Peter, you just made me laugh SOOOO much! I actually really appreciate your "non-christian" opinion.. Definitely sheds some light! ? ?
Band Dynamics in a Church
Some of the songs that stuck out to me were:
Chris Tomlin "Here for you" - nice little clean intro verse and big chorus and bridge.
"Highest and the greatest" - Cool 6/8 thing going on. Complete with big intro... soft verse... big hair chorus and its two bridges. (????) Though for safety sake we'll call the 2nd bridge a tag. But that 6/8 intro was awesome to pull off in the morning. Nothing quite like drive to say "Goodmorning sunshine"
There were quite a few others, but those stuck out to me. The problem was... these guys kept changing keys from week to week (to cater to the vocalist there that week) and that screwed it up for me. Working out a nice line in a cool register was wasted work the next week... sigh.
But to get back to that light shade issue... rehearsal I was told to give a wailing solo on one choon. ON the day, first set... get to the song's solo, I go into a tasty flurry... and no, they decided to jump to an improv worship. I was left high and dry... sniff... so much for band support, lol. 2nd set I expected the same thing... no... they don't go into impromptu worship but full on jamming... and I made my big sound disappear by going clean... ugh... there goes that band support too... they all look at me and I look at them.... "What?".... .... .... "... oh...."
But it was still fun... glad you enjoyed it Paul ?
Chris Tomlin "Here for you" - nice little clean intro verse and big chorus and bridge.
"Highest and the greatest" - Cool 6/8 thing going on. Complete with big intro... soft verse... big hair chorus and its two bridges. (????) Though for safety sake we'll call the 2nd bridge a tag. But that 6/8 intro was awesome to pull off in the morning. Nothing quite like drive to say "Goodmorning sunshine"
There were quite a few others, but those stuck out to me. The problem was... these guys kept changing keys from week to week (to cater to the vocalist there that week) and that screwed it up for me. Working out a nice line in a cool register was wasted work the next week... sigh.
But to get back to that light shade issue... rehearsal I was told to give a wailing solo on one choon. ON the day, first set... get to the song's solo, I go into a tasty flurry... and no, they decided to jump to an improv worship. I was left high and dry... sniff... so much for band support, lol. 2nd set I expected the same thing... no... they don't go into impromptu worship but full on jamming... and I made my big sound disappear by going clean... ugh... there goes that band support too... they all look at me and I look at them.... "What?".... .... .... "... oh...."
But it was still fun... glad you enjoyed it Paul ?
That there is the crux of the matter I think. If it's not something you do because you want to/are passionate about, it's a big time commitment if you're not getting paid.Paul E wrote: ...I'm not sure my small churches budget stretches far enough to hire muzo's..
What size is the church you play in?
No idea what the total size is, but the auditorium sits around 500 people (I think ??? ), but only the evening services really fills it to capacity.
What songs/bands do you play in church?
Contemporary worship (Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, Lincoln Brewster, Jesus Culture, Bethel etc) as well as Afrikaans worship (Retief Burger, Juanita etc).
What gear do you use in your church situation?
When I'm on electric I use my strat into my little 5 watt champ clone. I recently switched to stomp boxes and basically use a volume pedal, OD pedal and delay pedal. For delay it's typically just dotted 8th stuff to emulate the hillsong sound. I also use the delay pedal and volume pedal to do nice ambient swells and things...
What is your role in the band? (Leader on acoustic, leader on electric, second guitarist, third guitarist, etc)
Lead electric, but also acoustic when it's needed
What frustrations do you find playing in your church situation?
I wouldn't call it a frustration, but we try and run two bands to play each other week, so its a challenge to keep a full contingent for two bands (keys, drums, bass, acoustic (two if one of the vocalists also play), electric, 2/3 vocalist) as it is a big commitment. Practice on Thursday evenings and 3 services on a Sunday. It always gets sorted in the end though (I was forced to make the change to electric after our lead electric guitarist left and it really was sink or swim as I had just noodling on electric for the longest time, with most of my time spent on acoustic... it ended up working out perfectly. I'm totally in love with electric playing again!)
Another question I have is how do you guys set up your band practices, learning new songs, changing arrangements, etc.
I am the only constant in our "two bands". The really aren't two bands.. But the keyboardist changes and I lose a drummer and gain a singer. So, I'm the only constant. So, how do I learn new songs? Do you go to band practice on only the weeks you're on? If so, when learning new songs, does you not forget what you practised 2-3 weeks prior? Does the music leader get you the songs and chords a few weeks in advance so you can practice them before the band practice?
What is your procedure for doing that?
I am the only constant in our "two bands". The really aren't two bands.. But the keyboardist changes and I lose a drummer and gain a singer. So, I'm the only constant. So, how do I learn new songs? Do you go to band practice on only the weeks you're on? If so, when learning new songs, does you not forget what you practised 2-3 weeks prior? Does the music leader get you the songs and chords a few weeks in advance so you can practice them before the band practice?
What is your procedure for doing that?
You only practice during the week if you're playing on the Sunday. We get a songset mailed to us on a Tuesday, which lists the songs and the key for each song. We don't introduce too many new songs... I'd say maybe one a month? After a while you get comfortable for the core set of songs... then it becomes a bit easier to keep everything straight in your head.Paul E wrote: Another question I have is how do you guys set up your band practices, learning new songs, changing arrangements, etc.
I am the only constant in our "two bands". The really aren't two bands.. But the keyboardist changes and I lose a drummer and gain a singer. So, I'm the only constant. So, how do I learn new songs? Do you go to band practice on only the weeks you're on? If so, when learning new songs, does you not forget what you practised 2-3 weeks prior? Does the music leader get you the songs and chords a few weeks in advance so you can practice them before the band practice?
What is your procedure for doing that?
You're expected to know your parts when you arrive at practice on Thursday. When we're learning a new song we'll give it a listen and talk through the structure and start practising on getting it tight. We try to spend more time making sure we're tight and working on the transitions between songs and things (the flow), as opposed to actually practising/learning your parts at the practice.
Our worship leader is on keys, so she works out all the arrangements and things and sends them to us. Our vocalists have been with us for a long time, so there's not too much changing of keys going on.
OK... I've actually played in a similar situation (story for another forum and another time).
It's a difficult gig, because the audience isn't there because they have a common taste in music as would be the case for a secular gig. Their motivation is different. The band members might come from different musical backgrounds, and are in the band not just for their musical skills.
So.... how about playing your own material? This means that you can tailor the arrangements to what you have, and it means you don't suffer by comparison to the original. It's much easier to sound like yourselves than like some other band.
In the band and organisation I'm thinking of there was a sort of standard canon of songs recorded by bands in Australia and the USA. We did some of those, but we did our own stuff as well. It did mean that we had to curb some things, the music had to stay mostly sweet and not to jarring or startling - go easy on the overdrive, that sort of thing. I played some keyboards in that band (I'm ham-handed in the key of C, really sucky in any other key) and I found that a big, swirly string synth sort of sound was quite handy for filling out the sound.
We actually had an over-abundance of players (of various degrees of skill) initially. We split up and had two bands, which took some load off of everybody's private lives (which we weren't supposed to have, but they're kind of unavoidable). Eventually we ended up with just one band as various people decided that they couldn't make the comittment. Although it's for a greater cause, you do have to accept that people have more prosaic responsibilities that do need their attention. They may have kids that need looking after. People will get sick and need to be cared for or rest (or be unable to sing).
Our playing environments were mostly sonically awful but fairly small and volume levels weren't high (we were in a suburban area and so had to keep noise levels down). We found it a good thing to have one person involved in all of this who didn't play but listened and gave (diplomatically) feed back and suggestions.
It wasn't easy. We had one guitarist who was really a blues player, another who was a sort of classic rocker. One singer was a trained opera singer and the rest were self taught. I inherited the keyboard chair when the lady who initially played them bowed to the pressures of running a family, so in that role (I did some folky guitar too) I was easily the weakest player in the band. Our drummer liked jazz and funk. Our bass player came from a show band background. Not easy to make cohesive musical statements with that sort of line up. It was ESSENTIAL that egos got checked at the doors, and the songs would sort of pull in all sorts of directions and then settle down in the middle somewhere.
Eventually I decided it was getting too crowded (we had 4 guitar players at one point), and the opera singer and I teamed up - one voice and one guitar. In small venues it was OK and again it meant that the band got some breathers.
It's a difficult gig, because the audience isn't there because they have a common taste in music as would be the case for a secular gig. Their motivation is different. The band members might come from different musical backgrounds, and are in the band not just for their musical skills.
So.... how about playing your own material? This means that you can tailor the arrangements to what you have, and it means you don't suffer by comparison to the original. It's much easier to sound like yourselves than like some other band.
In the band and organisation I'm thinking of there was a sort of standard canon of songs recorded by bands in Australia and the USA. We did some of those, but we did our own stuff as well. It did mean that we had to curb some things, the music had to stay mostly sweet and not to jarring or startling - go easy on the overdrive, that sort of thing. I played some keyboards in that band (I'm ham-handed in the key of C, really sucky in any other key) and I found that a big, swirly string synth sort of sound was quite handy for filling out the sound.
We actually had an over-abundance of players (of various degrees of skill) initially. We split up and had two bands, which took some load off of everybody's private lives (which we weren't supposed to have, but they're kind of unavoidable). Eventually we ended up with just one band as various people decided that they couldn't make the comittment. Although it's for a greater cause, you do have to accept that people have more prosaic responsibilities that do need their attention. They may have kids that need looking after. People will get sick and need to be cared for or rest (or be unable to sing).
Our playing environments were mostly sonically awful but fairly small and volume levels weren't high (we were in a suburban area and so had to keep noise levels down). We found it a good thing to have one person involved in all of this who didn't play but listened and gave (diplomatically) feed back and suggestions.
It wasn't easy. We had one guitarist who was really a blues player, another who was a sort of classic rocker. One singer was a trained opera singer and the rest were self taught. I inherited the keyboard chair when the lady who initially played them bowed to the pressures of running a family, so in that role (I did some folky guitar too) I was easily the weakest player in the band. Our drummer liked jazz and funk. Our bass player came from a show band background. Not easy to make cohesive musical statements with that sort of line up. It was ESSENTIAL that egos got checked at the doors, and the songs would sort of pull in all sorts of directions and then settle down in the middle somewhere.
Eventually I decided it was getting too crowded (we had 4 guitar players at one point), and the opera singer and I teamed up - one voice and one guitar. In small venues it was OK and again it meant that the band got some breathers.
Details Bob details... was this a Freemason band?X-rated Bob wrote: OK... I've actually played in a similar situation (story for another forum and another time).
It's a difficult gig, because the audience isn't there because they have a common taste in music as would be the case for a secular gig. Their motivation is different. The band members might come from different musical backgrounds, and are in the band not just for their musical skills.
So.... how about playing your own material? This means that you can tailor the arrangements to what you have, and it means you don't suffer by comparison to the original. It's much easier to sound like yourselves than like some other band.
In the band and organisation I'm thinking of there was a sort of standard canon of songs recorded by bands in Australia and the USA. We did some of those, but we did our own stuff as well. It did mean that we had to curb some things, the music had to stay mostly sweet and not to jarring or startling - go easy on the overdrive, that sort of thing. I played some keyboards in that band (I'm ham-handed in the key of C, really sucky in any other key) and I found that a big, swirly string synth sort of sound was quite handy for filling out the sound.
We actually had an over-abundance of players (of various degrees of skill) initially. We split up and had two bands, which took some load off of everybody's private lives (which we weren't supposed to have, but they're kind of unavoidable). Eventually we ended up with just one band as various people decided that they couldn't make the comittment. Although it's for a greater cause, you do have to accept that people have more prosaic responsibilities that do need their attention. They may have kids that need looking after. People will get sick and need to be cared for or rest (or be unable to sing).
Our playing environments were mostly sonically awful but fairly small and volume levels weren't high (we were in a suburban area and so had to keep noise levels down). We found it a good thing to have one person involved in all of this who didn't play but listened and gave (diplomatically) feed back and suggestions.
It wasn't easy. We had one guitarist who was really a blues player, another who was a sort of classic rocker. One singer was a trained opera singer and the rest were self taught. I inherited the keyboard chair when the lady who initially played them bowed to the pressures of running a family, so in that role (I did some folky guitar too) I was easily the weakest player in the band. Our drummer liked jazz and funk. Our bass player came from a show band background. Not easy to make cohesive musical statements with that sort of line up. It was ESSENTIAL that egos got checked at the doors, and the songs would sort of pull in all sorts of directions and then settle down in the middle somewhere.
Eventually I decided it was getting too crowded (we had 4 guitar players at one point), and the opera singer and I teamed up - one voice and one guitar. In small venues it was OK and again it meant that the band got some breathers.
[sigh...]Jack Flash Jr wrote: Details Bob details... was this a Freemason band?
X-rated Bob wrote: OK... I've actually played in a similar situation (story for another forum and another time).
One of the biggest things I used to try get was emotion out of any song. It taught me a massive lesson in that dynamics can communicate a message just as much as lyrics.
if we wanted a song to feel a certain way, we would do it slower or faster. Being catholic there is a lot of activity during the mass that we used to take advantage of. So if there was movement we would try for a certain feel, if everyone was kneeling down we would go for something else.
As any band, or group, you want your audience/church to connect with you. It was a great practice ground for that.
if we wanted a song to feel a certain way, we would do it slower or faster. Being catholic there is a lot of activity during the mass that we used to take advantage of. So if there was movement we would try for a certain feel, if everyone was kneeling down we would go for something else.
As any band, or group, you want your audience/church to connect with you. It was a great practice ground for that.
I'm in a church of about 1500 people. We have 3 services on a Sunday, 2 in the morning and 1 in the evening. We are blessed with an abundance of musso's. We currently have 4 worship teams but are moving up to 5 next year.
Team 1 will do the 2 morning services and Team 2 the prayer meeting on a thursday and the sunday evening meeting. Team 3 and 4 the week after that and then the week after that team 2 will do the morning and team 1 the evening and so on ...
We do mostly songs from Hillsong, Jesus Culture and The Passion group of artist.
New songs 1 per month. Introducing new songs, I usually get a link of the original song on YouTube and e-mail it to the band members to listen to.
I lead one team on either accoust or on electric, as well as being lead vocals.
A big problem is people who wants to join the teams but skill level isn't high enough. That is why we are starting a beginners team under some seasonned musso's to help and teach them.
Another issue is you are working with musicians who are easily offended because we are artists and we are feely, touchy people! And even worse you are also working with Christians who is even easier offended than musso's! This is probably my biggest challenge in my team to keep every1 happy and not to step on toes and to make every1 feel like their 5cents matter.
Team 1 will do the 2 morning services and Team 2 the prayer meeting on a thursday and the sunday evening meeting. Team 3 and 4 the week after that and then the week after that team 2 will do the morning and team 1 the evening and so on ...
We do mostly songs from Hillsong, Jesus Culture and The Passion group of artist.
New songs 1 per month. Introducing new songs, I usually get a link of the original song on YouTube and e-mail it to the band members to listen to.
I lead one team on either accoust or on electric, as well as being lead vocals.
A big problem is people who wants to join the teams but skill level isn't high enough. That is why we are starting a beginners team under some seasonned musso's to help and teach them.
Another issue is you are working with musicians who are easily offended because we are artists and we are feely, touchy people! And even worse you are also working with Christians who is even easier offended than musso's! This is probably my biggest challenge in my team to keep every1 happy and not to step on toes and to make every1 feel like their 5cents matter.
Thanks for the post
What size is the church you play in?
Seats around 250 people. Early service is traditional hymns and mid morning is praise and worship
What songs/bands do you play in church?
Contemporary and some older praise and worship.
What gear do you use in your church situation?
I'm on guitar, use a Gibson LP or ES335 into JC 120. We have drums, keyboard and bass and vocalists.
What is your role in the band? (Leader on acoustic, leader on electric, second guitarist, third guitarist, etc)
Worship leader + guitar.
What frustrations do you find playing in your church situation?
Playing every week throughout the year can be a challenge with a small band. Looking to recruit more members to the band and get a trained sound tech.
We subscribe to CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International). For about R400 you get a year subscription to download lyrics and sheet music for most of the contemporary songs. It helps when eveyone's on the same page, especially with new songs. Check it out www.ccli.co.za.
What size is the church you play in?
Seats around 250 people. Early service is traditional hymns and mid morning is praise and worship
What songs/bands do you play in church?
Contemporary and some older praise and worship.
What gear do you use in your church situation?
I'm on guitar, use a Gibson LP or ES335 into JC 120. We have drums, keyboard and bass and vocalists.
What is your role in the band? (Leader on acoustic, leader on electric, second guitarist, third guitarist, etc)
Worship leader + guitar.
What frustrations do you find playing in your church situation?
Playing every week throughout the year can be a challenge with a small band. Looking to recruit more members to the band and get a trained sound tech.
We subscribe to CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International). For about R400 you get a year subscription to download lyrics and sheet music for most of the contemporary songs. It helps when eveyone's on the same page, especially with new songs. Check it out www.ccli.co.za.
Stef, man, that's awesome! I'd love to be in that position, where I have multiple bands! ?StefStoep wrote: I'm in a church of about 1500 people. We have 3 services on a Sunday, 2 in the morning and 1 in the evening. We are blessed with an abundance of musso's. We currently have 4 worship teams but are moving up to 5 next year.
Team 1 will do the 2 morning services and Team 2 the prayer meeting on a thursday and the sunday evening meeting. Team 3 and 4 the week after that and then the week after that team 2 will do the morning and team 1 the evening and so on ...
We do mostly songs from Hillsong, Jesus Culture and The Passion group of artist.
New songs 1 per month. Introducing new songs, I usually get a link of the original song on YouTube and e-mail it to the band members to listen to.
I lead one team on either accoust or on electric, as well as being lead vocals.
A big problem is people who wants to join the teams but skill level isn't high enough. That is why we are starting a beginners team under some seasonned musso's to help and teach them.
Another issue is you are working with musicians who are easily offended because we are artists and we are feely, touchy people! And even worse you are also working with Christians who is even easier offended than musso's! This is probably my biggest challenge in my team to keep every1 happy and not to step on toes and to make every1 feel like their 5cents matter.
Question with the new, upcoming muzo's.. Can you elaborate on your process here?
And maybe a follow up question, what would you suggest for a smaller church who doesn't have many musicians, but has a lot of younger people (13-17 years old) learning instruments. We strive for excellence in any band situation, whether it be church or at a club. However, we also realise that we want to include those willing to serve and it's kind of tough to turn people away or put them on hold when you have no one else playing what they can play. But to include them means including people that really aren't that good, that are immature in age and so half the time they aren't practising.
http://www.worshipbackingband.com/uk/multi-track-page?utm_medium=email&utm_source=emailWBBeblast I found this today (got emailed to me).. Has anyone ever seen this? Tried this? Looks kinda cool... In 3 months time, the majority of my band (they are all in one family) are leaving. My only drummer, bassist and both keyboardists are going back to the USA. So, I'm really cornered. Trying to weigh up my options here!! :/
Just do it yourself Paul, Here's your chance to fill out your Acoustic Playing.
The only thing with backing tracks is that you will be controlled by them, you cant sing the chorus again or even just sing the chorus, you would have to be dictated to by the backing track.(probably fine for churches who have zero musicians)
And what are you going to do when there is a power cut?
Go for it Solo, you can still get big sounds with your acoustic to drive the whole thing.
At the same time, possibly nurturing new musicians.
The only thing with backing tracks is that you will be controlled by them, you cant sing the chorus again or even just sing the chorus, you would have to be dictated to by the backing track.(probably fine for churches who have zero musicians)
And what are you going to do when there is a power cut?
Go for it Solo, you can still get big sounds with your acoustic to drive the whole thing.
At the same time, possibly nurturing new musicians.
Squonk, you are totally right.. My single acoustic can work, in fact, it looks like this week it'll just be me on my acoustic.. Was not supposed to be that way, but the rest of my music team just didn't show up at practice last night. No reason or rhyme... So, this will be a good indication of what it'll be like ?
Squonk wrote: Just do it yourself Paul, Here's your chance to fill out your Acoustic Playing.
The only thing with backing tracks is that you will be controlled by them, you cant sing the chorus again or even just sing the chorus, you would have to be dictated to by the backing track.(probably fine for churches who have zero musicians)
And what are you going to do when there is a power cut?
Go for it Solo, you can still get big sounds with your acoustic to drive the whole thing.
At the same time, possibly nurturing new musicians.
+1 This right here Paul.
I won't add to what Squonk has said here on the thread, but I'll still PM you as soon as I can.
Okay, I see Squonk's post has been moderated, which was the part I was really referring to ? Anyway, Paul, I've pm'd you.
Hi. I love threads like these on secular forums like this, cause it gives people like us who play in church bands the chance to let people who do secular gigs see this side of the spectrum. Just a note I don't have a problem with people doing secular gigs and I wish I could do it as well. Anyway, the questions.
What size is the church you play in?
We have anything from 500 - about a 1000 people on any given Sunday. We have 2 services, morning and evening. The morning services seats the most people. Our morning service has an average age group of between 28 to 38. Evening service is our young adult service. And the age group is usually from high school to about 30. So it's usually a lot louder and livelier.
What songs/bands do you play in church?
We play contemporary songs like hillsong, jesus culture, fee band, etc. We also play afrikaans songs like Retief Burger, Louis Brittz. We also from time to time take the old psalms and gesange songs of the NG kerk and revamp em a bit.
What gear do you use in your church situation?
I use my Gretsch Projet into my few pedals, namely the Boss SD-1, DS-1, Zoom GFX-1 and DD-7. Into a 50w solid state amp. Sometimes i use the churches line 6 flextone 3 as the amp. Sometimes I play bass then I use an oldish ibanez bass. Not sure of exact model as of writing this post.
What is your role in the band? (Leader on acoustic, leader on electric, second guitarist, third guitarist, etc)
I play lead guitar sometimes rhythm depending on the song and who the second electric is. Sometimes I play bass
What frustrations do you find playing in your church situation?
I don't really have any. When they do arise it gets sorted out ASAP.
Our band is very dynamic. We are people from different backgrounds musically. In fact other than our Worship leader, most of us have full time day jobs that have no connection to music at all. And this makes it even better.
Our band setup is as follows:
2 acoustics - 1 worship leader, 1 backing acoustic
2 electrics - This is where we are dynamic as we switch between who plays lead and rhythm depending on the song and which two electric players are playing in that service.
1 keyboard - plays piano and strings parts.
1 synth - this is what's cool. We have a dude with a M-Audio axiam 49 i think. With his pc on stage playing synth and pads sounds for us. when strings just don't cut it.
1 bass - ofcourse
1 drummer - naturally
1 - 5 backing vocals - dependant on if they are available the Sunday and dependant on how our worship leader sets up the set.
In this set-up we take the songs and make them our own. We don't always cover a song. We improvise where and when we can but keep the core of the song, especially the worship songs. I terms of practice, we get the the roster by Wednesday and set list by Thursday practice time. we rehearse\practice on thursdays. 7-8 is morning service rehearsal. 8-9 is everybody get together and we have some kind of teaching or spiritual discussion that usually has a connection to what we do on sundays as a worship team and 9-10 is evening service rehearsal. We have one band but the people playing can differ between the morning and evening service.
What size is the church you play in?
We have anything from 500 - about a 1000 people on any given Sunday. We have 2 services, morning and evening. The morning services seats the most people. Our morning service has an average age group of between 28 to 38. Evening service is our young adult service. And the age group is usually from high school to about 30. So it's usually a lot louder and livelier.
What songs/bands do you play in church?
We play contemporary songs like hillsong, jesus culture, fee band, etc. We also play afrikaans songs like Retief Burger, Louis Brittz. We also from time to time take the old psalms and gesange songs of the NG kerk and revamp em a bit.
What gear do you use in your church situation?
I use my Gretsch Projet into my few pedals, namely the Boss SD-1, DS-1, Zoom GFX-1 and DD-7. Into a 50w solid state amp. Sometimes i use the churches line 6 flextone 3 as the amp. Sometimes I play bass then I use an oldish ibanez bass. Not sure of exact model as of writing this post.
What is your role in the band? (Leader on acoustic, leader on electric, second guitarist, third guitarist, etc)
I play lead guitar sometimes rhythm depending on the song and who the second electric is. Sometimes I play bass
What frustrations do you find playing in your church situation?
I don't really have any. When they do arise it gets sorted out ASAP.
Our band is very dynamic. We are people from different backgrounds musically. In fact other than our Worship leader, most of us have full time day jobs that have no connection to music at all. And this makes it even better.
Our band setup is as follows:
2 acoustics - 1 worship leader, 1 backing acoustic
2 electrics - This is where we are dynamic as we switch between who plays lead and rhythm depending on the song and which two electric players are playing in that service.
1 keyboard - plays piano and strings parts.
1 synth - this is what's cool. We have a dude with a M-Audio axiam 49 i think. With his pc on stage playing synth and pads sounds for us. when strings just don't cut it.
1 bass - ofcourse
1 drummer - naturally
1 - 5 backing vocals - dependant on if they are available the Sunday and dependant on how our worship leader sets up the set.
In this set-up we take the songs and make them our own. We don't always cover a song. We improvise where and when we can but keep the core of the song, especially the worship songs. I terms of practice, we get the the roster by Wednesday and set list by Thursday practice time. we rehearse\practice on thursdays. 7-8 is morning service rehearsal. 8-9 is everybody get together and we have some kind of teaching or spiritual discussion that usually has a connection to what we do on sundays as a worship team and 9-10 is evening service rehearsal. We have one band but the people playing can differ between the morning and evening service.
Don't know if they've been mentioned here but you guys should check out 16 Horsepower (first album, Sackcloth and Ashes, is my fave)... awesome slide, lots of instrument experimentation and genuine "believer's" evocative power.
Nice, will definitely take a lookJack Flash Jr wrote: Don't know if they've been mentioned here but you guys should check out 16 Horsepower (first album, Sackcloth and Ashes, is my fave)... awesome slide, lots of instrument experimentation and genuine "believer's" evocative power.
Okay, so I don't play in a church band but I was invited recently to attend a concert/service at a church on a Saturday at which a number of bands had been invited to play.
My comments now are subjective as a musician and I hope those who are in church bands don't take offence.
Apart from one performer, who was the main act, a guy who sang his original compositions to a professionally produced backing track in which he had played all the instruments himself, the rest were disappointing to say the least.
Drummers' timings were way off, and scaling... instruments were out of tune, particularly one band who had a sax player that was almost a ¼ tone out to the keyboards and the singers were way off pitch.
What I noticed was that some of the audience/congregation were caught up in the moment of fellowship and were oblivious, or at least tolerant/forgiving of the poor standard of music. Others were wincing and clearly not enjoying it. Me? I was amused. As a music teacher, I too am tolerant of students who are learning to play, but when these bands were advertised to get people to come to the event then I do expect them to at least be in tune.
I got the feeling that this was a case of self-indulgence on the part of the musicians with little thought given to the audience's sensibilities.
As a kid, which was before the rinderpest, I sang in a traditional men's church choir and was subject to clear disciplines that remain with me to this day. We, the boys, had a formal practice for an hour every Tuesday and Thursday and then we would come together on a Friday evening with the men, the tenors and basses, for an hour. We then sang at two services on a Sunday and were also booked on occasions to do weddings. There was no messing about and you listened intently to the choir master or you were out. Also, if after two months you couldn't hold a tune you were out.
Paul, I reckon that if you have a small congregation, you could think about forming a choir of say 10 people, with you doing the accompaniment on acoustic guitar and with one of the singers playing a tambourine and other appropriate percussion instruments. You can concentrate on getting a sound from your singers and forget the idea of trying to make a band out of sub-standard musos. Also, with a 10 piece choir, if some people don't attend it's not a train smash. Those who do play instruments well can be invited up to do their thing on an ad-hoc basis.
My comments now are subjective as a musician and I hope those who are in church bands don't take offence.
Apart from one performer, who was the main act, a guy who sang his original compositions to a professionally produced backing track in which he had played all the instruments himself, the rest were disappointing to say the least.
Drummers' timings were way off, and scaling... instruments were out of tune, particularly one band who had a sax player that was almost a ¼ tone out to the keyboards and the singers were way off pitch.
What I noticed was that some of the audience/congregation were caught up in the moment of fellowship and were oblivious, or at least tolerant/forgiving of the poor standard of music. Others were wincing and clearly not enjoying it. Me? I was amused. As a music teacher, I too am tolerant of students who are learning to play, but when these bands were advertised to get people to come to the event then I do expect them to at least be in tune.
I got the feeling that this was a case of self-indulgence on the part of the musicians with little thought given to the audience's sensibilities.
As a kid, which was before the rinderpest, I sang in a traditional men's church choir and was subject to clear disciplines that remain with me to this day. We, the boys, had a formal practice for an hour every Tuesday and Thursday and then we would come together on a Friday evening with the men, the tenors and basses, for an hour. We then sang at two services on a Sunday and were also booked on occasions to do weddings. There was no messing about and you listened intently to the choir master or you were out. Also, if after two months you couldn't hold a tune you were out.
Paul, I reckon that if you have a small congregation, you could think about forming a choir of say 10 people, with you doing the accompaniment on acoustic guitar and with one of the singers playing a tambourine and other appropriate percussion instruments. You can concentrate on getting a sound from your singers and forget the idea of trying to make a band out of sub-standard musos. Also, with a 10 piece choir, if some people don't attend it's not a train smash. Those who do play instruments well can be invited up to do their thing on an ad-hoc basis.