Please Practice: 8 Tips to Give Your Team

By Jon Nicol

Of all the players that I've had in worship teams, the ones that practiced the most came out of the bar band scene. If any of them came to rehearsals unprepared, they apologized before they even pulled out their guitar. The players with church backgrounds, yeah...not so much. Why is this? That's fodder for a whole new article series. But let's give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they've never received guidance on this subject. Here are some practice tips for your team:

Before rehearsal:

Listen to each song while following the chart. Even if you know the song well, a repeated listening-through will reveal things you missed and further solidify the song in your head.
Listen to the song again, playing along with it (here's where the correct key & pitch-shifted recordings comes in handy).
Do an initial play-through. Without the recording, play the song completely through one time. If any part causes you to stumble, mark it with a pencil and move on.
Work on bumps. Once you've played through and marked the trouble stops, go back and run those spots till you have them down.
Listen again (and again). Instead of just turning on your car or office radio, put the songs in a playlist on your iPod, mp3 player or computer and listen to it passively throughout the week. The songs will sink in more than you know. On the way to rehearsal, listen to the songs again, thinking about your part.

Between rehearsal and Sunday:

Work the problem areas. Mark the spots that gave you trouble during rehearsal. Run those until the hiccups go away.
Focus heavily on any parts that are yours to lead or carry, such as a solo or segues.
Listen again (and again). Did I mention this one already.