The Worship Leader As Producer - Producing for the Local Church (2 of 2)
We’ve looked at the role and importance of a producer in the music industry. Now let’s apply this to us as worship leaders in the local church.
Every week we choose songs to use during our worship services at our churches. These songs could range from popular songs that are heard on the radio every day to more obscure songs that no one knows about to classic hymns from whatever hymnal our church might be using. What we choose to do with those songs is how we make ourselves producers. We’re now the ones who will be taking something decent (volunteers who love music and love God, but might not necessarily know exactly what to play or how to play it.) So what are our choices?
In General
One of the most common mistakes many worship teams make is that when the music starts everyone plays. A worship leader as a producer takes the each part of the worship team and helps them to know when to play or when to sit out. The worship leader helps the piano player to play in a higher register when the guitar is playing in the middle. The worship leader helps the drummer know when to ‘kick it up a notch’ or tone it down. The worship leader helps take a potentially muddy, chaotic sound and polishes it.
Popular Music
When we choose music that is currently popular on the radio we fall into a great temptation - do the song exactly like it’s done on the radio or on the CD it came from. We think we have to do every repeat, duplicate the exact guitar or piano part, feel it’s required to sing the bridge (that in most cases always goes too high for the average congregation) and possibly even copy the exact vocal fills that are on the original recording. This might seem like a good thing to do so that your band sounds professional but a couple of problems occur when copying the original:
- Originality - a skill that producers really need to have - is gone.
- Flexibility - a process that is so important if we desire to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading - is gone.
- Expectations - depending on the skill level of your musicians - might be too high.
Work with what you have to create an original arrangement, be flexible to change the order or length of a song, and communicate expectations well and make sure your musicians are comfortable with them. You can’t expect a high school guitarist with not much experience to pull off a Lincoln Brewster solo!
Hymns
Most classic hymns were written in times where a keyboard instrument (either an organ or piano) was the dominant instrument. In today’s culture, that’s not always the case. Learn to simplify the chord structure of hymns so that a guitarist can easily play with them. Perhaps rewrite your own piano part to a hymn so that the piano player is not playing every single note and the melody. There are countless possibilities.
Be Deliberate
This next week as you plan your music, be deliberate in planning who will play what and when. Make decisions to be creative instead of just copying what’s on the CD and take joy in the fact that you get to help produce a polished sound week after week!