Music for an Easter Play, Continued....

Getting ready for your Easter drama can be pretty hectic. The person putting together our drama this year, has a ton of songs they want to incorporated into our drama. So, the challenging part for me has been finding good times to practice with the band, soloists, and keeping a balance with our usual music obligations.

Preparations

Things that I have been doing to get prepared for our very musical Easter drama, are things such as this. Keep in mind, some of these things may seem like a "no brainer" to some, but I have to work very hard at being an organized director/leader (still not great at it yet, but kudos to my wife for keeping me on track):

• Typing out lyrics for singers. Providing copies of the lyrics to all singers, along with a copy of the song on CD/MP3 to all soloists.


• Providing the music to all musicians. Depending on what your group uses, this would include Chord Charts or Bass Tab/Chords with lyrics, and a copy of the song on CD/MP3.


• Learn songs completely prior to music practice. The Drum line, Bass line, Guitar, Piano, Organ, and whatever else the song may include. Learn where all the hits, cuts, and accents are.

It doesn't seem like a lot, but it can be a lot of work getting one or two songs prepared. For example, our music group will play a lot of songs that are not popular in mainstream Christian/Gospel music. I also do not splurg and spend money to purchase the actual sheet music for our songs. Another item that causes extra work is, we typically use the Tennessee number system when playing music, rather than using chord names, (which...I haven't been able to find a website dedicated to transposing chords into numbers). So because I like to make things difficult, I listen to a song over & over, type the words out in a MS Word, then learn the music by ear. I then input the numbers of the chords over the lyrics, and give this to the band.

Depending on the complexity of the song, this can be a fairly quick, or rather lengthy process. Either way, this helps our musicians, especially those who are not acustomed to learning music by ear.

Practice Times

As far as practice time goes, I try pretty hard to keep practices limited to after services during the week, and in between services on Sunday afternoon. I would recommend keeping your practice times after, or before, your church services. You tend to have a better turn out for music practice, when everyone is already at church, rather than getting together an extra evening. This is especially true when your people are there on a volunteer basis.

I'm also make it a point to bring a copy of the song to practice, as we typicall will have to refer to the song on occasion (I have a pretty opinionated music group). Hopefully, if your musicians are proactive enough, they will have the song down by the time practice rolls around.

Easter dramas can be very hectic, and people still have their personal lives to tend to, so the more thought you give to your people, the more they will respect you and will utilize the time they are asked to be there.

As I posted previously, if there are any methods you can use for preparations, this is what I have done, and so far, as worked out this week. Let me know your thoughts, and feel free to share your ideas. I'm always ready to learn and grow.

B

Getting Ready for Easter

Wow!! How time flies!!  It can be challenging to keep up with a new Blog, a 2 year old, a 4 month old, full time job and a music ministry.  Throw an Easter play into the mix, with a dozen songs (roughly).....yeah....blogging has had to take a back seat. (sorry blog)

None-the-less, all is progressing as planned (more or less).  Our choir has been able to brush up on 4 songs thus far, has almost completely learned a fairly complex song in an hour, and has one song to go.  Most all of the soloist songs have learned their songs, 5 in all.  Being that Easter is only 4 Sundays away from yesterday, that makes a music director pretty pleased.  This coming from our last years Easter play preparations....this is smooth sailings thus far for the music department. 

Is anyone else putting together an Easter play, or have you in the past.  I would love to hear from anyone else that has to either pull together an Easter play, drama, or has assisted in one, to hear what your experiences have been, and what preparations you go through.  What happened, what worked well, what didn't, what were the outcomes??

Hopefully you feel better than this when it's all said and done.

Good luck in all you do this year, and God Bless!
B

Music Conference worth attending

I have attended the To The Chief Musician music conference in Stockton, California, more many years now. Excellent, excellent music conference to attend, to help you learn more regarding the music ministry, and grow yourself musically, spiritually, and in leadership.

This is also something I would recommend encouraging anyone that is in the music ministry to attend. Whether you are the director, drummer, bassist, sound person, or just a singer in the choir or ensemble, you will receive something from this conference.

My wife, bassist/song writer, sound lady and I are going to attend the IBC Music Fest music conference, in Indianapolis, Indiana this year. Not sure what the difference is, other than thi IBC (Indiana Bible College) music conference has been running longer that the TTCM (To The Chief Musician) music conference has.

We are excited about what it has in store, and what we're going to learn from this. I plan to share all I learn, weblinks to resources, music tips, and plenty of pics & vids from the conference. If you have never attended a music conference before, you NEED to!! It's such an experience to be around like minded people, who do what you do. Plus, you get tons of questions answered, you can talk to people going through the same things you are, and learn new ideas on how to tackle things you are trying out.

Check out the two websites above, and if you can't make it to either of these conferences this year, try to make plans to attend one next year. There are plenty of other music conferences available, but these are two that I know about, and have/will attend.

Let me know what you think, or if you have any places you have been. I'd love to hear about what has worked for you.

God Bless,

B

Glenn Beck talks about the AIG bonus's and what the real issue is

Huge fan of Glenn Beck. I love that he is not biased, and will tell it like it is. I don't agree with 100% of his views, but I love the fact that he accepts those that don't share his view. As long as you can back up your view, and actually believe in your own view, from your convictions, he is good with that.

Here is an article from Glenn's news letter from today, 3/18/09, talking about this issue. I found it interesting. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/22911/

Are you Creating a Music Ministry for the Future?

What happens to your music program (or department) when you’re not there?? Does it run smoothly?? Does everyone know what they’re doing, or can your music program not run without you there??

I myself have run up against this challenge within my own music program. Depending on the size of church you attend, and the amount of talent that attends your church, this can prove a challenging, yet necessary, task. Though my church is limited on the amount of musical talent, I have made this a personal goal of mine for last the last two years. It’s something that will take years to develop, but if you never start….you’ll never get to where you want to be.

I am the primary piano player, and besides myself, I don’t have someone else with the experience and skill level needed to run our worship services the same way as I do. I've often encouraged and pushed others that have a desire to labor in the music ministry, to venture out....to lead a worship service, or run a practice session.

People are usually scared to step out in this fashion, as it can be nerve racking (I was when I started out). It feels as though you hold the direction of the ENTIRE service in your hands...whether it will draw people to worship, or whether it will just kill the spirit God has for that service. AAAHHHH!!!

So…….What have I done??

Recently, my job has required me to work on Sunday’s once per month. This has given me the opportunity to delegate the authority of running music practice and worship service to others within my department. It has also given others a sense of urgency, and opportunity to step out and embrace their calling. Needless to say, when someone has a great responsibility placed upon them, they will find a way to get it done, and typically do it well.

There will always be hiccups and mistakes made along the way, but we must always be encouraging our people in this regard. Encourage people to make mistakes. Tell them that by making mistakes, we learn and grow. If we never made any mistakes, it's usually because we never try, and if we don’t try, we don’t grow.

So mistakes are a good thing. Now, also be sure to re-enforce that this is a concept, and that we need to make adjustments and correct these mistakes, but to not be afraid to make them. The more confidence you show towards and in people, the less reluctant others are about stepping out and taking a chance. So don’t be stingy with praise and encouragement.

I don’t want to make this an extremely long post, so I will cover this in segments. I also want to talk more about detailed things that I have done to get the Music Ministry of tomorrow developing within my church. Tune in for more to come.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this has helped!

God Bless,

B

Discovering the "BLOG", and a Word of Encouragement

Wow!! What a vast world out there...the world of the "Blog". I've been reading up on effective blogging, and have also been straining my brain with brainstorming. What to write, what to post, so much to do....and IT'S NOT DEVELOPING QUICK ENOUGH!! I must be obsessive compulsive, not sure. :0)

None-the-less, my brain rarely shuts down when it comes to music, and now the desire to begin blogging. I'm excited about the future of what this could develop into, and who it may help, or inspire. If for no one else, even just myself.

Working in the Ministry of Music, especially when it's strictly by volunteer, can be tiresome and, many times, can become tedious. I've often asked myself, "Is it really all worth it?" I love to work and labor in the ministry for the Lord, but issues that arise can make both myself and family weary.

What makes the difference, is when you see that someone, whether it's a church member, or new comer, that comes up to you after a service and says, "Thank you for all you do." Whether you are compensated for your time and effort, or if it's all voluntary, that is the grease that keeps the engine running. Also, it's how you really know that you've been called to the work that you're laboring in.

So, with this, my second post, I would like to say, be encouraged. When the day is done and over with, even if you have only helped to ministry and touch one person...you will have fulfilled your duty, and that should give you a sense of accomplishment.

For anyone who may read this, whether you direct the choir, play an instrument, or run the show.....it's all worth it. Count it all joy!!

B

New to the Blogging World

Hello all who may read this new post. I've started a new role at my current work place, which has required me to learn this new world of "Blogging" I've never known to exist. With this being said.....it's been an extremely fun adventure and learning process.

I hope to use this, and other, blog sites as a resource for myself, and hopefully others interested, with topics I have, am currently, and will eventually deal with in the Music Ministry. I never had a resource to go to (that I knew of) and never had training, education, nor an example to follow, prior to diving into this endeavor I now am in charge of. Things I never knew I would ever run across, or thought I would deal with are; dealing with difficult people, unmotivated yet talented people, spiritual issues, etc., etc., etc.

I look forward to this project, and hope someday, this will benefit and bless someones life, ministry and soul.

We'll be talking soon, God Bless

B