GUITAR
HOW TO AVOID A COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN | Chris Rocha
I’ ve been in worship teams since I was 9 years old which was 37 years ago and communicating with the team can be very challenging. Every position has their language they use and understanding that language is important. Here’ s a breakdown of how to communicate with your music team:
COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR FOH SOUND GUY: When talking to your sound guy, it’ s all about the big picture. You’ re giving them the info they need to make sure everyone in the audience is getting the best sound possible. I think that the relationship between your sound guy and you is extremely important. This relationship has to be developed outside of the stage. Trust and favor is important. The last thing you want is to be on his bad side.( laughing) No matter what, he always has the last say since he’ s in control of the faders.
• Be respectful when you ask something from him. He has the weight of the pastor and every person that walks through the doors always having an opinion of his mixing.
• Try to be timely on setting up your station. Sometimes we can lolli-gag and socialize with the rest of the team and not set our stuff up. That can irritate him.
When you need something from him, make sure he’ s available and ready to respond. So many times I’ ve needed something, but he was busy cabling something and wasn’ t able to respond. My job was to be patient and allow him finishing his task, that way he could tend to me.
COMMUNICATING WITH THE MONITOR MIX PERSON: Your monitor mix person is responsible for what you hear on stage, so it’ s crucial to communicate clearly with them.
•“ Can you give me more me in my monitor?”- Asking for more of your own vocals in your monitor mix.
•“ I need more guitars in my mix”- Asking for more guitar sound in your monitor. Similar things apply with the monitor mix person that apply with your front of house sound guy. He’ s going to be bombarded with a lot of people requesting things so be patient.
COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR WORSHIP LEADER: Your worship leader is your partner in leading the congregation, so it’ s essential to be on the same page. He also has a broader vision of leading the church worship experience so our job is to respect that. Follow his lead.
•“ Let’ s do an extra verse”- Suggesting an extension to the song.
•“ Can we slow down?”- Asking to slow the tempo.
•“ Let’ s go to the bridge”- Moving to the bridge section of the song.
•“ What’ s the plan for the outro?”- Asking about the plan for ending the song.
•“ Can we do a quick soundcheck?”- Asking to do a quick check before the service.
Sometimes worship leaders will use hand signs during songs so our job is to understand those hand signs and be very attentive to his movements. Being distracted for a split second in a song can make a difference. You don’ t want to miss a cue.
COMMUNICATING WITH THE DRUMMER AND BASS PLAYER: Your rhythm section is the backbone of the band, so it’ s very important to communicate clearly with them.
•“ Let’ s tighten up the groove”- Focusing on the feel.
•“ Can you bring it down?”- Asking for a reduction in volume.
•“ Let’ s add some accents”- Adding emphasis to certain parts.
•“ What’ s the tempo?”- Checking the tempo.
•“ Let’ s try a different groove”- Suggesting a change in the drum pattern.
Go out of your way to learn the language of your bass player and drummer because they’ re an extension of you musically.
COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER GUITAR PLAYERS: When talking to other guitar players, it’ s all about the details.
•“ What’ s your signal chain?”- Asking about their gear setup.
• Discuss specific parts of the songs that you’ re going to play. In most cases one guitar player will specialize in either a specific style or lead / rhythm. Use their strengths to compliment you and the team. If you’ re both equally as strong in the same areas, then alternate parts. One song you’ ll take the melody parts and another song have them do it.
GENERAL TIPS:
• Be clear and concise in your communication.
• Use the song’ s title or number to reference the song.
• Use hand signals or gestures to communicate on stage.
• Do a thorough rehearsal to iron out any issues.
• Be respectful and open to feedback from your team.
By using these musical terms and phrases, you’ ll be able to communicate effectively with your music team and do a great job playing music together. Always remember to respect what every person does and realize that every person is important to the team.
Chris Rocha Chris Rocha is an American Christian producer, guitarist, business owner and pioneer in the Spanish Christian music industry. He is a two time Dove Award winner, has worked on two Grammy award winning records and has produced or recorded guitars on 5 Grammy nominated albums.
54 December 2025 Subscribe for Free...