Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast & Blog

Archives for December 2010

What I Am Listening To

Chris Tomlin: And if Our God is For Us – I heard it said that these are the 11 songs your church will be singing for the next couple years. Probably true. I like Majesty of Heaven, The Name of Jesus, & I Lift My Hands.

 

 

 

 

 

Future of Forestry: Christmas EP – the best Christmas music. Period. Go and get their album from last year while you’re at it.

 

 

 

 

 

Phil Wickham: Songs for Christmas – Phil’s got a voice that stops you dead in your tracks. Demands respect.

 

 

 

 

 

Brooke Fraser: Flags – Brooke also has an incredible voice. This album is intricate, yet laid back. Love it.

 

 

 

 

 

Arcade Fire: The Suburbs – If there’s one indie rock record you buy this year, get this. Incredibly catchy and awesome. I learn new things every time I listen.

 

 

 

 

 

Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz – this is still growing on me, though I’m not sure I’ll ever love it. A bit too abstract for my tastes. I love the traditional Sufjan Stevens acoustic sound, but this is bizarre music at its finest.

 

 

 

 

 

Derek Webb: Feedback – Derek takes a huge risk with this and does something totally unconventional for him. That’s what I love about Derek. This is a fantastic instrumental record based on the Lord’s Prayer. Essential.

 

 

 

 

OK, music people. What else should I be listening to? What’s been inspiring to you?

Common Worship Leading Blunders (Part 2)

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Vicky Beeching recently wrote an excellent, thorough blog post on dealing with disasters in a worship set. If you’ve been a worship leader for any length of time, you know encountering a disaster is a “when” not an “if”. Vicky gave some great advice for a variety of situations and I suggest you read it.

Whereas my last post was on worship leading blunders you should avoid, I wanted to expand on Vicky’s post to include a few more ‘blunders’ that just seem to happen…and how to recover. Here goes:

When You Say “Crap” instead of “Clap”

This may never happen to you. I mean, it hasn’t happened to me once. It actually happened twice. Let’s face it: sometimes you just say the wrong word. The best thing to do is move on, but if it was so obvious to the rest of the room that people are laughing at you, go ahead and laugh with them. Embarrassing as it is, it is a healthy reminder that you’re not an indestructible rock star for everyone to stand in awe of. Be human. Lead with humility. Laugh. Now, go. Lift up a ‘crap’ of ‘plaise’. 🙂

When that song didn’t ‘take off’ as you expected

Not every song you do needs to be done over and over. Some songs resound with certain congregations, others don’t. In my experience, there are three types of songs: songs that are instant hits, songs that take 2-3 weeks before they’re hits, and songs that need to retire. It’s not that they’re bad songs, necessarily, it’s just that your congregation isn’t engaging with it. So test a song out a few times and if it’s just not “working”, let it rest in peace.

The off-beat tambourine lady is on the front row

Actually, I don’t really need to specify that she’s on the front row. She’s ALWAYS on the front row. That’s what off-beat tambourine lady’s do. It must be in their contract. The best thing you can do is try and ignore it (I know, it’s tough) but also show the congregation how you want them to clap (check out what Jon Acuff has to say about clapping). The off-beat tambourine lady has good intentions, but she will threaten to bring the entire room into a code red state of chaos. As the leader, keep referencing the proper clap. And pray the tambourine breaks.

What about you? What are some blunders you’ve encountered?

 

 

Weekly Wrap-Up

Monday

3 Ways to Engage Christians in a Worship Service

Recently I talked about how to engage non-Christians in a worship service But what about how to more effectively engage those who are believers? You may be wondering why I’m writing about this so much. I guess you could say it’s important and I’m working hard on it. Many worship leaders are content to crank through a list of songs. As a musician and perfectionist, I have this tendency. But remember, there is nothing more important in your role as a worship leader than engaging the congregation. Success is determined by how many people are with you, not how flawless your performance was. What good is it if you have perfect execution but zero participation?

Read the full post here.

Tuesday

Things That Are Awesome

  • Lincoln Logs
  • French Presses
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Legos
  • Ernest P Worrell

Read the full post here.

Wednesday

Common Worship Leading Blunders

Besides the ever so subtle shouting of “crap” instead of “clap” from the stage (who has ever done this?) :) there are some common things that worship leaders do that I’d advise against (and I think your senior pastor would appreciate it too).

Read the full post here.

Thursday

11 Questions Every Worship Team Member Should Ask

  1. Am I listening to the other musicians or lost in my own world?
  2. Is my heart right with God?
  3. Do I hold my ideas loosely and submit to the worship leader?
  4. Do I speak and play with a spirit of humility?

Read the full post here.

Friday

Thoughts From a Touring Bass Player on Practicing Well

I don’t know about you, but I started out with a pretty glamorous view of music. The stage, the lights, the ripping guitar solos; that’s what I saw. What I didn’t often hear was the amount of work it took to get to that point. I was always attracted to the finished product but never wanted to think about the time spent alone home practicing.Well, now we recognize that if we want to be great, it’s going to take some practice. Here are a few points that have helped me greatly in my journey to be deliberate about my practice time. Hopefully they’ll help you in yours.

Read the full post here.

Helpful Links:

Vicky Beeching on “12 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Started Songwriting”

Donald Miller on “The Most Impressive Thing in the Room”

Seth Godin on “The One Who Isn’t Easily Replaced”

Bob Kauflin on “Becoming a Better Bass Player”

Bryan Allain on “In Honor of National Ninja Day”

Perry Noble on “15 Books That Have Impacted Me Personally”

Daniel Harkavy on “Elevated Thinking”

 

 

 

Thoughts from a Touring Bass Player on Practicing Well

* This post is a guest post from my friend Rob Morgan. Rob is a full time touring bass player. He has a fantastic website where you can chronicle what part of the world he’s sipping coffee and rocking out and also glean from his thoughts. Insightful stuff. What sets Rob apart from a lot of young musicians is that he works hard. Really hard. I’ve been writing a lot on how to practice better. Check out my posts here and here. I asked Rob to give some insight into what he does. Love this post. I know you will too. Btw, that picture there? Yea, that’s Rob. Get to know him.

I don’t know about you, but I started out with a pretty glamorous view of music. The stage, the lights, the ripping guitar solos; that’s what I saw. What I didn’t often hear was the amount of work it took to get to that point. I was always attracted to the finished product but never wanted to think about the time spent alone home practicing.

Well, now we recognize that if we want to be great, it’s going to take some practice.

Here are a few points that have helped me greatly in my journey to be deliberate about my practice time. Hopefully they’ll help you in yours.

[My main instrument is bass guitar but this can be used in context with ANY instrument you’re focusing on]

1. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

  • Be intentional about what you want to practice.
  • It’s easy to space off and only practice what we already know but push through and work on things your not good at in your practice times.

2. Schedule Your Practice Times.

  • Lets be real, nowadays if it’s not in our iPhone or calendar we don’t do it. Set aside a specific time to practice your instrument. AND STICK TO IT.

3. Embrace Your Inner ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)

  • Recognize that the average person can’t sit down with their instrument and work [productively] for four hours non-stop. Break up your practice time into 15 or 10 min segments throwing in a 3-5 min break to get up and stretch your legs every 30-40min.
  • For example: 15min-Scales/Modes; 15min-Sight Reading; 15min-Playing Something Fun and pointless; 3min-Water Break; (etc.)
  • Don’t think you need it? You do. It’ll keep your practice times focused and stress-free.

4. Practice with a ‘click’ ALWAYS!

  • Enjoy playing with people? This will help guarantee that they enjoy playing with you.
  • ‘Click’ is a fancy name for metronome. If you don’t have one, buy one or pull up onlinemetronome.com and ALWAYS practice with it.

5. Learn New Songs

  • Want to get better? Learn the (bass/drums/piano/guitar) parts to new songs. Sound way too simple? Probably because it is, but learning songs that aren’t what you’re used to will help stretch you.
  • Just love playing Hillsong? Maybe try learning a Jazz tune. Love playing pop-rock? Maybe learn a *gasp* country tune! (but only in moderation) 😉

So there you have it, a few tips on making your practice time more intentional. And remember, the hardest part about practicing is actually sitting down and doing it. So make it a priority and it’ll be impossible to not see results in your playing.

11 Questions Every Worship Team Member Should Ask

In a previous post I talked about questions worship leaders should be asking. Here are some questions if you’re part of a worship team:

1. Am I listening to the other musicians or lost in my own world?

2. Is my heart right with God?

3. Do I hold my ideas loosely and submit to the worship leader?

4. Do I speak and play with a spirit of humility?

5. Am I constantly learning or do I pretend to know it all?

6. What if I prayed for an hour before I came to play with the worship team?

7. What if I expected God to move in power as we worship?

8. Do I show up prepared and on time?

9. Am I contributing to the team spiritually and emotionally or just musically?

10. What if I encouraged the other members of the band?

11. Am I invested in my local church or is it just a gig?

What questions would you add to the list? You can leave a comment by clicking here.