Why is it we spend so much time deciding what key to sing our songs in but so little time deciding what tempo to sing them at? Tempo matters The music we play should be helping people to sing. And as we sing together the Holy Spirit will cause Christ’s…
How to improve your congregational singing while we can't sing When trying to encourage our congregations to sing, we will sometimes reach for illustrations and examples from the few other places where people are comfortable singing nice and loudly in a crowd of people. These normally include watching your favourite…
Short review of the latest EP by City Alight Not all kids songs should be upbeat and rambunctious with numerous actions to humiliate the uncoordinated dads of your church, ‘Simple songs for the young and old’ by CityAlight offers an alternative, a well-trodden alternative and a warmly welcomed alternative. Since…
I wonder if you’re ever like me. Standing in church with your brothers and sisters, trying to sing songs about acceptance and forgiveness. Of the holiness of the Lord, and of what Jesus endured to save his people. And feeling like deep down you’re not sure it can be true…
A lament is “an honest cry of the heart, expressing the paradox between the pain of life and the promises of God.” (Joanna Jackson) How are we doing at encouraging these honest cries? How can we do it better? What part might music have to play? Is there a place…
‘Suffering is not a mark of God’s indifference towards us, or his hatred of us. Suffering is a mark of his love for us. It shows that we are his’. (chapter 6) ‘Suffering and Singing’ is short, focussed and beautifully written, by someone who gets it. Short - The book is…
NEW SONG: 'Halfway Empty' by Matt Redman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSKm4I0OYfk Scraping ice from the car windscreen yesterday morning, I turned on the ignition and saw the temperature gauge flash icy blue, revealing a seasonal affective disorder inducing -4.5C. The cold, dark days of January are upon us. It was only 8am and…
Before, during and what about AFTER? Crossing the finish line with a euphoric Gsus4, you dream of handing your instrument to a roadie to dutifully pack up for you, but the reality is very different. Once a church musician plays their last note, that is just the beginning. Whilst you…
Last time we looked at BEFORE, this week DURING, or what I like to call: ‘the privileged, joy-filled, sweat fest of musical averageness, singing with church family, who love me and love Jesus even more’ Me, leading at the Bristol Men's Convention on Saturday - very averagely! ——————————————————————— When you…
Some of this material comes from a recent conference in Bristol, so apologies if you heard it there, but over the next few weeks we are going to examine some general principles when leading the music at your church. Whether you are the main ‘leader’, or play an instrument, or…
During the Q&A time at our recent conference, ‘Together’, one of our speakers recommended a book called ‘What happens when we worship’ by Jonathan Landry Cruse,, as a helpful follow up from some of the content of the talks . Should you read it? SUMMARY It has 15 chapters, 196…
If there's one book on gathering, worship and singing that I could give to everyone on our music team, it's Corporate Worship by Matt Merker. In fact, I will be as we relaunch into the new normal following the lifting of restrictions, and I'd love to see my whole congregation reading it,…
Joyful Noise are a fresh collaboration of songwriters that have come together around a passion for Jesus, music and God’s family, the church. Despite the challenges of lockdown, they have managed to record and release a strong debut EP, full of helpful, singable songs for congregations. If this first contribution is anything…