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I referenced a Podcast about other songs that people have taken issue with over the years…take a listen to the podcast below and see if some of these songs dont surprise you.
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Are We STILL Not Beyond “Sloppy Wet Kisses”?
Article by Jason Whitehorn December 30, 2011 in Worship Corner with 1 Comment
Why Your Congregation Isn’t Singing That Cool New Song
Article by Jason Whitehorn December 15, 2011 in Worship, Worship Corner with 3 Comments
So you’ve heard a truly awesome song from Hillsong United or Charlie Peacock or you’ve stumbled on the latest song from Carlos Whittaker – now you want to play it Sunday in your lineup. GREAT! Who knows if the Spirit may reach someone in your congregation like it reached you…or is that the reason you want to play it?
Perhaps it has a cool back-beat, and awesome riff for guitar, a melodic line that fits your voice perfectly. If that’s the case, we probably need to re-evaluate doing the song to begin with and this article isn’t for you to begin with.
If the reason is that you honestly feel that the song fits your community (your congregation) – then let’s press on.
Fillng The Gaps – The Rule of 100%
Article by Jason Whitehorn October 31, 2011 in Worship, Worship Corner, Worship Training with 0 Comments
(I originally wrote this article back in February of last year – but wanted to touch on it again as I feel that it is worth sharing with your entire worship team. I found a great video from Paul Baloche that perfectly illustrates each point. Stay tuned for it after the article…then share your thoughts in our comments section!)
One of the most difficult things to do sometimes as a worship musician is to learn that your instrument is not the most dominant force in the band. It is a scenario that plays out everywhere on Sundays across the globe: a worship leader who leads playing piano knows exactly where all 88 keys are and plans to use them all at least once; a guitarist who has one volume…loud; a drummer who loves his fill-ins….no, I mean REALLY loves them…and plays them often during verses and all throughout the chorus – usually in about ten different tempos.
Don’t laugh – you may be one of them and you just don’t know it. If I were to be asked what I look for in a worship musician – it is maturity…plain and simple. That maturity doesn’t come with age – it comes simply by knowing how to fill in the gaps with his or her instrument and understands that they are but a piece of a large puzzle.
How do you reach this maturity? One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to learn one simple concept:
“Our worship team has to give 100% – but not every band member can be that 100%.”
This is better known as the 100% Rule. Think about it in this manner – take, for instance, “The Heart of Worship”. Let’s assume we have a four piece band – acoustic, electric, bass, and drums. What if each band member played their instrument at it’s max potential? What if the lead guitarist shredded a solo in every measure or just power-chorded the whole lot? What if we added a bass guitarist who deviates from the root notes and opted to explore every string of his bass at every fret? Add to that an acoustic player who strums the same rhythm throughout the song…loud and proud. To top it all off, we have a drummer who thinks the song he is playing is “Wipe Out”. The song would sound strange, wouldn’t it?
If each member of the band realizes that he or she is merely a portion of that 100%, then we get a completely different sound and fill. Nothing sounds out of place. Everything melts together and each part fills a different space.
Sometimes, making that 100% means pairing a bass player with a drummer that already have a great communication down. To me, as a worship leader, these are the two most important parts of the 100%. If the bass and drummer can’t find a grove together and play “in the pocket” – you can forget about anything else falling in perfectly.
Sometimes that 100% means saying something like this to your piano player before you rehearse. ”Here’s something I want you to try for this song : During this song, I want you to leave your left hand completely off the keyboard. The bass can take care of the root – I want you to find those perfect moments to fill in a space in the music some soft arpeggios.”
Sometimes it means telling a lead guitarist to not play at all for a portion of the song and find appropriate spaces for some casual diamonds. If you have two guitarists it may mean ensuring that, if one is playing in the 1st position, that another is playing a different shape higher on the neck.
We are all pieces of a greater puzzle. Searching for creative ways to fill a different portion of space and, sometimes, knowing when to just be silent – are some of the best characteristics that a mature worship musician can possess. What piece of the space will you fill this Sunday?
Pitch, Swing, & Miss … Setting Proper Keys in Worship
Article by Jason Whitehorn August 24, 2011 in Featured, Worship, Worship Corner with 0 Comments
How To Properly Introduce New Worship Songs
Article by Jason Whitehorn August 23, 2011 in Worship, Worship Corner with 1 Comment
It’s All How You Look At It
Article by Jason Whitehorn February 16, 2011 in Life Commentary, Worship Corner with 0 Comments
Do You Talk Too Much?
Article by Rick Muchow February 15, 2011 in Answer Bag, Worship Corner, Worship Training with 1 Comment
From Gordon Moore, serving in Spain
QUESTION:Talk Much?
“Do you talk much when leading worship services? Some worship leaders say almost nothing while others talk as much as some preachers. How do you handle that?”
RICK MUCHOW:
Every church has a distinct personality. Just like families, there are similarities between churches, but each church is uniquely individual. Your church’s individuality will depend on your size, the purpose or strategy of your service, your church culture and leadership. The most important of these variables is your Pastor’s philosophy of ministry.
You might think that the most important variable is the Holy Spirit’s leading, and that is absolutely the case. I believe that my role as a worship leader is to serve my Pastor’s philosophy of ministry The Spirit of God leads him, and in that context leads me as well. I’ve said this many times and it continues to be true: my ministry on the platform at Saddleback is more a reflection of my Pastor’s ministry philosophy than of my personality and worship style preference.
When I lead the weekend services at Saddleback, I am free to speak whenever I want and for as long as I want, though obviously we have a service schedule and timeline. If I feel led, I am free to speak. My Pastor also feels the freedom to ask me to talk less when he feels I am talking too much. We work together to balance each service.
There’s an old axiom that I have found useful: Let the singers sing and the speakers speak. For many of us, that’s more about not wanting the speakers to start singing! God has given us all unique gifts to serve Him. We should allow others to use their gifts and we should use ours.
I believe that when I lead worship, the process speaks for me through the way I lead the songs, the songs I’ve selected, the words of encouragement… All of these help me to quickly connect the congregation to the presence of God, and then to fade into the background. I’ve found that short and clear words of encouragement are generally enough for me, though at times I also feel led to and do say more. The Holy Spirit leads on the platform and He can be spontaneous. He also leads just as much during the planning of the service. Chris Tomlin studies his order of service for 2 hours, visualizing how each song leads the congregation closer to the Lord. That is a great example of how the Holy Spirit can be involved just as much as through a spontaneous commentary or encouragement.
My planned speaking at Saddleback generally consists of a friendly welcome, encouragement to participate in the singing, direction to sit and stand, congregational prayer, and when necessary, crowd control such as the Saddleback Shuffle to make room for people coming in. Very rarely will I use speaking to introduce a song. A good song explains itself. A note about encouragement… it’s easy to overdo encouragement. We don’t have to kick the hive to get the honey out.
In the end, people generally don’t remember sermons and information for all that long. People remember sermons best when they are seen or sung. They can remember songs and the truth found in the lyrics for a lifetime. Choose your songs wisely, present them well and you will have more impact on your congregation than you could ever have by speaking.
(Rick Muchow’s articles appear on gotworship.net courtesy of www.encouragingmusic.com If you would like to ask Rick or our editorial staff a question and have it answered here, please send us an email at answerbag@gotworship.net or use the form below to easily send your question to us.)
The Self-Promoting Worship Leader
Article by Rick Muchow February 1, 2011 in Answer Bag, Worship, Worship Corner with 1 Comment
QUESTION: “How can someone lovingly confront someone who is using the church platform to promote himself/herself?”
This is a very hard part of our role as the leader, but it’s something we have to do from time to time. I want to encourage you and any pastor dealing with this type of situation that you CAN do this in a loving way and have positive results. Remember that these are God’s people not our people. He is also working on them as He is working on us.
Stop now and read James 1. Verse 12 tells us that “Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.” (Message)
First, it’s the leader’s responsibility to maintain the integrity of the ministry. I don’t know any leader who enjoys confronting but it comes with the territory. My rule is to confront as early as possible. Look for tendencies and teaching opportunities. For example, at the beginning of a new rehearsal cycle, it’s important to be clear about the expectation for the ministry team. Expectations like punctuality, consistent attendance, knowing the music, and being a team player can be discussed up front at the start of a new cycle. Establishing these standards enables you to handle the first time a team member is late or shows a hint of pride by immediately addressing this. Lovingly confront them by pulling them aside to address this alone rather than waiting until it becomes a disruptive pattern.
Further, the building of a personal relationship as a foundation for loving confrontations is very important. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Consistently demonstrate your love for the group and the individuals in practical ways such as calling them by name, remembering their prayer requests and thanking them for their commitment to the ministry.
Finally, to me loving confrontation is about delivering the truth in love built on the foundations above. When talking to a person, it is very important HOW you say what you say, not just what you say. Never argue. You never win an argument in a situation like this. Try not to be accusatory, but ask in such a way about a situation to say that you were surprised that this might or could be an issue. Talk to the person as if you are speaking into what they can be and not judging them. Do all you can to preserve their dignity. Never confront out of anger. Never confront in front of the group. Short criticism of an individual over the microphone is never appropriate. Use discretion when confronting the opposite sex. It is very wise to have a witness with you whom the person you are confronting trusts and with whom they could possibly debrief afterwards.
Colossians 4:6 in the Message says “Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out,” and in King James says, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” We need to be gracious and seasoned with salt and try to bring out the best in people.
(Rick Muchow’s articles appear on gotworship.net courtesy of www.encouragingmusic.com If you would like to ask Rick or our editorial staff a question and have it answered here, please send us an email at answerbag@gotworship.net or use the form below to easily send your question to us.)
Getting Started With A Small Worship Team
Article by Rick Muchow January 25, 2011 in Answer Bag, Worship, Worship Corner with 1 Comment
From Chris Antill serving in Houma, LA
QUESTION:Brass and winds?
“I am running 2 contemporary and 1 blended services. We have a praise band and team in place, but we have some instrumentalists (brass and winds) that I would really like to get involved. Most of what the band plays are from lead sheets with guitar friendly keys. How do I begin with just a few players in a contemporary setting?”
RICK MUCHOW:
I’ve been told more than once that a reason I was hired at Saddleback Church was my philosophy of involving the gifts of the church body in the worship teams, in particular my openness to using instrumentalists and augmenting the basic rhythm section. The second staff person I hired was a part-time arranger. (The first person was a part-time sound engineer.)
One of the first musical teams I started was the Saddleback Orchestra. I had some background in college with orchestration and conducting, but I had never started an orchestra before. My music ministry slogan carried us through the first year: “More than music, we’re a family.”
With the orchestra, the most important reason for our gathering was relationship building. Our music wasn’t really good at first, but our fellowship was. We met every Tuesday night and rehearsed as much music as I could write in a week until we hired the arranger. As for my writing, I used a very simple software program called Professional Composer. Today, the software programs available to help you are affordable, intuitive and accessible. See the end of this article for a list of a few software options.
At that time, technically our orchestra was an instrumental ensemble, however the dream was there. Our emphasis on fellowship and spiritual growth at rehearsals opened the door to rapid growth as musicians were attracted to our tight knit group that had big dreams. I would talk to them at length about the purpose of the church and where we were headed as a music team.
At first our orchestra didn’t play on all of the songs, primarily because of my writing skills, but secondarily we were still using tracks for the “specials.” I wrote mostly pads, some horn licks and introduction lines. I orchestrated for the instruments that were available to me because we didn’t have a complete orchestral complement and had a wide range of skill competency.
To begin in a contemporary setting, we augmented our library by buying orchestrations that were playable for the average player. We put the orchestra on a playing rotation: first and third weeks of the month, however we practiced every week. For example, if you have 4 instrumentalists, put them in rotation together as an ensemble. The players understand it’s not an exclusive group and that it will grow. Interestingly, after the orchestra was up and running, we started a new group called the B Band which was primarily horns with the Rhythm section. The B Band instrumentalists also served in the orchestra… We were one big family.
The orchestra fits in well with a blended service style and depending on what your orchestra sounds like, instrumental music with brass, strings, and/or woodwinds can have a very cool feel in a contemporary service depending on how they are arranged.
A key principle in arranging for an orchestra is to remember that less is more. Not all songs need all instruments all of the time. It’s very common in symphony settings for some instruments not to play for an extended period of time. Instrumentalists understand this as part of their training so don’t feel that you have to over orchestrate. I try to write for every instrument in a way that they will contribute to the power of the song, not the volume of the song. Sometimes playing a rest is the most appropriate musical contribution.
It has always been and continues to be very important for us to emphasize that our orchestra is more than music, we’re a family.
(Rick Muchow’s articles appear on gotworship.net courtesy of www.encouragingmusic.com If you would like to ask Rick or our editorial staff a question and have it answered here, please send us an email at answerbag@gotworship.net or use the form below to easily send your question to us.)
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