Blog
Tips, tutorials, and ideas for worship musicians. Chord theory, leading teams, stage setup, and more.
How We Build a Worship Setlist for a Sunday Morning Service
Building a worship setlist is something I used to do in about five minutes. I would pick songs I liked and put them in whatever order felt right. It took a few difficult Sundays to understand that a setlist is not a playlist. Here is the actual process we use now.
Read article →How We Choose the Right Key for Every Song on Sunday
For years we picked song keys based on whatever the original recording used. Then our worship leader started losing her voice halfway through Sunday services. That problem forced us to build a real process for choosing keys, and it changed everything.
Why We Still Sing Hymns at Our Modern Worship Church
When we first introduced hymns into our Sunday setlist, half the team thought it was a strange choice. Our congregation skews young and we play a modern sound. Here is what happened when we brought the old songs back, and why we have never stopped.
Why Beginners Struggle With Transposing and How to Make It Click
Transposing is one of those things that experienced musicians do almost without thinking, but for beginners it feels like a mystery. Here is how I explain it to new team members and why I built a tool to help them see it clearly.
Why Song Order in a Worship Setlist Matters More Than the Songs Themselves
We ran an unintentional experiment one month at our church. We played the same five songs two Sundays in a row, just in a different order. The congregation response was completely different each time. Here is what that taught us about the power of song sequencing.
Learning a New Worship Song in Three Days Before Sunday Service
It was a Thursday afternoon when our pastor sent a message asking if we could add a brand new song to Sunday's set. Three days. Here is the exact process we use to learn a worship song fast without sacrificing quality on Sunday morning.
How We Modernized a Hymn Without Losing What Made It Special
We spent weeks reworking the arrangement of It Is Well With My Soul for our team. Two attempts felt wrong before the third one clicked. Here is what we learned about modernizing a hymn without stripping away the very thing that makes it powerful.
My Tuner App Broke Before Service and Here Is What Saved Me
My go-to tuner app crashed right before a Sunday service. I learned that day how much I depended on it, and why having a reliable browser-based tuner changed the way I prepare.
How We Stopped Guessing Song Tempos at Rehearsal
We used to waste the first few minutes of every rehearsal just trying to agree on the right tempo for a song. The BPM Tap Counter ended that. Here is how we use it every week.
The Mistakes We Made When We First Started Planning Worship Setlists
In our early years leading worship, we made almost every setlist planning mistake you can make. Too many slow songs in a row. Key jumps that felt like whiplash. Songs the team could not play well on short notice. Here is the full honest list and what we learned from each one.
What We Look for When We Arrange a Song for Our Team
Taking a worship song from a studio recording and making it work for a live team of four people is a different skill from just learning the chords. Here is the behind-the-scenes process we use to build an arrangement that actually fits our team.
The Hymn That Changed How I Think About Worship Leading
I have played hundreds of worship songs over the years. One hymn in particular stopped me cold during a Sunday rehearsal and made me question everything I thought I understood about what it means to lead people in worship. That hymn was Be Thou My Vision.