Category Archives: Instructional

Guest Articles, Instructional, Motivational, Preparation and Organization

BUILDING A COHESIVE WORSHIP BAND

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by Diane Horsley
TBC Music Department
Whether you fall into the category of recent music grad accepting your first church music job, part-time music department volunteer or “there’s no one else to do the music” scenario, there will be a time that you have to put together a worship band. There are definitely challenges when forming and working with a band, but the payoff is more than worth the investment. In this article we will share some ideas that we have found to be successful when trying to build a cohesive band. Most of us working with worship bands realize that the musicians are made up of volunteers. (Thank God for people who are willing to give freely of their time in such a busy and fast paced society.) So one of our first challenges is trying get everyone on the “same page” musically.
  • It’s always a good idea to find out as much as you can about the musical background of each of your musicians. How many years have they been playing?
  • What style are they used to and comfortable with? Are they younger musicians with only a few months experience on their instrument? Knowing everyone’s skill level will give you a sense of where to start and what type of songs you will be able to do.
A successful rehearsal is vital to a successful band. This statement cannot be stressed enough.
  • First, make sure the rehearsal night fits everyone’s schedule. People will have to miss practice from time to time due to real life situations, but make sure that overall they can be available for the time you set. Keep the practice within a reasonable time frame. An hour is the norm and most people can set aside 60 minutes during the week. Running rehearsals too long makes people not want to be involved and so does a leader who is unpleasant and critical. Be Christ-like in rehearsal. Remember God is the reason you are all working toward excellence. Never forget the key word here-volunteers!
  • Second, get the set list, audio and charts to all of them before they get there.  It’s very hard to learn 3 or 4 new songs in an hour if they have never heard them. It will make your job much easier if they are familiar with the material and have had time to practice individually or at least listened enough to be comfortable trying it.
  • Third, make sure you as the band leader know what’s happening in each song as far as the key, tempo, intro’s, breaks, special instrumental parts, and endings. They can’t follow you if you don’t know where you’re going. It’s important that males and females in this role not be timid in leading. Band members will feel unsure if you lack confidence or are unclear in your directions.
  • I have found that doing the easiest song first works well. Tackle the more difficult material in the middle, then end with one that’s more familiar. It’s good for your band to leave with a sense of accomplishment and feeling like they sounded good instead of the “we sounded horrible” vibe.
  • Fourth, know what parts of the songs are going to need “extra” attention and work those parts more. Before you start to practice a song it’s good to give a little overview of its form or layout. Sometimes it’s just a matter of a simple reminder that makes a song go smoother. Always make sure the intro, breaks, specials vamps and endings are solid since that’s when the band is most exposed. If the musicians are having a hard time playing a certain riff or progression up to tempo-slow it down. Repeat it 10 times in a row if necessary then gradually start speeding it up until everyone can handle it. Don’t keep starting over from the top. Work the areas that aren’t “happening” then try it again.
  • Fifth, make sure they can all hear you during practice either with a mic run thru the sound system or a talk back mic. Communication is so important in the rehearsal as well as in the actual service. You will avoid many “train wrecks” musically when you can communicate with all the band members. Lastly, at the end of rehearsal sincerely thank everyone for donating their time and compliment them on things done well. Even if the practice wasn’t stellar, make them feel like they are valued for what they are trying to accomplish. In the end, as long as God’s anointing is on all of you during the service and the congregation was lead into God’ presence for a time of sincere worship-count it as a success!
Instructional, Motivational

No CHUNKING!!!

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NoChunking

To me there is nothing more annoying than hearing a musician CHUNK!!!!  What do I mean by CHUNK?  It’s a not a musical term—just a “Pam” term!

I call it CHUNKING when someone plays the same chord on every syllable or every beat of the song.  It can also happen whenever a person comes to the end of a musical phrase and doesn’t know what else to do–so they just CHUNK on the same chord until it is time to change to another chord.   Every measure sounds like:

| CHUNK   CHUNK   CHUNK  CHUNK |  CHUNK  CHUNK  CHUNK  CHUNK |

If you’re doing that—it’s time to learn something new!!!!

When I hear someone CHUNKING, it reminds me of a can of chunked pineapple—all uniformly cut!  Music should never sound like chunks of pineapple!  Can you say BORING!!!  Besides that—if you have a good drummer, you are “fighting” your drummer to set the rhythm.

Here is “Bless that Wonderful Name of Jesus” played “chunky.”

Here is “Bless that Wonderful Name of Jesus” played with better rhythm!

Here is “Amazing Grace” played “chunky.”

Here is “Amazing Grace” played smoothly.

So as you play–become more aware of what you sound like and DON’T play CHUNKY!!!!!

Instructional

Is Your Piano In Tune?

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How do you know if your piano tuner has done a good job?  Sit down and play some heavy handed (fff) pieces for 20-30 minutes after he leaves.  If the piano stays in tune, then he’s done a good job.

After that, it’s all up to temperature and humidity fluctuations.  That’s why pianos are tuned right before a concert and not several days before – you never know what fluctuations will occur in the concert hall.

I had to have my piano tuned three times in 2014 due to temperature and humidity fluctuations.  In October, 2013 we replaced our furnace and right about the same time our dehumidifier bit the dust.  With the new furnace we thought the humidity problems had been taken care of but that was not the case!

An interesting note–my tuner told me if a piano goes “sharp” your humidity is too high.  If a piano goes “flat” the humidity is too low.

Always try to keep instruments made of wood in a fairly consistent environment (heat & humidity), otherwise you risk structural defects and an instrument constantly in need of adjustment.

Guest Articles, Instructional, Music for Kids

Knowing Your Piano Students!

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by Stephanie Clark
When I first started teaching piano, my two boys were automatically my new students—most often taught against their will.  At that time I taught all students pretty much the same way including my two boys

My boys are very different from each other and so are all my other students—-even though everyone is different, I was teaching everyone the same way.

Then I learned something that helped me tremendously, not only interacting with students but with people in general.  Personality profiles or the “four temperament” models of human behavior.  Everyone has a different personality type, children, musicians, co-workers, parents, everyone.  It is important to note that one disposition is not better than the other—just different.

Outgoing: The individuals like to “go” and are constantly on themove, create excitement and take the “party” with them.  They are fast-paced and energetic, usually positive and optimistic.  They like to win and are involved in everything!  They usually do not lack in self-confidence and sometimes bite off more than they can chew. But that’s ok, they’ll “hustle” and make up the difference.

Reserved:  These individuals are “steady eddies” and may be the proverbial tortoise left in the dust.  They usually end up crossing the finish line ahead, however, because they have a lot of patience and stamina to get the job done.  They are usually reserved types and cautious and reluctant to get involved in too many activities.  They prefer, rather, to look into a situation a little longer than jumping right in.  They look below the surface.

Task oriented:  These individuals enjoy doing things, making plans, working on projects, and find great pleasure in a job well-done.   Sometimes they can be so focused on getting the job done that they can easily hurt someone’s feelings.

People oriented: These individuals like to interact with other people and they are more concerned with way people feel than simply accomplishing a task.

If you are a beginning piano teacher, you’ll find it helpful to KNOW YOUR STUDENTS!  What do you want in a student?

It is important to remember that all your students are going to be different!

There’s an old saying
the teacher has not taught anything until the student has heard.

We hold the keys for our students’ success
so wouldn’t it make sense to adapt our teaching to their style?

Knowing your student can help reduce turnover on your part and frustration on the student’s part.

Do they have a piano or keyboard?  This is very important! How old are they?  They need an attention span of at least five solid minutes.

Instructional

Do You Hear What I Hear?? The Basic Chord Changes–I – IV – V

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We hear a lot of talk about playing by ear, but usually what we’re doing is teaching our students to learn the three basic chord changes of a key signature and then just try to put them into songs until they find where they fit. In this lesson I am going to suggest several things we can actually LISTEN for so we’ll know and not have to guess what chord change is used.

Remember this lesson will cover just the basic changes—the I, IV and V. If you cannot automatically HEAR these movements or are teaching a beginner to hear chord movements, this will be a great foundation!

The examples given are in the key of C so I’m using the C scale (do-re-me-fa-so-la-te-do). It has all white notes and is the easiest key to play. In preparation:

  1. Get familiar with the C scale. The notes are:
  2. C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

Listen to the C scale going UP and coming DOWN

Click button to hear audio.

  1. In the key of C, the basic chord changes are the C (I) chord, the F (IV) chord and the G (V) chord.
  2. Learn those chords. They are also called triads because they are 3-note chords.
  3. It is IMPERATIVE to learn chords in 3 positions. These are  called the ROOT position, the 1st inversion (to invert means to turn something over—so you’re basically just turning over your chord) and the 2nd inversion.  Click here to download the Major Chord Charts.

Listening Clues:

The tonal movement from the C to F goes UP higher or “lifts.”

Click button to hear audio.

The tonal movement from the C to G goes DOWN or lower.

Click button to hear audio.

In the song “To be like Jesus” on the first line
.you will hear

  1. The melody moving up the C scale, C, D, E, F  You know you are moving from the C chord to the F chord in the 1st inversion.
    You also can listen for the bottom end (bass or left hand) to move up the scale C, D, E, F.   The numbers under the staves below are scale degrees related to the C scale.

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-IVA

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-IV-LH

  1. On the 2nd line “to be like Jesus” you will hear the F moving back to the C chord in the 2nd inversion. You will hear the bottom end of the song move down F, E, D, C and you’ll be back to the C chord.

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_IV-IA

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_IV-I-LH

  1. “to be like Him” You will hear the C move to the G chord in the Root position.
    • The melody notes might move: C E D – when you arrive at the D note you will play the G chord.
    • Or the melody might move: C D E D – this will indicate a move to the V change which is the G chord.
    • You will be able to hear (at least in your head) the bottom end move down C, B, A G

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-VA

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-V-LH

  1. “All through life’s journey” The G chord moves back to the C chord in the 1st inversion. Listen for that bass line moving G A B C
  2. “From earth to glory.” Listen to the bottom end move C, D, E F and you know you’re moving to the F chord.

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-IVB

  1. “I only ask” goes back to the C chord in the root position.
  2. “To be” goes to the G chord – listen for the bass end to drop lower
  3. “Like Him” – comes home to C – song ends with C in the 1st inversion.

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-V-IA

Just a quick hint! The 1st two lines of “This Land is Your Land” is pretty much identical to “To Be Like Jesus”

Another thing to remember is that the BASIC chord changes will most likely take place on the DOWNBEAT (beat 1 of the measure) or beat 3.

Now I’m going to play through “To Be Like Jesus” with simple chords.

Click button to hear audio.

In the Song “God is So Good”

  1. 1st “God is so good”.   Listen for bottom end to move lower C B A G or the melody line to move C E D and you know you’re moving to the G chord in the Root position.

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-VB

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-V-LH

  1. 2nd “God is so good” – listen for the bass end to move G, A B C – and you’re coming back to the C chord in the 2nd inversion.

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_V-IA

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_V-I-LH

  1. On the 3rd line “God is good” – listen for the bass end to move C D E F a quick F chord in the 1st inversion.
  2. “He’s so good” – bass end coming back down to C in the 2nd inversion.
  3. “To” – bass moving lower to G – notice the melody note is on the D putting the G chord in the Root position.
  4. Comes back home to C in the first inversion. The melody will move E D C and you’re home!

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-IVC

Click button to hear audio.

DYHWIH_I-V-IB

Now I’m going to play THROUGH “God is So Good” with simple chords.

Click button to hear audio.

I hope you have enjoyed this lesson and will share it!  Remember this is just the I, IV and V–the foundation chord movements!   We’ll catch the moves to the vi and ii later!!!

Be blessed!