The Bikini Bottom Half-time Show!
Nov 8, 2011 Aviator Worship
Posted by
Weston
If you have ever seen the worldwide, hit TV show, that you know you secretly love, Spongebob Squarepants, then you know if you play louder with more enthusiasm, people will think you are better than what you are (according to Squidward). Now obviously, this is not 100% true, but there is some truth in it: the enthusiasm/confidence.
In order to have confidence about the music you are to play, you have to know it. No amount of dotted eighth delay, or compression can hide suck (for lack of better words), only practice can.
Along with practice comes memorization. Think of the coolest, sickest, loudest concert you have ever been to. Now what color were their music stands? You don’t know? That is probably because they did not need to use them. Do not get me wrong, it is not a problem to use the occasional music stand. Nothing is wrong with getting crutches either, if you need them. If you use music stands when you don’t need them, they become a crutch, and you instantly tell yourself, “I am not comfortable with what I know about my music”. However, stands are not a problem at rehearsals, you need reference, but when you are leading worship, unless you just made a song or key change, it can hinder your worship and confidence, which will effect others as well.
Once you know your music, you will be confident with it. It will also free you up to be able to express your excitement to worship God through movement. Have you ever noticed that using a music stand is like having a leash on? You can never get to far away from it. Once you are confident with the music, others will see that and will be more confident, and it will look more professional. It also says, “hey, I know what I’m doing”. If you were to go somewhere and they were using music stands, then you went to another place, and they did the same songs without stands, the second place has a better vibe. This is because when you see that no one is using music, it means they have worked on it, and that preparation is important to them, they want to bring their best before God. Not their “I’ll wing it” skills.
Say you KNOW your music, well. You get on stage, you don’t need a stand! You’ve got this! Then you strike the first chord, and you hear something sweet to the ear, oh, that’s just the dotted eighth delay kicking in. Now, since you know your music and do not need a music stand, instead of thinking “what is my next chord?”, you are thinking “how can I GET to my next chord”. Knowing your music will allow you to be more creative, it will make you look like a smarter musician, and it will allow you to worship God without your eyes glued to a white chord sheet.
Again, do not get me wrong, there is a time and place for a music stand, but God created us, He did not skimp. We all have the ability to be excellent. Work your hardest and leave nothing halfway.
Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance!
Work hard and pray harder,
Weston Heflin <><
Aviator Students, Worship Leader
Leave a Reply