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New Worship Leader Needs Help
Hey guys im new to this site and would really like to connect with other worship leaders. A little bit about me; I am 20 years young and have been recently blessed with the title of worship leader. I must admit i love music but I dont have a dynamic style... If anyone would like to give tips, suggestions, or just some friendly words it will be much appreciated. Thank you and God Bless
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lorraine Doswell on -
Ha, I walked right into that one : )
Soooooo, who is the beautiful little baby in the pic? It's a heartwarming photograph : )
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Permalink Reply by Stevo on -
Not a dynamic style? What does that mean? If you mean that you don't talk a lot on stage and get the crowd all hyped up, blah, you can have that. The less you say up there, the better, you hired your pastor for that. But if you mean that you don't smile much or make eye contact much, that can be changed.
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Permalink Reply by Aaron Amico on -
stevo, i would imagine he is referring more to the style in which he plays guitar.
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Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on -
There are probably quite a few pastors who would be puzzled at the idea that they are hired to preach. Pastors are hired to pastor. Typically pastoring involves preaching and leading services, Really, pastors and worship leaders do all of this for free, and receive a stipend to give us more time to do it more effectively.
My statement may sound like pious nonsense, but I'll put it this way: if you made a good living as a bolt-cutter, enough to retire, would you keep cutting bolts? Now -- if you made a good living as a worship leader, enough to retire, would you?
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Riazon on -
Amen to this Greg!
Once a worshiper, always a worshiper! :)
Oh, and once you step into worship leading, you'll never be able to stop. :)
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Permalink Reply by Lorraine Doswell on
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Hi Brett, if you are only twenty years old and already a worship leader, then you must have a lot going for you.
Keep your feet on the ground, your face on Him and your heart open and you'll not go far wrong. I wish your every blessing for now and the wonderful times ahead.
God Bless. Lorraine
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Permalink Reply by floyd on -
" Keep your feet on the ground, your face on Him and your heart open and you'll not go far wrong. I wish your every blessing for now and the wonderful times ahead."
Hi Lorraine,
This is yet the best advice and encouragement ever. I guess, your statement applies even to the seasoned WL. Thanks for sharing. Cheers nad God bless.
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Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on
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Ditto.
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Permalink Reply by Pete Brower on -
Some random thoughts...
No matter how polished and smooth they seem, many worship leaders struggle with their imperfections and insecurities more that it might appear. Why do so many introverts end up as worship leaders? Don't compare yourself to any other worship leaders. Enjoy them, learn from them, but never compare yourself to them. You are called to lead a different congregation of people in a unique and likely different way.
It's not about performance and perfection, it's about ministry and excellence. Many believe that excellence means being “the best” or at least trying to be the best or to have the highest quality. This invariably leads to comparisons and expressions of personal preference that distract and divide. Excellence is about high quality, but it is also about so much more. Within the context of worship, excellence is at every moment offering to God one’s very best, and always trying to be better. It is taking that which we have been given and, with hearts focused on the Giver, returning the gift to God as an act of worship. It is about pleasing God. It is not about being the best. It is about offering our best.
Be yourself. A dynamic style is not as important as you might think. I wrestled with that one for a long time. If you are leading at a conference or large youth gathering of thousands maybe so. But at your weekly church service what really seems to work for me is to make personal relationships a priority with the congregation, praise team, and pastor. Take time to mingle before and after the service, and on rehearsal night. Greet parishioners at the door and thank them for being there. Then just be the person they already know and trust while you lead. They will appreciate the authenticity and follow.
Be humble. Accept criticism openly and objectively and don't take it personally. It's not all correct and some can be just cruel and off the mark. But accept it graciously and use it to make you better in your service to God. Somewhere in most criticism, no matter how off the mark, you can find some little shred of truth to use. Even if it's just to gain a better understanding of how that person thinks.
You can't make everyone happy all the time. Someone will always take exception to how you are doing something. They are entitle to their opinion but if most seem happy, are engaging in worship, and things are growing and moving forward, AND your pastor is happy with what you are doing, then you are doing something right. Several times I've had a number of people come up after a service and tell me how much something moved them and 5 minutes later one person catch me and go down their list of how bad it was. Kind of makes me wonder if they were all at the same service but it's just people's difference in perspective and expectation. Don't let it discourage you.
Do form a good working relationship and friendship with your pastor. Your job is to support the pastor's vision and leadership and connect that to the congregation and praise team. Not to push your own agenda in conflict with what the pastor and congregation needs. Make sure the pastor has your back in conflict issues. If not you are in for a rough time dealing with people issues in the praise team and in the congregation.
By all means remember to add, remove, or adjust your capo as appropriate for each song. Otherwise you end up playing a solo and your team looks at you like you're nuts. If this does happen, not that it ever does to me, don't be afraid to stop, explain the boneheaded thing you just did, get a good laugh out of it, and do it again right. This actually seems to build a connection with the congregation if it doesn't happen too often and they get more into the song. It can loosen everyone up and show your vulnerable side. Don't be afraid to laugh at yourself. It can really disarm a stressful situation.
Try to always take the blame for things that go wrong and give away the glory for things that go right. Lift those up around you in service. Redirect praise to God.
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Permalink Reply by Aaron Amico on
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there are alot of people who can play worship. most of them dont have a dynamic style......which means it gets repetitive very quickly. the strum pattern basically follows the same rhythm in every song, usually no idea how to finger pick or flat pick or how to change songs into other keys so the voicing of the song is better.
so those are things i would suggest working on. learn to think outside of the box when it comes to strumming. dont play weird strums/rhythms, just try to think of different ways to strum a song that makes it rock. either a gentle rock, or an energetic rock. just think outside the box. dont settle for the same way everyone else plays things. everyone cant be "the original" at something, but just DONT do things because "thats how everyone else is doing it".
check this guy out.....his name is phil wickham and he is very progressive with his acoustic style. his live stuff is a great example of what im talking about because its just him and his guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/user/philwickham#p/u/27/DyZSjww_y7I
http://www.youtube.com/user/philwickham#p/u/30/K5CmcAxNXgo
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Permalink Reply by Brett Brand on -
thank you all for your guidance and encouragement. and for those of you who asked, i do have a really strong relationship with my lead pastor. i use to live with him. he has taken me under his wings and actually calls me his son.
I have already made plenty of mistakes while on stage and i have no problem laughing at myself.
quick question..... My lead guitarist is, well, old school... 80's style player who does leads anytime he can and sometimes over the singing... I love his style but sometimes its in the wrong places/times... how do i approach him about this without making him feel like i dont like his style??
praise God for this gift he has giving us... i have been looking for a worship leader connecting site for a while...
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Permalink Reply by Pete Brower on
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I had that problem with two different lead guitar players. I try to make a point periodically to the whole team that we need to be all about blend and dynamics. For lead guitars that means we don't need to be ripping off guitar solos and riffs all the way through every song and not everyone has to play all the time on every song. Sometimes some clean arpeggios played up high on the neck work better that lead riffs. I ask for that sometimes when the leads are getting in the way. We do work in guitar leads over intros, outros, and some solo sections within songs. And it's good to have some good quick riffs between vocal phrases and the gap between a verse and chorus. But keep it simple or lay off the verses and try not to bury the vocals in the chorus. If a simple talk doesn't work try recording a rehearsal or service and play it back for the person to listen to so you can show what you are talking about. I've had a 50/50 success rate. One guitar player walked, the other was thankful and had been silently hoping for some direction. Another place I've had this problem is with a very talented keyboard player that constantly wanted to rock everyone's parts himself and left no room for anyone else to play.
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