For Worship Leaders

There’s been one album that was released recently that I’ve been wanting to get my hands on for a long time. No, it’s not the latest and greatest radio release. It’s not one everyone in the country is raving about. It’s an album by a bunch of excellent, no, outstanding musicians from a church in Louisville, Kentucky many of you have probably never heard of. It’s Sojourn Music’s (a part of Sojourn Church) Over the Grave: The Hymns of Isaac Watts Volume 1. Here’s their summary of the genesis of the project:

In the midst of the Reformation in England, Isaac Watts recognized that people needed to see the gospel in the psalms and hymns of the church, and they needed to sing them in language and metaphors that they understood. In this, he became not only the father of the modern hymn, but the pace-setter for contextualizing the gospel for the people of God.

As musicians, pastors and songwriters, our desire was to explore the hundreds of hymns that Watts wrote during his lifetime, to learn from the incredible range and depth of his lyrics, and to re-envision those songs with modern language and melodies. In particular, we gravitated towards themes that seem unfortunately absent in modern worship — themes about God’s wrath and judgment, His righteousness, and a dramatic vision of the cross and atonement of Christ.

Steadfast and Challenging Content

You can’t really go wrong when taking lyrics straight from Isaac Watts, writer of Joy to the World, one of the world’s most popular hymns, and countless other incredible poems set to music for the church.
It’s so good to see that they included “themes that seem unfortunately absent in modern worship — themes about God’s wrath and judgment, His righteousness, and a dramatic vision of the cross and atonement of Christ.” In a culture filled with grace without responsibility, it’s refreshing to know that these songwriters are willing to talk about issues that every Christian needs to meditate on.

Strong, Singable Melodies

A good amount of the songs on this project are very singable and completely appropriate for many congregations, especially congregations that utilize a modern musical style. I find myself singing “Oh, the Warrior…” and “Only Your blood is enough to cover my sin” over and over throughout the day after listening to the album. The beautiful notes of “May Your Power Rest on Me” would easily stand alone without a full band behind them.
While “Living Faith” and others have generally singable melodies, some of the vocal enhancements on parts of them might be tricky for some congregations, but they are worth the effort to learn them and teach them to the congregation.

Professional Playing and Production

There is no doubt at all that every one of the musicians that played on this recording are incredibly skilled on their instrument.
The singers are polished and in control of their voices (Living Faith, Reveal Your Love, and especially the vocal with bells hooks on Only Your Blood and Alas and Did My Savior Bleed are fantastic proof of this)
The guitarist and bass guitarist show restraint on songs where necessary and fire up the strings like there’s no tomorrow when appropriate. They are especially fun to listen to on Warrior, How Long, and Reveal Your Love
Every song was produced very creatively, from the great use of the Stringed Bass on Warrior to the many non-diatonic minor chords utilized in many songs that has become a signature sound of Sojourn music to me

Even if you do not incorporate modern music into your church’s repertoire, this album is a must have. For one, it pays tribute to Isaac Watts’ desire to put the music in the language of the people of the day. Secondly, these lyrics in a fresh new setting with outstanding musicians make this an inspiration to anyone who is looking for music that will direct their minds to God’s character.

Another great thing about this album is that I believe it has many songs that men in particular will want to sing. While so much of today’s modern music is filled with beautiful poetry, it can tend to get a bit romantic for men. I could definitely see a group of guys singing “Oh, the Warrior” and much more from this album, however.

You can buy the album directly from Sojourn music here or purchase an mp3 version from Amazon here (affiliate). So looking forward to the next volume.

Music Theory for Worship: Muscle Memory for Guitarists

Ryan Egan — September 27, 2010 — Leave a comment

One important part of learning how to master an instrument is developing your muscles to instantly know where chords, notes, and scales are on the instrument in order to play them without any effort of thinking about them. We learned about what muscle memory is last week and applied it to playing the piano. Let’s take a look at some general exercises guitarists can use to develop muscle memory:

Acoustic/Rhythm Guitar

Practice progressions. Find the I-IV-V progression in every key you can play with open chords (chords like C, G, D, E; played in the first position of the fretboard) and run through them over and over daily.
Start strumming. Find new strumming patterns to use and work the muscles of your right hand so that they get used to the pattern.
Place your Pick (and your fingers) – Train your fingers on your strumming hand to know where each string is so you are able to call out specific notes within the chord. Practice playing each chord with just your fingers so you are able to develop more finger-picking technique.
Break out of the low position of the fretboard. Start learning how to play chords in different shapes and positions higher up the neck. Once you’ve done that….

Electric/Lead Guitar

Know how to play each chord in a different shape and position on the fretboard. Each chord shape can be moved up the frets in order to play it in any key. Play every different shape and inversion of one chord over and over until your muscles know exactly where to find it in each position. Once you’ve done that, put the different shapes together in progressions in each position by knowing which shapes to use together with each other.
Practice scales. If you want to be a good lead guitarist, you must know your scales. Period. All solos and lead lines are built off of some form of scale. Learn major, minor, pentatonic, blues, and every other scale possible. To develop your muscles to the point of recognizing where your fingers go, start by playing one type of scale over and over again very slowly until you’ve mastered it at a certain speed (set your metronome and don’t stray from that speed until you can play the scale with no mistakes!) Once you’ve mastered the scale at a slow speed, increase your metronome slightly and practice it at that speed until you have no mistakes. Keep doing this and gradually increase speed as you perfect the scale. Then move on to a different scale type and start the whole process over.

A great resource for learning to play acoustic guitar for worship can be found here (affiliate) and here’s a great resource for playing electric guitar for worship (affiliate).

I’m not a master guitarist by any means, and I’m sure this is just scratching the surface for what you can do to develop muscle memory on the guitar. Long-time, experienced guitarists – what do you do to develop muscle memory?

(Photo by Asher Lohman.)

In For Worship Leaders, Music, Training

The Content Potluck: Prayer, Purity, and Planning

Ryan Egan — September 24, 2010 — 4 Comments

Each Friday I’ll share various servings and helpings of great content I’ve come across during the week. Gobble it up, put it in the crockpot of your mind and let it simmer, or put it on the back burner for a while. Here it is:

Lutherans Love to Sing

This is an enjoyable post of words from Garrison Keillor from Kristen at Joyfully Thriving: “I do believe this: people, these Lutherans, who love to sing in four-part harmony are the sort of people you could call up when you’re in deep distress. If you’re dying, they’ll comfort you. If you’re lonely, they’ll talk to you. And if you’re hungry, they’ll give you tuna salad!”

In For Worship Leaders

Enjoying a Rich Heritage: A Review of Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chapell

Ryan Egan — September 23, 2010 — Leave a comment

If there’s one thing I’m beginning to appreciate more and more as I continue to partner in the plan and design of our worship services it’s the realization that because of the Gospel and Jesus Christ’s finish work on the cross, churches, not only throughout the world, but throughout time have been united in a common practice for centuries: the worship service.

While so many of our services of worship look very different among the various denominations, “where a church maintains the truths of the gospel, it inevitably discovers aspects of worship that are in harmony with other faithful churches.”

That sentence from page 19 in Bryan Chapell’s “Christ-Centered Worship” (affiliate) is a great summary to the importance of this fantastic book. If you lead or plan worship services in your church, this book is a must-read.

While maintaining that the Gospel story must be communicated fully in any worship service design, Bryan takes us on a fascinating trip from the early Church to the Reformation and through today in order to help us be wise in planning our services and appreciate the rich heritage of those who have gone before us.

Liturgy is Not Boring, nor Ancient

Part 1 on Bryan’s book discusses the structure of worship services throughout time. While reading, you’ll learn to appreciate that every type of church has some sort of liturgy and get a glimpse of where that liturgy has come from and how it is influenced our modern worship services today. You’ll learn that liturgy (“the public way a church honors God in its times of gathered praise, prayer, instruction, and commitment” 18) is meaningful and purposeful and that “there is a strategy to the liturgy” and that, yes, even modern churches have liturgy. Bryan gives us a detailed look at services from the Rome, Luther, Calvin, Westminter, and the modern order from Robert G. Rayburn. He breaks each order down and includes very helpful comparative charts along the way.

Each Part of the Service Explained

In part 2 we’re given a detailed breakdown of the major portions of the worship service including the Call to Worship, Affirmation of Faith, and more. The author also includes detailed examples for each section, making the book not only a historical resource, but a very practical resource for weekly service planning.

Fascinating, but not for Everyone

This book is definitely historical, and quite academic. It’s not a sit-down-and-read-quickly type of book and requires time, thought, and a curiosity for history. The book will mainly be helpful for pastors, worship pastors, worship leaders, and service planning teams, but if a congregational member wants to know more about “why we do what we do” in our churches this would also be a good read for them.

This book is a definite must-read and because of Part 2, a definite must-own as a helpful resource. You can by the book from Amazon here (affiliate). Read another great review from Bob Kauflin.

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership, Theology, Training

Music Theory for Worship: Muscle Memory

Ryan Egan — September 19, 2010 — Leave a comment

Do you ever wonder how some musicians seem to make playing their instruments seem effortless? They not only know where to play notes on a page, chords on a lead sheet, and more, but they seem to be able to do it with their eyes closed. The key to playing like this is something called muscle memory.