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 ‘whole nutha level’.
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.
Practically speaking, give the songs time to breathe – 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.
‘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)
“…give the songs time to breathe…”
One of the greatest things that has happened in the worship of our church: We’re doing FEWER songs. A year-and-half ago, we were doing 6-7 in a 30-35 minute worship time. Changing over time, we’re now doing only 4 in 25 minutes and it’s more meaningful and deep than ever.
Thanks for what you’re saying and doing…
Chad Smith
Worship Arts, Bethany Church
Wyckoff, NJ
I believe musical competancy plays a major role here - to be able to ‘ebb and flow’ where the Spirit leads takes the dual attributes of musical proficiency and spiritual humility…as a wise leader once said, ’silence is a valid form of musicianship’.
God Bless You everyone! Question: what do you mean “give songs time to breathe”? If anyone knows please reply, thanks
Yeah, could you please tell us what giving songs time to breathe means? Do you mean not to venture into the next song without talking about it? And how do we see the things of the spirit? Personally as a worship leader, I find it hard…
Thank you so much for sharing with us your knowledge btw.
Hey I’m gonna share this site to my churchmates. The posts really help.
I once read an article by Tommy Walker that says, “Keep one eye on heaven and one eye on earth.” It means that as we worship God (as worship leaders), we shouldn’t leave the congregation in their worship. We should also adapt to the congregation’s worship need, like if we feel that they still want to worship, then we can go on with the song.
I guess what they meant by giving the songs time to breathe is not to rush in to the next song without finishing the current song properly, so as not to ruin the ‘momentum’ of worship.
Allowing a song to breathe. It’s simply not over playing the song, giving it space.
For example in a band situation; playing every part of a song on a keyboard “chords, melody, bass etc” can be to much when you have other musos playing similar parts. All cluttered. Creating this wall of sound & be to much for ones ears. Tone & sound effects come into this as well. Having more people play at the same time does not necessarily mean bigger better.
Allowing the song to breathe “giving it space, is where each muso carefully chooses there part to play. Song arrangements can make or break a song.
this is so perfect, i will share this to my bandmates at church
thank you! keep it coming! God bless your hearts!
I think what he means by letting the song breathe, is that sometimes, especially those of us who have click tracks playing for the band to follow, we are focused on completing the set to complete the set, wipe our hands, job well done fellas, and go sit down. Letting a song breathe, I think, means exactly what he said “ebb and flow.”
Maybe after ending the song, you really feel the song’s not done, there’s something lingering in the air that needs to finished, maybe that means another chorus into a build-up; maybe that means some soft pads and your voice without a microphone; other times it may be nothing at all. Maybe sometimes it’s silence.
Letting a song breathe means not squishing a really fat song into a tiny 4 minute time slot. Allowing God to lead the worship using you.
A wise friend said to me once that worship leading is like being the host at a large banquet. Sometimes you need to encourage people to eat and enjoy the delicious food, and sometimes they just need to see you eating so they feel they are able to get into it.
I think it is always about maintaining balance and often if we make sure we’ve been consistently hanging out with God well before hand, it’s easier to get into his presence but also ensure we are leading our congregational well - not missing the energy or raining on their parade.
Hope that helps . . .
I believe what Darlene means when she says “allow the songs to breathe” is, she recognizes immediately when the Holy Spirit descends and begins to move in a service. She “feels” him, and then “sees” as he moves through the congregation. When you see her motion her hand to the band, i.e. to “go down”, she’s letting the musicians know to lower the sound level, and/or “slow down”. She has become “in tune” with the Holy Spirit, and wants to do whatever it takes for him to linger and bless, save, heal, and deliver. I’ve been in so many church services where I could feel and see the Spirit moving, but the music leaders were not plugged in to the Spirit themselves, and the music was stopped prematurely, possibly due to time constraints (God help us) and the anointing departed. Look at the global impact this one church’s worship team has had on all of us, quite simply because their Pastors first, then worship leader said, I will decrease, so You can increase…have Your way, Lord Jesus. His Presence is what we all need, and Praise is how we get it, the Word of God says so.
room to breathe simply means staying in the moment as long as you need to. When ending a song, sometimes the band will go right into the next song… when you give the song room to breathe, you might have the keys playing a pad and just playing outro chords. Just sulking in the moment. Maybe it’s playing a slow soothing intro to the next song, and making it longer. Just make sure you’re reading the room to see if you’ve captured a moment in a song and need to stay there so as not to disrupt the presence of God!!!!
thank you so much for this article. i think it hits the nail on the head in so many situations.we tend to rush things too much.
VISTA, OÍDO Y ATMÓSFERA
Algo clave en nuestra adoración al ministrar la alabanza en un servicio, es la habilidad para leer el espíritu del lugar al mismo tiempo que permanecemos enfocados en nuestra ejecución musical. A menudo, como músicos, aprendemos nuestras canciones por medio de los mp3 y charts que nos dan, pero una vez que los hemos aprendido, éstos pasan a ser solamente guías para mantenernos en curso a través de las cambios de las canciones. Aprender a usar tus ojos para leer la atmósfera y el espíritu del lugar es completamente “otro nivel”.
Puedes ver que cada vez que tocamos una canción en un servicio, el espíritu del lugar es un poco distinto dado que la gente que asiste es diferente, y los acordes, melodías y ritmos pueden requerir de pequeños ajustes en la sensibilidad, las dinámicas y la manera de interpretar según el Espíritu Santo nos mueve a ministrar la necesidad de la gente.
Si dejamos pasar por alto esto, podemos llegar a sonar como la banda que acaba de aterrizar en la reunión; lo que significa que simplemente tocamos la canción y ya, sin dejar espacio a escuchar, sentir y poner las necesidades de una canción en el lugar justo, en el tiempo indicado.
Hablando prácticamente, dale tiempo a las canciones para que respiren. Espera un momento y toca los intros y las estrofas, etc. con el sentimiento que te conecta con las necesidades del servicio. Escucha y mira alrededor del lugar, y guía la sensibilidad de tu ejecución por lo que ves y escuchas. Algunas veces, al estar demasiado pendientes de la cuenta para la siguiente canción, podemos apurarnos entre canción y canción, y perder así los momentos que hemos creado para que la gente sea “servida” en la adoración.
“Ningún ojo ha visto, ningún oído ha escuchado… lo que Dios ha preparado… (pero) Dios nos ha revelado esto por medio de su Espíritu. 1 Corintios 2:9-10 NVI.