Musicians & Team

Church Impossible

March 13, 2013 by Editor 1 Comment

Image from chefirvine.com

My wife and I like to watch the show Restaurant: Impossible. If you aren’t familiar with it here is the skinny. A world renown chef, Robert Irvine, goes into failing restaurants with a design and contracting team and turns them around in only 3 days. He identifies problems, recreates environments, trains up deficiencies, tweaks menus, and then leaves with a project that SHOULD succeed if managed well. (I’ve never followed up on the website to track the actual success rate.) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Encouragement, Featured Story, Letters To Leaders, Musicians & Team, Practical Resources, Recent Articles, Worship Leadership

Why You Really, Really Need Singing Lessons

February 25, 2013 by Musicademy Leave a Comment

It may seem strange that something that comes as naturally to most people as singing requires tutoring. People often make excuses, or don’t have all the facts in front of them to make a decision as to whether or not to embark on a series of classes. Here I have answered some of the questions that people ask when considering vocal coaching.

If you’ve thought about taking lessons, you probably fall into one of three categories. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles Tagged With: singing lessons

9 Tips to Becoming a Confident Singer

January 14, 2013 by Musicademy 2 Comments

Confidence is really crucial in effective vocals performance. When we are under confident we tend not to breathe as well as we should and also not to really nail the notes that strongly, so it all comes out a bit mushy. Now at Musicademy we’ve taken a fairly in-depth approach to helping worship vocalists through our Vocals DVDs, so of course we would recommend going through them or alternatively getting some private lessons to help you on your specific issues, but here are some brief tips: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles Tagged With: confident singer, tips, vocal tips

Video: Worship Guitar Lesson – Using Add9 and 5 Chords to Add Strength and Beauty

December 12, 2012 by Musicademy 4 Comments

Here’s a sample lesson from one of our partners, Musicademy: Intermediate Acoustic Worship Guitar Course: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Musicians & Team, Recent Articles, Resource Reviews, Video/DVD Reviews

Leading Worship With Multiple “Leaders”

December 11, 2012 by Editor 15 Comments

One of my favorite things to do is to develop leaders. Especially in the arena of music and “worship music.” I find great personal fulfillment and joy in recognizing, developing, and unleashing leadership potential in people.

Over the years, I’ve been blessed to be in places of ministry where I could pursue that kind of mentorship and discipleship through music. It’s a beautiful thing when someone who is appropriately skilled (or has the potential) and has a desire to serve others through music can be given the time and space to develop their leadership skills. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Encouragement, Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles, Worship Leadership

Practical Tips: Good Microphone Technique Can Make All The Difference

November 30, 2012 by Musicademy 5 Comments

How do you perceive the microphone? Is it your best friend or are you slightly wary of it? In this article we’re thinking about how you can get the most out of the mic. How can you make it work for you and not against you? How can you ensure that it’s an aid to worship and not a distraction? Read on if you want to find out more. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles, Worship Videos

VIDEO: 10 things to do with chords on a keyboard

November 21, 2012 by Musicademy Leave a Comment

For classically trained piano players the thought of playing keys from a “guitar” chord chart can fill them with horror. The Musicademy Intermediate Worship Keyboards DVDs are designed to teach contemporary worship keyboards using a chords-based approach. Here is a clip from the DVD where Tim Martin gives 10 ideas to make chords-based playing more interesting. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles, Worship Videos

Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts – Lead Guitarists

November 14, 2012 by Musicademy 10 Comments

Guitarists perform a fine balancing act in worship groups. They are there to embellish and add the icing on the metaphorical worship cake. If they bring too much icing with their grab-bag of tricks they can destroy something beautiful within seconds. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles, Worship Leadership

Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts – Acoustic Guitarists

November 7, 2012 by Musicademy 9 Comments

The standard line-up in a worship band usually comprises worship leader/acoustic guitarist, lead guitarist, drums, bass, keyboards and a couple of backing singers. It’s rare for a band to have a lone acoustic guitarist.

As a result nobody is really quite sure what to do with an acoustic guitarist who isn’t the worship leader so, usually, they are left to their own devices and nobody’s really thinking about the parts they play. Therefore the demands on acoustic guitarists are not too great. If they stick to the chord chart and play in time everyone’s happy: they are usually on auto-pilot anyway.

That’s pretty counter-productive. The reality is most worship songs are written on acoustic guitars so there is a fair amount of responsibility that goes with this role. The acoustic guitarist should help to shape the songs the worship leader has chosen to sing. The acoustic guitarist – and a particularly accomplished one – can help to take the worship to another level and that’ll yield vibrant, spirit-filled services. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles Tagged With: acoustic guitar

5 Tips to Improve Your Worship Leading and Singing

October 29, 2012 by Musicademy 4 Comments

Many of us find ourselves having to sing and lead worship simply because we are one of only a handful of musicians available. We might be far more comfortable just focusing on the keyboard or guitar but there simply isn’t anyone else available to lead. So what can you do if your vocals are less than perfect? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Story, Musicians & Team, Recent Articles