How much time do you spend on arranging songs for worship? What does a typical practice look like for your worship team? How often do you use an original song or arrangement?

For a while I played “Everlasting God” with the feel and tone Lincoln Brewster used on his arrangement of the Brenton Brown song. Several times in the last year I just keep the same tone and basically played the same way. It saved time in practice, and when the band members changed they could play to me instead of working extra to play to them. On March 1st I played it on acoustic closer to Chris Tomlin’s arrangement. For March 15th I decided to test something new. The very first time I heard the song the pre-chorus reminded me of Dave Matthews’ song “Trippin’ Billies.” We’re testing the intro hits and the outro will take us into “Lead me to the cross” in a different progression and key. Andrew rocks the drums on the intro/outro and plays some fills inspired by Carter Beauford. I capo 2 and play “Everlasting God” in A in this arrangement and we retard the ending to land on B minor, which begins “Lead me to the cross” in the key of D (or B minor) with the appropriate tempo.

At the end of “Hosanna” our last hit has Andrew take us into a 6/8 beat to count us in for the chorus of Tim Hughes’s song “Highest and Greatest.” Sometimes when you don’t take time to think through an arrangement or set of worship songs you end up starting a song, then finishing a song. You start another song, and when it ends you begin another. Now and them it is worth trying to create more flow, or transitions between songs. This takes time and practice, but it is worth it. Not that you have to rush a service, but think of the time you could save by creating smooth, well thought out transitions. Often in our setting we connect the chorus or bridge of on song on the end of another tune. When they have a common thought of feel this can seem both like a new song, and different within the flow. I guess if your motive is to help people have a great opportunity to worship God, and to play skillfully for Him, you need to do your best to achieve those goals. 

Sometimes I enjoy sticking as close to a recorded version of a song as possible. When it is in the same key you will use in service it makes it easier to get the tone from an album and keep the feel of the original song. Certain songs are done so well I prefer to keep their sound and riffs (Brooke Fraser’s “Hosanna,” “Lead me to the cross”). Other times I go with my instincts and create my own tone and feel. It depends on how I am feeling with improvisation while in practice or in the live setting. It depends on the group around me. The quality of players around me greatly inspires my playing. I find being in a band or playing with different musicians in a band setting has a lot to do with trust. When I trust other players and can feel free to experiment or just play as tight and precise as I can.

When I work with Andrew and Rob Tremblett our sessions usually end after 75 minutes. We can play longer, and occasionally practice for 90 minutes, but our best work is within 75 minutes. We could take a break and then get back to work, but we try not to over do it. We work hard and focus for over an hour at a time and leave a mini-disc player recording for the entire session. This is a great tool for us and we don’t have to worry about remembering every detail since it is all captured for us to listen to later. This can give a certain freedom in a practice or writing session since we don’t have to focus so much energy on memory alone. We are able to focus on the art and craft of our skill on each instrument. 

If you have a large project to prepare for you will require more than a 75 minute practice, but you really need to carefully plan how you will approach your practice. It is easy to waste time and focused energy in a practice if you are not careful. One of our greatest practices was a Saturday morning. We got breakfast and started playing around 7am. We took several breaks and finished around 2pm. We did not rush. Sometimes you need to give time for creative energy. Inspiration can take time. When you block off a large amount of time you can take many breaks and be ready for inspiration to hit. This also gives you adequate time for soundcheck, warmup, restringing, tuning, and jamming. Sometimes the best thing you can do is have a near mindless jam session or pull out some covers for a few minutes. 

How much time do you spend on arranging songs for worship? What does a typical practice look like for your worship team? How often do you use an original song or arrangement?

What a great morning @ Crosspoint!