Band, Leaders, Ministry Leadership, Players, Worship Leading

Preventing Boredom In The Band (Show #52)

July 26, 2016

#Jesus (Video Below)

4 min read

Does your band get bored?

As a worship team and/or worship leader, doing songs week after week is all to familiar. We strive to keep things fresh and provide variety, while trying help our churches sing. But what happens when your band grows tired?

How can you help prevent the boredom and promote the beauty in your music? Our theme this week is #Jesus. In this post we will talk about two things: how Jesus can inspire creativity to prevent boredom. Plus, we will also look at the new song “Jesus” as sung by Chris Tomlin, to help inspire creativity and what you can do in your band to grow musically.

How can Jesus come and be your instagram-moment, by inspiring creativity, making all things new, to give you a new song to sing?

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” – Psalm 40:3We must pray/ask the Lord for wisdom, patience and grace to: Let Jesus become all things through us and our music making.

Idle playing/listening invites boredom.

Boredom causes the mind to wander, which can result in a missed cue. When this happens across the band, the sound becomes lifeless and empty. As a result, the church also becomes bored and will have trouble engaging. Q/A moment from one of our students in our Mentoring Program, he asked: the band wants to do more new songs, but the church only wants to sing old ones that bore the band.

I’ve been asking God: why is this happening, why can’t the church move forward, how can we keep the band from getting bored? Here are some things I’ve thought of to help prevent your band from boredom and to inspire and grow your creativity.

Develop two-sides of your mind: exercise and creativity. Look at the music in a way to explore and develop your musicianship. Every musician you see on a rock tour or a symphonic orchestra, are always playing the same set of songs. Why? They are not trying to rehearse boredom, they are rehearsing skill. It’s about repetition that trains your hands, mind and heart.

The more times we hear/play something familiar, our chances of harnessing skill becomes greater. Hence, why the Bible is so repetitive for our good learning.  

How do you help prevent boredom?
What are some ways you can grow while working with what you have?

Listen to more music outside of your genre Try to isolate parts / hear what the band is doing Chart out the for of the song Identify which instruments carry the song

Memorize your music There’s always something new you can learn. The music gets in your head – and off the chart Your face gets out of your music and begins to engage Your memory serves as the foundation, while you explore creativity You learn how to try new things to re-develop music You’re able to worship and focus better because the song is one with your heart.

Arranging your songs:
Choose certain instruments to start the song Have the guitar or piano to lay-out of the verse Have the drummer play/keep things simple. Encourage them to keep it solid and focused. Keep the pianist from using their left hand – just play tight chords in the center of the keyboard.

“Jesus breathes new life into our music to help us sing a new song.” @BranonDempsey

 

Looking at the song “Jesus” by Chris Tomlin

Intro/Verse: the piano is playing 16th notes (double-time) in slow 4/4. This technique is used to help propel the melody forward by moving rhythm. Much like a river, the current is flowing rapidly underneath, but on the surface, the water is very peaceful and free. There’s also a moving synth pad that provides a stable pedal tone – anchoring down the piano part. Verse: The vocal stands nicely on it’s own.

There’s no drums yet, no bass, just a very nice display of the lyrical melody. On Verse 2: the drummer plays a few sixteenth notes on the tom. The lick being played is reflective of what is happening in the piano section. A kind of echo response. The toms have a light thundering sound to provide emphasis to the lyric. Chorus: The drums play eighths on the ride along with a quarter beat in the kick.

Guitars, bass and piano play punches on the chords:  4     6m  |   5     |  1      |  6m    (repeat) Verse 3: The momentum in the band picks up, emulating the 16th note figure as reflected in the intro/verse. Bridge: The band drops out, leaving the synth to provide a background to support the vocal. Drums and Guitars build back in using the 16th note texture. Final Chorus: Almost a repeat arrangement of the Bridge, the vocal takes center stage.

The band gradually builds. The music ushers a huge roar back into the full chorus. At this point, the Chorus section is at the highest level in the music. Everything is big, lush and colorful.

Theme of the week:
#Jesus

What’s next?

Adapt what you’ve learned above to the songs your band plays. Also, try to look at other music as a form of exercise. Memorize your music and learn to respond to what is happening in the band. Mozart and Bach were masterful composers of music that will always stand the test of time.

But do you know what they were really doing behind the music? Yes, they wrote great works of art because they were employed by the king and the church to write. But little do most people know, most of their music were actually playing exercises and musical examples written for their students. They too believed in the power of repetition.

They too knew if they became bored, there was something wrong as to why they weren’t learning. We are to invite Jesus to make all things new in our hearts. Whether by making new music, writing new songs, or breathing life into familiar tunes.

@BranonDempsey @worshiptt  

WATCH SHOW #51

How can your worship team benefit from learning new vocals  techniques, creative ideas for your band and be inspired to transform your ministry into worship unity? Get motivated. Get a custom WeekendWorkshop that comes to you!

Copyright 2016 Worship Team Training®