Intro

Hey Music team! First off, THANK YOU for being willing to give your time, talent, energy and efforts to be a part of the True Hope Church Music Ministry. We couldn’t do it without you. Secondly, I wanted to create a one-stop page where I can post update videos, share helpful links and resources, etc. I think this will be much more efficient and eliminates the risk of things getting buried in group texts. ☺️ So take a look over this page, get familiar with it, and please let me know if there are any other topics or resources that you’d like covered. Something I want to see us all do is to embrace the mindset of being a “constant learner.” We all have things we can improve on and grow in. So my intention is that this page be a tool that helps us grow as worshippers, singers, and musicians!

Role Description

Music Team Member

The role of our Music Team members is to help create an atmosphere where people can authentically worship and engage with God through music.

A few highlighted rhythms and responsibilities of a Music Team member at True Hope are…

• Music Team members are generally scheduled at least once per month, and at times you may be called on to serve twice in a month. You can expect to be scheduled at least one month in advance and the set lists should be posted by the worship leader in Planning Center two weeks in advance.

• Music Team members are expected to use Planning Center to manage their availability and schedule. Please block out any dates that you know for sure you will be unavailable, and if you have dates where there is a chance you’ll be out of town or unavailable, please block those out as well. Once you are sent a request to serve on a Sunday, please accept or decline the request within 2-3 days.

• If you have accepted a date but later realize that you are actually unavailable, please text or call me directly and I will rearrange the schedule. Please do not attempt to get your spot covered on your own.

• Music Team members are expected to be fully practiced & prepared for both the Thursday evening run-through and the Sunday morning services. We have chord charts available, as well as individual tracks for each part of the song to help you prepare. If you still have questions, reach out to that week’s worship leader via text and they will give you direction. The ideal time to ask questions is in the days/weeks leading up to the Thursday night rehearsal, so that you are practicing your parts correctly. Most of the time, simply following along with the chord chart is enough, but if there are specific parts in the song (example: piano melody lines, electric guitar riffs, bass guitar lines, etc.) then the expectation is that you will come ready to play those specific parts.

• On the True Hope music team, instead of using floor monitors to hear yourself and the band, we use an In-Ear Monitoring System. Each person on the stage will use a Behringer P-16 to mix your own sound. Here is a video tutorial to learn how to use and navigate the P-16. Each Music Team member is expected to provide their own in-ears. You can simply use any headphones or ear buds with a standard 1/8” jack, but I would recommend investing a little money for a decent pair of in-ears. You can get a super affordable, high quality pair off of Amazon. Many members of our team use these ones and they love them. Here is the link.

• Our Thursday evening run-through starts at 6:30pm, and our Sunday morning sound check starts at 7am. Those are not call times; those are start times. This means that you should arrive early enough so that you can set up your gear, put in your in-ears, grab water, get your microphone, etc. so that you are 100% ready to go at the start time.

• Most importantly, our Music Team members must to be kind, caring, humble, encouraging and helpful to one another. This doesn’t there will never be disagreements or controversy. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have standards when it comes to our musical abilities. What it does mean is that at the end of the day, what matters most is that our team members feel cared for, they feel encouraged and they strive to help the people around them.

For a full Music Team Member role description, please take look over the following document…

Audition Process

The audition process has changed over the last year. The first step to auditioning is an online form to fill out, and then you are asked to send in a video or audio recording of yourself singing or playing an instrument. If anyone you know is interested or if you are asked about our audition process, please direct them here.

Resources

Something I am passionate and want to see us embrace culturally is the “art of learning.” Basically, let’s never grow complacent or stop the process of growing as singers, musicians, and worship leaders. A few areas I’d love to see us improve is our understanding of music theory, our ability to communicate musical ideas and directions using the Nashville Number System, and our ability to efficiently communicate with our sound techs and understand what they need from us. I will be sharing videos below on these topics. Do I expect us all to spend countless hours on this? Not at all! I will present a similar challenge to you all that I presented to our sound team…just learn one new thing each time you are scheduled to be on the team. You don’t have to learn it all immediately. Just dedicate yourself to understanding one new tidbit about music theory, or watch one video on working with a band, etc… Slow, healthy and sustainable growth for our leaders and our team is what I am looking for. Questions? You can always ask me!

Music Theory

As our band grows and the level of musicianship improves, it is important that our Leaders, Co-leaders, Singers and Musicians have a working knowledge of basic music theory. I am happy to talk through any of this with you, but I do think a few of these videos do a great job at unpacking music theory in an understandable way.

Nashville Number System

The Nashville Number System is the way I would like us all to learn to communicate with your band about chord progressions or chord changes. Here are some videos that break down what it is and how to use it.

Communication

Whether it’s working with the sound tech or with your own band, communication is key and it’s something we can always grow in. Here are some links that I have found informative and helpful!

Extras

This is a section where I will post extra resources that I find interesting, inspiring or helpful!