As you do your rehearsal planning, you are probably asking yourself ... "what is the most important thing that I need to accomplish?" If you are a traditional choir director, you are probably thinking, "I have to be sure that the choir learns their parts on Anthem A from measures 24 to 60." Or, "We need to get the intonation right on those high block chords at the end of the piece." Or maybe even, "We must get the blend right on the 'eee' sounds in the chorus of the anthem."
All of those things might be the right thing on which to focus in a traditional choir. Because the purpose of the traditional choir is good performance. If you are a Praise Choir director, however, you have a different agenda. You are not preparing to perform on Sunday ... you are preparing to lead worship!
The different purpose gives you a different focus in your rehearsals. Praise Choirs need to spend time praising and worshipping in rehearsal if they are to be effective leaders on Sunday morning.
So, our rehearsals must have time set aside for worship. The worship moment can come in simple praise and worship that we sing together. We should plan those into our rehearsals. But they can also come as you are rehearsing your music. You can stop for a moment during the rehearsal of "Indescribable" to reflect on how impossible it is to adequately define God. Pray about it together. Let it be a worship moment. Then sing it again with your choir, singing your hearts to God.
The most effective worship moments come right in the middle of rehearsal. You can plan for them, and you can let God prompt you in the moment. Either way, the most important thing is that we worship together. Then we'll be prepared to lead our congregation to worship on Sunday.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Performance
For years I've struggled with the concept of performance in our worship services. It just doesn't seem appropriate. The word "performance" seems to indicate that we're putting on a show, or assuming a role that is not authentic. Our worship to God should be authentic ... not performance.
So, I started using the word "presentation." It has worked well, because it give me the opportunity to send a signal to the choir that it's not about us. It's all about the One we are singing of. But, I'm still not completely comfortable with that word either. I think that it's because the worship experience is all about COMMUNICATION. We communicate our adoration and submission to God .... He communicates back to us His love, comfort, care, and other messages that we need to hear. When we are in performance mode, the communication pipeline gets clogged with self.
Don't get me wrong, just as the minister delivers a sermon, or an elder leads in a prepared prayer, I think there is a place for a musical presentation that says something about God, or to God, on behalf of the congregation. But, I've come to the conclusion that we need less of that, and more communication directly between God and the individuals in our choir and in our congregation.
I've noticed that I spend much more of our rehearsal time preparing the presentation music than I do preparing the songs that in which our congregation participates. That troubles me. If we are to be worship leaders, we should be carefully preparing the songs in which we are actively leading worship.
Since communication is central to worship, we need to be creating opportunities for our choir members to communicate with God ... in reheasal, and for our congregations to communicate with God in our worship services. In doing so, we may find that the presentation songs aren't needed as much; and when they are used, they encourage people to ponder God, not a performance.
So, I started using the word "presentation." It has worked well, because it give me the opportunity to send a signal to the choir that it's not about us. It's all about the One we are singing of. But, I'm still not completely comfortable with that word either. I think that it's because the worship experience is all about COMMUNICATION. We communicate our adoration and submission to God .... He communicates back to us His love, comfort, care, and other messages that we need to hear. When we are in performance mode, the communication pipeline gets clogged with self.
Don't get me wrong, just as the minister delivers a sermon, or an elder leads in a prepared prayer, I think there is a place for a musical presentation that says something about God, or to God, on behalf of the congregation. But, I've come to the conclusion that we need less of that, and more communication directly between God and the individuals in our choir and in our congregation.
I've noticed that I spend much more of our rehearsal time preparing the presentation music than I do preparing the songs that in which our congregation participates. That troubles me. If we are to be worship leaders, we should be carefully preparing the songs in which we are actively leading worship.
Since communication is central to worship, we need to be creating opportunities for our choir members to communicate with God ... in reheasal, and for our congregations to communicate with God in our worship services. In doing so, we may find that the presentation songs aren't needed as much; and when they are used, they encourage people to ponder God, not a performance.
"The director was still mad at us!"
It was Father's Day, and I was eating at a breakfast that our church provided for the men singing in our once-a-year men's choir. I'd just told the guy next to me how great the group sounded, and that's when he said it. "Yeah, I can't
believe we did it in one rehearsal. The last church I was in, we did this; and we practiced for six hours and the director was still mad at us." I was stunned, and really didn't know what to say.
You see, I used to be the same kind of director. I was old school. I was a "crack the whip" kind of director ... hammering on all the flaws. I think I learned it that way. After all, I studied music at a Christian college where you
felt like you were in trouble all the time. We focused on flaws and "scored points" in finding them. But then, years later, I sang in a volunteer community choir directed by a Jerry Step, a local minister of music. Jerry's primary
training tool was encouragement. I think his spiritual gift was encouragement. Jerry would gush over everything we did. He would even gush over things that I didn't think deserved to be gushed over. It didn't take long for me to long to
recognize, though, that Jerry's encouragement motivated us to work harder. His encouragement painted an image of what we could sound like. And before long, we sounded about as good as Jerry had been telling us we did. More importantly,
it was fun singing in Jerry's choir. When rehearsal was over, we went home feeling good about what we'd accomplished and looking forward to our next rehearsal.
So I started trying out Jerry's method on the groups I directed. And it worked! I was amazed at how people responded to encouragement. Instead of listening for flaws, I started listening for things that the groups were doing
right and pointing that out. When I found a flaw I tried to approach it in an encouraging way ... like complementing someone who was doing it right and explaining to the group what that person was doing. It was transformational! I
discovered that my groups made much more progress in an encouraging environment than they had under my old school ways. In fact, they started getting better than I'd thought they could be.
That's when I started to become passionate about working with "average" musicians ... and it's one of the reasons that I'm so excited about the emergence of the Praise Choir in so many of our churches. If you put a bunch of regular people who love singing in a group, and give them
encouragement, a vision, good coaching, and music that fits their voices, they can sound great. Mix in their love for God, and passion for worshipping Him, and they can be a powerful voice that encourages the church to worship!
I'm so glad that the guy I was talking with at breakfast had the experience that he had with us on Father's Day. I think now that he knows he has a voice that God can use; and he knows a little bit about how wonderful it is to serve God
through praise. Maybe we can lure him into our regular Praise Choir...
How'd the guys do? It was amazing! We rehearsed for an hour and a half on Wednesday night, and about thirty minutes on Sunday morning. We didn't worry about parts. We let them sing melody or whatever part they could find. We just wanted them to sing their hearts. We kept the focus on the praise
that we were doing ... not on the technical details of the music. The sound was awesome and the impact was powerful. How could it be anything else? A men's chorus, passionately opening our services singing "Lord, Reign in Me." By the
time we got to the closing chorus of "A Few Good Men" (three of our Praise Team guys sang the lead parts), our congregation couldn't stay in their seats! The choir was blessed. The congregation was blessed. I think God was
blessed. And the director didn't even have to get mad.
believe we did it in one rehearsal. The last church I was in, we did this; and we practiced for six hours and the director was still mad at us." I was stunned, and really didn't know what to say.
You see, I used to be the same kind of director. I was old school. I was a "crack the whip" kind of director ... hammering on all the flaws. I think I learned it that way. After all, I studied music at a Christian college where you
felt like you were in trouble all the time. We focused on flaws and "scored points" in finding them. But then, years later, I sang in a volunteer community choir directed by a Jerry Step, a local minister of music. Jerry's primary
training tool was encouragement. I think his spiritual gift was encouragement. Jerry would gush over everything we did. He would even gush over things that I didn't think deserved to be gushed over. It didn't take long for me to long to
recognize, though, that Jerry's encouragement motivated us to work harder. His encouragement painted an image of what we could sound like. And before long, we sounded about as good as Jerry had been telling us we did. More importantly,
it was fun singing in Jerry's choir. When rehearsal was over, we went home feeling good about what we'd accomplished and looking forward to our next rehearsal.
So I started trying out Jerry's method on the groups I directed. And it worked! I was amazed at how people responded to encouragement. Instead of listening for flaws, I started listening for things that the groups were doing
right and pointing that out. When I found a flaw I tried to approach it in an encouraging way ... like complementing someone who was doing it right and explaining to the group what that person was doing. It was transformational! I
discovered that my groups made much more progress in an encouraging environment than they had under my old school ways. In fact, they started getting better than I'd thought they could be.
That's when I started to become passionate about working with "average" musicians ... and it's one of the reasons that I'm so excited about the emergence of the Praise Choir in so many of our churches. If you put a bunch of regular people who love singing in a group, and give them
encouragement, a vision, good coaching, and music that fits their voices, they can sound great. Mix in their love for God, and passion for worshipping Him, and they can be a powerful voice that encourages the church to worship!
I'm so glad that the guy I was talking with at breakfast had the experience that he had with us on Father's Day. I think now that he knows he has a voice that God can use; and he knows a little bit about how wonderful it is to serve God
through praise. Maybe we can lure him into our regular Praise Choir...
How'd the guys do? It was amazing! We rehearsed for an hour and a half on Wednesday night, and about thirty minutes on Sunday morning. We didn't worry about parts. We let them sing melody or whatever part they could find. We just wanted them to sing their hearts. We kept the focus on the praise
that we were doing ... not on the technical details of the music. The sound was awesome and the impact was powerful. How could it be anything else? A men's chorus, passionately opening our services singing "Lord, Reign in Me." By the
time we got to the closing chorus of "A Few Good Men" (three of our Praise Team guys sang the lead parts), our congregation couldn't stay in their seats! The choir was blessed. The congregation was blessed. I think God was
blessed. And the director didn't even have to get mad.
Simplicity
Recently, in WorshipIdeas, I described the emergence of the Praise Choir in churches across the county. It was exciting to hear from so many of you who described the energy, passion, and purity of worship that your Praise Choir is
bringing to your churches. It is clear that God is doing something here, because he's leading so many of us down the same path.
I also heard from a many people who had questions about how to pull it off? How can you pull together a Praise Choir and make in happen under the pressures of the weekly service preparation grind? Well, books could be written about it, but here's a word that can help us get started - SIMPLIFY.
You see, our musical training had given us an appreciation for the complex. But complexity is not necessary to the accomplishment of our purpose. In fact, there are times when the things that make music cool actually draw attention
to the performance and not to the One we are worshiping. That, I think, is failure. There is great value and beauty in a simplicity that makes the music and the message accessible - particularly if you are working with an inexperienced or untrained choir.
Here are some practical ways to bring simplicity to your Praise Choir. If you are starting a new group, these ideas will be particularly appropriate.
1. Simplify your schedule: Sing only once a month. If you make your Praise Choir part of a rotation of different kinds of praise leading groups, you'll add variety to your services and reduce the demands on your volunteers. Go ahead
and rehearse every week, but sing once a month; you'll have time to get your untrained singers ready for effective ministry.
2. Simplify your part writing: You don't have to be able to sing four part harmony to sound great, particularly if you are singing with a good band or rhythm section. Contemporary harmonies are more difficult for "average" singers to find;
and since they are covered by the band anyway, you'll be surprised at the power in simple harmonies - even in unison singing.
If you don't consider yourself to be an arranger, you can still arrange a song that is basically sung in unison with the occasional phrase in two or three part harmony. Or use one of Dave Williamson's arrangements. He has a real passion
for the Praise Choir and writes great material for us. His arrangements are accessible to the average choir; but when you need to simplify them, look for places in the arrangement where unison will work - then break into parts
when it seems appropriate. Of if you need to, put just a few stronger singers on parts and let everyone else sing melody. It may not sound exactly like Dave wrote it, but when you make the arrangement accessible to your singers, they will be able to sing more passionately and offer more worship to
the Lord. And after all, that's what we are supposed to be doing - worshipping!
3. Simplify your rehearsals: If you can do the first two simplification steps, you'll be able to lighten up in your rehearsals. My problem is that I want to master too many things in each rehearsal; so we have to work hard from beginning to end.
I'm learning that there are actually things more important in rehearsal than the music - like worship, for instance. If we are so focused on learning parts that we don't have time to get lost in the presence of God, we won't do a very good
job of leading our congregations to worship on Sunday. And, it's important that we have time during rehearsals to build community - for many singers, choir rehearsal will be their main opportunity for connection with other believers. And
prayer - it's embarrassing that we give prayer so little time during rehearsal. Think about it, the choir that has seen God responding to their prayers will surely lead worship with greater conviction. The point is that if we simplify our rehearsals, we have more time to let God work in us, among us, and through us.
Here's the bottom line. We are here to worship. Great worship doesn't require musical difficulty or complexity. It's a matter of the heart. If your singers have limited skills, find ways to match the music to their skills, and create an environment that allows them to focus on the main thing. God will take your offering then, and turn it into something beautiful for Him.
bringing to your churches. It is clear that God is doing something here, because he's leading so many of us down the same path.
I also heard from a many people who had questions about how to pull it off? How can you pull together a Praise Choir and make in happen under the pressures of the weekly service preparation grind? Well, books could be written about it, but here's a word that can help us get started - SIMPLIFY.
You see, our musical training had given us an appreciation for the complex. But complexity is not necessary to the accomplishment of our purpose. In fact, there are times when the things that make music cool actually draw attention
to the performance and not to the One we are worshiping. That, I think, is failure. There is great value and beauty in a simplicity that makes the music and the message accessible - particularly if you are working with an inexperienced or untrained choir.
Here are some practical ways to bring simplicity to your Praise Choir. If you are starting a new group, these ideas will be particularly appropriate.
1. Simplify your schedule: Sing only once a month. If you make your Praise Choir part of a rotation of different kinds of praise leading groups, you'll add variety to your services and reduce the demands on your volunteers. Go ahead
and rehearse every week, but sing once a month; you'll have time to get your untrained singers ready for effective ministry.
2. Simplify your part writing: You don't have to be able to sing four part harmony to sound great, particularly if you are singing with a good band or rhythm section. Contemporary harmonies are more difficult for "average" singers to find;
and since they are covered by the band anyway, you'll be surprised at the power in simple harmonies - even in unison singing.
If you don't consider yourself to be an arranger, you can still arrange a song that is basically sung in unison with the occasional phrase in two or three part harmony. Or use one of Dave Williamson's arrangements. He has a real passion
for the Praise Choir and writes great material for us. His arrangements are accessible to the average choir; but when you need to simplify them, look for places in the arrangement where unison will work - then break into parts
when it seems appropriate. Of if you need to, put just a few stronger singers on parts and let everyone else sing melody. It may not sound exactly like Dave wrote it, but when you make the arrangement accessible to your singers, they will be able to sing more passionately and offer more worship to
the Lord. And after all, that's what we are supposed to be doing - worshipping!
3. Simplify your rehearsals: If you can do the first two simplification steps, you'll be able to lighten up in your rehearsals. My problem is that I want to master too many things in each rehearsal; so we have to work hard from beginning to end.
I'm learning that there are actually things more important in rehearsal than the music - like worship, for instance. If we are so focused on learning parts that we don't have time to get lost in the presence of God, we won't do a very good
job of leading our congregations to worship on Sunday. And, it's important that we have time during rehearsals to build community - for many singers, choir rehearsal will be their main opportunity for connection with other believers. And
prayer - it's embarrassing that we give prayer so little time during rehearsal. Think about it, the choir that has seen God responding to their prayers will surely lead worship with greater conviction. The point is that if we simplify our rehearsals, we have more time to let God work in us, among us, and through us.
Here's the bottom line. We are here to worship. Great worship doesn't require musical difficulty or complexity. It's a matter of the heart. If your singers have limited skills, find ways to match the music to their skills, and create an environment that allows them to focus on the main thing. God will take your offering then, and turn it into something beautiful for Him.
Praise Choirs in the Praise Band Church
It's not about the music ...
Ask the "man on the street" what the difference is between contemporary and traditional churches. You're likely to hear words like "organ", "hymns", and "choir" describing traditional churches, and "drums", "guitar", "rock", and "praise bands" describing contemporary churches. We know there are more differences than that, but to the untrained eye, those are right on target. As contemporary worship evolves, however, we're seeing more churches using at least some of the traditional elements of worship in fresh, contemporary ways. The traditional elements that are finding their way back are coming back because they are very effecive in helping the church accomplish its purposes - worshipping, serving, connecting, growing, and reaching.
A important example of this re-emergence is the church choir - refashioned into the praise choir. Praise choirs don't perform anthems. They lead worship. in fact, in churches where praise choirs are growing, the choirs are not about the music. They are about worshipping, serving, connecting, growing, and reaching. And that's why it's so important that we nurture the re-birth of choirs in our contemporary churches. They provide an effective place for us to accomplish our purpose.
In your church there is a surprising number of people who love music passionately, but don't have the talent to sing in your praise team. They wouldn't have the courage to stand in front of your congregation and sing a solo - and they probably shouldn't. But they feel the same things and music that you do. They have tunes running in thier heads all day long, like you. They are moved deeply by a thoughtful lyric. And their heart races when they hear a cool groove, or a great chord progression. But they don't have talent. So they don't have the oppotunity to participate in your music program.
The praise choir gives them that opportunity. With some coaching, some practice, some good music, and maybe some good part-writing on your part, along with the synergy of a large choral group, these people can pool thier passion for God and music into an amazing sound and force in your worship service. They can be amazing worship leaders!
But the best part is that, in the praise choir, they have a new place to connect, to serve, to grow, to reach, and to worship. It's worth the effort on your part; because it's not about the music. It's about fulfilling purpose. You'll have an opportunity to teach more people how to worship. And your rehearsals will be times of worship. Your praise choir members will connect with others in the group, and build relationships of faith that they'd never have if they didn't have the choir. You'll have provided a new, very fulfilling way for them to serve God and your church family. In the context of this new community and the music you are preparing, they'll grow spiritually. And though the praise choir, they'll have new opportunites to reach out and share their faith.
Ask the "man on the street" what the difference is between contemporary and traditional churches. You're likely to hear words like "organ", "hymns", and "choir" describing traditional churches, and "drums", "guitar", "rock", and "praise bands" describing contemporary churches. We know there are more differences than that, but to the untrained eye, those are right on target. As contemporary worship evolves, however, we're seeing more churches using at least some of the traditional elements of worship in fresh, contemporary ways. The traditional elements that are finding their way back are coming back because they are very effecive in helping the church accomplish its purposes - worshipping, serving, connecting, growing, and reaching.
A important example of this re-emergence is the church choir - refashioned into the praise choir. Praise choirs don't perform anthems. They lead worship. in fact, in churches where praise choirs are growing, the choirs are not about the music. They are about worshipping, serving, connecting, growing, and reaching. And that's why it's so important that we nurture the re-birth of choirs in our contemporary churches. They provide an effective place for us to accomplish our purpose.
In your church there is a surprising number of people who love music passionately, but don't have the talent to sing in your praise team. They wouldn't have the courage to stand in front of your congregation and sing a solo - and they probably shouldn't. But they feel the same things and music that you do. They have tunes running in thier heads all day long, like you. They are moved deeply by a thoughtful lyric. And their heart races when they hear a cool groove, or a great chord progression. But they don't have talent. So they don't have the oppotunity to participate in your music program.
The praise choir gives them that opportunity. With some coaching, some practice, some good music, and maybe some good part-writing on your part, along with the synergy of a large choral group, these people can pool thier passion for God and music into an amazing sound and force in your worship service. They can be amazing worship leaders!
But the best part is that, in the praise choir, they have a new place to connect, to serve, to grow, to reach, and to worship. It's worth the effort on your part; because it's not about the music. It's about fulfilling purpose. You'll have an opportunity to teach more people how to worship. And your rehearsals will be times of worship. Your praise choir members will connect with others in the group, and build relationships of faith that they'd never have if they didn't have the choir. You'll have provided a new, very fulfilling way for them to serve God and your church family. In the context of this new community and the music you are preparing, they'll grow spiritually. And though the praise choir, they'll have new opportunites to reach out and share their faith.
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