Building skills

What follows now is not a definitive version of rehearsal techniques but is a series of observations, suggestions and questions I have asked around the whole rehearsal deal!

NB:It would be impossible to include all of these ideas in one rehearsal!

In our team we’ve only just moved away from the half hour ‘gasp’ manic rehearsal before our service on Sunday [!!] but we were doing that for four years and knew God’s grace and team commitment in that time…

This, then, is an encouragement to be creative whatever your context, and to be looking out for ways to include some of the following ideas across say a year or a term.

*See also ‘Making Heart Room’ on these rehearsal tips pages/links

OK – so we arrive at the rehearsal.

• Explore different sounds/styles/rhythms on your instrument or voice. A place to explore creativity.
  How does what I play contribute to the group/band dynamic and not ‘overcrowd the texture?
  How can we create different musical moods or a different atmosphere given the voices/instruments in the group or band?
  You could for example start with experimenting with style [Latin, Baroque pastiche, Celtic or Rock and Roll] or with forms [tempo, slowing down, speeding up or trying out differences with loud and quiet, i.e. dynamics]
• Use the rehearsal as a place to learn the skills of improvisation and the spontaneous
  ‘Making it up as you go along’ surprisingly takes a lot of practice!
  If you’ve never done this before – starts with a short song you know well and experiment! Really! Just go for it – in my experience, doing improvising well is in the main about confidence!
  You could even start with singing the whole song through on one note [find one that seems to fit best over most of the chord changes] while keeping the rhythm and then swap…
  …keep the original melody while altering the rhythm! [Lengthen notes, shorten them, and bring in rests and silences]
  If you start with a short song you will be able to hear the changes more quickly
• Use the rehearsal as a place to learn how to listen to each other – the art of playing in a team or band however small [or large] and being able to give the other players/singers space.
  A place where we can discover how, what we play/bring can add to [or detract from] the overall sound and effect
• Use the rehearsal as a place to learn to sight-read [chord charts and/or manuscript] and develop playing by ear
  I’m not very good at sight reading manuscript – but I do have good aural skills [i.e. able to play back, more or less what I’ve heard] Part of rehearsals then is for me to use my ‘strength’ of playing by ear, but also where appropriate to work on my sight reading.
• Use the rehearsal as a place to learn to ‘pray on your instrument’. This starts with building improvisation skills and is akin to ‘word-painting’ [i.e. matching the words that are being sung with characteristics in the melody]
  Ask for God to help you as you play or sing in this way.
• Use the rehearsal as a place to learn how to play out/solo. How do you build a solo so that it has a depth and contour to it and a sense of purpose [and sight of an ending!]?

NB: Who are your musical influences? Who are you listening to?

I have only recently begun to understand the value of this question [although there have always been singers that I’ve loved to listen to and enjoyed – but now I see a way of using that influence]

Let me encourage you to take the time to develop your skills by listening keenly to your favourite players/singers and then try to sing one of their telltale vocal riffs and improvisations or learn to play that definitive 10-minute solo from Pink Floyd or Israel Houghton.

This is a great way of developing our musical skill.

If you want to be stretched even more – try to work on solos and riffs from artistes that you are less familiar with – which will gives you a broader grasp of style and melody.

REHEARSAL TIPS

Loads we could look at here – As a starting point, take time to look at:

1. Introductions [Intros]
   Are there creative ways to intro a song? Are there other ways to intro songs as an alternative to using the first or last line?
   Think of intros as preparation for the congregation, whether it is a 4-bar phrase or a play through the first verse – does the intro help to build expectation in the gathering? Do they know where to come in?
2. Endings [Outros].
   Don’t forget to rehearse how the song is going to finish or lead into the next song/reading/prayer et al
3. Texture
   Thick texture = everyone playing and singing, thin texture = one person playing/singing
   Try to experiment with contrast in texture – I know I’ve been caught out in looking back over a song or hymn we’ve played, and discover that we have simply all sung and all played, all of the time and all the way through!
4. Dynamics.
   Try to build in contrast. We can tend to sing/play much of our music at ‘mf’ volume [mezzo forte or middle loud].
   Experiment with other dynamic levels. For example, move gradually from soft to loud and vice versa, or use terraced dynamics [eg whole band quiet in verse – whole band loud in chorus]
5. Tempo
   How fast or how slow
6. Arrangements
   Movement between intros verses and choruses and links to next verse, don’t forget to look at how outros move to next song or to silence or a prayer
7. Signals
   If appropriate, work out the signals for stopping, starting, verse, chorus, play under speaking, a capella section etc
8. Have a listen
   If possible you could ask one of the band/group to sit out and critique the arrangement for you

LEARNING A NEW SONG – Geraldine’s approach

1. Firstly – I would ask all musos [away from their instruments] to sing through the song while I accompanied them on a keyboard or guitar.
2. Then we’d chat through any immediate impressions, song emphases, asking questions like, where can texture contrast and/or dynamic shading be used effectively?
3. Just play! Walk through the song together ‘a bash through’ at least two or three times to get the feel [notes, length of verses, choruses etc] of the song
4. If you are working with a large group of singers – separate into a vocal [vox] and instrumental group for about 10 mins [asking singers to continue working through the song – seeing if they come up with any backing vox ideas if you haven’t provided any]
5. Pick up on any stray chords and dodgy notes!
6. Play through again
7. Now begin to add arrangement detail [Vox starting? Using a riff or phrase as an intro and link? Solo?]
8. 8. Bring the whole group together again…
9. Work with vox and backing vox, while the instrumentalists continue to accompany [practice really does work!]
10. Play through again.
11. When you’ve got a sense of the song that is hopefully now working well – move on to another part of the rehearsal and revisit the song at the end

NB: How many new songs you include in the rehearsal will depend on energy levels and length and complexity of song. I try to learn maybe two new songs and then rehearse some of the older ones – revisiting the new song close to the end of the rehearsal.

AND FINALLY

• Rehearse if possible with a PA engineer. I know that this is a luxury in some gatherings [!] but if it is possible try to arrange for there to be some point where the music team and PA engineer can work together in addition to the gathering.

Geraldine Latty
9 December 2006