Worship Matters

Last month I posted two sessions from the pre-conference workshop I taught at WorshipGod11 on the Piano in Contemporary Worship (Part 1 and Part 2). We finally finished editing the third session. This one took a little more time to edit because people were regularly walking past the window of the door in the video, [...]

This past August we recorded The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11. It’s a collection of 15 songs that progressively tell the story of the gospel and our response to it. From my perspective, it’s one of the best albums we’ve done to date, both in terms of song content and creative musicianship. I’m happy to announce [...]

Yesterday, I posted some of the workshops from WorshipGod11 for leaders, songwriters, and tech teams. Here are a few more that focus on instrumentalists, leading kids to worship Christ, dealing with burnout, and the leader’s prayer life. Donald Whitney shared on simplifying your spiritual life and using Scripture as a basis for your prayers. There’s [...]

Here’s the second part of the pre-conference piano seminar I led at WorshipGod11, focused on playing with a band. Dave Campbell and Neil Stuckenschneider helped me out on guitar and bass. I’ve included the outlines notes after the video. Playing with a Band Be aware of the audio spectrum. Guitars – 80-880 Hz Bass – [...]

Last summer at WorshipGod11 I taught a pre-conference seminar for intermediate level pianists to help them develop their skills while playing with or without a band. In recent years I’ve taught more on the theology of congregational singing than the practical aspects. But I still enjoy teaching on the practicals. So here’s a video of [...]

This past June I was out at the Resolved conference in Palm Springs, CA, where the music was ably led by John Martin and Enfield. They’ll be joining us for one of the main sessions at WorshipGod11. Ryan Foglesong and David Zimmer play bass and drums for Enfield and will be teaching two seminars at [...]

Someone in my church recently sent me an email asking why we play music behind different portions of the Sunday meeting (prayers, baptisms, readings, etc.). It’s a good question. We can be influenced by our musically addicted culture, as well as our traditions and practices, to believe it’s impossible for God’s Spirit to move in [...]

For a few years now I’ve wanted to produce training videos for Sovereign Grace songs that would break down a song into learnable sections for guitar players. They would also serve guitarists who have a hard time translating a full band album arrangement into something that can work for their small group. Matt Richley and [...]

Yesterday, I posted Greg Hagan’s answers to two questions about how to become a better guitarist. Greg not only has years of experience using his gifts to honor God, he’s able to articulate what helped him grow as a player. He’s a great example of a life-long learner, described in Proverbs 9:9: “Give instruction to [...]

The main guitarist for our upcoming Risen album (due out in mid-March) was Greg Hagan. Greg lives in Nashville and when he’s not playing in the studio also tours and has had years of experience leading congregational worship in his local church. I appreciated his work ethic, his knowledge of chord voicings, his proficiency in different [...]

Back in November I had the privilege of speaking at the Christian Musician Summit in Seattle, WA. In one of the main sessions, I spoke on the topic of Music:  Gift or God? and mentioned that I’d post my notes on my blog. I had forgotten until someone emailed me the other day asking for [...]

I was in Nashville recently, recording basic tracks for our upcoming album “Risen,” due out in March. The drums were superbly handled by Ben Phillips (and no, that’s not a picture of his set). I asked Ben if he’d answer a few questions to encourage drummers who are growing in their skills. He kindly obliged [...]

This week I’ve been in Ben Phillips’ studio in Nashville with Sal Oliveri and Joel Sczebel (from the Sovereign Grace Church in Surrey, BC), recording drums, bass, and guitars for Risen, an album of congregational songs that focus on the theme of the resurrected Christ. Due out in March, Lord willing. The three players (Ben [...]

Tim wrote me to ask a question every one who works with music in the church has probably asked at least once, if not a hundred times. I was wondering how you handled the distribution of burned CDs in your music ministry. Is there anyway to do this legally? I would love to download and distribute songs [...]

Recently, someone contacted me about purchasing a synthesizer. My current knowledge of electronic keyboards is woefully outdated, so I passed the question on to Roger Hooper, who is the synth-player in my church and a long-time friend. He’s also a gifted composer and film scorer. Here’s how Roger responded: If the purpose of the keyboard [...]