YOUTH WORSHIP TEAM
SERIOUSLY ? AUDITION ? | Vance & Michelle Shepherd
Is it your dream to have your youth worship team leading true heartfelt worship , and even sounding like professionals ? As owners and instructors in our school of music , we stand firm on auditioning every musician before each worship event . It is one of the most important things that can be done to excel your team ’ s skill level and get the best results for every event . Some of our students have been with us for years now , and we still audition them before each event . You would be surprised how many of our first chair players still occasionally fail the audition process . It would probably be safe to say that Sunday morning is not a good time to find out that some of your musicians don ’ t know the material well enough and haven ’ t practiced enough during the week .
This month we had less musicians available than usual for a big worship event . After auditioning the band members , we unfortunately had to fail four of them . Two of our sibling students that failed their audition told Michelle , “ I feel like giving up , this is just too hard ”. She gave them a pep talk and encouraged them to go back home , work on the material and re-audition , so they could have the privilege of leading others in worshiping Christ . When they showed up
for their re-audition a few days later , they both came in saying , “ I ’ m so excited to audition again ! I practiced for four hours yesterday ! I feel so good about the songs !” And then … they both nailed their audition .
At the sound check for the event , we were able to sit and talk with them . I asked them who their favorite vocalist or musician was . Then I asked them , “ What if when your favorite artists were learning their instruments they just gave up , and said , “ This is just too hard ?” They realized then that it takes dedication and hard work to achieve excellence .
EFFECTIVE TIPS FOR THE AUDITION PROCESS Step # 1 :
• Formulate an email that will be sent to them as well as copied to their parents . We list every song ( in order ) that will be in the worship set , with the audition date , worship event date , and venue address and time .
• Make an audio file with all the songs in order , with a click track imbedded for them to practice to and give them any work files they may need ( sheet music , tutor videos , etc , if you have them ).
Step # 2 :
• They must stand during the audition ( crucial for stage presence ).
• They have to bring all their gear to the audition as if they are on stage .
• They have to make all of their patch changes , pick up selections , etc .
• If they sing and play , we require them to sing their part as they play their instrument .
• They must have the songs memorized - no lyric or chord charts .
• As the audio file is playing , we take notes per song as to what they need to improve on and give them a % score as to how well they know each song .
• Every musician is required to play to the click track .
Step # 3 : If their scores are too low we offer them a reaudition before the event to correct parts via the notes we took per song . Note : We have rarely ever had a student fail the re-audition .
If you are the leader of your youth worship ministry , we can assure you that if you take the time to hold auditions for every event , it will save you much frustration and your band members much embarrassment . It will always challenge them to do better , giving their very best to the Lord . We explain to our students that it is a sacrifice of praise to take our craft seriously and to strive for excellence . If we don ’ t audition them and just let them pass through even when they ’ re not ready , the chances of them getting better and having satisfaction in their music drops dramatically . Training , teaching , keeping high standards and mentoring them in their youth is crucial in helping to shape their adulthood . May you be blessed as you pour into or become the next generation of worship leaders !
Vance & Michelle Shepherd Founders of The Shepherd School of Music in Las Vegas , NV , where they work with youth to raise up the next generation of worship leaders and musicians . facebook . com / shepherdschoolofmusiclasvegas www . ShepherdStudiosLV . com