1. Including too many new songs in the set – Your
congregation is there to worship – most will find it difficult to do so
if they spend most of the time learning your latest masterpieces. Vary
your set list to include a variety of older, recently introduced, and
brand new songs and be ready to make changes on the fly if you sense
your congregation is becoming weary.
2. Pitching the songs too high – remember that a
comfortable range for a woman is about five semitones (half steps) lower
than for a man. Change the key down to avoid going above top D,
particularly if you are playing in a small church situation.
3. Clunky moving from song to song. Playing a song
once its underway is fairly straightforward so make sure you
concentrate on rehearsing how to start and end a song. Practicing a
seamless flow from one song to the next is worthwhile to focus on. It
will help if both are in the same key with a similar groove, and if you
are using music, make sure the sheets are side by side on your music
stand.
4. Poor band dynamics – conflicting rhythms, one
instrument speeding up/slowing down, vocalists overwhelming the sound
with too many ad-libs or vibrato. Exercise leadership in directing your
singers clearly, and if necessary, get them some vocals training. Get
them to listen to each other's parts and possibly film or record a
service to help with some constructive criticism.
5. Lack of leadership – Without clear guidance from
the worship leader, it's difficult for the band to know what they are
meant to do, let alone the congregation. Give a good clear brief in
practice and use vocal cues and body language to communicate during the
set.
6. Overly complex vocals – congregations get easily
confused when the lead vocalist slips into harmonies, trills, and
ad-libs. Simple clear melody is always the easiest to follow. Leave the
harmonies for the backing vocalists.
7. Poor phrasing and blending by vocalists. Make
sure that all your singers are phrasing each “musical sentence” in the
same way. It can help to have one backing vocalist leading the others
so that everyone finishes their words at the same time. In the studio,
singers are often asked not to finish the last consonant in a line so
that the ending doesn’t sound jagged.
8. Wrong keys or wrong capo positions. Make sure all
the band are playing in the same key. Issue your set list in advance
with instructions for keys. And if you change your mind, make sure that
everyone knows.
9. Tuning – are all your
instruments in tune and are they staying in tune throughout the
set? Even the right notes out of tune sound far worse than the wrong
notes in tune so buy yourself a decent tuner like the Boss TU2 – cheap
tuners can be so frustrating.
10. Lack of rhythm and togetherness by the band –
this can be caused by many things including poor musicianship and lack
of overall direction. Try to generate a sense of team where everyone
plays their part to contribute to the whole without any one musician
standing out. Also, ensure that you have the relevant instruments in
your foldback – i.e. the kick drum and other instruments responsible
for rhythm.
11. Winging it – either the result of poor
preparation or trying something new out on the spot. Be sure you can
accomplish what you have in mind. Are you trying to sing a song without
the lyrics in front of you, and you’ve forgotten the words? Does your
AV guy have the words for the congregation, or do they have to remember
them, too? Do you and the rest of the band know all the chords you
need?
12. Technical problems. The sound gremlins can
happen to the best of us but try to get there early, set up
methodically, and make sure your technicians are well trained in the
system they are using.
13. Problems with pitch – You’re starting a new song, and you’ve suddenly realised you’ve started on completely the wrong note.
Try
to identify the problem songs in advance and quietly play the note you
need to hit on your instrument. Hold the note in your head while
playing the intro and then hit it with confidence. Alternatively ask
one of the other (confident) vocalists to lead on that song.
14. Over emphasis on the melody line. Make sure your
backing vocalists and single melody instruments are playing harmonies.
The lead vocalist and congregation are all on the melody line – create
some contrast.
15. Worship crash – often caused by trying something
complicated that hasn’t been practiced enough. Never try anything
complicated until you, the band. and the congregation are really
familiar with the song.
16. Starting the song in the wrong tempo. Either
invest in an in ear click or sing the song through in your head first
so that you can pace the tempo properly. Generally, the chorus is the
fastest part of the song.
17. Audiovisual failure – This happened to Matt
Redman one time when Andy was playing. Matt just shifted his set list
to songs with simple lyrics and gave spoken vocal cues to the
congregation at junction points in the song.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
check out my other websites...
HollandDavis.com
HealingWordSongs.com
IWillStandSongs.com
LetItRiseBook.com
WorshipSong.com
WorshipLifeCalvary.org