Ian & Lucy Fisher

This blog is a bit different in that I feel to address some of the musicians needs in regards to ministering in a modern day worship service. In these days of in-ear monitoring we are in danger of raising up a generation who have missed the days of bleeding nose volume, where our eyes and ears learned to read the atmosphere of a room, where eye contact between players was a commonality, bringing the band and the playing to a central feeling of unity and oneness.

Today MD's commonly guide the changes and the grooves by communicating onstage with a mike fed through 'in-ears', and if we are not careful we can become lazy in looking around at each other for inspiration and connection, which was once common in all our playing, and also being lazy in watching the worship leader's calls for direction for where the songs are going. This was once felt intuitively, and changes came almost on a breath as the Spirit lead the meeting, so what is it that we need to teach this generation in feeling the atmosphere of a room, and being able to colour the dynamics to a place where the people are being connected to the songs right where they are at.

In ministering a worship service the ability to read the spirit of the room while remaining focused on our playing is key to our worship. As musicians we often learn our songs through the MP3?s and charts that are provided, but once learnt these are only guidelines to steer us on course through the changes of the songs. Learning to use our eyes and ears to read the atmosphere and spirit of a room is a ?whole nutha level?. Sometimes changes come all to quickly and we miss the magic of the moment by this mentality and focus of getting it right, which is good for rehearsals, but for the service we must let go of everything we know and open ourselves up to be free, exposed and honest in interpreting what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.

You see every time we play a song in a service the spirit of the room will be slightly different as a different body of people are attending, and the chords, melodies and grooves may require minute adjustments in sensitivity, dynamics and approach as the Spirit moves us to minister to their needs. If we miss this we can sound a bit like the band who gatecrashed the meeting, which means we simply play the songs as is, without leaving room to listen, feel and place the needs of a song in the right placement at the right time. Coming to the end of a song and starting to shift to early for the next groove will cause the atmosphere to stiffen and be manipulated by us, as we misread the moment and focus on what the beginning of the next song is to be. These moments are crucial, as I believe the Spirit is opening opportunity for us to play, to extend, to massage, to build or strengthen what has been established, so that the Church can rest in His presence for an extra moment of time.

Practically speaking, give the songs time to breath ? wait a few moments and play the intro?s and verses ect with the feeling that you are connected to the needs of the service. Listen and look around the room and guide the sensitivity of your playing by what you see and what you hear. Sometimes we can be a little rushed between songs and miss the moments we have created for people to be served in worship, by being too ready for the next count-in. Remember to look at each other and encourage the spontaneous, through facial expressions and body language.

Learning to read the room will open up new doors of blessing in our services, where the Holy Spirit can trust us to be listening for the moments that the music creates, and through those moments we are launched into areas that are truly touching Heaven and Changing Earth.

Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard those things which God has?but He reveals them to us by His Spirit?.
(1 Corinthians 2:9,10)

Music is an awesome creation, and His sounds are all around us. It is our responsibility in the Church to create His sound on Earth as it is in Heaven, so that we become an exact replication of Christ and His Kingdom, and as musicians to teach those who are being raised up to not only focus on the structure of the song, but also to learn the sensitivities and dynamics of the Spirit, and how this relates and is released in and through our worship to the Church on Sundays.

So remember, rehearse the songs so that you know them well, get ready for the service, but then let it all go and see with your eyes, hear with your ears, and play with your intuition as you sense the direction and atmosphere of the service.

Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution

Fish