Archive for category Uncategorized
How To Keep Your Guitar Parts Fresh
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on June 25th, 2009
Fresh Chips are good. So are fresh guitar parts.
When things are fresh, things are good. When things are stale: not so good.
We can have a similar challenge when keeping our guitar parts fresh and new. If we only play on Sundays things can stay fresh, but then you throw in youth group, college ministry, the two prayer meetings a week (shout-out to all my Furnace friends), things get old fast.
-Change Guitars
There is nothing like changing instruments to help change your perspective on a song. Different guitars have different personalities. That different personality can be the first spark to a firestorm of inspiration.
I have noticed in my own playing that I tend to play differently depending on the guitar I have in my hands. My playing is dependent upon the personality of the instrument.
Use that to your advantage. If things are getting stale, freshen them up by borrowing a guitar from a friend, or taking that 80’s Fender out of your closet that you haven’t played in forever.
-Treat Effects like an Instrument (Your guitar isn’t the only instrument you have.)
It can be very easy for us to take a guitar part and just attach an effect on to it. This isn’t a “creative” way of looking at things. Effects are not just something to tack on to the guitar. They should fundamentally change the way you play. Don’t just play the guitar, play the effect.
Believe it or not you do this already. Think about how you play clean tones versus how you play overdriven or distorted tones. You play the guitar very differently. You use different voicings. You play differently based on the effect you use.
Now expand this way of thinking to all your other effects. Delay, phaser, whammy, octave…the list goes on. All of these effects are little gold mines of new ways of playing, waiting to be unlocked with a fresh perspective.
-Rip something off of Sigur Ros
If you are having a hard time thinking of something fresh and new, do what we all do: Steal it from someone else. Sigur Ros is a band from Iceland that is doing some really exciting things on guitar (Be warned: I think the band’s latest album cover features rear nudity), but they are not the only ones . Even if you aren’t a U2 fan, the Edge is always doing something worth looking at. There is inspiration out there, it’s just a matter of finding it.
-Change Stings
This is one of the most overlooked ways of keeping parts fresh. If there was one way to turn stale chips into fresh crunchy snacks, it is this. Changing strings will make the same old “Mighty To Save” lick sound better than you thought it could. It takes some work, but the reward is worth it.
If you have to play the same licks over and over again, at least make them sound as good as they can.
-Grab Inspiration from the imagery in the song
This can be fun, tricky, and demanding of your imagination. You will have to pay attention to lyrics, catch some imagery or mood from the lyrics and translate it into a guitar part.
This can be difficult, but is the ultimate example of great musicianship. A mournful bend during the second verse of “Blessed Be Your Name,” a thunderous swell when “Indescribable” refers to lightning– use your instrument to make the lyrics pop in people’s minds so the truth of those lyrics becomes more real and less cliché.
Getting Bored? Good
Before you find something new, things have to feel old. If everything you played felt fresh all the time, you would never feel the urge to push for something new and exciting. Embrace your boredom. You might be about to unlock something really exciting.
Keep sharp.
-Jed
Why We Can Worship
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on June 19th, 2009
We all have certain passages of the Bible that are close to our hearts. There is something about passages which depict powerful encounters with God that have always caught my attention. Most of the Bible deals with our humanity and a fallen race living on a tainted planet; however, every once in a while we see a picture of life beyond the earthly. It’s like looking through a crack in the fence of the physical and limited into the heavenly and infinite.
Every once in a while we see God. Unfiltered. Shining in His limitless glory.
One of these instances is Isaiah 6. Isaiah is swept up in a vision into the throne room of heaven and he sees God as he really is. His limited eyes behold unlimited glory. And it terrifies him.
He responds, “Woe to me. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (6:5).
There he is standing in front of the one true Almighty God and all he can think about is his own failure.
Immediately, before anything else happens, an atonement process is underway to make up for Isaiah’s failings. Isaiah’s encounter with God was characterized by his own guilt and shame.
So often we can come to worship on Sunday morning and instead of encountering God, we are reminded of our sin, failings and short-comings. Our own guilt and shame characterize our worship rather than His attributes.
Now skip to the back of the Bible to Revelation 1 and we see a very similar encounter. This time John is swept up in a vision and sees Jesus in His glorified state.
The encounter is surprisingly similar to the one in Isaiah. Yet there is a distinct difference in how John reacts to seeing God. He isn’t concerned with his own sin, like Isaiah. There is no fit of guilt and shame. He doesn’t even confess his own sin. He just falls “at his feet as though dead” (1:17). He is completely consumed with the glory of Jesus.
Why the difference? John couldn’t have been more righteous than Isaiah. Both see God in his throne room filled with glory yet he reacts differently. What has changed?
The difference is Jesus. The Son of God on the cross saying, “It is finished.”
Because of Jesus we can react to God like John did, uninhibited by our own failure. Christ is our success for the Christian life and He frees us to encounter Him without restraint.
The Lamb has touched you and your guilt has been taken away and your sin has been atoned for.
When we come to worship we don’t need to be distracted by our failings and short-comings. Christ has dealt with that definitively once and for all. When we come to worship we are free to be consumed by the glory of God.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Is Your Sound Engineer An Alien?
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on June 16th, 2009
Sound engineers are from another planet. They are aliens in a world of music. They don’t play an instrument, they speak another language, they use strange technology and sometimes they look funny.
They are a completely different species really and understanding them can be difficult.
I’m not saying they can be understood perfectly. Even though humans have vast imagination and brain power, something as alien as Sound Engineers can really push the limits of our mental capacity.
To help us peer into the mind of these strange beings here are some insights into what makes them tic.
-Sound engineers are constantly trying to achieve a good mix. They really do want as good of a mix as we do. It doesn’t seem like it a lot of the time.
-Their idea of a good mix is different than yours. This is where their alien identity really starts to show through. Do you ever hear a recording of Chris Tomlin’s and it breaks into a guitar solo and you think to yourself “Why isn’t the guitar turned up more?” I don’t understand it either but for a lot of people that is a really good mix. Now a normal human would know that a guitar solo should be more like on a Lincoln Brewster recording: loud and upfront. But apparently there are a lot more aliens out there.
-Most Sound Engineers are not working with the greatest equipment. Some of them have to work with down-right junk. This makes their job very difficult. If it seems like they aren’t able to get good results, it could be the tools they have to work with.
-Sound engineers are always multitasking. Sometimes you may wonder why it takes them so long for them to react to a request like monitor changes. Imagine going to work where you are constantly pulled in several directions at once. That’s sort of what a sound engineer is like even though it doesn’t always look it. They are constantly having their attention diverted from what ever they were thinking about before. If it seems like they don’t communicate in an understanding way or bluntly, it is not that they don’t care, it’s just that they are thinking about three things at once.
-Sound engineers are most concerned with vocals. This is still hard for me to believe, but it’s true. The reason is because the congregation is most reliant and concerned with vocals. Worship in modern day western culture is largely on people singing. If the congregation can’t hear the vocals well and clearly, they won’t be able engage in worship.
And that is the whole reason you are doing what you are doing so people can engage in worship.
-The more control a sound person has the better chance of a great mix. This has UFO written all over it. The less sound coming from the stage (the less sound coming from your guitar amp) the more pure of a mix the sound man will be able to produce through the speakers. If the sound coming from the speakers doesn’t have to compete with the sound from the stage everything (including you) will sound better. Now we still have to hear ourselves for sure, but there are ways of doing this so you can give your sound engineer maximum control and still hear yourself clearly.
Although Sound Engineers are a strange and sometimes weird-looking species, they are good hearted.
Keep sharp,
-Jed
This Friday check out an encouraging post “Why We Can Worship.” Plus, be on the look for more ideas on helping your Sound Engineer create a good mix.
Your First Great Sounding Guitar Rig
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on June 8th, 2009
If you have been playing electric guitar for a while you have probably been asked by an aspiring electric guitar player what gear they should start with. I have been asked this question enough times that I felt it warranted a post.
You aspiring electric players, here is one man’s opinion. For the guitar players who have been around a while let me know what you think and what you would change, add-on or take-away.
Criteria for Selecting Gear
1. Reasonably Priced. Nothing really boutique here. No gear on this post will be $500.00 delay pedals or overdrive pedals with hand-drawn paintings on them.
2. Still Quality. Sometimes ‘reasonably priced’ means cheap and you will want to get rid of it in a year. The gear on this post is meant to be something that would last guitar players at least five years if not the rest of their guitar-playing life.
3. Easy to Find. Some of the best gear is made in some guy’s basement, but it isn’t easy for us to get to. The gear listed can be bought at a Guitar Center or even some Best Buys (I know, weird).
4. No Multi-Effects Here. In choosing gear a player could play for a very long time I decided not to include any multi-effects for the reason they go out of date so fast and need to be upgraded about every two years.
Let it begin, let it begin!
AMP: Epiphone Valve Jr.
Amps play a huge part in your sound. They determine how good of quality your sound really is.
There is one constant truth about amps: No matter how much Axe you spray on it, a solid state amp stinks. They just don’t sound as good as a tube amp.
The one I recommend for beginners and really any player on a budget or otherwise is the Epiphone Valve Jr. I play through a Rivera R-55 and a 1985 Mese Boogie Mark III. I love high-quality boutique amps, which is one of the reasons why this amp shocks and amazes me. It pumps out the volume (I push the volume with my pedals so the amp doesn’t break up) and it sounds great. At around $300.00 it’s a steal.
OVERDRIVE: Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9
This overdrive pedal has smooth sounds and is as versatile as a Swiss Army Knife. You can use it as your core sounds or as a clean boost with other pedals. No matter how you much you upgrade your pedal board you will find a place and a use for the TS-9.
DELAY: MXR Carbon Copy or Boss DD-7
Delay is a necessary effect for playing worship guitar. There are two different types of delay. For lack of better terms we will call them atmospheric and U2ish (these terms are seriously lacking for sure).
For ‘Atmospheric’ delay the MXR Carbon Copy does a great job with it’s warm analog sound and additional modulation button.
For ‘U2ish’ stuff the Boss DD-7 is a great way to go. Boss has always done a great job with segmentation such as dotted eighth notes and triplets and with the additional controller, tap-tempo can be made easy.
TUNER: Boss TU-2
Pedal tuners are another necessity to a guitar rig. You never know when a string will go out of tune and you need to be on top of it. With a good pedal tuner you can tune up during the song without anyone knowing it.
TU-2 is built like a tank and has a great daisy chain feature for powering pedals so you can use it to help expand your board in the future.
The biggest piece of advice I can give in purchasing your first rig is don’t buy junk. Buy something you can use five or ten years from now.
Keep sharp.
-Jed
3 Pedals You Should Know About (But Not Necessarily Buy Right Now)
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on May 29th, 2009
There is nothing so intoxicating to a guitar player as effects pedals. Sometimes I’m amazed at their hypnotic hold on me. I will be looking at ProGuitarShopDemos on Youtube for a lot longer than I care to admit (if you haven’t discovered this Youtube channel then check it out).
Pedals really are fascinating little devices. They can give an arsenal of sounds that makes the electric guitar such an intriguing instrument. These pedals add to that arsenal. Some of these pedals are a little more practical than others, but I’ll let you decide that.
1. Tap-Tempo Tremolo.
Let’s face it, delay is a standard. Without a good delay pedal, it is pretty hard to call yourself a WorshipGuitarist. Some of you even have two delays on your board (and I salute you).
But you want to go beyond the standard. Tremolo is the way to go. It can give your guitar parts that dash of color to take your sound to the next level. In the past I have always been a little queasy about tremolos because it was so hard to match the tempo with the beat of the song. Not any more.
Here are a couple of tap-tempo tremolos.
Best used with delay.
2. Switch or Controller or True Bypass Loop Pedals
I’m not actually sure what these pedals are called but they are cool. These pedals are for all of you who have “too many” pedals (as if that were possible). You use all of them. In fact it is really entertaining watching you use all of them. It is sort of like a tap-dance going from your clean/delay sound to your lead sound.
That tap-dance is exactly what these pedals eliminate. You take the rest of your pedals and loop them into the controller pedal which allows you to create ‘patches’ using your trusty effects boxes. The sounds that took you four stomps to create will now only take one.
I don’t know if he realizes that the point of these things is to make your pedalboard less messy. Oh well. Here is one by Rivera.
3. Wah Probe
And now for something completely different. Just watch.
That’s cool.
Let me know what you think about these pedals in the comments and if you know of any other really great pedals tell us about those too.
-Jed
Master Your Musicianship
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on May 27th, 2009
You can have all the gear in the world, the best guitars, the best amps, but if you don’t have musicianship it isn’t worth anything. Gear without musicianship is like a clanging symbol. I’m getting my metaphors mixed up but it is true. Here are 8 powerful tips to master your musicianship.
1. Listen for the silence. One of the traits of a master of musicianship is to know when not to play. Not every part of every song needs a sweet guitar line. I know, it’s shocking. What is not being heard in the song makes what is being heard more powerful. Knowing when not to play will make your next guitar part more meaningful.
2. Sometimes a tasteful guitar lick is the best thing to give the second verse more pop than the first. Remember to aim during the cadence of the vocals. Place your lick in between the singers’ vocals. Don’t fight with the vocals, work with them.
3. Match your sounds with the right part. Don’t ‘tack-on’ an effect to a guitar part. The part should be designed for the sound and vice versa.
4. Know your blind spots. There are times when we think we sound good and times when we don’t. We need to be sensitive and look at our playing critically in order to find these.
5. Listen to other guitar players. When listening to music no matter what genre, listen to how the guitar player is supporting the song. Listening is the first step to learning. The guitar has different roles in different genres and may not be supporting in the same way it does in worship music, but there is something to be learned from just about every genre.
6. A touch of delay goes a long way.
7. Don’t eat the whole pie. Music is like a sonic pie. The drummers have their slice. Bassists have their slice. Keyboardists have their slice. And you have yours. The guitar has the ability to take up a lot of ‘sonic room’ or eat pieces of the pie that don’t belong to it. It’s rude to eat someone else’s piece of the pie, both musically and physically. Hear the other instruments. Listen to what they are doing and don’t eat their piece of the pie. Instead, by making your part more complementary, you drastically improve the quality of music.
8. Know your congregation. Some people react well to guitar solos. Others not so much. Guitar is cool whether it is a solo or a tasteful volume swell. You are there to serve them. If you don’t know them, then you can’t serve them.
More pieces to the puzzle of sounding good.
-Jed
3 Ways To Lead Worship From Guitar
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on May 13th, 2009
You have probably figured it out by now: Playing guitar isn’t enough. More is needed than just a guitar part. You are not there to just provide a backing track. You are there to lead your congregation into genuine worship of the Risen Savior.
We have a lot to think about when playing guitar and you might be afraid to add some more things to the plate. Don’t worry. These are small yet very effective things you can do to help lead your church into worship.
1. Smile. This is the biggest thing especially for us electric guitarists. We have a lot to think about when we play. We are always thinking about the settings on our pedals, which strings the pick should be hitting, what fret our hand is on, and, of course, what part is coming up next in the song and what tap-dance we will have to perform to get the right pedals turned on and the wrong pedals turned off. We have quite a job on our hands…and feet.
Because of this we can often look like zombies. Our faces look like we don’t care about what we are doing and why we are there. Of course, this isn’t true. We are concentrating. We have to. But if we learn to smile while managing everything, we keep ourselves from being just a manikin with a Fender. We become worship leaders. We enjoy what we are doing. We enjoy why we are doing it. By smiling we communicate that enjoyment and inspire it in others.
2. Look at the congregation. Don’t ignore them. A worship leader (that’s you) who ignores their church will end up with a church that ignores them. You are there to lead worship, not play a song and hope worship happens.
Engage them with your eyes. Let them know you haven’t forgotten they are there. Suck them in with your smile. Let them see you enjoying worship. You don’t have to make eye contact with an individual necessarily; you can look at them as a whole. But don’t be afraid to make eye contact with a stranger and give them a smile every once in a while. By engaging them in this small yet very effective way, you will inspire your church to also enjoy worship.
3. Think about your guitar parts like a worship leader. Sometimes we can think so much like a guitar player we forget to think like a musician. We can get so wrapped up in a new pedal that we use it all the time. Or we just love the way power chords sound so we use them during songs like “Here I Am To Worship.” What happens is we take away from the song instead of adding to it.
Design your guitar parts to complement or even enhance the song. When this is done well, your instrument begins to lead worship as well.
Jesus is alive; therefore, you be alive when you worship Him and others will follow.
-Jed
What To Do With A Rival Guitar Player
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on May 5th, 2009
Your probably thinking, “Jed, that picture is dumb.” To which I say “Yes, you are right. Is the guy in the center wearing eye shadow?” Unfortunately, it was the best pic I could find to illustrate the problem of rivalries among musicians.
Most of the time this isn’t a problem (guitar player rivalries, that is, finding a good pic for your blog is quite an ordeal), but at some point of time we will have to deal with this if you haven’t already. Your worship ministry gets another guitarist. Something else happens: a rivalry. Maybe just in your mind or maybe just in theirs, but either way you are constantly sizing them up and you feel they are doing the same.
It doesn’t take you long before you start thinking “maybe this isn’t healthy?” After all we are called to love one another and what is happening between you two doesn’t seem to be love.
You always know something is up when interactions with the ‘Opposition’ become awkward, uncomfortably short or even hostile. Something has to change. Here are some thinking patterns to help you through this and to get past it.
Playing guitar is a position of service, not ownership. This is the point that is very true and will have everyone nodding their heads to the computer screen but doesn’t really make anyone feel better. That’s okay; it’s still true.
If you are a lone guitar player in your worship ministry it is very easy to start thinking your position of playing electric guitar (or acoustic) is your right, not your privilege. Obviously the opposite is true. Your ultimate motivation for playing guitar for your church is to fill a gap when needed, to serve when it is called upon. If you are playing because it is your position and your right than you have lost spirit of service necessary for worship ministry.
Two Types Of Bad Competition
There are two types of unhealthy competition that can develop in this type of situation.
1. The “I will beat you at all cost” competition.
This one almost always manifests itself as passive aggressiveness in churches. It is when one of you wants nothing more than to prove yourself better than the other person so much that it eats away at you.
Here are some questions to ask yourself if you are suffering from this condition.
-Do you give them advice when they ask?
-Do you ask them for advice?
-Are you willing to share your “secrets” with them?
-Are you happy for them when they succeed or grow?
If you answer no to any of these, take an honest look at yourself to see if you are the cause of an unhealthy rivalry.
2. The “There is no competition” competition.
This is the competition-phobic response to competition. It is when one of you just tries to ignore or avoid any and all types of comparison between you and the other guitar player(s). Your playing and your attitude should improve when another guitar player comes on the scene because you should be learning from them. Ask yourself these questions:
-Do you two ever have conversations that lead to one of you two playing a little differently?
-Are you ever motivated to get better because of them?
-Are you motivated to improve your tone?
If the answer is no to any of these, start looking for things they are doing well, things you can pick up on and learn from.
The Good Kind Of Competition: Iron Sharpens Iron.
Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Having two or more guitar players in your worship ministry should motivate healthy growth from both of you. Your relationship becomes about both of you growing rather than trying to beat the other person.
If you are not motivated to get better or learning from what they are doing then you need to work on creating a relationship that sharpens each other. If you are simply trying to become sharper simply to cut another person down then that needs to stop right now.
They are not your enemy, they are your partners in crime (sort of). Together you can create a stronger, better quality worship ministry.
-Jed
Why Your Worship Ministry Matters to Your Church
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on April 21st, 2009
I remember when I first started serving my church’s worship ministry. I had been playing guitar for almost two years and had just gotten my hands on a brand new Carvin SC-90. Church needed an electric guitarist and I had a knack for putting in nice little touches in songs.
I also had a knack for putting huge horrible waste baskets in songs, but that’s another post.
Serving in the worship ministry brought me a lot of fulfillment. When Sunday morning came, I wouldn’t be hitting snooze button, like I did the rest of the week. I would often think of a famous John Piper quote: “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.”
That’s the way I felt. I felt most satisfied in God when I was helping leading people in worshiping Him.
I would occasionally have the opportunity to play at other churches or other worship events outside of the Sunday morning service at my church. Every once in a while I would witness something I didn’t possess myself: a higher sense of urgency. This baffled me at first. I would see people operating as if there were more at stake.
All I knew was glorifying God and enjoying Him. What more was at stake?
You may have noticed this yourself. Now and then you come across a worship band, ministry or team that seems to be operating at a different level than you are. And it demands the question: WHY?
The key is motivation. When we answer the question of what is motivating that person we can answer why they are operating at another level than we are. When we have deeper motivation it can lead to deeper service and a greater sense of urgency.
There is a famous story in Acts that serves as a great illustration.
Acts 16:16 starts the story of Paul and Silas minding their own business on their way to a place of prayer. On the way they get heckled in the street by a demon-possessed woman shouting at them and mocking them.
Paul is at the end of his rope and casts the demon from her. He then realizes that this is not the best way to make friends. A mob forms and drags Paul and Silas to the local authorities. The authorities have them beaten and thrown in a damp prison cell.
And there they are–cold from the prison cell, humiliated from the public mocking, and probably still bleeding from their wounds. And around midnight they do what many of us do when we are up against a wall, alone, with nowhere to go.
They worship.
The two of them start singing hymns to God and will I bet you $10 right now that they were a little flat and a little pitchy. If Simon Cowell heard them he would not be impressed, but the other prisoners didn’t mind, they just listened.
An astounding thing happens. An earthquake rumbles through the place shaking the foundations of the prison, breaking the chains and opening the doors that held them captive.
I propose that where there is worship there is rescue.
We have all experienced it. We have been stretched too thin throughout the week and when we come to worship God we find divine comfort. We have experience renewed hope when we thought all hope was lost. We get convicted of sin and it becomes evident to us that we need to get rid of something in our lives.
This is all forms of God’s rescue during worship.
The reason we need a high sense of urgency when it comes to worship ministry is because there are people who will be walking through you church doors this Sunday who desperately need that rescue.
Serving a worship ministry is much deeper than just our own enjoyment, even though that needs to be there. It is about providing people an atmosphere where they can meet God, the One who rescues.
-Jed
How to Become Your Worship Leader’s Favorite Musician
Posted by Jed in Uncategorized on April 3rd, 2009
Have you ever thought about what it would take to be your worship leader’s favorite musician? Unfortunately, many guitarists never do, but it can be a great mental exercise for us as guitar players and servants. When we do, we start thinking outside ourselves. When we start thinking outside ourselves we encounter paradigm shifts. When we have paradigm shifts, we start to grow. Here are some pointers to help get you started.
1. Always be on time. It communicates that you take the worship ministry seriously. If you take it seriously, your worship leader will take you seriously.
2. Ask yourself the question: “How can I make the ministry better in my worship leader’s eyes.” This will mean you will have to pay attention to your worship leader’s vision for the ministry, both in musical style and in worship expression. Sometimes we can think that by latching on to someone else’s vision we forfeit our own ideas. That is completely wrong. By latching on to our worship leader’s vision we give our own ideas more credibility.
3. Always tune up.
4. Come to rehearsal knowing your parts. Don’t treat rehearsal time as a time to learn your parts. Know them already. Your worship leader will love you for it.
5. Play for the song. Don’t play for a friend. Honestly look at what makes the song work and what it needs rather than what would impress someone you know in the audience.
6. Have good-sounding gear. Gear matters. I cringe whenever I hear someone refer to a well known player like John Mayer and attribute all of his good sounds to his hands. People completely look over the fact that he plays a $10,000 amp. Tone is in the hands, but it is certainly not all of it. If you don’t think your “hands sound good” than give yourself an advantage by surrounding yourself with high quality gear. If you have “good-sounding hands” then just think how much better you will sound when you have a good amp, instrument and pedals.
7. It is worth repeating: Always tune up. Have a quick, convenient way to tune (in other words, buy a pedal tuner) so you can easily tune during a song without interrupting the flow of the song.
8. Don’t just play the song, lead worship. You are not just a guitar player. You have a part in leading worship. Your role is beyond just playing a song like on the CD; your role is to inspire your congregation to worship. You can’t lead where you don’t go. Are you yourself worshiping? If you are not and simply settling for providing a live backing track then you are not doing everything you can do to serve your church well. In addition, you are missing what God has in store for you during worship.
The goal is to be the person your worship leader never has to worry about. When your worship leader sees you on the list of musicians playing this week he or she should feel a little better knowing you are on the team. That is the secret to becoming your worship leader’s favorite musician.
Oh, and one more thing: sound good.
-Jed