Music Ministry

[KajuJam]

I want to start by saying it is great to have a place where musicians whom use their talents and skills in their church worship to share and voice their concerns.
I am a self taught musician who started playing at a very early age. I have now been playing for well over thirty years and have only played in church.
I was one of the original musician who started the contemporary praise and worship in our church, and because we believe in training and teaching others, now have three generations of guitarists in church.

Here is the concern. we have several younger guitar players who do not have the opportunity to play. We have three bands in our church but only one main Sunday morning praise band. I am the lead guitar player in the main band. I am also the most skilled guitar player in our church. I am teaching two of the others, but they still lack the practice and proficiency to play in the main band.

There is concern with the younger guitarists because they want to play lead, only they do not know as much as me. I am trying to teach them, but they lack time and practice.

Has anyone here just taken a break and let someone else take over? I feel like I am called to do what I do and cannot phathom not using my talent for praise and worship. I have done so for a long time now.

When is it time to let someone else take over?

[JohnSS]

Do you have a weekly youth group meeting when you can have 2-3 praise songs where these youngbloods can cut their practice teeth? That can be like the minor league training ground, and their peers can offer opinions and votes as to when someone might be ready to possibly guest for a Sunday service.

[elmatt]

Originally Posted by JohnSS

Do you have a weekly youth group meeting when you can have 2-3 praise songs where these youngbloods can cut their practice teeth? That can be like the minor league training ground, and their peers can offer opinions and votes as to when someone might be ready to possibly guest for a Sunday service.

+1 on this idea.

Younger players always benefit from having the opportunity to hear and see more experienced players play. I am in my 30's and have been playing for over 15 years. However, I always look forward to opportunities to watch and or play with more experienced players.

I am also heavily involved in ministry and lead a number of worship groups. In my experience, especially with younger players, the heart of the servant needs to be cultivated before I put anyone in a leadership position; even if there ability is up to par. If you give them that platform before they are ready you could create a monster that can be difficult to deal with. My suggestion would be to keep working with them until you feel they are ready.

[KajuJam]

Thanks John abd Matt,
Good points. Definately true about being ready means more than being able.

John, yes they do have their own youth practices and opportunities to play. I think I will just continue to teach them and get them ready. They still have a ways to go before they know enough to know they don't know anything!

God Bless

[Beerts]

all this is good stuff, great comments, but be very careful when you say that you're the best and they aren't good enough. they may feel just as called as you and sometimes we need to be given opportunity to motivate us. while I agree for the most part that quality playing is important in worship, sometimes it is healthy to step back and let others have their time too, and if they feel like they are competing with you and that you are the judge who gets to decide their fate, you might be doing everyone a disservice.

[SatelliteOrders]

Also, there's few ways of learning how much you need to know, and specifically what you need to know, than being up there and not having it.

[Parma_TeleMon]

We train 'em up in kids' church. Three of our four worship team leaders currently came up that way. And yes, JohnSS, it's exactly like having a minor league farm system. We mainstream them as needed as our other musicians move on or step down to have kids or whatever. Heck, we even train them on how to mix sound - they're trainable and enthusiastic.

[KajuJam]

Good point Beerts,
As passionate as I am about music, there are others who are too, whom may also be called. My question is at what point do you step back. See, I believe like other posters here, that sometimes you can create a monster. Especially in a lead guitar role, and moreso if it's a 14 year old.

I am just now teaching them scales but they do not know how to use them. They are not afraid of trying and will definately crank it up to show their new learnings which is not good yet and they have a ways to go. If I let them do it, they will eventually learn and improve, but Sunday mornings is not a good training ground.

I am concerned that as long as I am in this role, I will hinder their growth. My desire is to help them, not hold them back which is why I am seeking advise from others whom may have been in my shoes, or similar.

[Parma_TeleMon]

So teach them how to use 'em. It's all part of ongoing training. They also need to understand how the lead guitar position fits into the band, as well as how the volume knobs on both guitar and amp work.

[still_fiddlin]

I'm a little confused about the term, "lead," here. Do you mean leader, or soloist?

We play pretty contemporary stuff, but leads/solos are not that common, *maybe* 1 out of 6 songs, 3 out of 4 Sundays, and we're not talking endless noodling here, but pretty much arranged 8-12-16 bar breaks.

Anyway, if it's leads/solos the kids want, I would encourage you to teach these kids some exact chops to use in short breaks, and let them work on those, and work that kind of playing in to the service. The rest of the time they can play rhythm/backup and learn what it means to be a member of a team.

[Beerts]

Originally Posted by still_fiddlin

I'm a little confused about the term, "lead," here. Do you mean leader, or soloist?

We play pretty contemporary stuff, but leads/solos are not that common, *maybe* 1 out of 6 songs, 3 out of 4 Sundays, and we're not talking endless noodling here, but pretty much arranged 8-12-16 bar breaks.

Anyway, if it's leads/solos the kids want, I would encourage you to teach these kids some exact chops to use in short breaks, and let them work on those, and work that kind of playing in to the service. The rest of the time they can play rhythm/backup and learn what it means to be a member of a team.

to me the lead guitar is the one you hear the most and the rythmn guitar is the one you miss the most when it's not there.

[KajuJam]

Sorry I wasn't more specific still_fiddlin. What I meant by lead guitar was not leader or just soloist.

The lead guitarist in our band does play solos when applicable, but also the higher ranges such as triads, arpeggios, and power cords. The rythm guitar plays the middle ranges with acuostic/electric.

[jb12string]

Why not teach the kiddo's one or two songs worth of lead material, then let them play lead on that song while you play rythym in a worship set, then have them play rythym for the rest of the set. I am probably misunderstanding you, but it seems like you feel that letting the kids play will be then end of your playing.

[TxTeleMan]

There have already been several good suggestions.

They could play at any of these:

• Youth services.
• Saturday night services.
• Youth Sunday.

You could let them:

• Work on one song, to be done at a certain date.
• Participate in weekly training or rehearsals.

[KajuJam]

Thank You all, these all good suggestions.
jb, I have done this for over 30 years. During this time I have played and taught music in my church. We have grown to a point that we have several musicians.
A part of me wants to focus more on teaching and giving some of the students an opportunity to grow in a more structured environment. They do get to play in youth activities, but there are others who could fill those shoes as well. We have young musicians doing nothing because there is no opportunity for them.
Actually, this is a good problem to have.

[DickensCPA]

The first Sunday of each month is Youth Sunday at our Church. This is twofold. One, it gives the younger players a chance. Two, it gives the main team one Sunday a month off. I have a 6 yr old boy and a baby on the way. I use those Sundays for weekends that I take my son camping for instance. He loves to camp. If I can't take a Friday off, which is rare that I can. It's not much fun driving out to the boonies and have to pack up and leave the camp site in order to be at Church by 7:30AM.