For the past several years I have been working youth worship teams. Every year is different, mostly because with youth you have a constant flow of kids in and out. Some graduate, some get jobs and cannot particpate, and then there are some that join for the first time. Every year though with your group there comes a point where you hear it. What is it? It is a glimpse of what can be. It is when they aren’t just playing music but playing musically. It is when you see, that they see, that there is more to doing ths than just strumming, drumming, playing and singing.
Today we I saw it, and heard it. We came out of the chorus of “One Way” and into the bridge. The band dropped out, the keys kept playing and the singers came in on the words. The electric slowly built in, drums slowly got more intense and it just clicked.
2 minutes later the monitors weren’t working right, the singers didn’t understand their part, and it was time to go. The moment didn’t last long. It wasn’t all better after that time, but it did happen.
My encouragement to you is to listen to and identify those moments. Celebrate them and show the youth in the band what they sound like, so they can begin to hear what they sound like and strive for them.
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Yes, my electric player will ask me, “Should I use distortion at this part?” and I regret to say he’s still in the mold of being told how it should sound from me, rather than trying to experience the song for himself. But every now and then I get a glimpse of what you experienced. And we all look at each other and go, “Man, that was really rockin’” or we notice how in a solo part that less is really more. You can’t get that feeling working with experienced adults because it is often taken for granted. But when the youth realize they don’t have to rake power chords over everything and they can let the song breathe, those times are really sweet!