Just like when I met with Norm Stockton, these are some thought-processings for myself. If you benefit, that’s cool.
Here’s the homework from Jeremy:
Band on the Run from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.
- Maximize time – don’t overarrange – congregation says “Why is this taking so long?”
- Serve lyrics, serve congregation, maximize on given gifts of the band
- There’s a time to try out ideas, time to move on
- Democratic process doesn’t necessarily mean the best ideas win out – 3 out of 5 people could have a bad idea
- Instrumentation, dynamics, melodic lines
- Everyone listens like a producer – what needs to drop out here? Just because we’re up front doesn’t mean we have to be playing.
- Pre-made arrangement CDs are a curse when they don’t fit our context – don’t be locked into an arrangement
- Sound check most important part of rehearsal – you need to be aware of everyone else
- You don’t have to use everything from a CD – you can cut out bridges
- Wall of Sound sometimes makes it tough for the congregation’s voice to feel like an important contribution
- Bass guitar = foundation for the congregation to rest on
- Straight 8ths serve the song
- Off beat patterns can throw off the forward motion of the song – if drummer gets crazy on fills, bass simplifies to complement
- The Feel (ahem…groove) brings unity
- But not everything has a Feel – some songs can just be sung; you can add a Feel, but you don’t have to
- Adding a Feel to an older song can bring new focus to the lyrics
- Now how much we can do, how much we can serve
- They don’t need to know that I practice a certain amount of hours per day, but that Jesus is awesome
- Texture determined by how much of the story has already been told in the song
- Know the sounds/aural spectrum of your instrument /li>
- Everyone needs to think of the structure/sections of the song
- Aha! The Origin of the Pre-Chorus is at 54:20 in the video
- Listen to others as much as yourself
- Serve the lyrics, serve the King
- Humble servants of a gospel of a crucified King that has changed us
- Everyone playing whole notes on the chord changes does not sound bad – it may even sound better than what we’re playing now
- Play a part, not a chart
- Practice spontaneity
- Ultimately trust God to work in His Spirit and not in our arrangements. Our arrangements our tools but will never on their own change hearts.
Great video, J.
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