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