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10 Reasons You Should Come to the WorshipGod19 Conference

By on March 25, 2019 in —Arranging, —Leading a Congregation, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Songwriting, —Sound and Tech, —Sovereign Grace Music, —Training a Team, —Vocalists, —Worship and Christ, —WorshipGod Conferences

Back in 2006, Sovereign Grace Music hosted our first WorshipGod conference in Maryland. Since then, we’ve led conferences in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, and the UK. By my count, this year will be our 20th. Each time we prepare for another one, I ask myself the same question: Do we really need another worship conference? Obviously, I think the answer is yes. Which is why we’ll be gathering in Louisville, KY, July 31-Aug. 3 for WorshipGod19 – The Glorious Christ: Music is great. Jesus is greater. There are a number of worship conferences you can choose from these days. They range from massive productions …

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To Use or Lose the Music Stands: Is That the Question?

By on December 4, 2017 in —Emotions and Worship, —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Music Equipment, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Physical Expressiveness

In the past few years, a number of voices have emerged encouraging church musicians to lose their music stands.  I don’t think anyone is saying it’s a matter “of first importance” to put the music stands away. But people have said if you really want to serve your church, you won’t use them. Reasons to Strike the Stands Here are some of the most common reasons people give for losing the stands. In many churches, a separation already exists due to a stage. Removing the stands removes the visible barrier. Musicians and vocalists tend to stare at their stands. When you remove them, musicians look up, look out, and are more engaged. …

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Songs and Thoughts from Together for the Gospel

By on April 18, 2016 in —Leading a Congregation, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Together for the Gospel, —Worship and Music

The Together for the Gospel conference, held Apr. 12-14 in Louisville, KY, is an every-other-year feast of insightful Bible teaching, passionate singing, and rich fellowship. It’s the fruit of a friendship between Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, and my good friend and senior pastor, C.J. Mahaney. That fruit has blossomed to encourage thousands of pastors faithfully serving their local churches. I had the joy of leading the music again this year. It’s a unique experience. A guy at a piano joined by ten thousand voices singing theologically rich, gospel-centered hymns, old and new. We’ve produced two albums from previous T4G conferences …

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What’s So Special About Singing on Sundays?

By on February 4, 2016 in —Creativity, —Leading a Team, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Technology, —Worship and Culture, —Worship and the Church

People sing. Everywhere. In their cars. In the shower. In choirs. At football games. At birthdays. At weddings and funerals. At rock concerts. In musicals and operas. When there’s sunshine. When it rains. When it’s stormy. In the morning, afternoon, and night. But when the church gathers on Sunday morning (or Saturday night, etc.), our earthly voices join the choirs of heaven and the singing is like no other. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been moved as I added my voice to the beautiful, engaging, powerful, awe-inspiring, robust singing of a congregation. But sometimes our sound is halting and weak. Out of tune and …

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Do I Lead To Impress or To Serve?

By on September 8, 2014 in —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Training a Team

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about moving to Louisville two years ago and helping to plant Sovereign Grace Church is the opportunity to train interns from Southern Seminary and Boyce College. I meet weekly with a group from each school to talk theology, focus on heart issues, and work on music and leadership skills. They also serve on Sundays and help out with Sovereign Grace Music. Young musicians and leaders are often overly self-conscious and nervous. While confidence comes with experience, we don’t want to overcome self by becoming more assured in ourselves. So one of  my goals for the interns is that they get to the place where …

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On God, Glory, Grace, and Grammys

By on January 31, 2014 in —Musicians & Vocalists, —News, —Worship and Music

As a professional musician for almost 40 years, I’m at least mildly interested in the Grammys each year. Who are the young artists that will be tomorrow’s legends? Where is music headed, if anywhere? What old artists are continuing to produce great music or making a comeback? Since this past Sunday, there’s been a disproportionate amount of online buzz about the show. I watched a part of it and was freshly grateful for a DVR with fast forward capabilities. In case you missed it, this year’s event included an overtly sensual duet between Beyoncé and Jay Z, a satanically influenced segment by Katy Perry, and a mass wedding for 30+ heterosexual …

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Adding a Pre-Conference Drum Class at WorshipGod East

By on July 8, 2013 in —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Out at WorshipGod West I was talking to David Zimmer, drummer for Enfield, about our next conference, WorshipGod East, taking place Aug. 1-3 in Louisville, KY. I mentioned that we were offering three pre-conference intensives on July 31, 2:00-5:30 PM, for guitarists, sound personnel, and pianists. In the midst of the conversation he offered to teach one for drummers. He and Ryan Foglesong are already teaching two workshops on The Bass/Drum Connection as part of the conference, but David thought there was plenty more to say to drummers alone. So I said let’s do it. In this three hour pre-conference session, The Modern Drummer, David will …

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Interview with Patrick Anderson, Guitarist Extraordinaire

By on May 9, 2013 in —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Patrick Anderson will be teaching guitar workshops at both WorshipGod West (June 27-29) and WorshipGod East (July 31-Aug. 3). I’ve known Patrick for a number of years now and have always been encouraged by his humble heart, love for the church, and superb musical skills, all stemming from his love for the Savior. He played on The Gathering and was a member of Enfield until he moved away from California. He shares a little about his life and the workshops he’ll be teaching below. 1. Briefly share your testimony of conversion with us. I came from a loving, though broken, home. Church involvement was minimal in an ELCA Lutheran church and …

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What I Learned from Playing a Fender Rhodes Piano Bass

By on October 16, 2012 in —Musicians & Vocalists

We’re now three weeks into the startup of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I’ve been having a great time getting back into the pattern of leading every Sunday, planning out the order of the service, having weekly rehearsals at my house, being part of the set-up and take-down teams again, and getting to the Sunday meeting a lot earlier than I’ve been getting there the last few years. And I love it. Except maybe for the “getting to the meeting early every Sunday” part. One of the things I’ve missed as I’ve handed off regular Sunday leading to others is being involved in the day-to-day issues, challenges, joys, mishaps, failures, and …

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Looking for a Keyboard/Piano?

By on June 22, 2012 in —Music Equipment, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Websites

People occasionally email me asking if I have any recommendations for a keyboard, especially one with a great piano sound. Rather than respond and reveal that my knowledge of electronic keyboards dried up somewhere in the mid-90s, I immediately forward the request to my good friend, Roger Hooper. Roger used to head up the keyboard department at Washington Music Center, and now does freelance arranging, scoring, playing, and tech blogging. He’s a brilliant keyboardist and synth player, and writes some great music as well. If you have a chance, check out his latest film soundtrack, The Road We Know (also available on iTunes and Amazon) Roger …

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The Piano in Contemporary Worship, Part 3

By on January 7, 2012 in —Music Theory, —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Last month I posted two sessions from the pre-conference workshop I taught at WorshipGod11 on the Piano in Contemporary Worship (Part 1 and Part 2). We finally finished editing the third session. This one took a little more time to edit because people were regularly walking past the window of the door in the video, which is a bit distracting. My good friend Dave Mackenzie performed his video wizardry and edited the movement out. In this session I deal with many of the specific questions I’ve been asked over the years. Those include: chord coloring inversions playing hymns developing your chord vocabulary introductions transitions …

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The Gathering is Coming to Southern California Jan. 28

By on January 4, 2012 in —Choosing Songs, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Other Events, —Training a Team, —Worship and Christ, —WorshipGod Conferences

This past August we recorded The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11. It’s a collection of 15 songs that progressively tell the story of the gospel and our response to it. From my perspective, it’s one of the best albums we’ve done to date, both in terms of song content and creative musicianship. I’m happy to announce that we’ll be doing it all over again (at least singing the songs) in Orange County, CA on Saturday, January 28. A few of my good friends from California (Ryan and Jonathan Baird, and Eric Turbedsky, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Orange County) emailed me about putting together an event that combined teaching in the afternoon …

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Resources for Your Worship Team from WorshipGod11: Instruments, General, Children

By on January 4, 2012 in —Children, —Free Messages, —Leading a Team, —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Yesterday, I posted some of the workshops from WorshipGod11 for leaders, songwriters, and tech teams. Here are a few more that focus on instrumentalists, leading kids to worship Christ, dealing with burnout, and the leader’s prayer life. Donald Whitney shared on simplifying your spiritual life and using Scripture as a basis for your prayers. There’s also a seminar for women taught by my wife that addresses facing every season of life with faith. Enjoy. Bass, Drums, Guitar Strengthening the Drum/Bass Connection, PT1 – Ryan Foglesong and David Zimmer (outline) The foundation of the worship team is the rhythm section composed of the drummer and …

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The Piano in Contemporary Worship, Part 2

By on December 1, 2011 in —Arranging, —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences, Videos

Here’s the second part of the pre-conference piano seminar I led at WorshipGod11, focused on playing with a band. Dave Campbell and Neil Stuckenschneider helped me out on guitar and bass. I’ve included the outlines notes after the video. Piano in Contemporary Worship, Part 2 from Sovereign Grace Churches on Vimeo. Playing with a Band Be aware of the audio spectrum. Guitars – 80-880 Hz Bass – 40-260 Hz Vocals – 110-660 Hz Piano – 27-4200 Hz Fills. Distinct and memorable Don’t tread on others Octaves Use your LH wisely. With the bass player Around the bass player More with just a guitar, …

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The Piano in Contemporary Worship, Part 1

By on November 30, 2011 in —Music Theory, —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Last summer at WorshipGod11 I taught a pre-conference seminar for intermediate level pianists to help them develop their skills while playing with or without a band. In recent years I’ve taught more on the theology of congregational singing than the practical aspects. But I still enjoy teaching on the practicals. So here’s a video of the first installment, with notes included below. Piano in Contemporary Worship, Part 1 from Sovereign Grace Churches on Vimeo. General Principles Excellence. Excellence in all dimension of worship expression, including music, must not simply be defined by cultural standards of sophistication, but …

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