Musician Prep Time

[slburks]

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.

[demusicman]

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).

[Shadow_]

AT LEAST A WEEK OR TWO.

Cosign

[kodacolor]

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.

[Revp98]

If you have an email I can send you a copy of what I wrote.

[Danoman]

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

[mrspanish]

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.

[musallio]

Cosign to all that was & is still being said.

[slburks]

(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.

[kodacolor]

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!

[sjonathan02]

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).

[Metronome]

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

[kodacolor]

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." 

[betnich]

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...

[sjonathan02]

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).

[betnich]

I would add, give out chord charts w/CD's if you go by them, were it not so obvious...

[organman88]

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

[CHI-MD]

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.