Yes, Christmas songs are lovely, but many are tricky to sing—am I right?! Lots of lyrics to remember + octave jumps galore = challenging times! So try out these 7 tips as you practice—and hopefully you’ll experience more freedom (and enjoyment) as you sing!
Week in, week out, we’re up on stage trying to do the best we can to lead our congregations in worship… and so much of that depends on how well we can hear—hear ourselves, hear our instrument, hear our team members and hear the congregation! Today I wanted to focus on what actual in-ear monitors (IEMS) we are wearing. Those tiny little speakers we put in our ears often get overlooked, but they are immensely important to our role as a singer or worship leader on our worship team!
Most weekends nowadays, with our social feeds full of other churches’ live streams, the latest Elevation service and—gulp!—our own church’s livestream with US out front… tell me these thoughts haven’t run through your head: “Oh man, that sounds SO much better than me” … “She sounds pretty good, but I think I sound better than that” … or“Haha, at least I don’t sound like that…”
Our body is truly incredible—if we’re being chased by a lion, the stress of the situation triggers a reaction in our body that helps us run. the. heck. outta. there. It’s called the fight-or-flight response (or if you want to get science-y, our sympathetic nervous system). The heart beats faster. The lungs take in more oxygen. The brain is more alert. The senses become sharper. But this newfound energy doesn’t just come out of nowhere—other important functions in the body are, in essence, weakened in order to supply energy to where it’s needed.
If you sing on a worship team, you most likely can carry a tune—meaning, you probably (hopefully) have decent pitch. But… you may have been told that you sing flat or sharp, or maybe you’ve been told that you’re “pitchy”—a somewhat vague word that I personally love to use (although it drives some people crazy, because it’s barely a word!). Or, maybe you’ve never been explicitly told that you’re pitchy, but you suspect it’s an issue in your singing (hint: it probably is). So… what does “pitchy” mean, and how can you fix it?
When you’re a supporting vocalist as part of a worship team, your purpose isn’t to stand out… it’s to blend with the worship leader and the other voices, to create the sound of one voice. Blend is one of the most difficult things to do really well on a worship team, but one of the most fulfilling and beautiful things when you can do it! Here are some “do’s and don’ts” that you can start putting into practice as you’re singing on your worship team!
When it comes to vocal training, we hear the same things over and over. Warm up. Breathe properly. Practice daily. (I’m not saying we DO all these things… hence why we still need reminders about them—but… suffice it to say, they’re not “secrets.”) Some of you do all these things… and more. But you’re still frustrated with your voice. It still cracks and breaks. You’re still intimidated by high notes. Your voice still feels tired after you sing on Sunday mornings. I want to help.
In the worship world, there are a lot of differing opinions on how to go about choosing song keys. Personally, I’m a bit tired of hearing people say things like, “this is the reason our congregations aren’t singing”… “worship services are too much like a concert”… “the song keys aren’t congregationally friendly.” Here are eight questions you can ask yourself that will help guide you as you choose your song keys!
