Archives For Training

What Happens When You Don’t Have a Bass Player?

Ryan Egan —  July 17, 2007 — 4 Comments

At the FLY Convention, I was privileged to teach an elective on leading worship. Many people who attended were from churches with no established “contemporary” services (I’m not a huge fan of that word, more on that another time.)

We all want to build up our worship teams to full bands someday, but most of the time that tends to be difficult, especially if you are in a small church or city with limited resources. I want to spend the rest of the week talking about what to do if you’re missing an instrument that can help you fill in the hole without worrying about finding someone to play that instrument right away.  So let’s start with the bass, or rather, the lack of bass.

  • Almost everyone has another piano player in the congregation. Find a keyboard that can simulate a bass sound and have another pianist playing the bass part on the keyboard.
  • If you only have one piano player, and/or no budget to get a keyboard, teach the piano player how to play the bass notes in the chords. Often times you will see something like D/F# on a chord or lead sheet. This simply means that you play a D chord with your right hand (D-F#-A) and play an F# on the bottom with your left hand. These subtle changes in the chord will make the music sound much more interesting.
  • Perhaps you have an overabundance of guitar players. Teach one of them how to play the bass. It usually doesn’t take them too long.
  • The bass (and drums) usually carry the groove, or rhythm, of the song. Teach the instruments you have to know how to work together to create groove and tight rhythm before the bass player gets there.
  • To think completely outside the box…perhaps you have a great bass singer – he could sing the bass part. Think “Tonic Sol Fa” or “Go Fish.” in the early days. (By the way, the original bass singer of Go Fish is in Tonic Sol Fa now)
  • Have an organ?  Use the pedals!  I’ve been amazed lately at how nicely the low register gets filled out by adding an organ to the mix!
  • See if there are any other bass players in your area that hold similar beliefs and principles as you do and ask if they would be willing to fill in while you keep looking for your own.

Hopefully these suggestions can help you as you continue to search. What have you done to help fill in the bass?

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership, Training
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Tuesday Training – Song Transitions in Corporate Worship

Ryan Egan —  May 22, 2007 — Leave a comment

How are your transitions between songs in your set done? Do things flow well and seamlessly, helping ease distractions in worship, or are things choppy with awkward pauses? Here are a few do’s and don’ts when it comes to song transitions:

Don’t…

  • …say “The first song we will be singing,” or “The next song will be…” More than likely, the songs are either listed in the bulletin, or the title is on the screen. The people are smart enough to figure out what the song is. This draws attention to the title of the song, rather than the content of the song.
  • ...have silence between every song. Learn what keys go together and how you can flow seamlessly from song to song without silence. Sometime silence is good, but not between every single song.
  • …talk in between every song. Sometimes songs can jump right into each other without a need for comment. Sometimes people are in a prayerful attitude, and just playing a simple chord progression with no commentary helps people be able to pray during the worship time.
  • …say, “We’re singing this song because I like it so much.” I made this mistake my last day at a church and knew it was the wrong thing to say as soon as it came out of my mouth. Again, this draws attention to you and the song, not to the One that you and the song are supposed to be pointing to.

Do…

  • Learn which keys relate to each other and pick songs that are in similar keys. This will help your transitions flow much smoother and create a unified song set.
  • Use Scripture. Always bring people back to the Word. When in doubt of what to say, read Scripture and leave it alone. God’s Word will not return empty.
  • Be careful to talk about personal issues. While some personal testimony can be powerful and appropriate, we are tools being used to magnify God, not call attention to ourselves.
  • Learn to give up the reigns. Let others give a transition, even if you are the “official” worship leader for the day.

Hopefully these tips will help you construct a seamless, flowing worship set. Let me know if you use them or if you have other thoughts!

What do’s and don’ts do you have as you work on song transitions in your congregation?

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership, Training
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Tuesday Training – Charting Hymns

Ryan Egan —  April 17, 2007 — Leave a comment

A very common situation I see often in working with musicians is that they get a little bit nervous whenever I ask them to just “chord” a hymn by looking at the hymn’s music. While this seems daunting to some, I’d love to give you a few simple tips on how to do it. I’ll also talk about the drawbacks to doing this as well. (This post assumes you have a good grasp of basic music theory.  If you don’t, I would suggest visiting here.)

Determine the Chords You Need

Most of the time, these will be the chords on the downbeat of a measure.  Because hymns tended to have very complex, moving, four-part harmony, the downbeat was usually where the major chords fell.  If only the downbeat doesn’t sound quite right, look for the chord on beat three (if it’s written in 4/4) or beat four (if it’s written in 6/8) next.

Find all of the major chords that are needed for the melody to sound correct.  Once you determine a chord, pencil it in.  Most of the time, you can rely on the soprano and alto lines to determine your chords, but….

Watch the Bass Line

If you are unsure of what the chord is, check out the bass note.  Most times this note will give you the last piece of the puzzle you need to figure out the chord.  However, this can be deceiving to people who aren’t as familiar with music theory.  Don’t use the bass note as your sole determination for the chord.

One of the greatest things about hymns is their use of inversions (a different way to play the same chord) in the music.  Many times, there will be a D chord on top with an F# in the bass, making this a first inversion D chord, and usually leading to a chord with a G on the bottom.  Take advantage of these ‘out of place’ bass notes.  They make the chord structure much more interesting!  And don’t forget to write inversions out on the chord sheet.  If you have a first inversion D chord, make sure it’s written D/F# so the bass player knows to play an F# on the bottom.

So, once you’ve figured out the major chords, and the major bass notes that go with each chord, you have an instant chord chart for this hymn!

One Major Drawback

The one major drawback to this method of scaling down the notes of hymns and making them a bit more modern is that the harmonies will sometimes end up changing. So, either you’re going to have to write out some new harmonies for those singers whose ears aren’t as developed, or you’re going to have to trust that your singers will find these new harmonies.

Sometimes the modern harmonies might throw off the congregation as well, so do this technique with a lot of wisdom and discernment!  Let me know if you have success in this area.

What ideas do you have for making hymns more modern?

In For Worship Leaders, Training
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Tuesday Training – Internet Tech Training Overview

Ryan Egan —  April 10, 2007 — Leave a comment

Well, many of you reading this probably already have a pretty good grasp of the things I want to highlight, but perhaps you’re just stumbling onto a ‘blog’ for the first time and realizing that the internet is a whole lot more complex than it used to be.  Ironically, it’s a whole lot more simple than it used to be as well.  Trust me, it really does make sense.  (As a side note, I’m going to try to get back to my originally posted blogging schedule.)

So, I wanted to devote a Tuesday Training article to technology and how it can be used within the church. Actually, technology is something that can be best used outside the church and makes it even easier to get the church outside the walls.

First of all, why should we care?  Are these just some latest trends and fads that will be here today and gone tomorrow?  Perhaps.  But these fads are the ones that your kids are immersed in.  And if you don’t have a grasp on what your kids are involved in, that’s not good.  We need to be aware of what is available and either find ways to rid it or redeem it.

We should also care because the internet has become a place of instant communication.  As soon as I hit my ‘publish’ button, this post will be sent to anyone who subscribes to this blog, as well as being sent to Technorati for the world to find instantly in an endless connection of discussions that are happening.  Since we are called to communicate the Gospel and tell the nations of Jesus, it has never been easier to get discussion going.

For ministries, a church’s website can (and should) be configured to be a meeting place for everyone.  Leaders and team members can have forums, blogs, calendars and everything they need right on their own website.  Talk about a great way to manage a team!  I just recently found the Geeks and God podcast and began to work on a project using Drupal, which is very, very cool stuff that I think that every church should be aware of.

Now, the other side of this is that there is a serious danger to the instant communication on the internet.  Sites like youtube.com are fun, but people can post pretty much whatever they want on there as long as it’s within the “boundaries” which really aren’t that great.  Myspace.com is catastrophe waiting to happen for teens who don’t realize everything they put on their page is available to the whole world and parents who don’t even have a clue what Myspace is.

So, how can we redeem all of this?  Instead of using Myspace as a hangout for your youth, create your own youth page using WordPress or Drupal.  Be a light in the darkness on Youtube and post uplifting, Jesus-centered videos.  Use the Church Marketing Lab on Flickr to have other people help critique your designs so that they are the best they can be.

I know I’m throwing out a ton of terms that some of you might be bored with and some might have no clue what I’m talking about, but my hope with this post was to be able to just tease you into seeing what’s available to be utilized.  If ever there was a time where the church’s voice could be heard loudly and clearly; literally universally, it’s now.

In Training
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Tuesday Training – Piano Playing vs. Keyboard Playing Follow Up

Ryan Egan —  March 27, 2007 — 1 Comment

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the difference between piano playing and keyboard playing.  I had mentioned that I would tell you why it was important to know the difference and ways that you can make the switch.

First, why it’s important:

  • The lyrical content of songs for worship should always be the most important element.  Learning to play more of a keyboard style helps let the singers come through and the music become secondary.
  • That being said, style of music is also important.  It is important to be able to not make a modern song sound like a classical piece.
  • If you are part of a full band, keyboard playing helps create texture.  Too much piano playing makes the mix muddy.  You can play fills in the cracks where there are no lyrics, but texture is key.
  • Keyboards are much more portable than pianos. 🙂

Now, how do you learn how to do these things?

It is so important to know the difference between piano playing and keyboard playing, and to know when to appropriately use each skill.

In Training
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