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» Do the fundamental things well
Number 5: Confident, expressive song leading
The song leader is the most important person in the church music team. That’s right, it’s not the piano player! The song leader has more impact than any other musician on the way people respond to a song - human beings follow other human beings. Next time there’s a mistake in the music at church, notice the way the congregation sings when the song leader and the piano go different ways. The congregation will follow the song leader over the piano almost every time.
As we’ve seen, the whole purpose of music is to express emotionally the content of the songs we sing. The song leader has the capacity to do this more than anyone else in the group. That’s why I prefer the term “song leaders” to “singers,” because it’s actually the job of the song leader to lead. The trouble is (in my experience at least) they rarely do.
Song leaders are undervalued, under-trained and under-utilised at church. Most rehearsal time is spent getting the instrumental parts right, and song leaders often feel largely irrelevant to the process. In one church I attended a few years ago, it was normal for the song leaders to wander off in the middle of a rehearsal to get a coffee or chat with people.
That’s a real shame, because in a small church band, the song leader’s role is magnified even more. With enthusiastic song leaders who know the songs and love to sing them, it is possible to make up for whatever is lacking in the instrumental parts. It’s also possible to make do without instruments all together.
The important things with song leading:
» 1. Give the song leaders permission to be expressive
» 2. Involve the song leaders in the music rehearsal
» 3. Encourage the song leaders to know songs well
» 4. Encourage the instrumentalists to have a go song leading
» 5. Make sure people can hear the song leader
» 6. Support new song leaders
1. Give permission for the song leaders to be expressive
There’s almost nothing worse than a wooden song leader up the front. Enjoy yourself! Smile and move around a bit!
2. Involve the song leaders in the music rehearsal
This will include ensuring they know exactly when their entry points are, how many repeats, etc. Also use the time to help song leaders loosen up, encouraging a bit of clapping, jumping up and down, shouting words out, actions - anything to get them out of their box!
3. Encourage the song leaders to know songs well
Song leaders should know each song back to front before singing to the congregation, particularly if the song is new. If a song leader turns up to rehearsal still struggling with a new song, don’t risk teaching it to the church that day! The best way to learn a new song is not to read off the sheet music, but to hear it sung, so get the CDs of any new songs and give them to your song leaders to learn. Karaoke-style training afternoons with your CD collection are another idea!
4. Encourage the instrumentalists to have a go song leading
The crucial thing with song leading isn’t so much that they have a nice voice (although that helps), but that they’re confident and expressive. As I’ve already said, trained musicians are often better at this. They have more of an intuitive sense for melody (particularly entry points) and rhythm (particularly syncopation) compared to singers with no musical training. So just because you have a great guitarist doesn’t mean he always has to play guitar. Some weeks it might be more helpful for him to sing. Or - sing and play guitar at the same time.
5. Make sure people can hear the song leader
The song leader can’t actually lead unless he or she is heard through the sound system.
6. Support new song leaders
If anyone is new to song leading it will take them a while to get comfortable, so don’t just throw them in the deep end - pair them up with someone more experienced. You could also use a CD that includes lead vocals, so the song leader won’t feel so exposed.
How to lead singing without instruments
Every year the university Christian group I work with runs a conference near Richmond. Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the whole event is the bus trip home, when some keen student invariably gets everyone singing a rousing rendition of “And Can It Be” (much to the surprise of the bus driver).
There’s no piano or sound system on board, and the person who starts it off usually isn’t even a particularly good singer. So why does it work so well?
The answer is simple: You don’t need anything special to sing as God’s people if you have something to sing about that’s genuine and real. Singing on the bus is the natural expression of a group of people who’ve just had a fantastic conference getting to know their Creator better. You’ll find the same thing at a church retreat around the campfire, or with a group of beach mission friends sitting on the beach one night. You just feel like singing together, so you do.
I think the important question actually is why is it so hard to get this happening at church?
It all comes back to that problem of our expectations for music at church. In particular that it has to be “nice and presentable” in order to be of any use. We’re all so worried (and I’m including both the congregation and the music team here) about what everyone is thinking of us that we freeze up and fail to actually put God’s whole purpose for music into action.
I’ll talk more about some ways we can overcome some of these cultural issues in the next section Get the congregation singing. But for the time being, here are some practical ideas for leading singing without any instruments at church:
» 1. Use your most enthusiastic song leader
» 2. Pick your songs
» 3. Consider shorter songs
» 4. Get the starting note right
» 5. Do a count-in and use hand signals
» 6. Don’t think this means you don’t have to have a rehearsal!
» 7. Consider adding a simple percussion part
1. Use your most enthusiastic song leader
You simply won’t be able to pull it off unless the person up the front looks like he/she really wants to be there! The requirement for enthusiasm exceeds any requirement for them to have a beautiful voice, although that certainly helps.
2. Pick your songs
Pick a song that everyone knows and loves. If you’ve done the Church Song Survey pick a “Top 20” song. There are also certain types of songs you should avoid - some songs are a lot harder to sing unaccompanied. This will include any with long pauses in the vocal melody (where the instruments usually play), or melodies that start on odd beats of the bar (where you actually need an instrumental cue to know when to come in), or melodies that are generally complicated.
3. Consider shorter songs
Instruments add a lot of variety to songs that keep people interested. When doing a lengthy song without instruments, there’s the possibility it could drag on, so consider doing an abridged version.
4. Get the starting note right
There’s a very narrow band for error in the vocal range of most church songs. If you start even a single tone too high or low, you’ll be going out of most people’s range. This is even more important when you remember that without instrumental backing, the pitch will probably drift slightly throughout the song. Ask someone to play the starting note on the piano before you start.
5. Do a count-in and use hand signals
The congregation will be used to particular instrumental cues, so the song leader should start with a clear count-in (i.e., “1-2-3-4,” taking into account what beat of the bar the melody actually starts), and use simple hand gestures indicating entry points.
6. Don’t think this means you don’t need to have a rehearsal!
The song leader should turn up early, re-familiarise himself with the song, practice from the starting note on the piano, and practice the count in.
7. Consider adding a simple percussion part
If you have someone who can play them, drums or simple percussion will help hold everyone together and add a bit of energy to the song.