All of a sudden out of nowhere, I have written 7.5 songs in 4 days! And these don't sound like your home-made songs with janky lyrics. These are songs with radio-bility. (Yes, I totally made that up.) This is amazing!
Now I'm trying to figure out what to do next. My brother (a professional musician) says that I need to join ASCAP or BMI to get my songs copy-written and become a legit songwriter/publisher. As things progress, I'll blog about my choices and what I learn. I'm sure this will be a whole other level of experiences. Stay tuned.
P.S. I'm taking any and all advice so feel free to comment or email me with your tips and suggestions.
Blessings!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Stepping it up
Boy oh boy, I just realized I'm a huge slacker! Maybe it's because my P&W team is kind of on the rocks right now that I have become lackadaisical in my leading. (Bad leader!) But no excuses... We need to increase the number of songs in our repertoire.
I was reading a blog that said most congregations can successfully learn 20-25 songs a year. 20-25 songs!!! That's like 15 more than we introduce. This is something that I really struggle with. Now, I'm not saying I think our congregation can introduce 25 new songs a year, but we can definitely do better.
One of the challenges is that right now, our team of 3 (we lost one member to an out-of-state job) is more like a team of 1.5 (my father is hit or miss due to his deacon duties). Therefore, it's hard to lead and sing the background vocals for a new song. Actually, it's hard to sing lead and background on old songs, but I digress. Second, maybe it's me, but where are all the good, easy, and upbeat P&W songs?! I need more call & response or songs with a solid chorus. I will be checking out song lists to look for more ideas. Third, we have not established a good routine for rehearsal. We need a regularly designated time and we need to stick to it. Again, this is my fault for not staying on top of it. Fourth, we are limited to singing to accompaniment tracks. There are a ton of songs I'd like to sing where no track is available. That said, we are sitting on about 10+ older tracks, that we do not sing.
So here's my strategy: 1.) I will establish a consistent rehearsal date and will hold to it regardless of how few members we have. 2.)We will start to rehearse and reintroduce the tracks we already have. 3.) I will make a goal of the number of new songs to introduce for next year and will work toward that goal. 4.) I will be more diligent about purchasing new tracks. Give me a few months and I'll report back on how the strategy is going.
Here's to continuous improvement!
Blessings
I was reading a blog that said most congregations can successfully learn 20-25 songs a year. 20-25 songs!!! That's like 15 more than we introduce. This is something that I really struggle with. Now, I'm not saying I think our congregation can introduce 25 new songs a year, but we can definitely do better.
One of the challenges is that right now, our team of 3 (we lost one member to an out-of-state job) is more like a team of 1.5 (my father is hit or miss due to his deacon duties). Therefore, it's hard to lead and sing the background vocals for a new song. Actually, it's hard to sing lead and background on old songs, but I digress. Second, maybe it's me, but where are all the good, easy, and upbeat P&W songs?! I need more call & response or songs with a solid chorus. I will be checking out song lists to look for more ideas. Third, we have not established a good routine for rehearsal. We need a regularly designated time and we need to stick to it. Again, this is my fault for not staying on top of it. Fourth, we are limited to singing to accompaniment tracks. There are a ton of songs I'd like to sing where no track is available. That said, we are sitting on about 10+ older tracks, that we do not sing.
So here's my strategy: 1.) I will establish a consistent rehearsal date and will hold to it regardless of how few members we have. 2.)We will start to rehearse and reintroduce the tracks we already have. 3.) I will make a goal of the number of new songs to introduce for next year and will work toward that goal. 4.) I will be more diligent about purchasing new tracks. Give me a few months and I'll report back on how the strategy is going.
Here's to continuous improvement!
Blessings
Friday, September 19, 2014
The great divide
A friend of mine told me me I should do more research about the P&W circuit just for my own personal development as I blog. It was a great suggestion.
What I found is that there is a lot on the Web about the definition of praise and worship and the distinction between the two. There are some P&W blogs out there, but they seemed to be buried or often exist as part of a larger source of information, like a church's Web site. There's a magazine called Worship Leader. I'd heard of it before, but it seems to be the only one of its kind. (I plan to subscribe so stay tuned for future reviews.) Finally, the biggest discovery that I made, and it does not surprise me, is that everything that I saw seems to pin P&W to contemporary Christian music, which by far featured white artists almost exclusively. This wasn't just a U.S. thing, but European as well.
I'm not going to go into the white vs. non-white, Christian vs. Gospel spiel, but I will say this: similar to how I tend to listen to mostly gospel artists, with the exception of the Christian worship songs that cross over, I postulate that white people tend to listen to mostly Christian worship artists, with the exception of the gospel songs that cross over. And I would guess Latinos do the same. I get it. Everyone's got preferences in their musical tastes.
Notwithstanding, I would love to see more diversity represented on public venues and I'm not just talking about race or genre of music. What about the perspective of P&W at a small church like mine, at rural churches, at churches that are very traditional, at liberal churches? What are they singing at each of these places? What are the musical influences found in their P&W? What are the things they love or the challenges experienced in ministry? What's it like writing a worship song and introducing it to a congregation?
Thanks to my friend, I will be looking into the contemporary Christian worship genre more carefully. I bet there are tons of Christian worship artists who I'd love if I were exposed to them.
I believe part of being good at your job is to see what others are doing. If I want to be a good P&W leader, I'm going to have to keep up with what's going on in the industry and expand my horizon. Perhaps we all should do the same.
Blessings
What I found is that there is a lot on the Web about the definition of praise and worship and the distinction between the two. There are some P&W blogs out there, but they seemed to be buried or often exist as part of a larger source of information, like a church's Web site. There's a magazine called Worship Leader. I'd heard of it before, but it seems to be the only one of its kind. (I plan to subscribe so stay tuned for future reviews.) Finally, the biggest discovery that I made, and it does not surprise me, is that everything that I saw seems to pin P&W to contemporary Christian music, which by far featured white artists almost exclusively. This wasn't just a U.S. thing, but European as well.
I'm not going to go into the white vs. non-white, Christian vs. Gospel spiel, but I will say this: similar to how I tend to listen to mostly gospel artists, with the exception of the Christian worship songs that cross over, I postulate that white people tend to listen to mostly Christian worship artists, with the exception of the gospel songs that cross over. And I would guess Latinos do the same. I get it. Everyone's got preferences in their musical tastes.
Notwithstanding, I would love to see more diversity represented on public venues and I'm not just talking about race or genre of music. What about the perspective of P&W at a small church like mine, at rural churches, at churches that are very traditional, at liberal churches? What are they singing at each of these places? What are the musical influences found in their P&W? What are the things they love or the challenges experienced in ministry? What's it like writing a worship song and introducing it to a congregation?
Thanks to my friend, I will be looking into the contemporary Christian worship genre more carefully. I bet there are tons of Christian worship artists who I'd love if I were exposed to them.
I believe part of being good at your job is to see what others are doing. If I want to be a good P&W leader, I'm going to have to keep up with what's going on in the industry and expand my horizon. Perhaps we all should do the same.
Blessings
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
8 good things about having a small P&W team
Rather than use this entry to talk about the same ole experience (me + my dad = P&W team, yet again) I've decided to devote today's post to pointing out the good things about having a small team at a small church.
1. There's usually no discord with so few people.
2. It's easy to find uniforms.
3. It's easy to tell who doesn't know their part.
4. We don't have a big crowd where someone might be inclined to record a "fail" and post it on FB.
5. It's almost like singing at home, except with a microphone, in a slightly larger room, with slightly more people.
6. We don't have to hold auditions and reject people.
7. Nothing has to be fancy - no lighting or elaborate sound checks.
8. The team members let me know in advance if they will not be in attendance. (Man I do not miss singing in a choir where people just don't show and then you can't sing said song because said soloist decided to be a no-show and then you have to try to scramble for a new song list. But I digress...)
I usually don't quote a lot of scriptures, but I believe it was Paul who talked about learning to be content regardless of the circumstances of a situation. (See, I still didn't quote the scripture!) Or like the songwriter said "whatever my lot thou has taught me to say it is well it is well with my soul." Or like the unofficial black church national anthem proclaims, "I won't complain."
So there you have it. I'm a glass half full type of gal. In all seriousness, I look forward to the day when our congregation is large, the church is fancy, and we have an 8-person P&W team and live band. I bet I'll think back to days like today and say "those were the days!" (In my Edith Bunker voice.)
Blessings
1. There's usually no discord with so few people.
2. It's easy to find uniforms.
3. It's easy to tell who doesn't know their part.
4. We don't have a big crowd where someone might be inclined to record a "fail" and post it on FB.
5. It's almost like singing at home, except with a microphone, in a slightly larger room, with slightly more people.
6. We don't have to hold auditions and reject people.
7. Nothing has to be fancy - no lighting or elaborate sound checks.
8. The team members let me know in advance if they will not be in attendance. (Man I do not miss singing in a choir where people just don't show and then you can't sing said song because said soloist decided to be a no-show and then you have to try to scramble for a new song list. But I digress...)
I usually don't quote a lot of scriptures, but I believe it was Paul who talked about learning to be content regardless of the circumstances of a situation. (See, I still didn't quote the scripture!) Or like the songwriter said "whatever my lot thou has taught me to say it is well it is well with my soul." Or like the unofficial black church national anthem proclaims, "I won't complain."
So there you have it. I'm a glass half full type of gal. In all seriousness, I look forward to the day when our congregation is large, the church is fancy, and we have an 8-person P&W team and live band. I bet I'll think back to days like today and say "those were the days!" (In my Edith Bunker voice.)
Blessings
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Waking up with Jesus
While there was a lot of singing and an awesome dance team, my favorite thing is that they had people lined up at the entrance reading bible verses out loud as we made our way to the beach. There were also small groups of people singing along the way. It was a wonderful way to start the day.
When was the last time you stayed awake or woke up to see the sunrise? When was the last time you stood by the lake, ocean, in a field, anyplace in nature and thought "how great thou art!" Slowing down and taking in God's love for us is often not done because we lead busy lives and forget or simply fail to still ourselves.
What I learned from attending the service is that worship isn't always singing or dancing. It's carving out time to think about the great God that we serve.
Blessings
Blessings
Friday, September 5, 2014
A must-read for P&W leaders
The insight that this blog entry provided was profound for me. I think this is something from which we can all learn.
Confessions of a Former Worship Leader
I would love to read your comments on this one!
Blessings
Confessions of a Former Worship Leader
I would love to read your comments on this one!
Blessings
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
I don't know what happened, but...
This Sunday, P&W was wonderful! Perhaps it was the visitors, or me, or the team, but whatever it was, God's anointing was there. That's good because I won't be at church next Sunday due to work.
Since I don't have anything to complain about, or anything funny to report, I guess that's the end of this post. Next week, I'll be posting about how much I miss our humble praise and worship.
Blessings
Since I don't have anything to complain about, or anything funny to report, I guess that's the end of this post. Next week, I'll be posting about how much I miss our humble praise and worship.
Blessings
Monday, September 1, 2014
Won't He will?!
This shirt is fresh to death! I love the saying (which I'd never heard before the song), I love the print. This is from Anita Wilson's t-shirt line. Praise and worshipers stand up!
The Prayer Project
While this is a P&W blog, I am of the mindset that prayer is of utmost important in a worship leader's or team member's life. It is part of what makes you a praise and worshiper - that you love spending time with God.
With that in mind, I found a prayer challenge that I'm very excited about while poking around on Instagram.
Check out Saunya Shelise and Prayer Project #5 - praying for a young person in your life. This is a beautiful concept and I wish I would've stumbled upon her at the beginning of the year. The short of it is that for the month of September, you will write a prayer a day for the child or teen God has placed on your heart and at the end of the month you present him/her with it as a gift. (You don't tell them that you're praying for them until the end of the project.) How beautiful is that?!
So I did day 1 (today) and the funny thing about it is that part of my prayer included prayers for myself and other mentors in the teen's life that we will be helpful, supportive, good listeners, empathetic, and will share in his defeats and triumphs.With the school year just starting, this is right on time!
Take a look at A Love Perfect's webpage and join the prayer bandwagon!
Blessings
With that in mind, I found a prayer challenge that I'm very excited about while poking around on Instagram.
Check out Saunya Shelise and Prayer Project #5 - praying for a young person in your life. This is a beautiful concept and I wish I would've stumbled upon her at the beginning of the year. The short of it is that for the month of September, you will write a prayer a day for the child or teen God has placed on your heart and at the end of the month you present him/her with it as a gift. (You don't tell them that you're praying for them until the end of the project.) How beautiful is that?!
So I did day 1 (today) and the funny thing about it is that part of my prayer included prayers for myself and other mentors in the teen's life that we will be helpful, supportive, good listeners, empathetic, and will share in his defeats and triumphs.With the school year just starting, this is right on time!
Take a look at A Love Perfect's webpage and join the prayer bandwagon!
Blessings
Youthful Praise Ft JJ Hairston - Close to You
One of my personal favorite non-popular worship songs. Enjoy!
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