WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR WORSHIP BAND MEMBERS SHOW UP UNPREPARED

[@Churchfront]

Yo homies, what tips do you have for inspiring your team to show up prepared!? LMK 👇

[@jhdez25]

i take them out to eat once a month or we have a cookout at one of our houses, just to show them they are appreciated. I also have the pastor acknowledge the hard work they are doing every time the pastor takes the podium to preach he says Thank you Praise and Worship team for your sacrifice or something like that.

[@marjoriedoherty1999]

Food.

[@santoshabraham]

Great tips and questions, Jake. Agree all around. You addressed how to prepare your worship team, but I don't think you addressed this question on how to INSPIRE them. 1. What @JHernandez touched on is important: APPRECIATION. Most churches aren't in a position to give an honorarium to praise team members. So it's important that we appreciate them in other appropriate ways. Yeah, Christ is our Great Reward, but that's not an excuse to fail at expressing gratitude to those who serve. Write a thank-you card. Food. Small gifts of appreciation. Something personal so they know you love and appreciate them as a person, not just a musician. It's good for our soul. 2. Write out EXPECTATIONS and COMMITMENT of a worship team member before anyone joins the worship team. Go over it with your team at least once a year. Set short and long term goals. ASK your team's thoughts and goals-you shouldn't be the only voice promoting excellence. ACCOUNTABILITY and teamwork is vital. 3. STEWARDSHIP. We ought to give our first and best to God. We should also bear fruit (multiplication). Encourage team members to mentor someone to be a part of the future team. Hopefully team members are on stage because they are more than musicians-they are models of Christian faith. Mentoring can start simple with teaching a music lesson. Then move on to how to play on a worship team. Challenge them to level up without always coming down on them. Beware of pride when you suggest someone to be a mentor. 4. ATTITUDE. Worship team members are susceptible to PRIDE. This addresses reasons why a team member may not come prepared. Playing on a platform appeals to our human desire for position and prestige. Pride creeps in. One might begin to think they're entitled to stage time-without the practice. There are secular musicians who would LOVE to play on stage with a band once a week. They work hard to land the gigs they can. They are talented, but more than that they are disciplined. I find that if a praise team member is not practicing at home, it's because of pride or a lack of discipline (unless there is a legitimate strain on their time, of course). Tell a team member to take a week or month off. Everyone needs a break. In fact, do it preemptively instead of after problems arise. Each member should be okay with not playing for a week or so here and there. If you have a small team like me, don't fret: worship will go on without one instrument on stage. And they'll look forward to playing the following week. 5. RELATIONSHIP. Foster strong, wholesome bonds with your team members. Do things together outside of worship. Attend a concert as a team. Dinner. Have a game night. Check up on them. I believe you have another video on how worship leaders have pastoral responsibility. That responsibility is to our team members-our inner circle and comrades. Many more thoughts on this, like being inspired by the Word. Be creative. Don't play the song the same way every time. Take a risk. Do something new and different. Record. Thanks for addressing the subject and asking the question.

[@SoCalRobb]

@Santosh Abraham - great suggestions! I’m going to meditate & pray about what you wrote here! Also, thanks Jake for another great video! To God be the glory! 🙌🏼

[@sr80bassguy]

Fire them. Volunteer or paid there is an expectancy of professionalism not only for the team but for God. Not showing up prepared is disrespectful to the church and most importantly to God.

[@barryhanson9991]

I gave my Pastor my resignation.... suddenly, music team started showing up prepared... it's MAGIC!!! HAHAHAHA

[@Churchfront]

😂

[@Churchfront]

😂

[@barryhanson9991]

I put many hours of work into memorizing songs, and uploading everything to Planning Center every week, even sending reminder emails. After several weeks in a row of people walking in before service and asking "What songs are we doing" I wanted to scream! I turned in my resignation. Pastor understood and got the ball rolling. He has probably suffered similar things with people HE relied on. Threatening does not seem right. Your site is helping me a lot. Thanks Jake

[@pianogospel6187]

😂😂

[@dyinvector7865]

I might try this hahahha

[@vlaimereputten4181]

First 6min white noise...

[@joeylama6472]

What are you supposed to do when your worship leader shows up unprepared lol

[@Churchfront]

😂🤔

[@colinjohnson3814]

Pray.

[@prodigaldaughter5978]

I have that same problem! Lol or they'll put the songs in planning center the day before. I'm like 😒🤦

[@Murgsmusic]

Practice sitting in The Lord's presence and recognizing His voice above everything else before learning the music and going into rehearsal. As worship leaders, our job is to bring the congregation to a place we are already at. After that, the Holy spirit will start encouraging everyone to bring a proper offering

[@Larrys-88Keys]

I agree..... Church rehearsal should be treated like a mini church service with reverence. To me, the number one deficit in musicians' practice can be the lack of pulling into the presence of the Lord!

[@pastorgroove]

As a backing musician in the worship band, lack of preparation is one of my biggest pet peeves. It makes for a long rehearsal. Great tips in your video!

[@rbeamish6492]

Our band won't even make time for rehearsals most of the time. The music director doesn't seem worried about getting better and thinks we are 'good enough'. Trouble is she then doesn't like others introducing new songs. Also the singers want their mics turned up... when half the time their tuning is shaky and they don't know the songs. Not happening when I'm on the mixer!

[@GuitarMyke]

I prepare all materials and get it all on PCO two weeks prior to it’s scheduled date. From that point forward, they are accountable to know the material. Most worship songs are simple chord progressions. It’s not like playing a complex Rush song. I’m actually starting to migrate more toward using Prime Loop Community backing tracks because people don’t prepare. The problem is the flesh. “I don’t have time!!” is the excuse I hear all the time. Ohhh ... okay .... but you can tell me who got voted off the Bachelor though right? 2 week preparation time is plenty enough time to prepare for Sunday morning.

[@Churchfront]

😂"but you can tell me who got voted off of the bachelor." So sad but so true. Thanks for sharing!

[@johnshaler3740]

Remember everyone, God is worth our best effort! Get that practice in!

[@Churchfront]

👆🏻For the record, this guy is the best drummer I've ever worked with.

[@johnshaler3740]

Churchfront with Jake Gosselin Miss you too Jake!

[@kendevries3212]

What do you do about a worship leader that equates unpreparedness with humility? Seriously. I have seen more of this than members not being prepared.

[@Jairus1004]

What if worship leaders and director themselves don't come prepared and only the musicians come prepared? What tips would help this situation?

[@BiscuitHooks0303]

I think the biggest fear of worship leaders is that the moment your volunteers feel like you are holding them accountable they will just bail leaving you up the creek without a paddle.

[@GaleForcePhilippines]

The worship team members, whether musicians, singers setup crew, etc. can all over time begin to feel weary in the well doing. If these positions, and most are voluntary, we as the worship pastor or leader must remember that these people are busy with their day-to-day lives and we, as the worship pastor/leader must be sensitive. While most musicians and singers are passionate about their service to the Lord, we all live in the real world with real world responsibilities. All to say, to inspire a musician that is coming up short, I will invite him to lunch and really make a point to get to know his life. In that conversation it is usually easy to figure out the problem and work out a solution. Another thing I do, is to encourage the church to budget $100/week for $10 gift cards to Walmart, Starbucks, etc. It's a fun gesture on a weekly basis to keep morale up. From one month to the next, I try to switch it up and do different types of things with the $100 budget and has proven to be really fruitful. Remember, it's the little things, the little gestures that can mean the most. Lastly, love...love...love...it's gotta be real, genuine and sincere. I have not perfected all of the principals by the way, but we have a good team and I am grateful for them.

[@faithbo9681]

Love... love... love ! I love that ! Gods greatest commandment ! It is hard to for some people to assert themselves being in a leadership position because they don't want to hurt someone one's feelings or feel like they've ran someone off. The biggest thing is love and prayer. Praying about it and asking the Lord to be your words will be saying in love because the Lord will answer your prayers when you are living in His will !!!

[@pgt3537]

For me it's about getting buy in. Leaders must leave their ego at the door. They must be prepared, confident and spirit filled but then, without delay, they need to share leadership and (with support for the young ones) hand over responsibility for tasks, constantly communicating in word and in action that each person is an important and valued piece of the outfit. They must risk tasks to less skillful musicians and allow less than perfect. If your singers or instrumentalists can't hear themselves or are told they were not audible you can guarantee a lack of engagement.

[@moniquewrites9046]

I remember a sermon from Stephen Furtick. The guitar player game unprepared and he sat him down. I think that set a standard. And that standard led to multiple albums for there many locations. I think we as church goers don’t need to give God left overs and leaders should hold us accountable.

[@GaleForcePhilippines]

By the way Jake, I really appreciate your content! I have been wanting to automate and had only heard of ableton, but had no idea the possibilities. Thanks for your hard work in creating this content. I hope you're seeing good and reliable income from KZbin, you certainly deserve it! Peace and Blessings!

[@FlamedMapleSyrup]

How about showing up to rehearsal unprepared......AND LATE!

[@小谷野デシリー]

Maybe you need to share about what is WORSHIP? And what is the meaning of WORSHIP? And why we Worship God? And what is the benefit of Worship? And Winning your Battle in Worship? I know this is the important to learn first.

[@pineapplegirl1234]

This is some great stuff!! Thanks Jake!! This is something my church has been struggling with for a long time and have really been working on this year. We've been trying to create this culture that our worship team isn't just a team, but a family. A family works together and is there for each other and if we can successfully communicate this vision, and people are on board with it, I feel that it can definitely help to eliminate unpreparedness. We have seen a significant change this season after we started actively and consistently communicating this message. People have been reaching out to other band members, whether it's to share coffee and conversation at Starbucks or maybe hanging out and working on the next worship setlist. It's transformed our worship team as a whole, and while we aren't perfect and there are still mishaps, the issue of unpreparedness is making its way out and it's so wonderful to see. :)

[@Churchfront]

Awesome! So glad to hear this. Keep it up!

[@lucasrubio8099]

eeyy bro! It would be great if you could make some material in Spanish! for those of us who live in Latin America

[@gonzremodelingandwindows6571]

Unfortunately so many Spanish speaking congregations don't understand how important is to came well prepared and give God the best. They always say, it's for the glory of God that's the most important thing not how you play your instrument. Most of are worship members don't take it very well when i mention that we need to came ready for rehearsal. There's many times i can't take no more..

[@jorarofu]

Jake, that frustration gets even worse when the "music director" and the "worship leader" as well don't come prepared for rehearsal 😡🤦🏻‍♂️🤐

[@alexoftheway8169]

This is interesting stuff. I don't lead anything, I play guitar a fair bit and I've got to admit I love it when I get chord sheets & vidios to practice with and greatly appreciate the effort that goes into getting that information sorted. It's not always easy with a full on job but I play at home & invest in lessons from people who know much more than me. I guess that putting the time, effort & finance into what you do is a joint effort by everybody, including us lot who play your guys sets!

[@benjaminfarago3128]

What a great video man! Just keep doing this channel, it's very helpful, but maybe you could speak about the spiritual part of the worsip. My tip is to pray for the band members, but i can't say enough times how cool are your videos.

[@Churchfront]

Thanks Benjamin! Yes you’re right that there is a pastoral element to this as well. I was definitely focusing more on the leadership/practical strategies in this video. Thanks for sharing your insight!

[@amdrummer226]

Great video! And I know many churches don’t believe in paying the Bands but when money is involved the expectations increase and showing up prepared is expected but also teaching and pouring out the reasons why rehearsal is different than practice follows it up really well and then teaching how to steward the band pay for better gear etc also raises the worship teams final goal which is no distractions/great worship sets, setting up a space for the spirit to work and not putting him in a box even higher

[@Churchfront]

Love this Justin! Thanks for sharing. I definitely agree that if you're church can provide a budget for paying some or all musicians, there's a whole lot more incentive for them to approach it like professionals.

[@shawnriddick4134]

Its frustrating when your musicians don't practice!!!!then think they can play it on Sunday!Unexceptable. Then you got the ones that can't remember one song to the next...it's banana s...ugh!!!

[@shawnriddick4134]

I give my team the music on Monday and rehearsal is Tuesday and then we have rehearsal Saturday and the musicians still don't know the music on Sunday!!Because they think they know everything thing...When Sunday rolls around they sounding sick and want take responsibility for it!.They act like they were on point...And I am looking like really🤔.When you address them about it .Then it's your fault..They make me want to leave it all!!

[@Plymouthmusicschool]

couple of tips..worship leaders need to get the songs out by MONDAY, in the correct keys and all transcriptions written correctly..next reduce rehearsal time. more than a few hours of rehearsal time usually results in musicians using rehearsal time to learn the songs. Finally, use tracks...if a player doesn't know their parts then put a track in with their playing.

[@edpinero2107]

Great video! Thanks Josh! God bless you and your ministry!🙏🏼

[@squamishfish]

The hardest I find is when the pastors have to have their children on the team they get special treatment, And can act out nothing g can be said

[@wcvalentine5996]

Uninspiring music is at the bottom of most of that imho. A lot of the modern Worship music is very bad

[@annawhistles]

I sometimes have the opposite... the band members are super confident in their music, but the singers and/or worship leader doesn't. Or they don't give us the set list until the day or two before practice.

[@Prophetlefirmament.]

You text them the songs titles for them to learn the songs, that what I do and print the songs on the paper to give at rehearsal

[@theguitfiddler6111]

Awesome info but I find that is an endless battle when I first started with worship over 25 years ago I came from playing secular music being in a band meant you learned the material and played it correctly or you moved on and got replaced well in in church you couldn’t do that I learned not everyone has the same passion as you do

[@Trainzstation]

Thank you Jake. I have been struggling with a couple members latley I am going to go through this list and see what might help.

[@Churchfront]

Glad I can help!

[@Churchfront]

Glad I can help! Thanks for watching!

[@jpswissnut1849]

I'm the drummer at my worship group and I'm the only one who practices outside of rehearsal. We go to rehearsal,but no one actually practices the songs at their houses. Well actually my dad does. He's the acoustic guitar player. But no one else does!!!!

[@Churchfront]

Sounds like your worship leader needs to build a stronger culture around preparation and the importance

[@gabby2404]

These suddenly happen to my Team.

[@drubarlow]

Hey Jake, concerning resources, how do you resource your band with arrangements they can listen to at home when you drastically change the key of a song? Example: my team is leading "Build My Life" in this season of ministry, but we moved the key from G (original key) to C for female lead vocals because we have more female than male vocalists at this moment. Learning it seemed harder than I thought it would be because, even though I resourced my team with music in our chosen key, there was no recording available in the key of C.

[@Diddlinaleo]

Andy Barlow relevant for me as well

[@gibfen1235]

@@Diddlinaleo I realize this is a very old question but I use the free digital audio program Audacity. After reading in the original MP3, use the Effects->Change Pitch option to change the pitch. The changes the pitch but does not change the tempo. You enter the key of the song then select the output key. You can do up or down in increments of half-steps. Then listen. If okay then export as MP3. Please understand that changing pitch will give you the correct pitch BUT electronically doing this is NOT like having someone simply sing in the new key. Depending on the distance between the orig and new keys you can get a "chipmunk" voice. The instruments will be correct though to learn your lead parts.

[@benjaminthancock]

@@gibfen1235 Garage Band does this too. And it comes free with Apple computer an iOS devices.

[@USAranger42]

I remember one time I went to a personal piano practice with my in-person teacher and I didn’t practice beforehand. Five minutes into that session she asked me if I practiced and I told her no, and she just looked at me and said “James, I don’t want to be harsh with you, but showing up here if you didn’t practice is wasting my time and your time. I’m here for a specific reason, you need to do your job and practice on your own time.” And just like that, my session with her ended that day. It really hurt me, her being so honest with me about that, but I grew a lot from it. I’m not condoning kicking someone out of your band if you give them the necessary tools to practice and they don’t, but you also need to be real with them. I think having just yourself leading worship is 1000x better than wasting countless hours during rehearsals going over stuff that people should’ve already practiced, or having people not care. Because that’s what people do when they don’t care, they don’t practice and they don’t attempt to put effort. There’s a difference if someone is putting in effort and they just aren’t a naturally gifted musician. Dealing with people is always hard, and there is a level of grace we need to use. But we also can’t just sit here and waste everybody’s time who did actually show up prepared because that’s rude to them and it takes away time they could’ve spent with their kids or family. As always, seek wisdom from the Lord and have His Word guide you in what you should do.

[@stephenlennartz3466]

Well ... I'm not in a worship band but as the leader of a cover band I take our 'product'--performing very seriously. First of all I think it is critical to have a designated leader. In our case ... it's on me. Believe me ... it's not an ego thing. I think it's earned respect and trust. At the heart of effective leadership is communication. So our rehearsals usually kick off with a five minute chat. How did practicing your guitar part go? Any challenges? Did you change out your drum heads? Etc. Etc. Then we jump in on the 3 or 4 new songs that everyone has agreed on. We often take 15 or so minutes mid practice to work on vocal parts. (Everyone sings!). I guess you could say that our practices are fairly structured ... but with a measure of flexibility in case someone feels the need to take a break ... or jam on something completely different. Managing expectations for everyone is critical. Mutual respect. Trust. And oh yeah ... have fun! I ramble... but hope this helps.

[@matheusPMAVieira]

The same problems happen on choir rehearsals, multiplied by 20 because of the number of people not always with enough music knowledge. And Backvocals sometimes don't even go to rehearsal and just show up on sunday completely lost! Why come if you don't know the worship? Sometimes the leader gives more attention to musicians rather than vocals, or the tech team and they just aren't enough motivated and quit! If it's a constant problem, the leader should realize and do something. Great tips BTW!

[@Kingbobco]

This is great info and a really good change in perspective. It's easy to get frustrated and snippy with people. It's good to remember who the staff member and who the volunteer is.

[@terryhoffman8049]

Not a worship band but, the same principles apply. Have a talk with the person and, if the problem persists or the person's attitude takes over simply ask if they want to continue to be in the band. If there are no changes then they're gone. There are plenty of musicians that would love the opportunity to be part of a successful and, working band. If they think they are not replaceable then tell them the story of the glass of water. Stick your finger in it and, remove the finger and,if the water doesn't fill the hole back up then they are more than special and, totally irreplaceable! Also if members can't get along with each other because of a big head or just plain being obnoxious, to others in the band or won't help with loading, unloading or helping others to gather gear, ask if this can be changed and, if no improvement or attitude problems persist. They're gone! If problems aren't addressed it will act like a cancer and, eat away at everything and, everybody that it touches. Make the decisions and, be positive and, firm or you'll find yourself making excuses for the actions and, attitudes of these people.

[@dangosselin4523]

Great job Jake!

[@theguitfiddler6111]

Serenity Prayer God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change The courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference

[@mattisonwiggins988]

Give the band members the songs and tracks a week in advance and tell them that u will check in with them everyday. Meet to practice for rehearsal 2 before Sunday. Yes i have made all that clear. I have kicked 3 people out of band and posted the expectations in band room.

[@gibfen1235]

Great notes around 5:00. Some music ministers do not know how to bring in new people. They expect the new player not to get discouraged as they are trying to figure out how everything works or the churches processes.

[@ryansabandal1739]

Thanks for all helpful insight, God Bless you brother.

[@mh4rjie710]

Thanks for the advice! 😊😊😊

[@mijaresaldo]

Thank you very much for the tips.

[@iBowlSpares]

Maybe you should prey that they sort it out Haha

[@anrikolab2546]

Jake its great Topic! Thank's and Bless!

[@jg_soundandlightingproduct7368]

Thank you helpful video!! 🙏🏼

[@jonwestera6657]

Set the expectation and culture

[@ashmarch]

That's true and it's a worrying factor..

[@jonasmarin2014]

This vid helps me a lot. Thanks Jake!

[@keotik]

Im in an oi!Punk band... So frustated hahahaha

[@calebandreasen9259]

Sorry, off question. What is that wooden Tele in the background on the wall?

[@Churchfront]

It's the G&L ASAT Classic Spalted Maple

[@kingalysterianlion5542]

Great tips Jake!

[@jayhill1242]

Track them

[@paulussantosociwidjaja4781]

We use LINE GROUP to share songs to listen to and study before coming for practice. And some times eating out together or occasionally having fun together in nature. But, by the way - our WLs are not like you being sticked to the arrangement - yet. If I may ask your opinion on technology usage during worship: How about using VOCODER to support the limited capability of the vocalists? Thanks, Jake!

[@Churchfront]

I've never looked into Vocoder. I'll have to check that out!

[@Diddlinaleo]

Churchfront with Jake Gosselin hi! Have you?😀

[@RobAllenENT]

I used to HATEEEEEEEEEEE that. 😆

[@jaybray76]

At approx 6:30 you note the responsibility of a worship leader to be prepared which is 1000% correct. You also mention memorizing lyrics. Do you have any tips on doing that when worship leading isn't your full time job? For some reason, due to the way my brain is wired, I have no problem memorizing chords for songs, but the hardest time memorizing lyrics.

[@Churchfront]

Great question. I simply sit down with a few minutes with just the lyrics of the song. I repeat them out loud enough till I really understand what the song is saying. Then I will sing the tune a bunch of times trying to wean myself away. I think it only takes me a bout 15 minutes of concentrated thought to memorize it. Most songs tell a story or have some sort of logical flow. Once you’ve identified it it’s pretty easy to memorize.

[@DeeChildofGod247]

@@Churchfront thank you so much for the information. My weakness is learning lyrics. God bless !!

[@hammondboy19]

That was a pretty awesome video sir! Great insight!

[@Churchfront]

Thanks David! I appreciate the encouragement.

[@loganmacintosh6614]

I love this!

[@leothao6560]

I needed this. Thanks a lot and God bless!

[@Churchfront]

thanks, Leo!

[@mattarrera9778]

No pressure Tony!

[@Churchfront]

😂

[@gsauto1963]

We have a very small church. If I could, I’d replace the one member that’s been there since the beginning of time with a track... he acts like he doesn’t want to be there. I almost feel like the one post about giving my resignation! But I’m also a volunteer...

[@thebackyardguru3785]

Thank you .... So good

[@Churchfront]

Thanks, Francois!

[@timbryan57]

Bass player: “what’s the set list?” Drummer: “I hope you’re prepared to meet the lord.......today!!”

[@AllenPendleton]

If they show up unprepared then sit them down for the week. If they still don't get the message don't use them anymore. Shouldn't put up with that crap. Some guys look at it as just another gig but if they are not dedicated then get rid of them.

[@benjaminthancock]

If you show up unprepared, then you can go home and spend that 90 mins (which you already have blocked off on your schedule) learning and practicing the songs. We aren’t going to waste everyone else’s time in rehearsal so you can learn the songs. If you show up Sunday to sound check still unprepared, then you can go sit in the congregation and listen during service. If they really want to be a part of the team, they always show up prepared next time. Works every time. They either get with it, or they help you thin the herd without having to ask them to quit. That being said, you as the leader have to set them up for success. You’ve given them ample time to practice the set list on their own (7-10 days before rehearsal), they have recordings and chord charts in the correct keys, and they know what parts you want them to cover.

[@sr80bassguy]

This is very much a millennial type instruction video. Spoon feed them and hope they eat. No!! People get lazy and unreliable because they are allowed to act as such. Have a set strict expectation from the jump and there are NO excuses. If they falter, it’s all on them and they suffer the consequences. Lesson in life if nothing else.