[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]
There is a constant friction within worship teams between the spiritual and the musical. There are some who place no value on musical improvement and focus solely on the “heart of worship”. There are others who are so heavily focused on musical precision and innovation that the heart is buried. What shall we do?
I’m of the opinion that we need both/and not either/or. It’s possible to be so musically excellent that the Person of Christ is no longer in focus. It’s also possible to be so musically awful that the entire worship service is a complete distraction. We need an excellence that draws attention to Christ and invites people to join in.
One of the most important dynamics of an effective worship team is a tight rhythm section. I’ve found that the more a rhythm section works together, the less distracting the music is. It’s then easier to worship without wondering if the drummer will miss his fill or the bass player actually play the bass line. When working with worship teams, rhythm section is the first dynamic I focus on.
So what can you do to improve?
1. Use a click track
I have a full post in the works on how to do this simply. But suffice it to say, this is important. I’ve heard a lot of pushback on the use of clicktracks in worship. Some say that it stifles the ability to flow in the Holy Spirit. I’ve found the opposite. When a band plays perfectly in sync with a click, it’s easy to forget about it and focus on what the Holy Spirit is doing, rather than being distracted by inconsistent tempos. A click track is the fastest way to improve your rhythm section. If your musicians are not used to using it, they won’t be able to right away. But stick with it. Experiment with it just during rehearsals for a few months. You will see improvement.
2. Simplify your band
Many young worship leaders struggle to find musicians so they start off by filling the stage with a host of random, mediocre musicians. I would advise the opposite. Start small. Build your team as you find and recruit skill. It’s better to have a singer and an acoustic guitar than hodge podge of random musicians who sound awful. Start simply and build slowly. I know it’s tempting to “give people a chance” but the worship team isn’t for everyone. It requires a certain skill set and sensitivity. Build that slowly over time.
3. Facilitate deliberate practice in rehearsal
All worship teams rehearse. But not all of them rehearse effectively. If you want to improve your rhythm section you’ve got to focus on the techniques that will improve it. You can practice song after song year after year and see no improvement. Set aside time within your rehearsals to tighten up your rhythm section. Isolate the drums and bass. Have them groove together, make eye contact, and play till it’s tight. Pick a simple I vi V IV progression and have everyone play together. Make sure the guitar isn’t rushing the beat but laying back in the pocket. Many worship teams don’t do this but it can have a dramatic difference, even if for only 10 minutes a rehearsal.
4. Teach musicians to listen to one another
This goes hand in hand with the last point, but also takes it a step further. Many musicians are at a maturity level where they only focus on themselves. It’s as if their isolated from the rest of their band. Maybe pick a simple progression, put away all music, and have the band jam, making eye contact with one another. This will get your team on the path to making ONE SOUND together. Each musician needs to play a SMALL PART in contributing to the WHOLE.
5. Listen & Observe Together
Sometimes it helps to simply zoom out of your typical routines and be refreshed by what others are doing. Attend a local conference. Listen to music together, analyzing what each musician is doing. Watch a DVD. Sometimes the simplest training can make a HUGE difference.
Question: What are some other ways you’ve improved your rhythm section?
These are good practical ideas. Playing with loops and clicks is very challenging to the average church musician. In my view it’s more of a pro-level skill and can be a real frustrating experience if the monitoring is lame and/or the players just don’t have the aptitude for it. Lots of practice required individually and as a team. Pushback is usually more of a practical issue than a spiritual one.
That being said, loops can be a lot of fun and there is great power in a tight rhythm section. That communicates and facilitates unity for the congregation.
Good thoughts, Rob. I agree clicks are more of a ‘pro level’ skill but I think it’s healthy for any worship team to try. If the vision is cast compellingly, I think musicians would be open to trying it. Even doing it only in rehearsal and not in a live setting just yet will bring improvement. Insightful comment. Thanks.
We’ve taken on click tracks during practice and have had some success. There’s still resistance to those who like to play by “feel,” but it has helped highlight that we have a tendency to speed up when we are trying to build the intensity.
At a Paul Baloche workshop a few years ago, they mentioned that they do a full service with click tracks for each song. When there is a time for lingering, etc., obviously they are open to it and go with it, they just keep a steady tempo. I’m sure there are execeptions, but for the most part that seemed to be what they did.
Yea, it is becoming more common for sure. Playing by “feel” is no excuse for bad tempo. I almost cringe when I hear that 🙂
I always just stop the music during pract and isolate the issue. Always encourage but always point out what goes wrong more than once… It usually works itself out.
Now let me ask you this: we have some singers who are great singers but lack the rhythm. They sometimes mess the band up if they are not singing things correctly with the rhythm. It is not totally bad like how I might be describing it. Just minor issues, but it does sometimes confuse the band. Especially if we r learning something new.
Any advice?
Make sure your singers learn the songs before rehearsal. If they keep getting it wrong maybe you could sing it for them till they get it!
Well, they really know the songs, but sometimes just lacking in the rhythm department! haha… It’s nothing major so I don’t make a huge deal out of it.
Thanks for the advice! I am really learning from these blog posts!
Thanks for reading!
Great concepts you have here David. I agree on the click track front. Once we jumped the hurdle into the click track (with loops) — the band began to gel immediately.
We use click tracks the cheap way from mymusicwriter.com — MP3 with clicks (left channel) and loops (right channel) all lined up on an iPod triggered by our drummer. Works wonderfully.
Keep the posts coming David. Good stuff here.
Thanks for reading Bryan. Really appreciate the input on how you run your clicks. I’m working on a larger post that will outline how to do it simply. I think it really intimidates a lot of worship leaders and churches but the setup doesn’t have to be elaborate. I like your setup.
Excellent points. I have one that’s a bit more general but applies here as well:
Not everyone has to play all the time. It’s amazing how much better a song can sound when some of the band is silent for part of the song. At the same time, it’s amazing how much better the musician can sound when adding a few well placed licks instead of constant pounding away. Think about dynamics when building an arrangement. YMMV.
Well said, Lou. I totally agree. It’s amazing to watch the best musicians. They play simply and sparsely. Then when it’s their turn to shine, they can still blow your mind.
Everyone pounds 8th notes all the time. I hate that!! We have done this before, take your vocals and add only one instrument from the band, till you know what the vocals sound like with each instrument only. Every song will lend itself to something different. Everyone does vocals and just drums. Take vocals with the bass player only playing bass lines with mainly inversions. Take vocals and lead guitar doubling the melody with guitaristic techniques
like bends, slides, and whammy bar. If your vocals are long and sustained, let the bass player, guitar player, or keyboard player improvise a solo line through the sustain. Everyone lets the drummer crescendo back in after an acapella vocal section. Let the bass player or one of the guitarists crescendo back in.
Here are several very noticeable problems I see all the time. 1.) No one is PRODUCING. That leads to everyone playing all the time. 2.) Multiple guitars that no one is coordinating. 3.) Attempts at inclusiveness where there are just too many people on stage without a plan. 4.) Players that don’t know how to make their part distinctive while maintaining minimalism. For guitar and bass players it becomes about playing crisp, tight, rhythms that include lots of muting techniques, and “aggressive” rests. Can everyone say GROOVE? Just KIDDING!! 5.) Who knows what and where to play? It is the responsibility of the producer or band leader to present to everyone a justified chart or score. Too much time is wasted in rehearsal because a clear cut arrangement is not presented to the team. Lead-sheets have a wealth of information, even if you don’t read music. If your band is big enough, use a chart service.
These things just don’t happen by themselves. Someone has to have a model in their head and develop it in the rest of the team. Let me present other models that are used and works in secular music concert tours. 1.) The smallest band possible. There is a reason it works. Power rock trios, and jazz piano trios, work because there is very little way anybody can “walk” on each other. When the bass player or the acoustic player couldn’t be there, I moved from lead guitar to bass, the worship leader played keys and we always had drummers. Clean and tight, and even though we played a million notes, it was uncluttered. “Everyone has a defined territory and unique tonal signature. A great concept for studio recording as well”. We referred to it as our “lounge lizard” praise band. Ha ha. I think a perfect band is 5 pieces. Keys, drums, bass, acoustic guitar, electric lead. Then I would add flute, sax, or brass trio before another guitar. Unless you have a rhythm guitar choir, where everyone is all strumming exactly alike. A loop works well because it usually sounds different than anything else up there. 2.) Next model,,,,, get ready,,,,,, here it comes,,,,,,THE WORSHIP LEADER IS NOT NECESSARILY THE BAND LEADER OR PRODUCER. That task should be shouldered by the most qualified musician regardless of their instrument, or whether or not they sing. Someone rehearses the band, someone rehearses vocalists, they ABSOLUTELY must coordinate. I understand small churches and lack of resources. The smaller the church, the greater the workload for leadership. But why do so many large churches endure all of these problems?
One last point I would like to make that sounds a bit contrary to some things I have read on some of these topics. Worship is NOT about emoting or searching for some feeling just because it is Sunday. Your “worship” is your everyday walk with Christ. Leading worship is Christ overflowing from your heart into your life. That should be taken care of before Sunday morning. I firmly believe that God allows you the space to be distracted by the details of, band members showing up late, microphones cutting out, guitars out of tune, whatever etc. It is your appointed task to handle those things because you were hired or you volunteered. If you can’t worship through that, your worship time is before and after. KEEP THE BUS ON THE ROAD.
Lou, I am sorry I put my soapbox here. It started out as agreeing with your comment about everyone playing all the time.
David S. Lock me out if you need to. I start with short comments in mind, and they just keep growing.
If I offended any one, it is not intentional. As I said to Glenda in another post, everything is offered in good-natured sincerity as food for thought. I have read many of the topics, and other posts without commenting, because I felt no need to contribute, or the comments were so deep and thoughtful I was speechless. I am a nuts and bolts guy.
Sincerely in Christ, Don Simpson
A click is becoming standard. It shouldn’t be considered a pro thing. Every musician should have a metronome at home to practice with daily. I’ve been on both sides of the issue and believe that a click is vital. From now on, make it part of your recruiting requirements. Also, if you are introducing the click for the first time, add soft drum loops. That way, the drummer can feel the timing as well. This has helped all of my drummers. It is also good to have the loops when introducing the click just in case the drummer or band train wrecks. Stop the music and simply sing out where you are with a loop and acoustic guitar. Then bring the band back in. This can be daunting, but so worth it. Another issue, is make sure the kick is consistent. Keep the pattern the same on each chorus, verse etc. Also, make sure the bass player is married to the drummer’s kick. This is vital. And no matter how small the venue, always mic the kick!
A room can only handle only so much energy. It has an acoustic threshold. You do NOT accomplish anything by over-energizing the room. In a small venue the drums are likely to be too loud already, and then you mic. the kick?
Only if you’re trying to hide the rest of the band. I really disagree with that statement. Everything else you said,I have no problem with. I do hate performances where the drums are way louder than a good balance with the band. I have worked with some great drummers. The really good ones look at it the way I mentioned.
I think having a quality signal chain no matter what the instrument is makes a big difference. Very hard to play minimalistic if the electric guitar costs $300 and they are playing through a DI. I know it’s an extreme example but I really think building a quality tone goes a long way. Blessed
Good point, Dan! How would you recommend getting better quality on a small budget?
Dave,
I think you have to ensure all purchases are made ‘with the end vision in mind.’ By this I mean trying to make purchases that will improve your sound NOW but are apart of the long term plan you are working towards. If for example your bass player is playing straight through a DI to the desk and one day you dream of having a nice bass amp miked, why not buy for example a ‘SansAmp Bass Driver’ which is an example of a great unit for around $200. This will give you improved sound straight away if you do eventually get a great bass amp and mic you still have this that you would continue to utilise. Another example is guitar pedals, if you are playing guitar driven praise and worship start of by buying a couple of good overdrive pedals for around $150-$200 each. As you purchase more equipment you will still utilise these. There’s no magic bullet but hopefully as we build and inspire our teams they will have a passion for improving and upskilling and generally this involves financially investing into their area of passion which often means team members will upgrade their own instruments over time. Just some thoughts..