1 Mighty To Save
Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan
2 How Great Is Our God
Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash
3 Blessed Be Your Name
Beth Redman, Matt Redman
4 Everlasting God
Brenton Brown, Ken Riley
5 Revelation Song
Jennie Lee Riddle
6 Here I Am To Worship
Tim Hughes
7 Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, John Newton
8 Open The Eyes Of My Heart
Paul Baloche
9 Your Grace Is Enough
Matt Maher
10 Jesus Messiah
Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash
Worship leader Fred McKinnon posted this article on his blog, and has given us permission to reprint it here at WorshipIdeas.
You can design a masterful flow of songs…
You can recite Scripture, encourage, and effortlessly transition between songs…
You can close your eyes, raise your hands, and demonstrate physical acts of worship…
all the while, your heart is far from God.
You know just where to raise the key…
You know exactly where the people will start standing because of the response to your arrangement…
You can predict precisely how the mood of the room will be…
all the while, your heart is far from God.
You can play in any key…
Your vocal range is mammoth…
Your repertoire is endless…
Your band is flawless…
all the while, your heart is far from God.
You have the look…
You have the hair…
You have the clothes…
You can pause for tears…
Stand before the crowd with no fear…
all the while, your heart is far from God.
It’s become a job. A paycheck.
You are skilled. You can do this in your sleep.
Everyone thinks you are the best worship leader ever
after all…
You are a professional.
Dear Worship Leaders,
Fight the tendency to minister in your own strength and skill. Let your worship be an outflow of your heart. There are a million things to distract us from truly being in God’s presence, and sharing that with others. Honestly, it’s quite easy to become the professional worship leader. Sadly, many folks don’t discern the difference. When you stand to minister, your conscience will tell you is this overflow? Or is this a job?
Are you ready to take the next step in the quality of your worship music? I’ve seen firsthand how a click track can take an average group of amateurs and turn them into something special.
Any time changes are tried in ministry, even for the better, you’ll be met with attitudes. Here are some things to expect:
Drummers: You’ll probably get the most resistance from the drummer. You’ll hear things like “I never play with a click because it destroys the feel” (which being interpreted is “I have no internal rhythm and a click track will make that glaringly obvious.”)
Pianists: Classically trained church pianists are notorious for having zero rhythm. I was classically trained and, out of college, my rocker friends would laugh at me when I tried to play with them – I simply could not keep in time with the drummer.
As pianists we’re taught not to follow a steady rhythm (except using a metronome when practicing a Bach fugue.) One of the first things I did when I graduated was to buy a drum machine to knock myself out of the classical mentality (anyone remember the Alesis HR-16? It’s in the picture at the top of this post.) I’d play along with a drum pattern, get lost in myself and be off the beat within 10 seconds. But after time I learned to lock in.
[quote_left]And that’s what any drummer or pianist must do to learn to play with a click: practice. Get used to hearing that sound boring into your brain and start obeying it.[/quote_left] And that’s what any drummer or pianist must do to learn to play with a click: practice. Get used to hearing that sound boring into your brain and start obeying it. And once you do amazing things can happen: the band’s groove will improve, you can sync to video and add drum loops and other sweetening.Quality means balance. I talked in a recent article about my experience at Lifechurch where the entire set was programmed to a strict click. This either/or mentality is rampant in churches – you’ll either see only programmed perfection or a wandering free for all. Why not have both: a mature music ministry should have moments of tight rocking as well as tender moments where the Spirit leads.
I got into a debate over this when planning our Christmas Eve service. A member of our team insisted the entire service be on a click. But one of worship leader Steve Smith’s strengths is facilitating that moment of ministry when the programmed praise set settles down, he talks a bit then leads into a worship ballad – and those moments can’t be programmed.
Plan a hole or two in your set where the pianist/keyboardist can exercise his or her talents by noodling under a prayer then flowing into a piano worship ballad without the click. This gives your worship experience a chance to breathe. If you make room to let the Spirit move, maybe He will.
Try freshening up the recorded versions of popular praise songs with these tips from worship leader Rob Rash:
Leading worship is a great and wonderful responsibility. We have to maintain creativity with song and structural integrity. So how do you balance creativity over being a worship cover band?
It’s a fine line and there are many factors to consider. You have to rely on your band. You have to spend valuable time working the song. You have to break free from ‘the way we have always done it.’ And it has to work!
Otherwise, you’ll just be another worship cover band.
So how do break free from the worship machine mediocrity? Here are 6 suggestions to get you started…
• Acoustic or Piano Run-through – Work through the song with only an acoustic guitar or piano. There is nothing more humbling or eye opening than being this vulnerable. It may help you re-invent some classics.
• Change the Arrangement – Break free from the ‘usual’ way you do the song. Start with the chorus rather than the verse. Drop that extra pre chorus. Just try another arrangement.
• Ask Other Worship Pastors/Musicians – This may or may not seem obvious… but ask other worship pastors or musicians how they do the song. Use Twitter, Facebook, and local Network’s to find some creative versions of your worship tunes.
• Play an Acoustic Set – Sometimes simplicity is a beautiful thing. Try planning and playing an acoustic set for worship but use your whole band, don’t just use an acoustic guitar. Using drums, keyboard, bass, electric, and acoustic will force you to be creative.
• Add Other Instruments – By adding another instrument, say a banjo or accordion, you can really change the sound and textures of the song. This requires more versatility in your band, but certainly will help you be creative.
• Rely on Your Band – Too many times we neglect the valuable opinions and musical pedigree of our teams. They have a lot to offer, however, if they are never given the opportunity you’ll miss a great resource!
Leading worship means we rely on the creativity and divine inspiration of others for worship songs. But it doesn’t require us to be poor and uninspired cover bands. Creativity abounds and you will only be as creative as you want to be. Don’t settle… pursue creative ways to worship.
What do find is the hardest part in being creative in worship?
What are some other ways we can be creative in our worship bands?
When I started with click tracks and loops many years ago I began with a super simple (and primitive) setup. I’d create a drum loop in my software (Stylus), burn a CD and play it from a portable CD player on my keyboard. The drum loop would be fed mainly to the drummer through monitors so he could keep with it as we had no budget for in-ears. The soundman would mix the loop into the live sound.
Next I graduated to using a laptop at my keyboard but still we used regular monitors. This was in a church of about 300.
As I’ve played in mega churches I’ve seen the other side of things – using in-ear monitoring systems. The church typically purchases glorified ear buds that fit securely in your ear – you don’t hear anything but the mix, no outside noise. These ear buds are far more advanced and expensive than what you get with your iPod and can cost hundreds of dollars depending on fidelity. I see lots of Westones in these churches.
LoopsInWorship.com has a good rundown on what equipment to use – take a look at their tutorial. The main contenders are Aviom and Hear Backs. I have a friend who plays at a smaller church who bought the Hear Backs since they’re less expensive and he hates them. He says they’re always running out of channels.
1 Mighty To Save
Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan
2 How Great Is Our God
Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash
3 Blessed Be Your Name
Beth Redman, Matt Redman
4 Everlasting God
Brenton Brown, Ken Riley
5 Revelation Song
Jennie Lee Riddle
6 Here I Am To Worship
Tim Hughes
7 Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, John Newton
8 Open The Eyes Of My Heart
Paul Baloche
9 Your Grace Is Enough
Matt Maher
10 Jesus Messiah
Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash
Reuben Morgan, Hillsong worship pastor and songwriter, explores the meaning and message behind the songs on the church’s latest live album. (more…)
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