Last night was the first time I got to actually participate in the worship band practice for church. I was a bit nervous as I didn’t want to step on any toes of the vocalists they use by doing harmonies they might consider to be “theirs”. In the end besides the lead singer (initials: LM) only one other backup vocalist (Amy) was present. Between the two of us we found some nice harmonies for the songs we’re doing this Sunday. I had trouble with one song, mainly because I had never heard it before (“Kindness” by Chris Tomlin). But LM let me stay behind and run through the chorus with him one more time on my own without any other instruments.
Upon arriving home I immediately downloaded the song to my MP3 player so that I could learn it before Sunday.
This morning since my commute was twice what it normally is I was able to listen to the song 5-6 times and pick out a nicer harmony than the one I found last night. So I’m very pleased about that.
In other news, how is it possible that I know a song that’s over ten years old (“I Could Sing of Your Love Forever” by Delirious?) and yet NOT know it. I was totally messing up the verses and really could only chip in on the chorus. I felt like a dolt, but LM said didn’t seem to mind my hanging back and letting him and Amy take the verses by themselves and my coming in only for the choruses and bridge.
The musicians were tight last night – everyone is so friendly and engaging and it’s a completely different experience than the band at our old church in NoNJ. I just realized how bad that sounds, but that’s not what I meant. The band in NoNJ was young – a few high school guys, a couple guys in their mid-20s and then me and the drummer in our 30s (me as the oldest in my late 30s at that). Here I’m right in the middle of the age brackets. The guys in NoNJ would just tear into a song and have fun with it as we figured out how we wanted to perform it; here they focus in on exactly what they want before they ever play a note. In NoNJ we ROCKED IT OUT; here they are more subdued. And the one MAJOR difference? I like not playing the piano here. I loved doing it in NoNJ because that keyboard was awesome and fun to play. But here I think I’ll be content just singing and will leave the piano playing to the two ladies who currently fill that role.
Sounds like our worship team. I think you’ll enjoy doing just vocals – I love it. And it’s a lot less practice at home. 😀
Kindness is very high, I have always found it hard to sing. I
wonder how Chirs Tomlin can sing it since he is a man. Also I
think worship at any other church than Skyline is completely diffrent,
the church I go to here in PA every now and then sing a song a Matt
Reddman song and that is as much as I get.
*lol* Tracy – Isn’t it funny how spoiled we felt at Skyline by the music Christopher chose? He really did an excellent job picking songs that everyone grew to love.