WORSHIP LEADERS
LISTEN IN TRACKS | Dave Helmuth
It was the summer of 2005. I don’ t remember how I discovered them, but as I listen to them today, I still feel the energy of such a novel resource. I immediately began integrating them into my worship team’ s training sessions. I even used them as a conversation starter with my senior pastors, to agree on the style that our teams were playing and the mix our sound guys were aiming for. It literally changed the way we were approaching our music. And we were a church of about 1,000 at the time.
WHAT WAS THIS NOVEL RESOURCE? Parachute Music released not only recordings of their songs, but also individual tracks that highlighted each instrument. The purpose was for players to learn the parts more easily. I burned CDs of those tracks and handed them out to my worship team to learn from. You can listen to those classic tracks here.
Of course, today we have unlimited resources like these, from tutorials on YouTube to subscriptions like Worship Tutorials and RehearsalMix from Mulitracks.
BUT IN 2005? HA! That was before YouTube, Facebook, iPhone, Netflix, Amazon, Dropbox, Google Maps, YouVersion, Ableton, Loop Community, or even our beloved Planning Center Online even existed.
IT WAS THE DARK AGES!! That simple resource from an upstart in New Zealand led me to a game-changing habit:“ Listening in Tracks.” Instead of hearing a song as a whole, you begin to notice individual parts and understand how each contributes to the bigger picture.
Here are three reasons why listening in tracks is essential for your worship team’ s growth and effectiveness.
MUSICIANS LISTEN FIRST Have you ever walked up to a group and started adding your piece before fully understanding what they were talking about? Only to have them stop and turn to look at the baboon who just started talking? If you jump in and just play what’ s written on a chord chart, you’ re a lot like that baboon.
To act like a musician, do this instead:
• Listen to the song to get a feel for the overall flavor of the song. Ask yourself these questions: What is the purpose of this song? How does the music support the text? What are the different sections of the song? How is each section unique? How does the song build? What makes the song“ work” – i. e. which instruments / vocal parts are essential and which are more“ nice extras”?
• Listen to what your part is doing. Listen to the song again“ in tracks” – in other words, if you’ re playing drums, try listening just to what the drummer is doing and use that as a starting point for what you play. Listen not only to what the drums do collectively but also take a listen through the song and focus on the kick drum.( And the bass player should listen to that“ track” too!)
• Listen again to the other parts. How does your playing fit with theirs? How do the parts fit together? With the 100 % rule in mind, what percentage of the song does your instrument play?
• Note how much listening you’ re doing, as opposed to playing? The best musicians always listen first, then play. Finally, pick up your instrument and play / sing along.
THE 100 % RULE( OR PLAYING IN FRACTIONS) The goal of a band is for everyone’ s combined contribution to equal 100 % for each song. With 2 people, each gives about 50 %( 1 / 2); with 5 people, each gives about 20 %( 1 / 5). The more people, the less each plays. Here’ s how you know you’ re doing it right: your part alone may sound sparse. It only makes sense with the rest of the team. Yes, less is more.
GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT Many church audio techs struggle not because of cheap equipment, flawed system design, or lack of knowledge or passion, but because the quality of what we give them to mix is lacking. Even if our music is joyful, it’ s not always skillful, and it makes their job harder. Sharpening our musicianship helps everyone’ s work be more fruitful.
There’ s a common saying in the audio world,“ Garbage In, Garbage Out.” It comes from the old computer world, meaning,“ If the input is flawed, the output will also be flawed— no matter how good the system, software, or process is.”
If we practice listening in tracks and create intentionally, we offer much better input for our audio teams. This approach lifts the whole team’ s sound and impact.
THE TAKEAWAY Did you know that, even in 2025, with all the resources available, many teams still play like we’ re in the dark ages? They listen and play along to the song once or twice, and then“ they’ ve got it.” I’ m not calling you to always“ make it sound like the recording.” I’ m calling you to submit yourself to the discipline of listening in tracks, understanding your context, and come up with something intelligent to contribute musically to the whole.
Dave Helmuth Everyday life experiences turn into lessons for worship. Being a lifelong learner, an observer of people, and an asker of deep questions is what makes Dave’ s writing fun to read. Each week, thousands of readers receive something we lovingly call the“ Worship Fertilizer.” And don’ t miss the new ones that come out each Wednesday!
Ad Lib Music www. adlibmusic. com / subscribe
34 October 2025 Subscribe for Free...