Starting a Praise Band
By John Francis

Today, the expectations for modern accompaniment instruments, such as guitars and drums, are becoming the norm in Sunday morning worship. So if you worship in a blended-style service, the following is a primer on starting a praise band. Even if you already have one, perhaps you can glean an idea or two from this material.

First, what is a praise band? It is an ensemble, typically with four to six members, that would typically include: rhythm guitar, bass guitar, drums, and keyboard.

Before starting a praise band, you must have staff unanimity on this decision. You need to have the pastor’s full support. Even if the praise band has no problems getting together, and everything is rosy, chances are quite strong that you will have some congregational opposition. I’ve had families move their membership (not many) because I incorporated drums in worship. The pastoral support had to be there. It may be him, not you, hearing a great deal of the consternation.

Be thankful for the instrumentalists that you already have.
If you have a good pianist and/or organist, don’t forget to take time to thank God for them. My pianist was the core of our praise band and was my “re-arranger.” It is very important to use your existing instrumentalists, when possible. Your pianist needs to be able to read chords and to improvise at least a little.

Take an objective look at your situation.
In starting the ensemble, do so organically, not organizationally. If you do a lot of choruses, it makes sense to have a praise band to take the instrumental role. If your church is totally traditional musically, go the orchestra route first. I tried a praise band before in a church that only did hymns. It was quite a dismal failure.

Understand “charts.”
Your praise band will probably use “lead sheets.” These basically have lyrics, melody notation, and chords. Or, you may use rhythm charts for guitarists, with just lyrics and chord lettering. You need to know how to read them, as well as how to lead your group through them. You also need to understand that with guitarists, the more flats, the more problems. Favorite keys are typically G, D, E, A, and C for most rhythm players.

Supply needs.
Every rehearsal must be well-prepared with music, order of service, etc. Think of fresh music as food for your hungry group. If you don’t keep it fed, it will die. Instrumental musicians appreciate latitude for experimentation, but they do not appreciate a total lack of musical direction.

Also, allow for one music stand per musician. Don’t ask guitarists to share a stand – it’s really difficult with a guitar. Guitarists also like their own amps. Respect that, but try to consolidate into one good sound system. Also, depending on your setup, you will need a monitor system.
  
Allow for “gel-time.”
Initially, do not play for worship for four to six weeks. Allow this group to pan out, gel together. Allow first rehearsals to be a relaxed time to see what works, with no pressure. But, always keep it well stocked. Keep a consistent weekly rehearsal time. You need to meet with this group weekly to go over Sunday service. Focus especially on starts and stops of songs and transitions. Outside of weekly practice, have some get-togethers at someone’s house to build relationships.

Also, pray for the “holes” in your group. Once I needed a drummer, so my next step was to pray and act on faith. I prayed and bought a basic, solid drum set. The Lord filled the need. Then, because of conflict, we needed another bassist. My pianist and I were both very burdened. We had lunch at the pizza joint and prayed. That week, the Lord delivered to us a bassist who was of professional caliber and who was on fire for Jesus!

Here is a brief physics lesson. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that energy goes from order to disorder. To start this group and to leave it to its own devices is a recipe for disaster. Think of the typical garage band. They play together, and maybe get a gig or two. But, eventually, with little accountability, they fall away. There always needs to be purpose. Worship leading requires discipline.

Finally, a word about quality. When I was church worship leader, I was invited to a church outside my denomination, by their pastor who was a friend of mine, to meet with their traditional and contemporary musicians to settle a harsh style skirmish. There I met a group of folks in diverse age, somewhat cold to me, but more cold to one another. After asking some questions, I found out that the biggest problem was about quality. No one in the church was responsible to run rehearsals, so the traditionalists heard unrehearsed musicians playing music that they did not want to hear. Though I felt sorry for the “rockers” who were quiet and sulking the entire meeting, I told the pastor in a meeting the next day that I had to sympathize with the older folks.

Musical quality is so key to having a well-accepted praise band, and, as the leader, you have to take responsibility to making the hard taste decisions in your rehearsals.

* Listen to your drums; are they playing with taste?
* Is the system too bassy?
* Are the guitars “clean” (little filtering, fuzz-boxes, etc)
* Are they in time?
* Are they in tune?
* Is there too much of one instrument?
* Does the platform look messy (wires, music laying around, etc.)?

So, now you have a praise band, and you are ready to open up more ideas. Try these on for size:

* Start a praise team. Remember the best praise team may potentially be your choir.
* Use MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) gear to add more sound to your setup.
* Add Latin percussion.
* Start an orchestra.
* Start an additional praise band for evening service.

This is a wonderful opportunity to really glorify Jesus in ministry. Unfortunately, this is also an open opportunity to burn bridges and goof up relationships. Take calculated risks, depend on Him, and love the Lord’s people.

John Francis is the worship specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention. He spent seven years on the road in his younger days with the pop band, Young Urban Professionals, playing trumpet and Latin percussion.