How to Communicate With Your Band

One of the biggest issues I see in many wor­ship lead­ers and their bands is a fail­ure to communicate.

If you can effec­tively and effi­ciently com­mu­ni­cate to your band, not only will they feel more con­fi­dent in their play­ing, but your wor­ship will take another step in the right direc­tion.

For instance, I know there’s a big band break right after the sec­ond cho­rus, but if I don’t clearly explain this, my drum­mer might not fall out and my gui­tarist might keep shred­ding a solo. How­ever, if every­one in my band knows exactly where we drop out and faith­fully executes their parts, we elim­i­nate any sort of music dis­trac­tion while at the same time helping to cre­ate a worshipful atmosphere.

Speaking the Same Language…

We have to speak the same lan­guage. Hav­ing been mar­ried for almost 10 years, I understand the dif­fi­culty and work it takes to speak the same lan­guage. There’s a rea­son there are hun­dreds and hun­dreds of books on mar­riage and com­mu­ni­ca­tion…because it’s not easy. But it is nec­es­sary for a good rela­tion­ship.

The same holds true for wor­ship teams. Every­one needs to be on the “same page.”

Tips for Better Communication

Preparation

Being pre­pared is a key com­po­nent when it comes to com­mu­ni­cat­ing with your team. This means that you, as the leader, are pre­pared both spir­i­tu­ally and musi­cally. It means you have to know the songs, the scrip­tures, and that you have spent time con­nect­ing with God through pri­vate wor­ship.

It also means that you have pre­pared the songs for your team. You’ve sent the music to them, along with the notes for each song and the over­all wor­ship flow.

Email Notes and Expectations

Once you get your­self and your songs pre­pared, uti­lize your avail­able resources like a sim­ple email. Share your vision for the week, how God has been work­ing in and through these songs, and how each per­son plays a vital role in help­ing your church wor­ship.

You can include notes for each song, par­tic­u­lar song parts and notes for each per­son. Let them know what you are expect­ing from them and then fol­low through.

Music

Get­ting the music to your team is also extremely impor­tant. You want your team to wor­ship through these songs and, in turn, to know them. And not just musi­cally, although that’s impor­tant; it’s just as impor­tant for them to know and love the songs.

You can use Plan­ning Cen­ter or other wor­ship plan­ning soft­ware. You could also put your Sunday playlist in Spo­tify or upload your mp3s to Drop­box. No matter what you do, make sure you are get­ting the music out to your team well in advance and that you’re doing it legally. That might mean you have to get a Rehearsal license from CCLi or buy every­one an iTunes card. Regard­less, resource your team with the music you will be lead­ing.

Rehearsal Walk Through

During our band rehearsal, I find it very ben­e­fi­cial to take the first few min­utes with each song and walk through the intros, builds, drops, end­ing and tran­si­tions. Make sure you are con­nect­ing with each band member and that they are tak­ing notes.

As you go through each song, don’t be afraid to stop and go over each part with your team, espe­cially if your team isn’t doing what you’re ask­ing. Take your time and walk through it with them.

These are just a few of the things I do when I’m lead­ing my team. It’s being inten­tional about com­mu­ni­cat­ing as well as being open to the ebb and flow of our team. It’s impor­tant to find what works best for you and to make sure you are lead­ing your team and not leav­ing them.

This article originally appeared here.