Sunday ’ s expected congregation of 120 or so people to sing , Dan ’ s WHAT and HOW of drumming was not going to work well .
Here ’ s how the conversation went :
I started with something like , “ Wow Dan . I can tell that you ’ re really serious about your drumming . Sounds amazing !” “ Thanks ” “ I ’ m guessing playing here for church isn ’ t your only chance to play . Are you in another band ?” “ Yes I am . I ’ m in an original band too .” “ Great . What ’ s that band like ?” “ We ’ re harder edged rock . Kind of like Foo Fighters .” “ Okay . Yeah , that makes a lot of sense . I can hear how your drumming would totally work there . I think I ’ d really enjoy your drumming in your original band . But I ’ ve got to tell you : Drumming in the same way that works so well for your original band , in my opinion , will actually make it very difficult for us to achieve our goal of getting the congregation singing on Sunday morning .” more appropriate for our context , the rehearsal continued .
The whole team could immediately tell the difference . The band had slotted into a way better groove . Our overall sound sat far more comfortably in the small auditorium . The sound engineer , Rich , was smiling from ear to ear ! In a break , I grabbed the opportunity to confer and to affirm Dan . “ Does the change in the drumming help you at the sound desk , Rich ?” “ Absolutely !” he beamed ! Rich seemed ready to give our reformed drummer a sloppy wet kiss . “ And singers ? Any difference for you ?” “ Oh yes ! The song is so much easier to sing now !”
I turned to Dan . “ Thanks so much for playing within your ability , and probably in a way that ’ s not as fun for you personally . But please know that we all appreciate your restraint and I am sure that the congregation on Sunday will feel so much more warmly invited to sing with us if you keep playing like that .”
I went on to explain that , even though there was a drum shield in place , the acoustic sounds coming from his drums - especially the snare and cymbals - were flooding the room with sound that would “ over crowd ” the sonic space needed for the congregation ’ s voice . That we needed simpler , more repetitive time keeping ( with fewer and shorter drum fills ) to give our people a strong sense of the beat of each song so they would be more likely to sing .
Dan seemed genuinely pleased to have made such a difference . He got it . It ’ s not about what you can play . It ’ s what and how you choose to play that helps us achieve our agreed objective . He stayed on track for the rest of the rehearsal and for the Sunday morning service ( and hopefully beyond ). The congregation sang great . I was told , better than they ever had .
Because Dan had already bought into our WHY , he immediately understood that this was NOT my taste in drumming verses his . With the agreed goal in mind , and now with the problem brought to his attention , Dan could agree with my observations . He made the requested changes . Now with Dan ’ s drumming much
Grant Norsworthy founder of MoreThanMusicMentor . com providing training for worshipping musicians .
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