Posts Tagged Worship Service
3 Ways To Lead Worship From The Guitar
For those who are new to worshipwithguitar.com, this is a post that was first posted last year. Hope it is helpful.
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.
Keep sharp,
-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