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- Ten Ways to Improve Your Worship Team
Ten Ways to Improve Your Worship Team
- By Mark Cole
- Published April 1, 2008
- Directing & Leading
-
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Mark Cole
Mark is the "founding arranger" for PraiseCharts, having contributed over 350 arrangements to the catalog since 1998. Mark is a worship leader, arranger, songwriter, teacher and record producer. He has spent 18 years as a music pastor in three of the largest churches in Canada, and has lead evangelistic teams to over 40 countries with Living Sound and Charles Ndifon. Mark plays multiple instruments and has a Bachelor of Music degree. He has also produced several recording projects for various artists.You can find more information on Mark at www.praisecharts.com/markcole and www.markcoleworship.com.
1. Model
worship.
Real worship is contagious. As
you follow after God and really
worship Him, you are teaching
your worship team to worship.
Your actions speak much louder
than your words. When people
realize that you are passionate
about God and passionate about
worshipping Him, it will motivate
them to seek that passion for
their own lives. Jesus taught
by example. He preached, cast
out demons and healed the sick.
What did his disciples do?
They preached, cast out demons
and healed the sick. If Jesus
had just talked about it and
not done it, they never would
have learned. They learned
by following His example.
You life, especially your relationship with God and your passion for worshipping Him will speak volumes. By all means teach about worship, but more importantly live it out. When people see you worshipping and praising God with your whole heart, it will spark a hunger in them.
2. Model
musical excellence in your worship.
Good
musicians have a way of helping
other musicians come up to their
level. It doesn't happen overnight,
sometimes it takes months and years.
If you continually model excellence
with humility, it will inspire
you musicians to a higher level.
3. Encourage
your musicians to take lessons
on their instruments.
I've seen whole groups improve
dramatically as they all decided
to take lessons and improve. Find
out who are the best teachers in
your area and take lessons. It’s
always great to have a Christian
teacher but if none are available
find the best teacher, whoever
they are. Great music principles
can be learned from most teachers.
4. Constantly
put great new worship songs in
front of them.
A fresh flow of great music will
inspire your musicians. Nothing
will sap their motivation faster
than just playing the same old
stuff over and over. There is
so much great music available.
The leader just needs to do
his or her homework and listen
to the great worship recordings
that are available.
5. Give
them tapes and CD's of the music
you want them to learn in advance.
One of the main ways musicians
learn is by copying other musicians.
Most musicians learn easier from
listening than by reading music.
6. Give
your musicians well prepared charts.
I never go to rehearsals without
full charts for the songs that
I'm going to do. This can be
as basic as just having the
words typed out with the chords
marked over them in appropriate
places, to having proper melody
and harmony lines written out
in proper musical form. In
1993 I decided to write full
vocal, rhythm and brass charts
out for my worship band and it
made a huge difference. The players
reading ability increased dramatically
and the overall sound improved
many times over.
7. Have
great rehearsals.
There is no substitute for good
rehearsal time. Expect full participation
in rehearsals and demand excellence.
I try and treat my players like
professionals. Professionals
are expected to show up on time
and be ready to play at the appointed
time. Don’t waste your musicians'
time. Their time is just as valuable
as yours. It goes back to the Golden
Rule, treat others as you want
to be treated. I don’t want
to feel like an evening of mine
has been wasted because someone
didn’t do the proper preparation.
If the musicians see that the rehearsals
are energized and valuable they
will make time in their lives to
attend.
Keep your rehearsals well paced. Always have more music ready than what you have time to rehearse. If you feel things dragging, shift to something different.
8. Work
on getting a great vocal sound.
Investing
time into your vocalists will pay
off with rich rewards. As they
are trained to sing with excellence,
they will be more equipped to lead
with confidence and sing from their
hearts. Here is a quick list of
things to consider.
- When you
work with the vocalist make sure
they are doing the following things
correctly.
- Singing in tune
- Holding the notes the same
length
- Singing the proper rhythm
- Breathing in the same place
- Memorizing the music
- Enunciating the words correctly
- Singing the right harmonies
and melody
- Listening and adjusting to
blend properly
- Not rushing the tempo or dragging
- Using proper microphone technique
- Smiling and using good body
language on the platform
- Remind the singers to worship
as they sing
9. Develop
a great rhythm section.
Getting a great rhythm sound from
part-time musicians can be challenging.
Here are a number of areas to
work on.
- Make sure all the instruments
are tuned properly:
- Make sure everyone listens
to each other:
- All players need to develop
a good sense of time.
- Decide which instrument will
be the lead sound on that particular
song.
- Use metronomes to count off
the songs.
- Each player should know how
to read a basic rhythm chart.
- A rhythm section needs to develop
a wide range of understanding
for different musical styles.
- Rhythm sections also need to
learn to play by ear.
- Understanding where the ‘kick’ and ‘snare’ go
in a musical style.
10.
Teach on worship.
Our job as leaders is to make
disciples. As musicians
we want to not only train
people to be good musicians
but also great disciples of
Jesus. Learning to be a
worshipper is a life long
calling. Teach your musicians
about worshippers and worship
in the Bible. Encourage
them to read books on worship.
Bring them to conferences where
there are great worshippers
and worship leaders. Show
them videos and DVD’s of great worshipping
churches. Most of all, teach
them to fall in love with Jesus
every day. True worship grows
from our love relationship with
the King of King and the Lord
of Lords.
Spread The Word
1 Response to "Ten Ways to Improve Your Worship Team" 
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said this on 07 May 2009 1:11:55 PM CDT
Thank you for your insight. I wasn't sure I was doing all that I could for my group and this article really helped me.
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