Worship Band Workshop - Modern Worship Series - Paul Baloche (DVD)

 Review

Once again Paul Baloche is helping to unlock the mysteries as it were of leading worship with a band. I'm sure many of you have been in the place where all the musicians that have come to play on the worship team. You have everybody assembled for a rehearsal and you start the first song off and it sounds like disorganized chaos. It is easy to make noise with a bunch of amplified instruments, it's more difficult to make music and it's even more difficult still to lead a congregation into a place of worship through music done with excellence. I wished that I'd have had Paul's DVD seventeen years ago when I started working with the first worship band that I ever led. This DVD would have saved me so much time and frustration. Everyone of us can typically listen to and worship with a great worship band, but getting our band there is often a much more difficult task.

In this next installment in "The Modern Worship Series" entitled "Worship Band Workshop", veteran singer/songwriter/worship leader Paul Baloche and his band let you in on a very intimate look at the inner workings of a worship band. Paul speaks from the perspective of leading the band, singing and playing acoustic guitar, but you will also hear from some other great musicians; Carl Albrecht on drums, Don Harris on bass, Jason White on keys and Ken Song on electric guitar. Each musician addresses instrument specific ideas about what to play and what not play to enhance the worship experience. They speak to us of how to approach playing skillfully unto the Lord and to serve the congregation that we are leading.

Right from the start Paul addresses the issue of playing skillfully to bless God, as God is the goal of worship. All the time spent practicing and working with the band is not just so that the band will sound great, but rather that God would be glorified. He speaks about the importance of "space" in arranging songs when playing together and the importance for every band member to have a sensitivity to everything that is going on and to no overplay. Together with Carl (drums) and Don (bass), Paul brings to light the keys of playing dynamically and with steady tempo. This is the downfall of most worship bands and if you learn this alone from the ideas presented on this DVD you will have gotten your money's worth. One of the aspects that I truly appreciated was Carl sharing his note-taking techniques on a chart, for a new song. This is so valuable for new band members and old band members alike to hear and to put into practice, so that the structure of a song remains consistent. Another item of note that reverberates through each member of the band is the idea that each musician thinks of himself as an arranger. Each musician spends some time to show you in a practical way how to become more proficient in helping to build an arrangement of a song. Obviously someone, probably the worship leader will have the final say on the arrangement, but a quality worship leader will recognize the giftings and talents of musicians that are thinking like arrangers and it will help the quality of the worship immensely.

For those of you that have been in any band ever, understand that musicians have egos. This can be the factor that can absolutely tear a band apart. Paul speaks very honestly about ego, accepts that it is there and gives some real practical advice for keeping it in its proper place. Again, through this process of sharing, you can see the heart behind this worship leader is one of serving God and serving the people that he has been granted influence by God. In this whole area of ego Paul is a great example of someone who has great influence yet remains humble. That is one of the aspects that make this DVD series so powerful; the fact that Paul is giving away the stuff that has taken him years to work out as a musician. If you are a worship leader, you should get this DVD and learn from someone who can really teach you something. If you are a worship team member, you should get this DVD watch it and learn and then give it to your worship leader as a gift that you may all learn to stay on the same musical page and bless God through your worship.

Review by Bryan Bloom