VOCALS
5 THINGS THE BEST WORSHIP LEADERS DO FOR THEIR VOCALISTS
There are lots of folks out there serving as worship leaders in their local churches . Most of these people are hard working volunteers serving others out of love and devotion . I would also venture to say that most , if not all , would love to ably serve and care for their teams . In the interest of helping to that end , I ’ ve come up with a few of what I think are extremely important things that many worship leaders , team leaders , or music ministers often miss when leading their own teams . I hope you will find these helpful .
1 . GET THEM ( AND YOU !) TRAINING Let ’ s face it . Most of our teams are filled with people who have a passion to serve in their local churches through music . This is a beautiful thing . However , the flipside of that is that most of the vocalists serving in churches today have had little or no training . It ’ s safe to say that most all of the instrumentalists on our teams have had at least some training on their instruments , even if they are self taught through some type of media . But our singers , by and large , rarely have any training , and this can lead to problems .
If an instrumentalist doesn ’ t get any training , they simply won ’ t be good enough to function in a team . But singers often find their way on to teams by virtue of the fact that they have the “ right heart ” and a willingness to be a part . The problem is that without correct technique , vocalists can end up in trouble : Vocal trouble . Vocal damage is rampant today , whether we are looking into the secular realm or the church , but the singers in church are especially vulnerable because they sing regularly and most often are expected to sing with a certain style . Without proper training and technique these singers often end up following in the footsteps of the many “ professional ” singers they are imitating . Many of the popular singers of today are going through vocal surgery and rehab and we often never hear about it . When inexperienced , untrained singers follow unwittingly the same style and habits of these “ professional ” singers they often end up in the same place . The difference is that they won ’ t have a budget and a manager to see to it that they ( finally ) get the training and speech therapy that they need to return to singing . They will simply end up being disqualified from being able to sing on the very teams they love so much . This is heartbreaking . . . and avoidable !
Vocal training should be a resolute and uncompromised part of every team ’ s budget . Preserving the “ lives ” of our singers should be a top priority . There are lots of ways to get good vocal training for reasonable prices , especially when training the group as a whole . There are training sites that offer subscription based training ; there are programs that can be purchased and viewed together ; there are conferences and master classes available , but of course , nothing beats having a professional come and work directly with your team .
2 . WARM-UP TOGETHER ( AND TEACH !) Warming up the vocal cords properly is essential to staying vocally healthy as well as getting the most out of the voice . But more than that , sharing warm-ups together can be an excellent way of teaching great vocal technique and learning how to listen to one another and blend . When we fail to warm up together we miss a great opportunity for learning , bonding , and blending , as well as becoming better singers .
3 . BE PREPARED In my experience , I have found that most people don ’ t mind , and in fact will truly enjoy rehearsing , as long as it ’ s productive . I have also found that most people really resent having their time wasted . To that end , I encourage all team leaders to be prepared . You need to know your music and come with clear goals in mind , and then do your best not to get sidetracked . I guarantee that your team will seriously appreciate it . Pay attention to whether or not your singers leave the rehearsal truly feeling prepared . Make sure you spend a good deal of time during your vocal rehearsal singing a cappella so that you can truly hear what is
happening , be able to detect problems areas , and fix them . Nothing will make your team want to show up to rehearsal as much as true productivity . After all , they love singing or they likely wouldn ’ t be there in the first place !
4 . BE MINDFUL OF KEYS THAT WORK FOR EVERYONE I think that often times worship leaders are conflicted with regard to this point . It just feels right to them that they should pick keys for songs according to what works best for them . They need to be able to sing the songs in the best way possible since they are leading , right ? Makes sense doesn ’ t it ?
It would if they were performing , but they ’ re not . Our goal as worship leaders should be first and foremost to engage the congregation in worship . In order for them to engage , they need to participate . If they are to join in singing , the songs need to work for THEM . Way too often an ‘ insensitive ’ leader might put his entire team in an uncomfortable position vocally without realizing it simply because he believes they need to stick to the ‘ original ’ key , or because he has chosen a key that works best for him , without considering everyone else . If the singers on the platform are struggling , how much more so might the congregation be struggling ? The average singer is going to have only about an octave worth of comfortable singing range and
SHERI GOULD Internationally acclaimed vocal coach with a degree from U of Illinois . Coaching since ‘ 79 and leading worship since ‘ 85 . www . SheriGould . com
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16 May � June 2016 WorshipMusician . com