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November 6, 2020 By Faithlife Staff   |  

Free Ultimate Christmas Bundle (Pandemic Edition)

A 2015 study from LifeWay found that 61% of Americans attend church at Christmas time—and even more would come if invited. 1

What an opportunity! Whether your church is meeting in person again or not, you can still take advantage of that opportunity in 2020.  (more…)

Filed Under: Church Management, RSS Exclude Tagged With: christmas, service planning

August 20, 2015 By Andre Kazadayev   |  

4 Keys to Crafting a Worship Set

A well-crafted setlist can mean the difference between a smooth worship set, and one that stalls out at the end of every song. Over the years I’ve learned that there are a few keys to consider when crafting your worship set.

  1. Pray:  This one doesn’t require any theory, but is probably the most important. Praying about the songs you choose cannot be overlooked. There have been countless times when I’ve hesitantly included a song only to have someone come up and say that that was the exact song they needed to hear. There have also been many times when I’ve made the wrong call, and took a song out only to have someone request it before service. With prayer we can discern the prompting of the Spirit, and choose songs that will help the congregation connect with God.
  2. Talk to your pastor: This cannot be stressed enough. Have you connected with the pastor or are you flying solo this week? It is not uncommon for pastors to have a sermon schedule or at least a series of topics that they plan to cover. Use this as an opportunity to reinforce the theme by selecting appropriate songs. There is something about the sermon, songs, and even the media all serving one theme, that make the service much more memorable and help minimize distractions. One of the things that I love about Proclaim is that I can see how my pastor’s sermon outline is shaping up throughout the week and adjust my set accordingly.
  3. Same key:  If I could play every set in one key, I would. In fact, I’ve been known to rearrange entire songs to make them work in my set. I find the benefits of keeping things in one key far reaching. Not only do you enjoy the peace of mind staying in one key, it’s also easier on the band, and minimizes the distractions that come with switching keys. When subsequent songs are in the same key, you can easily transition by simply strumming the root chord or asking the keyboardist to sustain the pad in between the songs. When I can’t play all the songs in one key, I prefer ascending keys as opposed to descending. For example following a song in E, with a song in F or G as opposed to C or D. Using the equivalent major or minor key to pair songs is another great way to create smooth transitions between songs in different keys. For example follow a song in G with a song in Em or vice versa. Yet another useful trick is to use the circle of fifths. This will keep distractions from larger key jumps to a minimum.
  4. Descending tempo: I find that starting with a fairly fast song between 140 to 110 beats per minute and selecting subsequent slower songs is optimal for a smooth flowing set. I like the second song to be around 80-100 beats per minute. Songs like Our God, Hands to the Heaven, Christ Is Enough are perfect. Once you are in the 65-75 range, you can easily linger there for the next two-three songs. Songs like Heart of Worship, 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord), Holy Spirit and countless others all live in this range. Aim for a 30 BPM jump at most to maintain optimal flow. If you find yourself needing a bigger jump, repeating the chorus or bridge of the faster song with minimal accompaniment (acoustic guitar or piano) and slowing down the tempo slightly, will help make the drastic jump less disruptive.

Examples of what I consider good flowing setlists:

  1. Wake | Key G | 131BPM
  2. Our God | Key G | 105 BPM
  3. Christ Is Enough | Key G | 83 BPM
  4. This I Believe (The Creed) | Key G | 72 BPM
  1. Hosanna (Praise Is Rising) | Key G | 118 BPM
  2. I Will Follow | Key G | 98 BPM
  3. Forever Reign | Key C | BPM 83
  4. It Is Well With My Soul | Key C| 77 BPM
  1. Blessed Be Your Name | Key A | 120 BPM
  2. This is Amazing Grace | Key A | 100 BPM
  3. Great I Am | Key E | 80 BPM
  4. Anchor | Key E | 74 BPM

Do you have any other advice for building setlists? Share an example of a worship set you are proud of!

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Filed Under: Church Technology, Presentation Software Tagged With: best worship songs, church service, proclaim blog, service planning, worship leader

April 29, 2014 By Naomi Deviny   |  

3 Keys to a Solid Sound Check

Sound checks can be an area of contention and, let’s face it, frustration. Let’s take back our sound checks and transform them into a time of honoring God and each other. Here are three ways you can improve your sound-check experience:

1. Come prepared

This may seem obvious, but with everything else going on, it’s easy to forget to warm up your vocal cords or tune your guitar before you absolutely have to. If you are a vocalist, start your vocal warmup in the shower or during the car ride to church. If you play guitar, make sure your strings, batteries, and pedals are ready to go the night before. This way, during the sound check, you can perform at service level. Are there things that have consistently caused trouble in past sound checks? Take the time to work out those kinks during the week. Record your rehearsals or have someone else listen in so you can hear where you can improve as you develop your craft. These days are great for taking advantage of free online resources. For all you singers out there, make warmups easy with apps like VocalizeU.

2. Communicate with love

Take the time to listen to your worship leader and support the direction they are taking the service. This isn’t an appropriate time to voice disagreement, criticize, or question decisions. When interacting with the FOH or monitor engineer, be clear and speak their language. If they don’t understand what youֹ’re trying to describe, catch them before or after the service, or at another time when you have a chance to have a more complete conversation. This is an important relationship to build, and it’s crucial to develop a shared vocabulary so sound technicians and musicians can stay on the same page. The time you invest into these relationships can go a long way toward avoiding frustrating communication breakdowns.

3. Keep things in perspective

The reality is that with every sound check, there is an opportunity for frustration and distraction. This might sound cheesy, but keeping our focus on the real reason we are coming together on a Sunday morning, or any day for that matter, will do exactly that—keep things in perspective. At the end of the day, all that matters is that we give our all to glorify God and help others do the same. This can be achieved by taking the time to pray as a team before you get started or by reading a Bible verse as a team. However, there is no substitute for a continual commitment to personal growth in God’s Word. Take the time to invest in your relationship with God—both individually and as a team.

How does your church run sound checks? What have you found works best for you? Tell us in the comments.

***

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Filed Under: Church Technology, Presentation Software Tagged With: church service, proclaim blog, rehearsal, service planning, sound check, worship, worship band, worship leader

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