With the band I play in, all of my bandmates live on different continents and rehearsals are slim at best. Over the years we have come to discover that if we only have a week or so to rehearse for our next tour, it has to count. The truth is that a very common weakness in most church bands is the productivity you see in the amount of time invested in band practice. This not only makes 2 0r even 3 hours frustrating, but it can also waste church resources like electricity, stage time, not to mention wasting the sound guys time. That is never a good idea.
The result of all of this is a poor performance at best. I’d like to share with you some of the experiences I’ve had over the years and hope that this article helps you not only be a better musician but also helps your band grow and improve.
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. (Psalm 33:3)
A True Story
I grew up in Queens, New York. I started to play in the church we as a family attended in Woodside. I did not start out on the guitar, but on the piano. It was common in hispanic churches that the main musician was usually on the keyboard and I wanted to fill a much needed opening at the time.
While everyone was amateur at best, we clinged to the common statement at the time that was, “we are doing this for the glory of the Lord”. Looking back it was actually used sometimes as an excuse to be mediocre. We had practice on Wednesdays at 7pm and usually it went like this. Only 3 members of the band showed up on time, we started at 7:30 (ish). The songs we said we’d start to play in our setlist we typically learned from the guy who learned them before hand and kind-of put the song together. At 10PM if we were lucky, we’d have a general idea of the new song, and maybe have gone over some of the other more standard songs.
This was a good rehearsal. The times when they were not as good, consisted of idle conversations, jam sessions, or even just going to the corner store because none of the essential musicians showed up. I know this because I never missed a single practice while I attended this church.
While this might seem a bit over the top, this is also a reality for a lot of churches. I still visit churches that when it comes to the band, the weakest point is not the musicians, but how the band practices. Music is simple, especially in church. A lot of what we play consists of remembering simple (diatonic) chord progressions. Simple means that its closer for an amateur to do, and harder for a pro to re-learn. For this reason I think that it’s never the musicians skill that brings the band down, but it’s the time they spend getting things to work out together.
The 10 Commandments of Band Practice
It’s been over 15 years from my days in Woodside, New York. I’m so thankful for the years I had there and the lessons I learned. Now besides touring with Soulfire Revolution and hispanic band Generación 12, I play actively in our church and love it just as much (or more) as playing out. The experiences I’ve had have taught me a few things about creating an effective rehearsal. Here a few of them…
- Show up to rehearsal on time. If you need time to set up, show up 15 minutes before so you can amp check, line check or any type of setup you’d need before hand. If the rehearsals at 7pm, that’s the time you should be ready.
- The 1st 15 minutes of the rehearsal are well spent if they cover monitor check for the weekend. If you use in-ear-monitors, play a song and adjust as needed. If you use stage wedges or even another monitor desk, make sure to let you sound guy know after the warm up song has been cut off or finished. Do it in an orderly fashion. He’ll for sure get all the changes in and your mix will be ready faster.
- Never play while someone else is talking. Its disrespectful even if your guitar is muted to shred while important conversation is going on. Always listen and participate in planning new stuff. You just might have something important to say. Jam Sessions should happen after and not during rehearsal time if they are important to you.
- Always make sure that when the song is played, have a structure. I usually feel like staying true to the original version is always the best way to go. Having a personal interpretation can sometimes mean that the rest of the band will not be on the same page as you. Like regular bands do, stick to the part and the arrangement as if you had sheet music telling you how to play it. Your best off this way and the band will sound better as a whole if everyone does this.
- This one is KEY: The band practice is NOT the place to learn new music. If you show up to rehearsal not knowing the new song you will be the reason that song will not work. Always take the time to learn the part at home. When I mean the part, I don’t mean having a chord chart. I actually mean you have to have played the song a few times and have made it your own. Theres a lot of tutorials for worship guitar parts on YouTube. You can also find tabs and other resources to make sure not only your playing is right but also your tone. If you take lessons, then go over the songs with your teacher. He might help you get it better. Everyone should be one way or another seeking educational help as far as music goes. Higher music education does help a lot but is not always essential. If everyone does this the time you spend will be working on how tight the arrangement is and not learning all the parts.
- Always follow up on the previous performance. Discuss how you felt with the song, and how people reacted. This will let you know how you should deal with certain things the band band has to work on to make the song better. There’s always room to grow and you’re doing it right if you know how to address it.
- The sound guy is just as important as any singer or musician in the band. If he needs time to work on FOH, let him get it together in a reasonable amount of time.
- The setlist should be put together by the worship director/Pastor before hand, not during rehearsal. This helps the team be prepared for the rehearsal and the weekend worship.
- If you church uses a big choir, make sure part of the rehearsal is only with them. It works best if the Music Director can work with the band parallel. After its been worked out, come together as a whole and play the music and address issues as a whole.
- This is the most important: Always pray. There’s nothing you can’t do when you’ve won spiritual ground. Prayer, fasting, and intercession are key things Jesus talks about in Matthew 6 that he honors in public what is done in secret. They seem like fundamentals, but you’d be surprised how many musicians do not have a healthy spiritual life. Have the main pastor come in at rehearsal time to share and guide the band’s spiritual activities. None of the rest of these commandments matter if the band is a mess spiritually. Get this right and not only will you sound great, but you’ll see God’s hand in your worship sessions, people will worship, mission accomplished.
Doing things for the glory of the Lord means you do them with excellence. It has nothing to do with skill but with an attitude and a heart that wants to please God no matter what. Jesus went all the way for us on the cross, the least we could do is give it all when we worship.
Hope this helps. Please if you have any questions, feel free to comment. Godspeed!
3 Comments
thanks Anthony,
great tips. my colleagues and i will follow this and am pretty sure we will succeed this time round, but want to know if you do tutorials.
Hey Josh,
the magazine is growing a lot and our hopes are to be able to get you the best resources possible. If you have any questions myself or any other of the WGM team can give you solid advice. All of the members are seasoned musicians or like myself do this for a living. We’d love to help.
Josh – As Anthony mentioned we are always open to chatting with you about ways to improve your team. As far as tutorials go, we have not branched out into that direction. Mostly because there are a few people doing it very well. Below some resources regarding tutorials that we have grown to trust. Let me know if I can be of any more assistance.