Monthly Archives: February 2009

Sunday Setlist 2-22-09

February 23, 2009   Russell Martin   2 Comments

This week at Williams Xperience service we had a great time of worship. Kerri was out so it was me and one other leading. The band was all here though and they were on. We started our rehearsal at 8:00 and went over not only our songs for worship but also introduced them to “Everlasting God.” They liked it so much they were ready to do it this morning at worship. We will do it in two weeks. I am glad that our new rehearsal schedule is working out so well.

Our songs today were the following:

Sing A Song- It was great to sing this along with our drummer. He does a great job playing and singing and his voice is suited for some of these Third Day songs.

Never Let Go- Our congregation has really latched on to this song. The driving beat and simple melody help, but maybe with circumstances in our lives today the words give so much comfort. God is always here.

Alleluia- This is one from my “Unfailing Love” album that the congregation seems to like. Although it is in 6/8 and recently I have noticed the congregation swaying back and forth when we do these. Once it was pointed out to me I can’t help but notice, and try not to get seasick.

He Reigns- I originally had Meet With Me scheduled but I thought we had done it too much recently, so I substituted this standby. The congregation knows it and sings well, and the band can do it with their eyes. It is definately one of those older songs that resonate.

We usually do 5 songs but this week our Liturgical Dancers did a great job dancing to “Identity”

This is part of Fred McKinnons Sunday Setlist Worship Carnival. Come see what other churches are doing each week.

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Why We Don’t Rehearse Every Week

February 21, 2009   Russell Martin   3 Comments

How It Was

We used to reserve every Wednesday night for an hour and a half rehearsal. We showed up at 6:30 and rehearsed until 8:00. Then we would show up again at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings for an hour to rehearse and soundcheck before Sunday School and our service at 10:30 am. That all changed last summer.

When it Changed

Last summer I had a few weeks where I was leading worship for some church camps and I was going to be out two weeks in a row on our regular Wednesday rehearsal. So I decided that for one month we would take a break from our Wednesday rehearsals and just show up a little early on Sunday morning. We made sure that our songlists did not include any new music, just songs that we needed to review. The band loved it. We have decided to continue the process. 

How it Works Now

We meet on one Wednesday per month to work on new music that is coming up. That means I have to be prepared atleast 4 weeks ahead of time with the probable songlists. We use that rehearsal to go over new music. We listen to the songs, double check the songsheet and then try to run it atleast once through so we understand it. I also record these rehearsals and email them the recording we made, or make it available on planning center. 

Then Sunday mornings we meet from 8:00 till 9:30 to rehearse for that Sunday morning. We go over each song atleast twice, and then take the rest of the time to work on the new song for the next week, just to refresh. Then we are ready to go for Sunday morning services.

The Challenges

Doing our rehearsals and lists this way has had its own set of challenges. The first would be that I have to have our songlists done in advance. (How we do that). The second challenge is having enough time to go over songs. This has meant we have had to be more disciplined with our time and not waste time during rehearsals.

The Benefits

The first benefit I have noticed is that we have been forced to limit our amount of new songs. This means we have, as a band, learned the ones we use better. It has also meant our congregation has had time to learn the songs. It seemed like before we would learn a song, use it, and then not use it again for a while.

Secondly I have noticed we are not going over things twice. It seemed like no matter what we worked on for Wednesday we were repeating it on Sunday morning anyway.

Thirdly I work with volunteers who have families. We all do. I think it has been great to give my already busy dedicated volunteers an extra night most weeks that they can spend at home. 

The fourth reason was more of a factor this summer when gas prices were topping $3.50. The less times that we were driving back and forth to tthe church, the less gas was spent.

Our band has agreed to keep Wednesdays free and I agreed to give one weeks notice of an extra rehearsal. We did this as we prepared for Christmas and probably will for Easter. 

What is your rehearsal schedule?

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Teaching Class Guitar Lessons Week 1

February 21, 2009   Russell Martin   4 Comments

On many occasions during the past year I have been asked to teach individual guitar lessons. Instead of doing private guitar lessons, like I have done in the past, I decided to try a different approach. I put a small article in our church magazine indicating that I would be teaching a 6 week class for beginning guitar players one hour, once a week. I had never tried teaching a guitar class before but I thought it might be fun, and at least be different. 

I advertised for about 3 weeks. I told people if they were interested to email me and let me know. I had a few inquiries on Sundays, a phone call or two and an email. I really was wondering what I should expect. Would anyone come? Who would they be?

Thursday night we had our first class. I had 12 students; 3 kids, 2 youth and 7 adults. As I was warned by a fellow blogger and worship leader, the first 20 minutes we spent on tuning. But we also were able to cover the parts of a guitar, how to hold a pick, alternate picking, the names of the strings, what half steps, whole, steps are, what makes up a major scale, how you get a triad, and how to play a G and C chord.

It was alot for one night and I will be interested to see how much they retain for the next week. I plan on using video to put demonstrations on our church website and using video to answer questions they have during the week. When I get some of those up I will definately show you the links.

So if you have taught or were going to teach a beginner guitar class, what would you cover in your next lesson?

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Older Songs Still Resonate

February 18, 2009   Russell Martin   4 Comments

Last summer I led worship for a group of college students at a work camp. They take a week to spend together repairing homes in the area where they are working. I was leading worship for their evening services. The first night I got up with a great songlist. Some new songs from the up and coming worship bands leading worship out there. The response I got back was mixed. There were some who knew the songs and sang along, but overall there was not a huge participation. 

That night we announced our suggestion box. If anyone had a suggestion about camp, including song requests, they could put them in the box and we would try to work them in. What I saw both comforted and suprised me. The majority of the requests were not the new upcoming worship songs. Most of the requests were for songs like, God of Wonders, Here I Am to Worship, Heart of Worship, Light the Fire, Lord I LIft Your Name on high. To be honest I had overlooked alot of these when I was preparing for the week because I thought they might be too old, too overdone. That clearly was not the case.

I wondered. Maybe in the drive to hear, learn, play and write the newest great worship songs I had stopped using some songs that really resonate with people. Maybe it was because these were the songs that this group grew up in with in youth group. These were the songs they had come to faith to. They were the songs that they were introduced to at church camp. They were songs that are known by heart, no words needed, nothing to learn, just worship. I can tell you it was great to get up in front, strum one chord, sing the line “Lord of all creation…” and then sit back and play guitar. 

What I learned from this experience is that it is important to find out the songs of the group you are leading. I wish I could have had the song suggestions before camp started, instead of after the first night. I will not stop introducing, or writing, or singing new songs. But I also will remember that some old songs still resonate loudly and not leave them out either.

What are some songs you may have passed by that still resonate?

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What I’m Singing for the Next 6 Weeks

February 17, 2009   Russell Martin   1 Comment

Yes you read the title correctly. I just finished our songlists through the end of May. I can tell you though that it has not always been this way. There was a time when my songlist compiling was a week by week, even night of basis. Before you say “Hey that’s how I do it, whats wrong with that” I’ll say nothing at all. There are many ways of choosing songlists.  But let me tell you some of the advantages of doing things way ahead of time.

1. My band stays informed and in the loop- By doing songlists several weeks ahead of time it gives my musicians and vocalists a chance to be constantly working on upcoming music. They can find the songs that may be difficult and begin putting extra time in. As a band we can work on more difficult music that is coming up several weeks out.

2. It gives us a longterm view of song use- Ever get into a rut? Have those songs that keep popping into your lists because they are easy and the first thing that comes to mind when you are needing just one more song? When we sit down and grid out 6 weeks worth of songs we can look for things like that. We can see what songs we are using more often, and what songs may be appropriate but we may have forgotten about.

3. It helps us think about other parts of the service- When we know what we are singing that is one aspect of worship planning that is taken care of and we don’t have to worry about. We can then turn attention to visuals, graphics, decorations, videos, sermon helps, special music and other things that will help the worship service.

xperience_songlist_2009_march_may

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Worship Service Brainstorm #3

February 15, 2009   Russell Martin   No comments

A few months ago I proposed an idea to help worship leaders brainstorm and give ideas for worship services we were working on. The Worship Service Brainstorm is an opportunity for you to help out, give suggestions and ideas, and to gain some ideas and resources. 

This weeks worship service brainstorm comes from John Hagge at oursaviorlcms.org. 

Here is the information he is working with so far

Date of Service- 3/29/2009

Possible Scriptures: None as yet however given the thought from below it would be from Proverbs or the lessons of the day – series B Jer. 31:31-34 Heb. 5:1-10 & Mark 10:32-45

Title or Topic- Unkown as of yet

Songs- Unknown

Other Elements- I really had hoped to have more info but I plan to discuss this with our youth on Sunday morning and giving them some assignments. BUT one idea that our youth board had was to have (as the sermon) a skit that is a spin off of the TV are you smarter that a fifth grader; only our “show” would be “Are you smarter that a Confirmand?”

So what’s next? Leave your suggestions. Maybe you have a song that would go well, or you  have done a skit that would work. Leave links to items posted on your own blog or others. Just get the dialogue going and lets help each other out.

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