We’ve all been in situations where background vocalists were out of place.
They distracted rather than enhanced.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Your role as a background vocalist is to lead worship.
You inspire people.
You model what it means to approach the throne of grace.
And this post is to help you get there – to give you confidence as you lead others in worship.
5 Qualities Of Effective Background Vocalists
I can think of at least 5 qualities of great background vocalists.
1. They match the vocal tone of the leader – Great background singers don’t stand out – they accent the lead vocal by matching their tone. It starts with being aware – with not being too impressed with yourself. Just like a great musician, you need to serve the song by serving the lead vocal. Make the lead sound amazing.
2. They don’t over sing – Nothing is more frustrating to a worship leader than a background singer who won’t shut up. OK, maybe that’s a little harsh. But you need to realize that a worship leader needs space to lead.
If you are filling every available measure with vocal moans, you are overstepping your bounds. As a rule of thumb, sing your parts. When you feel led to sing spontaneously, pull your mic away unless your worship leader wants you to sing out.
Don’t just sing because you have a microphone.
3. They lead with their stage presence – Background singers are worship leaders. The nature of being “out front” is that people look to you.
I know being center stage presents a temptation to “perform” your worship. But in all honesty, the more “honest” you can be in your worship – the more genuine your response to God, the more inspiring you’ll be.
Don’t show off your skills. Show that you’re truly in love with Jesus.
4. The lyrics mean something to them – The best background singers internalize the lyrics. They don’t just sing. They mean every word. Before they even step out on that stage, they are declaring, breathing, and believing the truth they are about to sing.
Singing worship songs isn’t a performance to them. It’s the breath in their lungs, the response of their heart, and the reason they live.
5. They sing creatively – This is an acquired skill, but great singers don’t just sing the harmony part the whole way through a song.
Sometimes they’ll sing melody. Sometimes they won’t sing at all. Sometimes they’ll sing two words of a phrase. The key here is to add creative texture to the music. Use your voice as an instrument.
Question: What are some other qualities of background vocalists that you look for? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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Awesome stuff David. I am going to start implementing the articles youve written for my team. Is there any way to have them in print/ PDF form?
His Servant
Min EJ
Hey EJ, glad you like the articles. Currently, I don’t have any of them in PDF form, other than my free ebook, Beyond Sunday. Have you gotten that?
Great tips. One thing I have found useful in leading the congregation as a backup singer is to sing off mic ( or just move my lips) anytime the congregation is supposed to be singing but I’m not. If the lead vocalist is the only one singing, sometimes the congregation thinks that it is a solo (especially in the beginning of the song). When backup singers also sing, but off mic, it gives a cue to the congregation to start singing.
RebKA14 – great point. That’s something that’s so hard for the BGVs to get: off-mic singing is as important, and a lot of time more important than what gets pumped through the system.
David – love this article! I’ll be passing it on to my team.
Thanks for passing it along, Jon. So appreciate that!
Brilliant! This should be standard practice for all BGV’s. Thanks for sharing!
Great post by the way, helpful to many.
I would probably say that your “expression” of worship has more impact than you think.
You might feel because you aren’t leading, that you aren’t leading but this is NOT true.
You add to the energy of the worship, you lead by example for anyone within sight of you and your heart aligns with the leader and church as you engage in each moment of the music.
M_
Well said, Marc, as always. Expression is so huge.
David, I appreciated the comment about matching the leader’s tone. That is an obvious truth, but I hadn’t thought about it.
+1 on Rebka’s comment. I’ve seen that phenomenon of disengagement in the congregation play out many times. “Just moving my lips” seems like an unfortunate solution, though! 🙂
All though, as I type this, I realize I’ve done this before at the keyboard (when I’m not singing on mic). With IEMs in, I sometimes hear too much of my own voice resonating in my head. I can’t hear my mix…but I want to sing along and be present….
We always joke at my church “if people only knew all the things going on in our head and ears on stage…”
Maybe we should try a worship leading experiment where we project the worship leader’s thoughts onto the screens 🙂
One thing overlooked a lot by vocalists is singing the words with the exact same meter and rhythm as the worship leader. Also, ending the tails of words at the exact same time. Making it as tight as possible! There are certainly times and places for some trails and free-worship type stuff, but for most of the song, tightness is key.
Great point, Jonathan. I noticed this even more as we finished up vocals on our new album. Any tips for getting this tight?
This article is completely contradictory and goes against what leading worship is. When you’re leading in the spirit, you aren’t necessarily thinking of when to pull the mic away and so on. While I agree that vocalists can over sing, I also think that the responsibility to let them know when and where to sing lies in the hands of the worship pastor. I’m tired of worship feeling like a performance. In all honesty, this post pertains to what seems to be a performance then quickly goes against that to say your worship should be genuine. Let’s get back to the place where God is the focus and not necessarily the people on stage. Also, this post is overly harsh and in no way loving. Criticism should in no way be condescending but should be for the sole purpose to help others grow.
Hey Monica, I’m sorry you view this post as critical and condescending. It was never my intention. Anyone who stands on a stage for ministry balances the tension of “performing” and genuinely connecting with God. Performing is still involved. Preachers perform. Emcee’s perform. My goal with this blog is to help balance that tension. It’s our responsibility to be excellent and we don’t have to throw that out in order to have genuine worship. We can have both. Does that make sense? Thanks for sharing your heart!