Comments on: Common Song Leader Mistakes

By: Geraldine

Geraldine — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:43:14 +0000

You couldn’t be more right Derek.Being a worship leader entails taking/leading people into the presence of God.How do you intend leading people to a place you have no idea where it’s at?We need to take time and prepare because,like my Physics teacher used to say,unpreparedness is preparing to fail.We need to give God our very best,especially where His people are concerned.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:25:03 +0000

With regard to pitching a song to match the vocal ability of the congregation, I don’t have perfect pitch but can come reasonably close. It really bothers me when I know that we are singing off pitch from the sheet music. This is fairly typical with worship leaders that don’t use something to help them find their inital pitch and I have tried to sing in places where we were 3 or 4 notes too low. This takes most of the basses out of their part (unless they happen to be Russian). Sometimes I have actually had to sing the alto part just to find a harmony part that worked for me. Please sing the music in the key for which it was written.

By: derek

derek — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:40:09 +0000

Hopefully this isn’t a common mistake but probably one of the more egregious mistakes is showing up for worship a few minutes before the hour in flip-flops, a t-shirt and jeans, not having any clue that you were supposed to be the worship leader, ignoring the slides that had been prepared from your list (that you spent less than 5 minutes preparing) and then blaming it on someone else — yes, it really can (and did) happen!!

By: Johnny Warren

Johnny Warren — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:32:26 +0000

Jordan D – how would an application on a device such as an iPhone be anymore like instrumental music than something you blow through that creates a note? In my opinion it’s further away from instrumental music.

By: Johnny Warren

Johnny Warren — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:31:20 +0000

Jonathan – I too use an application as my pitch pipe – it’s much quicker than a pitch pipe, less destracting, and you never have to worry about a sticky key in your pitch pipe!

By: Anne Silkman

Anne Silkman — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:12:45 +0000

In my opinion, “Hallelujah, What a Savior!” and “Onward, Christian Soldiers” should not be sung at the same tempo. We should probably not sing songs so fast that 16th notes make me say words too fast to understand. “How Deep the Father’s Love” is not the theme song for a marathon, nor is “Worthy of Praise” a funeral hymn. The thoughts expressed by the words are the most important part of the hymn, and the songleader who doesn’t understand that some thoughts are shouted while others are whispered need to study some more. Men can read notes, breathe properly, have perfect pitch, and still not be able to lead a song that particularly helps the congregation; it takes a heart-felt understanding and worshipful attitude to really lead a song.

One thing I’ve noticed is that song leaders lead with a general tempo that somewhat corresponds to their heart rates. So it doesn’t hurt the singing if the song leader stays in good physical shape.

By: Keith

Keith — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:40:40 +0000

I always blow the key (which is denoted by the DO, or the pyramid shape). Then, I sing up or down the scale to find the “starting note.” The shape notes on the sheet music make it easier to determine the relative pitches.

By: John Dumont

John Dumont — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:14:27 +0000

Hello,

Quick question re the pitch pipe: Is there an easy way to figure out from your sheet music (the praise and worship series) what the correct key on the pitch pipe is to start the song?

Thanks!

By: Joey Mustain

Joey Mustain — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:15:28 +0000

Great poll!

I think song leaders run the risk of devaluing what they bring to the table if they don’t use some method of tracking the songs they sing. The congregation notices when you migrate toward a song repeatedly. Maybe my powers of retention are as wet as a warthog’s backside (shameless allusion), but I didn’t discover this Alzhymner’s in myself until someone else pointed it out to me. I was leading songs that I had no idea I had recently led.

ALSO . . .

It’s a little less than professional, in my opinion, to step in to a worship leading role without warming up properly. While this certainly pertains to all sessions wherein you’re leading, it’s especially necessary on Sunday mornings. My cords aren’t rarin’ to ride at 8-9 a.m. (and earlier) unless I’ve been up for a couple or more hours singing, humming, talking, hydrating, etc. Most musicians find the word “morning” quite repulsive, but if you’re serious about being God’s leader in excellence (a phrase I try to repeat to myself), ya gotta buck up and get as warm as possible.

I hope that all made sense. I’m up past my bed-time because of the doggone Braves. Such a bittersweet relationship I have with them!

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:42:11 +0000

Good point. I guess that puts more pressure on the leader to actually lead in a bold and deliberate manner; at least that’s how I would attempt to handle that situation.