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Main => Ministry, M.O.M, Praise Teams and Choirs => Topic started by: demikoo on December 31, 2007, 06:14:09 PM

Title: Musician Prep Time
Post by: demikoo on December 31, 2007, 06:14:09 PM
I'm putting this question out here as both a musician and music ministry leader --

How much preparation time should musicians have in advance to learn a song before it is presented to the choir?  A week .. two weeks ... depends on complexity .. skill level??  I know its kind of a depends on the situation .. but as most musicians know .. directors sometimes get the impression that a musician should be able to pick up on any song regardless of how complex it is.  :-\

I'm trying to create a handbook for my choirs and need some opinions.  Let me know what cha think.

'Preciate
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: LaylaMonroe on December 31, 2007, 06:35:31 PM
I'm not a musician, but I would guess that it should depend on the complexity of the song, and on the musician's skill level and/or ability to learn a song quickly.

If you're looking for proper wording, you might want to say something like, "music should be submitted reasonably in advance so that the director/teacher and musicians have sufficient time to learn the material.  Please be mindful that generally it will take 2-4 weeks (or whatever time frame works best for your people) for all parties to perfect the material.  In the event there is a concern regarding the time allotted to learn new material, the MOM (or whoever) will determine whether or not to proceed with the material on a case-by-case basis."

 :-\  I dunno.  Just taking a stab at it.

I just spit that out, so you can clean it up however works best for you.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: under13 on January 01, 2008, 09:05:03 PM

Some songs I can learn in five minutes and other songs it will take me hours to get perfect.
A lot of  choir directors dont realise how hard it can be to learn some of these complicated songs. I think that the musicians should have a copy of the song at least 1 or 2 weeks before they must play it.
of course this depends on the level of musician that you are dealing with and how well they read or play by ear.

for hymns, It shouldnt take long for a decent musician to learn one.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: 4hisglory on January 02, 2008, 12:06:29 PM
I think the musicians should be presented with the song at least 1 week in advance
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: vtguy84 on January 02, 2008, 12:11:06 PM
I think the musicians should be presented with the song at least 1 week in advance

What he said.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: Steelpulz on January 13, 2008, 12:20:17 PM
I think the musicians should be presented with the song at least 1 week in advance

That would be nice. It rarely happens in my experience.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: terranb7 on January 30, 2008, 12:56:25 AM
It depends on the ability of the M.O.M and how fast they can pick up, I believe out of consideration It should be presented at least 2 weeks because sometimes there might be other situations going on that takes president.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: Big T. on January 31, 2008, 11:00:09 AM
Some songs I can learn in five minutes and other songs it will take me hours to get perfect.
A lot of  choir directors dont realise how hard it can be to learn some of these complicated songs. I think that the musicians should have a copy of the song at least 1 or 2 weeks before they must play it.
of course this depends on the level of musician that you are dealing with and how well they read or play by ear.

for hymns, It shouldnt take long for a decent musician to learn one.
Absolutley correct. This is true for most skilled musicians. If the musical staff is less capable, the lead time may be longer. ;)
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: fretai03 on January 31, 2008, 05:40:06 PM
A month in advance. Minimum.














































For big events of course. :P
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: Ladyn on February 01, 2008, 10:28:05 AM
I only get a week tops!  I am trying to make the MOM understand that I need at least 2-4 weeks to learn then song and all of the vocals.  I hate working out progression details with the rest of the band DURING Rehearsal!  LIFE happens, and I can't always get to a song and work it out well enough for my liking. So my opinion is at the very least 2 weeks, preferably  4 weeks. 
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: organplaya04 on February 02, 2008, 01:51:31 AM
I mean I don't want to be redundant...but yea I think it depends on the musician's skill of learning the song or playing by ear ..and etc etc etc etc...but umm yea sometimes it's kinnda hard. This is what we do at my church....the director gives me a cd with like 10 songs on it...and says these are for the month and so I learn those songs for the month...so I don't have to learn every song in a week or whatever. That's easier for me . but umm Larue good job at revising his sentence... ::) :D
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: under13 on February 02, 2008, 10:43:43 PM
The church I play for now gave me a bunch of MP3s of some of the songs they do. But they be singing some wierd hymns that I've never heard . Many times I get the Song list At Rehersal on thursday nght and have to play them on sunday morning. But I'm on the organ and I'm not leading so its not really a big deal. If I'm not comfortable with the song, I'll just sit out or play softly

Sometimes my praise group will suggest songs during rehearsal and I will learn the song while they are singing it. some songs are easy like that. But dont give me no James Hall song and expect me to learn it in 5 minutes. I'll need at least a years notice b4 I will play one of his songs :D

Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: B3Wannabe on February 04, 2008, 04:17:29 AM
I put out my songs a year in advance. It doesn't help. I'm the only one that takes the time to learn the material. When rehearsal time comes, neither the musicians nor the choir know the song.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: chosenandcalled on February 05, 2008, 11:55:21 AM
man i give my musicians about 2 or 3 months notice.. sometimes they give me songs to present to the choir at that present time. it just depends but really wait on the musicians to learn and get the feel of the song.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: vtguy84 on February 05, 2008, 03:57:08 PM
man i give my musicians about 2 or 3 months notice.. sometimes they give me songs to present to the choir at that present time. it just depends but really wait on the musicians to learn and get the feel of the song.

Hopefully they have no excuse to not have the song prepared :)
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: 2tight on February 06, 2008, 10:06:03 AM
I say at 2-4 weeks.4 easter i say a month
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: demikoo on February 12, 2008, 06:59:10 PM
The church I play for now gave me a bunch of MP3s of some of the songs they do. But they be singing some wierd hymns that I've never heard . Many times I get the Song list At Rehersal on thursday nght and have to play them on sunday morning. But I'm on the organ and I'm not leading so its not really a big deal. If I'm not comfortable with the song, I'll just sit out or play softly

Sometimes my praise group will suggest songs during rehearsal and I will learn the song while they are singing it. some songs are easy like that. But dont give me no James Hall song and expect me to learn it in 5 minutes. I'll need at least a years notice b4 I will play one of his songs :D



Really ??? a whole years notice??  ;D
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: jgause2 on February 13, 2008, 09:15:50 AM
I play for a prise team.....and there will be times when they would give me the song....the same night they teach the group the song.  So while the Sopranos are trying to learn their note.....i'm on the piano trying to learn the song.  At the church I attend, I won't teach a song unless i'm certain that either me or any of the other musicians know the song first.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: brodonny on February 20, 2008, 05:30:08 AM
AT LEAST A WEEK OR TWO.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: bass_mann1 on February 27, 2008, 11:58:49 AM
Everything is in effect, the complexity of the song, the skill level of the musicians, and how often do the musicians rehearse, speak to your director, see if you can get the songs at least 2 weeks out, at our church, musicians have a separate rehearsal from the choir, and pray about everything
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: slburks on March 05, 2008, 05:20:03 PM
You're right that it depends on the song and the musician's level, but a week in advance is my rule, whatever the tunes (usually 2, an A and B). That's usually enough time to learn any gospel tune. If it takes more than a week, than either the musician is not ready skill-wise, or the song is too busy.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: demusicman on May 07, 2008, 01:40:09 AM
As stated it rarely happens but it is nice for a musician to get the music at least 1 week preferably 2 weeks in advance. Where I am now, we give everyone CDs every 2-3  months and we have scheduled Musician's rehearsals and I have no problem politely sitting a musician down on certain songs they did not rehearse. (Particularly the drummers. I don't know why they rarely attend choir rehearsal or musician rehearsals).


Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: Shadow_ on May 07, 2008, 08:15:32 AM
AT LEAST A WEEK OR TWO.

Cosign
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: kodacolor on May 10, 2008, 06:36:50 PM
Maybe you should ask your current musicans how long it takes them to learn a song and set a precedent based on that.  This way everyone who comes into the ministry knows that that's the standard they have to meet and it keeps things consistant.


At my church the musicans can learn a song a week.  Now that summer vacation is coming around it should be easier for everybody!  If a song in too complex to get in a week we'll just push it into next week.  We should have it by then.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: Revp98 on May 29, 2008, 02:50:30 PM
If you have an email I can send you a copy of what I wrote.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: Danoman on June 19, 2008, 06:24:45 PM
I would say min of 2 weeks. It also depends on the song. But if your working with a band try to encourage for them to give you some  time to learn your parts and for rehearsals. Last min can be a little frustrating if you don't have the time. I just recently had to learn Martha Munizzi song "Dance" from Change the World CD. I had to get together with a band an we all had to learn it on the stop. We started at 10PM and ended at 3AM and had to play the same day at a youth concert. I could of said no but I needed to challenge myself and my band. We all agreed not to do that again. We nailed the song and where blessed at the concert. A lesson I had to learn because we where a little stressed out if you hear the part and changes on the song you know what I mean!lol
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: mrspanish on June 20, 2008, 07:03:54 AM
When I first started to play the keyboard, I would practice for about 8 hours on Saturdays  with a few breaks due to my working full-time during the week . That is no joke. The reason being is that I was determined to master the keyboard by my only knowing the key of C. Now , I'm glad to say that I can play in all keys without transposing. , I can honestly say that I do not have to work as hard as I had to in the past.  The good thing about my situation is that I choose  AII of the music which consists of some traditional, contemporary, and a little quartet due to the church where I play is some-what quartet based. I do give the members  of the praise team and  of the choir an opportunity to bring songs; however, this is rare because they enjoy  what I have to offer.   A good estimate for me depending on the complexity of the song  to prepare effectively is about 2 weeks. By the way, my band consists of me, "the Lord", and a drummer who has to work on Sundays the majority of the time.. Whenever I play certain songs on the organ, it could take me about 3 weeks max cause for me the organ is more of a challenge which is good though.  Praying constantly, practicing ALOT, and receiving SO MUCH help from the LGM family *(THANKS A MILLION) have all reduced my prep time tremendously. :) ;D
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: musallio on June 20, 2008, 07:08:34 PM
Cosign to all that was & is still being said.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: slburks on April 22, 2009, 06:29:40 PM
(Particularly the drummers. I don't know why they rarely attend choir rehearsal or musician rehearsals).
I've observed that too. I think it's because their parts require the least work to learn, most of the time. They only deal with rhythm.
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: kodacolor on April 22, 2009, 07:06:20 PM
Maybe you should ask your current musicans how long it takes them to learn a song and set a precedent based on that.  This way everyone who comes into the ministry knows that that's the standard they have to meet and it keeps things consistant.

I still agree with that.

At my church the musicans can learn a song a week.  Now that summer vacation is coming around it should be easier for everybody!  If a song in too complex to get in a week we'll just push it into next week.  We should have it by then.

Ok, so now that I've got my feet wet in this ministry thing I say that having a 2 week minimum for all songs no matter the complexity should be good.  It gives everyone enough time to nail an easy song and to do a harder song.  There were plenty of instances in the ministry at the church I attend that showed that having a two week minium is better than rushing it for one week.  I know I had good intentions when I wrote this but I was so wrong!
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: sjonathan02 on April 22, 2009, 08:46:42 PM
I still agree with that.

Ok, so now that I've got my feet wet in this ministry thing I say that having a 2 week minimum for all songs no matter the complexity should be good.  It gives everyone enough time to nail an easy song and to do a harder song.  There were plenty of instances in the ministry at the church I attend that showed that having a two week minium is better than rushing it for one week.  I know I had good intentions when I wrote this but I was so wrong!

Yea, I have this rule: Never do a song until it's ready.


Sometimes, it only takes a week. (We rehearse it Thursday, it's ready for Sunday)

Sometimes, longer.

It really depends on the song and the level of commitment of your group (musicians, PT, choir).
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: Metronome on April 22, 2009, 09:19:50 PM
Yeah it really depends on the skill level of the musicians....

EXAMPLE

last year around easter we had a concert.........did about 8 songs including Blessings of Abraham, Encourage Yourself, Lord Prepare Me, etc...

We only had about 2 hrs before the concert to go over the songs....but we aint let that stop us from doin our job

It really just depends on the people learning the stuff
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: kodacolor on April 23, 2009, 10:29:54 AM
Yea, I have this rule: Never do a song until it's ready.


Sometimes, it only takes a week. (We rehearse it Thursday, it's ready for Sunday)

Sometimes, longer.

It really depends on the song and the level of commitment of your group (musicians, PT, choir).

I feel you.  The reason I put the minimum is because so many time we've done a song where the choir though they had it, the musician's didn't have it but said, "we'll fall in", and the the leaders would press me to break the 2 week rule.  Once it became a HUGE argument the other time I just let it happen to avoid the argument.  Each time the song was done all the way through at rehearsal.  Each time there were huge mistakes.  Each time they said, "Wow, we should have practiced it longer." 
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: betnich on April 23, 2009, 02:20:49 PM
It's a good idea to give CD's of the songs to all musicians and singers a week or two ahead of rehearsals - that way everybody has a chance to hear and sing/play with it, no excuses for not knowing it.

IMO leaders also need to be clear with which songs they want to start working on and when - none of this "oh, I like this from so-and-so's album", then switching to another song instead...
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: sjonathan02 on April 23, 2009, 08:32:45 PM
It's a good idea to give CD's of the songs to all musicians and singers a week or two ahead of rehearsals - that way everybody has a chance to hear and sing/play with it, no excuses for not knowing it.

IMO leaders also need to be clear with which songs they want to start working on and when - none of this "oh, I like this from so-and-so's album", then switching to another song instead...

Oh man, that's manna from on High (which I've been preachin' fo' years, now; and months at my current church).
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: betnich on April 24, 2009, 01:34:31 AM
I would add, give out chord charts w/CD's if you go by them, were it not so obvious...
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: organman88 on April 24, 2009, 09:52:13 PM
Yeah it really depends on the skill level of the musicians....

EXAMPLE

last year around easter we had a concert.........did about 8 songs including Blessings of Abraham, Encourage Yourself, Lord Prepare Me, etc...

We only had about 2 hrs before the concert to go over the songs....but we aint let that stop us from doin our job

It really just depends on the people learning the stuff
yo you def right it is about the skill level of the musicians yo one time @ my church I had to learn shake the foundation in g with head phones on in 10 minutes mind you while doing praise and worship in Ab at the same time omg u know how much concentration that took lol
Title: Re: Musician Prep Time
Post by: CHI-MD on May 19, 2009, 09:55:52 AM
I think that 2 weeks is sufficient to learn any song. It's all about your learning capacity capability. Start off figuring out the parts you know and then the parts you'll have to actually learn. If it takes longer to learn it then how long will it take to be taught and learned by the choir? Its about the designated/dedicated time that you are taking to work on your craft. I learn/play the music and teach the choir. Most of the time its without the other musicians. It usually takes my choir longer than the musicians to learn new material. The spirit may lead me to change what "I" thought would be a great or easy song. I have family a regular 9-5 and other obligations like every other musician but I take the time to learn what I need to. If it takes you longer than 2 weeks then you need to practice...practice...practice more. 1 week on your own...1 week with the other musicians.