10 Ways to Improve the Church Band by Next Sunday

How's the band sounding? Enliven your musical output by adopting one or more of these ideas.

1. Rehearse before Sunday!
2. At rehearsal get all band members to sing the song before playing - this is a great for getting the right speed.
3. Ask everyone to practise at home before the joint rehearsal.
4. Tune up properly - spend time on this step, until you get it right.
5. Position the band at the back of the worship space, because change is as good as a holiday, and listen to the singing lift.
6. Those who can play while standing, should be standing.
7. Rehearse introductions and endings several times over for each song. Make sure they improve each time you rehearse them.
8. Record the band playing at rehearsal then play it back - ask them how they (personally and corporately) can improve the result. Make sure they act on their own advice.
9. Use stable music stands
10.Don't play the melody - that's the singer's part.

You may also be interested in the short course for song leaders - Songmakers

Visit Spirited and Singing on Facebook

Make Your Own Instruments

Banish Budget Woes
Music budget a bit tight?
Not to worry.
With a little time and energy, and the ability to follow instructions, your faith community can build up a collection of instruments in no time using easily obtainable materials.

What to Make
A casual visit to your local carpet dealer could see you with the makings of carpet tube bongos. PVC offcuts can be transformed into a nifty xylophone, and pipes. The possibilities are endless, and the costs are low. In northern Victoria some years ago, I know of one man who recovered road kill to make his djembe drums - not everyone's idea of a good time.

Gather a bunch of people together and make a day of it.

Here's a sample of 'make your own instruments' sites available.

Planet Green
Includes rain sticks, balloon drums, pipes and more, with video footage to assist in the crafting.

DSO Kids
Make claypot chimes, maracas and even a xylophone using PVC pipe.

Mudcat
Includes a gourd rattle and carpet tube bongos.

Bushwahzee
For an Aussie bush flavour this site includes instructions for making a lagerphone, washboard and box bass.

How to Tan a Leather Hide
Not for the faint hearted!

Starting a Band (and avoiding instrumental cacophony)

Some years ago I was invited to kick start a new church band in a tiny rural congregation in Victoria. It was a faith community that had previously been dependent on a small organ. When I arrived the prospective band members were waiting. It was possibly the most unusual instrumental combination I'd ever encountered: acoustic guitar, piano accordian, euphonium, pipe organ and clarinet.

Acknowledging the Challenges
The encounter raised some significant musical and theological challenges for me. The musicians were nervous. They had never played together before, and their previous public 'performance' experience could be recorded on one hand. The age-range of the particpants was vast, with the youngest in primary school and the oldest over 70.

Questions pinballed about in my brain as I listened to them talk:
Is it even possible to combine these instruments in a satisfactory way?
Is it possible to include people in musical leadership with such limited experience?
Is the musical result more or less important than engaging these musicians in the church's life, particularly as some had virtually no connection with the congregation in the past?
What is the minimum skill level advisable for participation in musical leadership?
When and how and should we say 'wait awhile' to those learning their instrument?


Getting Started

Learning to sit and wait for answers does not always come easily, but it often turns out to be quite fruitful. I decided to find out what each of them imagined their contribution would be. It is not unusual for the 'musical director' to have quite a different vision to that of the players. Rather than the process being director-driven,  the opportunity was offered for input from others.

We talked about the willingness and availablity of the musicians to rehearse together and to practise at home. They were all willing to work on improving their musical skills.

We explored the notion of being prepared NOT to play. For some songs, the piano accordian and clarinet would team up, for another the guitar would lead, and in the next the organist and euphonium. These various combinations not only enabled variety on accompaniment for the congregation, but meant the musicians only need to practise up one or two songs each week.

I encouraged them to make further connections with their local primary school and to invite participation from those in the school community.

What about you? 
How do you go about deciding who can and can't (yet) offer musical leadership in your faith community? How do you balance the theological imperative to encourage the developments of gifts, with the responsibilities that come with any form of leadership?
How does the musical life in your faith community reflect 'Kingdom' values?
How does your community blend unusual instruments?
Are there any instruments you regard as unacceptable for use in worship?

What to Play
For tips on how to use The King of Glory with a young band click here.

You may also be interested in
Virtual Music Barriers
How to Improve the Church Band by next Sunday

Visit Spirited and Singing on Facebook

10 Ways to Fertilise Your Community's Musical Life

This list is a starting point, which will hopefully grow into a much more extensive list. Let's have your ideas.

1. Talk to people, and not just the musicians.
2. Don't make assumptions about which instruments can be included in the music program.
3. Find out what else your current musicians can do: can they play a second or thrid instrument, break-dance, juggle, balance-the-books, give a great massage, grow organic vegetables, fly light aircraft?
4. Run a poll to find out which songs are the community favourites.
5. Postpone the packing up and go for coffee.
6. Insist on rehearsal, resisting the time immediately before worship which impedes creativity or practice.
7. Find out who else plays a musical instrument in your faith community, or who learnt when they were younger. It can be a revelation!
8. Engage the whole community in larger musical undertakings like a sing-a-thon or a singing protest.
9. Use the money raised at the aforementioned sing-a-thon to fund a musical internship for a someone in your faith community. Perhaps a term of lessons for someone?
10. Encourage singing at meetings.

You may also be interested in Exploring a Theology of Gratitude in the Land of Entitlement

8 Top Tips for Getting Blokes to Sing

Getting men in your faith community singing can be challenging. Unless a strong singing culture already exists, and a decent number of blokes are present, men often feel their voice is too exposed, and resist singing with anything like great gusto.

Some years back, in my own congregation, the collective voice of men became so reticent, despite their significant number, that I set about trying to identify the problems. After listening to what they had to say, the 8 Top Tips for Getting Blokes to Sing emerged quite effortlessly.

Getting the voice of men going is an ongoing adventure. However, one delightful observation has been that on the week "Blokes Vocals" lead the singing in my congregation, the eyes of the boys shine as they too attempt to lift the roof.

1. Use male song leaders

Chances are your male musicians are not leading the singing, but contribute on piano, guitar, bass or drums, with a female offering the vocal lead. What this can often mean is that men in the congregation perceive the song is "too high" because the songleader is singing an octave above.

2. Check the pitch of your songs

It has to be said, many of our community songs are too high. It seems to be an area often neglected by music publishers. I suspect the key of most songs is chosen because of its accessibility for instruments, or that it sits comfortably for the individual who wrote it. As a rule of thumb, I consider any song exceeding a high D, or E flat at the most, to be prohibitive. Many will even find that D too difficult to handle, especially first thing in the morning.

3. Include songs with male imagery

Consider the text of some of the songs we sing, and you'll understand why they confront the masculine. To use an oldie as an example, "If I were a butterfly" is a phrase no self-respecting 16 year-old man will add his voice to. Just as we have become conscious about using feminine images in worship, so too should we ensure there is music that resonates with men and boys.

4. Use bass instruments in your band

 If your instrumental combination is top-heavy with treble instruments, men may feel unsupported. Try doubling the bass on piano or keyboard, or using other bass instruments.

5. Encourage blokes to sit together

For reasons similar to tip 4, men fell particularly exposed when surrounded by treble singers - this may include their partner and children. If you can devise ways of bunching blokes together, it will bolster confidence and participation.

6. Flush out their favourites

Find out which songs the men in your congregation like. The revelations can help ensure there is at least one winner each time. It may also help to inform new song choices.

7. Get the guys together

In my faith community, a few years back. we decided to get a bunch of guys together to lead the singing one Mother's Day. I enlisted one of our male keyboard players to run the rehearsal, beacause I wanted it to be a men's thing. His main fear was that the outcome would be akin to a footy team singing the club song at the end of the game. Sure, the results are unlikley to be top-notch, but the positives are many.

Whenever our "Blokes Vocals" lead the singing the corporate voice is as uplifting as I have ever experienced. Everyone sings their heart out, with a grin on their face. People regularly report how uplifting iot was, and report shivers down the back of their neck. Yes, it IS that good. "Blokes Vocals" is often enlisted to introduce new songs, as it ensures on the occasions they sing within the community, they will offer a strong lead.

8. Use songs with men/boy's parts

This is one way of getting men and boys linked in to each other's voices. Sing songs with a women/girls part and a men/boys part. Any two-part thing will do. Have a leader for each part up front, and observe the results. If you get a boy to lead the part, most men will make a second effort.  In a standard community song, it is also great to have females sing a verse, and males to sing another.

I'd love to hear what you have tried and tested in your faith community.


Visit Spirited and Singing on Facebook

You may also be interested in
Why don't the Children sing?
Virtual Music Barriers