Instrumental Reflection #13- In the Bleak Midwinter
Dec 21, 2009 Instrumental Reflections
I have always loved this Christmas song. The chord changes are beautiful and the melody just flows. I hope you enjoy it too.
To listen click play!
Click here for the feed for the podcast or here to subscribe in itunes
Tags: Christmas, Free, Instrumental, piano
Creative Artists or Praise and Worship Cover Band?
Oct 28, 2009 How To, Worship Planning
I was reading through various friends facebook updates when this one by Chuck Harris caught my attention:
“The church does not prize originality, but rather cloning, it does not prize freedom, but control.” Leonard Sweet.
It got me to thinking about how we approach worship music in the church. Do we foster an atmosphere of creativity and unleash our members to use their talent in unique and creative ways, or do we throttle creativity by insisting on playing a piece just as it was recorded by the latest worship band? I admit it is much easier to do the second. I also think that we are encouraged to do so by artists and publishing companies because they make it so easy. You can find now an extensive library of resources where the worship tunes have been charted out to mimic their recording. It is easier to learn the music when CD’s can be listened to and are available for easy reference. I wonder though if it has not just made us a praise and worship cover band. Although it is easier, is it best?
I had been thinking on this topic even before I read the quote above. One of our band members, who had been thinking along the same lines, asked if we could try an experiment. He said that we should pass out a chord chart to a song, and let us come up with the arrangement before listening to it on the CD.
I really want to get your thoughts.
What are the benefits of using CDs and pre-written charts?
What are the benefits of doing your own thing?
Which do you use more often? Why?
What are other ways you can foster creativity with your band?
Tags: band, CD, charts, chord chart, Church, facebook, Free, late, listen, Music, praise, praise and worship, Reading, Recording, Resource, resources, sing, song, Thoughts, Worship
My Dropbox – Something Free for You and Me!
Aug 20, 2009 Free Stuff, How To
For about a year now I have been using Dropbox as a way to share files between my various computers. It simply works like this. Install dropbox on whatever computers you want and folder called “My Dropbox” is put into My Documents. Whenever you add or take away files from that “My Dropbox” folder, it is syncronized on each computer on which it is installed. I use this often to put files I am working on so I can open them at home and work, such as publications for church, or photos for this blog.
My dropbox is making an offer for more free space. For everyone one of you who sign up for My Dropbox, I get 250 mb of more space, up to 3 gig. But wait there is more. If you sign up you also get not only the 1G of space that comes with the free version, but an additional 250 mb also. So I would like to ask for you to try My Dropbox. Just click “Get My Dropbox” below and it will take you through the short sign up process. I would not ask, or support this if I had not used it myself. I hope you enjoy.
I found “My Dropbox” because someone else suggested it to me. What other cool, useful web tools would you suggest?
Tags: computer, dropbox, Free, photo, photos, useful web tools, work
Subscribe for Freebies
May 7, 2009 Free Stuff
I give away a lot of free backgrounds, songs, ideas etc on this site. Here is a search to find them all. It’s easy though to find out about them when I post them either by subscribing to the RSS feed, subscribing to e-mail, following me on twitter or becoming a fan on facebook.
Free Background- Palm Trees
Mar 29, 2009 Free Stuff, Photos and Backgrounds
Took this photo on Galveston Island last year. Feel free to use it for your worship slides, announcements or other publications. Enjoy.
Tags: Background, Free, Palm, Tree
My Five -Posts Since August
Mar 22, 2009 Uncategorized
I’ve been writing posts for this blog since August of 2008. So after 9 months I wondered what my most popular posts are… well I wonder no longer cause here they are. Apparently so far a lot of people are looking for free backgrounds. Tune in later for my 5 favorite posts.
Past Year (Since August)
Free Stuff:Angel Background
Youth Worship: Worshipping Without a Band
Free Backgrounds
Cardboard Testimonies
How to Make Your Own Worship Background
Tags: angel, Background, band, blogs, Free, Free Stuff, How To, Worship, youth, Youth Worship
Sunday Setlist 3/8/09
Mar 9, 2009 Worship Planning
This was a good week at our Xperience Service. We had a full service, a new family joining, great message. Here are our songs.
Today is the Day - This was our first song from the CD of the same name to introduce. We used it as our opening song and since it was new they really didn’t sing along, but it got nice applause so I think they liked it. It was also my first time to play electric guitar in the service. I have always played acoustic but didn’t feel right doing acoustic guitar on this song.
Every Move I Make- Ok… this one might be out of our list for a while. Kind of fit the sermon for today so wee used it but I think a break from it will allow us to do it later. The version I originally learned is the one I linked to from one of my favorite groups, Smith Band who led music at Metro Bible Study in Houston for several years.
So Good- This has been a favorite in the service since before I was here.
Awaken Our Hearts- One of my favorites that has become favorites for others too. This is actually my first entry on the “Online Songwriters Showcase” I’d love feedback.
I Stand Amazed- We introduced this one late last year and it has become one that the congregation latches into and sings strongly. I don’t know why but it works. We used this for our invitation.
That’s what we sang. Check out what other churches did for their Sunday Setlists.
Tags: band, CD, Church, Free, guitar, Setlist, Songs, Sunday, Sunday Setlist, work
Why We Don’t Rehearse Every Week
Feb 21, 2009 Uncategorized
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?
Tags: band, busy, camp, Christmas, Church, Free, Recording, rehearsal, songlists, Songs, summer, Sunday, Team, work, Worship
Iphone Apps for Musicians- Part 3
Jan 3, 2009 Media and Technology
This post is third in a series where I have highlighed some of the most useful apps for the iphone and ipod touch that I have found for my ministry leading worship. Here are the final 4.
Evernote-Their website says “Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere.” I have just begun using this software and haven’t started using it to it’s full potential but it looks promising. The ability to sync online and iphone is good. I could definately see it useful when purchasing equipment and making comparisons.
Twittelator- If you are a twitter user this is a great app to have. It is my primary form of interacting on twitter. I can send photos, direct messages, and replies. It also supports the location feature so everyone can know exactly where you are. It does from time to time get overwhelmed if you are following a large number of people who update very often but all in all it does well. There is a free version and then Twittelator Pro which costs a few dollars.
Pandora- I wrote about this a few months ago for the desktop version. The Pandora program for the iphone works just the same. Enter a song or artist and it will create a station based around the sound characteristics of that artist or song. The result is a play list that is similar in style that you can listen to all day long. I have used this both on the edge and 3G networks as well as Wifi. As long as you have a signal you can listen. The downside is you cannot listen to it and do anything else on your phone. Until apple lets us run two programs simultaneously.
BONUS APPLICATION FOR MUSICIANS
Gigbaby- A four track recorder with drum machine and metronome? Yeah and all for under a buck. I wouldn’t produce any records with it but great for recording song ideas. This was not in my original list but I ran across it the other day and have loved it since.
Tags: application, apps, Free, iphone, Recording, twitter, work, Worship
Free Background- Garden Angel Blur in 4 Colors
Jan 2, 2009 Free Stuff, Photos and Backgrounds
One of the most downloaded backgrounds on this site has been the Garden Angel Blur that I made from a photo I had taken this Summer at one of my work camps. I thought maybe someone would like it in a color other than green… so here they are. Click on the image once to go to the gallery, and then again to view the full sized image. Then right click and save. You are free to use them for your worship services, announcements etc.. It would be cool if you would let me know how you used them.
Tags: angel, Background, camp, Free, freebie, Media Shout, Powerpoint, summer, work, Worship
