Worship Leader Probs

Let’s talk worship resources. I have my favorites and I’m sure that you have yours. I would really like to know what you are listening to and where you are going to get your music. So, here’s the deal….I will share mine if you share yours. Deal? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.

MUSIC
I think that absolutely one of the most fascinating innovations in music is the iTunes Music Store. The ability to download music with 1 simple click has transformed the way I find music. I cannot remember the last time I walked into a store and bought an actual CD. It saves a great deal of time and money and is an amazing innovation in the music business.

CHARTS
In 1993 I started my first church job. Finding charts for my singers & players was always a challenge. If I found it, there’s a great chance it was not in the key I needed. So, I would try to dig-in to Finale and re-create the whole chart, which took hours. Then, one day, it was as if the clouds parted and my assistant came into my office and told me about Praise Charts. If you have never used it, do yourself a favor and check it out as soon as possible. They have taken a catalogue of thousands of worship songs and made them available to us. You can purchase single arrangements or join their club for a yearly membership. You have the option of just buying the rhythm section parts for songs or you can buy the entire arrangement that is fully orchestrated. There are charts for choir and praise team along with all of your instrumentalists. And, they have now started selling the Finale Files for many of their arrangements so that you can transpose them into whatever key you like. These arrangements are lifted note for note off of the popular recordings that made them famous. Nearly every song is available for download (occasionally you will run into a title that has to be sent as a pdf file on CD) and can be yours with the click of a button.

Another great resource for charts is Music Notes. If you are looking for a chart for a popular song for special music (secular or sacred) my guess is that you can find it here. By downloading a simple plug-in for your computer you can see a preview of the song and in most cases even select the key that you want it in. Most songs fall into the $5 range and by joining their club you can realize discounts on every chart.

I will also use G3 Worship every now and then for charts. These are an arrangers take on the given song and some of them are really good. You really have to look at each song individually. They are also available for download.

Charts are also available at the CCLI and WorshipTogether.com web sites. These are sites that I do use quite a bit as well. These sites also offer other great tools to help get insights into creative worship planning and the thoughts behind worship songs.

Something I find really helpful from Worship Together is their New Song Cafe. This is a 5-10 minute video that allows you to hear the heart of a songwriter and hear what went into the writing of a popular or new worship song. This is awesome!

Tomorrow I will look at other worship resources like new CD’s of worship music and other resources. What are your thoughts? Are there other places that you find helpful to download charts or music? I would love to hear back from you.

Be Blessed!