BPM / Tempo

Hi - Wondering what you guys do in your worship bands to help keep everyone on tempo? Couple of issues going on. I have a worship leader who is crazy all over the board on tempo's, he feels everything should be very upbeat. Doesn't work so well when he wants to have the guitar solo's in there as well. It sounds like we are playing the song on 78 speed on the old phonographs! :) I play with drummers, no offense guys, that are wavering all over the board from verse to chorus to bridge as far as a tempo goes. I've suggested at min practicing with a metronome through the montiors to get the feel of the groove and everyone in sync. The worship leader doesn't want to practice with a click track at all to the point of getting mad when I suggest it. We have no IEM system. Any suggestions on what you've done to take the band in the right direction as far as tempo's go. Also, how do you keep the worship leader in check on tempo's? I can't tell you how many times we've practice something at say a 115 bpm and he goes into the song at 150 bpm leaving me and the drummer stunned. :lol:

That stuff's on the drummer. Tell the leader to let him to click it out on his sticks first. Also, a lot of variation in tempo is due to lengthly fills that set the drummer back a beat or two, so he speeds up to compensate. Tell him to keep fills to a minimum.

And lastly (I know a lot of people are going to hate me for saying this, but) if he is still wavering in tempo, it helps the drummer a lot if he has something else to base his tempo off of. If it fits the song, go into U2 mode and start becoming very rhythmic with your playing. Ignore the drummer if he changes tempo, just keep playing and MAKE HIM ADJUST. it will make him a better drummer to be able to play the band, and it will sound a heck of a lot better.

Sounds like 1) your drummer, at a minimum, needs a clicktrack and 2) some serious metronome work is needed. It also sounds like from what I read in your post, that your worship leader needs to listen when playing, and may need to check his pride (regarding clicks &/or metronome) at the alter. If you want it to sound professional & tight, you are going to need to get timing under control. I've heard the arguement in the past that clicks remove the soul & organic feel of the song...this really doesn't hold water.

Lack of tight timing, before I got it under control, caused me to miss getting gigs in the past.

Good luck!

That's a tough one. The WL does appear to have lost respect just by what seems to be his lack of control and letting his anger go unchecked. If this goes on much longer the drummer, and others may just quit. Keep trying to gently get him to see that things need to change.

Definitely talk to him, but not in front of other people. Let him know how you feel. Once you notice this kind of stuff, it will consume your thoughts until you talk to him, openly and honestly. If he doesn't take it, or he makes you feel bad for it, that's when you think about going to an elder or other pastor, then go with that brother to talk with him. Then it's out of your hands.

We use IEM's, so this may not help. We use click tracks and enhancement tracks. But you could use a metronome and put it in the drummers monitor/headphones only.

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The performance tempo needs to be set beforehand, i.e., in practice, with a little flexibility for the actual performance. If your WL is starting songs and is way, way off from the pre-agreed value, he needs to get a metronome, or give the job to the drummer. Different gifts, you know.

It's up to the drummer to keep the tempo solid through the piece.

Our WL has a tempo marked in the charts. We are blessed with a drummer that can count off within a beat or 2 most tempos, but will resort to a silent metronome (iPhone/iPad app, I believe) if there's a fast transition and a significant shift.

The tempos are not "written in stone," and sometimes we end up doing something faster or slower, and if that happens, it can become the new tempo, e.g., to give a piece a fresher feel if it's become a warhorse.

I agree with what everyone else has said. I would also add you could try recording yourselves some time and then play it back for them to hear. If they don't hear anything wrong, you might have bigger issues on your hands.

I would also add you could try recording yourselves some time and then play it back for them to hear. If they don't hear anything wrong, you might have bigger issues on your hands.

yep

Sounds like 1) your drummer, at a minimum, needs a clicktrack and 2) some serious metronome work is needed. It also sounds like from what I read in your post, that your worship leader needs to listen when playing, and may need to check his pride (regarding clicks &/or metronome) at the alter. If you want it to sound professional & tight, you are going to need to get timing under control. I've heard the arguement in the past that clicks remove the soul & organic feel of the song...this really doesn't hold water.

Lack of tight timing, before I got it under control, caused me to miss getting gigs in the past.

Good luck!

100% agree. Practicing with a click track is one of the best things you can do. In our church we started using a small amount of loops so we play with a click in our aviom monitors. We all love it because your in the pocket every sunday now!!

In our church band, the keyboardist sets a click track for the drummer (who is relatively new to playing). It plays through the headphone monitors that the musicians all wear and works great! I can set the tempo for my delay pedal by strumming to the click track to set my quarter notes and dotted 8ths.

Yes, bands sound better without a click track, but ONLY if they (the drummer especially) already have solid timing. If not the nome is the way to go.

Thanks everyone!. I tried the recording route and played it back. Our worship leader did agree it was a little fast. Last Sun things were at a better tempo-wise and he made a an effort to keep it reasonable. Different drummer this time and he had issues with a steady beat. This Sun we plan on playing more uptempo tunes as it's our fall kickoff start. It should be interesting. I've mentioned putting BPM in the notes. Our online schedule didn't have that listed. No practice this week as well. I had a friend who doesn't like church because it's too organized....i told him come to my church , nothing organized about it, especially the music. LOL :)

Update! My prayers have been answered. One of our drummers brought in a BOSS metronome he purchased and has embraced it with open arms! We don't have AVIOM or IEM etc's piping it into the mix but just having this thing set the tempo for practice has been a blessing beyond words! Our music minister was fighting it but as the drummer said, if you're fighting it, you're not on tempo! The machine don't lie! LOL. It was a big wake up call for everybody today and we were tighter and it was a more worshipful experience all around. Thanks for all the prayers!

Happy it worked out!

We have that same problem. We never know who to follow. A lot of songs start with just acoustic guitar (a lot of times it’s me) starting the song and setting the tempo. Then the drummer and the rest of the band join in as the song progresses. When it gets a little sketchy is when the band leader joins in on tambourine and starts speeding up and slowing down. Then we all start to wonder, do we follow her? Do we follow the drummer, who’s now also starting to speed up and slow down? Or does everyone follow that acoustic guitar that started the whole thing?

I like the idea about the metronome, and having a drummer who knows the material well enough and is forceful enough to make everyone follow him would help a bunch. Our current drummer does OK, but he’s a kid and he’s prone to following everyone else instead of setting a tempo and making us stick to it.

I used to play with a praise team drummer who couldn't keep time or a steady tempo. It drove me crazy. I don't miss playing with him.

We just upgraded to the rhythm section from hell: two drum sets, two bassists, and an acoustic. It's every sound guy's worst nightmare, makes it so you can't hear anything but thumping, and turns tap tempo into an impossible challenge...

I hate to be a troll, but the drummer & the bassist are the foundation. If either one of them cannot keep time & the groove well, they should be either mentored/helped or politely asked to take some time off until they can nail it.