland we also have a tradition of vigorous unaccompanied singing, and the kind of tunes which suit that style, so we can always get by”.

Th fall in the number of organists coincides with a decline in the number of people who regularly attend church services in Scotland.

There are around 390,000 regular churchgoers north of the border, down from 854,000 in 1984 with around 42% of churchgoers aged over 65.

According to research, only 7.2% of Scotland’s population regularly attend church which is down from 17% thirty ago.

The number of congregations also dropped from 4,100 to 3,700 over the same period with nearly half of ministers repsonsible for more than one parish But the annual census also revealed a growth in new churches - 12,000 people regularly attend around 300 new churches started since 2002.

Researchers said many immigrant churches and so-called “Messy Churches”, which are more informal gatherings, account for much of the new growth.

They credit a 2% growth in church attendance in Aberdeenshire to the influx of a large number of Polish migrants, mostly Roman Catholic, to the oil industry.