Oct. 8 Set List

Good practice this past Thursday everyone!  We covered a lot of bases in the time we had.  Before posting youtube videos of our Oct. 8 set list, I had some thoughts:

- For A.W on keys:  After seeing you start Amazing Love an octave higher twice, I realized that I was probably giving you conflicting messages about 'keyboard playing'.  Sorry about that.  There are some songs where it's better to play your keyboard up higher and keep your left hand either off the keys or on the vibrato stick so that you are clearly heard when you need to be.  These are generally songs that are driven by guitars.  On the other hand, songs that are keyboard driven (like our arrangement of Amazing Love) it sounds better if you play lower in the keyboard and give it a good solid bass with your left hand since guitars are holding back on this song.  Hopefully that makes sense.  I saw a great improvement in your playing this week.

- For the Percussionists:  To reiterate what I said in practice, less is more - particularly in the area of fills on the set.  Listen to how the drummers do their fills in the songs below and in other songs you listen to.  I'd say half of the fills are quite understated given the ability of what the drummer could do.    It's all about what works within the scope of the 'whole' song, musically.  Intentionally 'holding back' on what you can do on the drums can create that 'positive tension' we were talking about a couple of weeks ago and allow you to focus on things like consistent tempo.  :-)  Both of you were fantastically tight with the fast version of You Are Good in practice though.  It sounded great!

- Singers:  You are sounding great!  Like we talked in practice, here are some things to keep in mind:
     1.  Are you in tune?
     2.  Are you following the vocal movements together with the other singers?  
     3.  Are you enunciating your syllables together?
     4.  Also, something we didn't talk about...  Non-verbal communication - facial expressions and posture:  what are you doing?  As worship leaders, I'd suggest that we smile, feel free to clap and move around a bit (I saw some of you doing that in practice - good!).  Generally look like you are engaged in worship - not just singing.

Here's our set for Oct. 8.  Please learn them well and prepare your hearts  ;-)   Also please practice our other songs as well so we're ahead of the game once we finish this encounter.  Thanks!

You Are Good




Everyone Praises




I Found A Love




Amazing Love

Some Math :-)

Here's some math for you - just what you wanted, I know.  :-)  It's some motivation for me and you to come to practice and get set up quickly after school.

Let's assume we have a good day and have 90 minutes to practice - we're set up by 3:30 and we finish at 5:00.  If we allotted 15 minutes of practice together per song, we'll be able to get through 6 songs in that one practice!  There's some food for thought for those of you who would like to do an 'all music' chapel.  Hopefully that some motivation to come prepared (that is - knowing the song inside and out) to Thursday afternoon, rather than using Thursday afternoon as time to learn the song.

I don't mean to sound tough.  I do think we need to use our time together to build 'the team' as well.  And to me that has to involve some visiting, jamming a bit, and trying a 'musical experiment' here and there.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday.  Please remember to bring your earphones/headphones as I think we'll be setting up with the big system.

Some Thoughts

Hi Everyone,

Good practice on Thursday last week.  It was great to meet you all and I'm glad everyone was able to show up even though it might have been a bit short notice for some of you.  I'm looking forward to working/playing with you all this year.

Song Choices
Since our practice time together is limited, I'd like to mention a few things here.  Some of you were wondering if students could suggest songs to add to our set lists.  I'm totally open to this, in fact 'I Found a Love' was one of the student suggestions last year.  I need to warn you though, that while song suggestions will be considered, there is no guarantee that we will do them.  There are a variety of reasons why:

• There are 3 other school worship bands.  Some of them may be working on those same songs and we try not to overlap on songs if we can help it - unless it's an intentional decision.  I've already had a suggestion this year for 'Mighty to Save' and I know that Mr. Schneider's band is working on that one.  Again, that doesn't mean we won't do it, we may look at it later in the year.
• Songs that sound good recorded by professionals may not be so easy for us to get ready.  Things to keep in mind when considering a song for our band are:
• What is the vocal range of the song?  Several cool, fast Hillsong songs have a verse that start an octave lower in the first verse and then move an octave higher in the second verse and higher still in the chorus and bridge.  These can be a challenge for people to sing to.
• How technical is the piece for different instruments?  A song with cool drum parts might have guitar parts that are 'out of our league' (too many guitar parts, or too technical), or a bunch of sequenced keyboards (we don't use sequencers with our keyboards).  
• Does the song fit what what is happening in that week's Encounter?  If we know what the theme for an Encounter is in advance, we will try as best we can to line up our song set with that theme.  That may mean leaving our favourite polished song on the table for next time.

I understand the sentiment that students will be more likely motivated to practice and do well on songs they want to play - that's pretty much natural for everyone I think.  With God's help, I try the best I can to balance all the considerations above when deciding on a set list.   I've played for years in bands where I didn't get to make the song choices.  No doubt, it can be frustrating at times, but I came to a point where I realized that I was ultimately on that team to serve.  As my attitude changed, I began to understand that one of the marks of a truly good musician/singer is they can make a song sound good irrespective of whether they would have chosen to play it or not.

Teamwork
Working on a team can be gratifying or frustrating - it all depends on one's attitude.  As a software consultant I've worked on lots of teams outside of the music arena.  Many facets of an effective team are similar across disciplines.  Here's some things I've noticed about good teams:

• Teams are only as strong as their weakest member.  Practice is important.  The more familiar everyone is with the songs and their parts, the more we'll be able to focus on playing together and then moving onto new songs.  
• There is real power in preferring others to yourself and giving them the chance to succeed first.
• Encouragement is a great team builder...   so is food.
• Effective communication is essential.  How we speak to each other, and how we listen (not selectively but for understanding) is foundational.  Don't be afraid to ask questions - they open the door to real learning and understanding.

Welcome to Our Team! First Thoughts and Songs

Hi everyone!

I'm excited about having you all on our team this year - welcome to those of you who are returning and to the new people on the team!  I believe God is going to do great things in and through us this year in our singing, playing, practicing, and worshiping Him.

Much of our core group hasn't changed from last year so I'm thinking we should be ready to do a chapel fairly soon.  Practices will be on Thursdays after school and they'll start Sept 11 (this Thursday).  Please arrive promptly after the bell rings.  I'd like us to all work together to get the sound system set up.  We should be ready to practice (with everything set up) by 3:30.

For you new members on the team this year, have a look through the old blog posts to see how we did things last year.  Generally I post thoughts as well as songs we'll practice on the blog as videos, and after chapels I'll have a debrief post which everyone should read.

Here's a list of songs to get familiar with - it doesn't mean we'll do all of them as the team from last year is well aware  :-) .   I love these fast songs because they have lots of shots, keep a lot of the instrumentalists busy - they are just lots of fun.  Feel free to suggest songs as well...

You Are Good (Bethel) key of G - we did this one last year.

You Are Good (PlanetShakers) Key of D - Great one for Mac!  Get that guitar part down  :-)  Good one for you drummers too.

Lord You Are Good (Israel Houghton) Key of E.  This is a good one for everyone!  A little old, but it will help us learn to play together as a team (and it fits with the theme I've got going).  Drummers watch what this guy does (ignore his crazy outfit).  He puts in lots of good fills and yet keeps a good feel going throughout the song.

Everyone (Desperation Band) Key of E - We did this one last year.  It's a fairly easy one we could put together.

I Found a Love (Bethel) Key of G - We did this one last year.  The old members know it well.

Healing is in Your Hands (Christy Nockels) Key of D - We prepared this one last year, but didn't have a chance to do it.  I love this song.  Lots of potential for God to move in and through us in this one.

You are Good (Kari Jobe ) Key of G - This is a new one, but relatively easy I think.  I'm not entirely sure if the girls can hit all the low notes in the verse when we sing it in G - we'll see   :-)

Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday!