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If you are a musician at Vintage21 Church and you have a desire to help people worship the Lord with music, we hope you’ll consider auditioning for one of the bands, including new ones that are forming soon. Whether you play bass or bouzouki, percussion or penny whistle, strings or sitar, we’d love to meet you. Auditions will take place on Tuesday evening, June 22. Email matt@vintage21.com for details and to sign up.
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Today’s post is where the American Idol analogy breaks down. The remaining judge* Randy, isn’t known for communicating well; perhaps he would be if he wasn’t trying to be everyone’s friend. However, clear communication is the key to every other component; high standards and a professional environment aren’t effective without it. (Go back and re-read that last sentence – it sounds like I’m about to launch into a simple, life-changing plan that can be yours for only $99.95).
Communicating well is an art form. It does not come easy in my case because I have the prideful belief that if something is said once, it should be remembered. This would be fine if everyone in the world possessed a photographic memory, but instead we’re at the mercy of remembering only what is important to us, or what uniquely gets stuck in our brain. For years I assumed people would come fully prepared to the audition after reading one email. This self-centered approach assumes they have nothing else going on, and will devote all faculties to storing the audition information and mastering the material. It also assumes they’ve interpreted each component with the same understanding and priority as I intended. Those of you who majored in communication or advertising are probably rolling your eyes as you sip coffee in reading such ignorance. Roll and sip, my friend; you’re right.
For three years, communicating by one lackluster email resulted in varying degrees of preparedness by those auditioning. The most difficult thing to understand was why those auditioning didn’t learn the parts of the songs as they’re written. Time after time people would show up and either play whatever they want, or say “I didn’t know if I should memorize the part that was written, or do my own thing.” This was frustrating as I never knew what to expect, and often the audition was not reflective of a person’s ability. If you leave out specific instructions, the person is not at fault for doing something other than what you expected. From what they observe at Vintage21 Church on Sundays, there’s freedom on stage for creativity as we play 80% original songs and arrangements. While I asked people to learn the specific parts, it’s one small part of a large email of instructions. The emphasis was not effectively communicated.
Poor communication was not considered at first, because we’re all adults and we should know how to follow instructions, right? In the melodic words of T. Cockrell, “Pride won’t get us where we’re going”. Am I seeking to judge people on their ability to decipher, or to serve musically? Sticking to my guns that “they should be able to figure this out” would result in a group of highly analytical, type-A people, but not necessarily the best musicians (a group not typically known for using the left sides of our brain). As a result, I now seek to over-communicate. Interested musicians are asked to read three separate documents that lay out vision and expectations, and they receive several emails before the big night. In a majority of these, they are asked and reminded to learn the parts exactly as they’re played. The expectations of each person auditioning are clearly laid out, as are what they can expect of those of us leading the audition. While people continue to show up unprepared or play something other than what was asked of them, I’m no longer stuck in an awkward position of wondering if they knew the expectations ahead of time. This also makes feedback more objective and clear- “We asked you to learn the parts as they were played, you played something different.” All in all, it makes for a much more effective and comfortable audition process.
- Matt Stevens
*There is a fourth judge, added last season, but she was terrible. I think she should be replaced by these two.
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Keeping with the American Idol theme, today we’ll examine the other side of judging auditions: Simon Cowell. He’s my favorite person on that show, and frankly the only reason I ever watch. It feels at times like he’s stuck in a bad dream; a music lover and talented industry executive who almost has to help the contestants, but is constantly booed and harassed by a nation of teeny-boppers. Were it not for Simon, the level of talent chosen and improvement of the artists from week-to-week would be drastically lower. We can learn from Simon not to be harsh with people, but to Demand Much.
There is the belief that anyone who wants to should be able to help lead worship in church. In that case, why not let anyone teach? Or design the web site? Or organize kid’s activities, or oversee the finances? Scripture contains several examples, including 1 Corinthians 12, of gifts being given by God (hence the name: gifts), and the use of those gifts being for the edification of the body and his glory. While music and other arts are forms of expression, leading others in worship is not the arena to simply practice expression. You are there primarily to serve others, providing leadership and a platform for the church body to respond to God through song. What kind of circus would result if people were allowed to do whatever they want? (I was tempted to put a link, but decided against it- I don’t have time to reply to angry emails).
Whether it’s in the name of being nice or because they miss out on the reason to gather, many churches allow anyone and everyone to join the band. We have been guilty of this, in our case it was due to need. Like many churches, in our early days the pool of musicians to choose from was small. We were without a drummer, so when someone approached and said, “I have a djembe” I threw personal preference to the wind and asked them to join us. This person was unable to make rehearsal the week prior (mistake #1), so we agreed they’d come early on Sunday to run through the songs. When the morning came, this person brought the drum, and might as well have taken the price tag off in front of me. When they began playing; my first thought was literally, “Did you buy that on the way over here? There’s no way you’ve ever played that before right now.” Seriously, it was as if this person was allergic to the beat. The only explanation that made sense was that Pastor Tyler was playing a joke on me. There was no way this was going down on my watch, so I thanked the person for coming early and asked them to rehearse on their own before giving it another shot. That day I became a fan of auditions.
Holding auditions comes down to good stewardship and leadership. Not only do you want to serve the church well by creating the best environment for them to praise, it’s only fair to give the musicians trying out a fair picture of what you expect. To simply throw a song at them and rush through the audition communicates that you aren’t taking this seriously, so why should they? If you’re late and disorganized, they see what is acceptable behavior in serving in this ministry. If you overlook poor playing, a lack of preparedness, or someone ignoring the instructions that were communicated prior, the bar is set extremely low. You may have musicians, but it’s setting you up for years of frustration.
On the flip side, if you demand much, you will receive it. Make sure people understand the theology by which the ministry operates, the expectations of rehearsal and preparedness, and the level of humility and service asked of them. If God is calling someone to be involved in a particular ministry, their involvement should result not in a compromise of the vision he’s given you as the leader. Instead, their involvement should result in a fulfillment of the vision, a growth in the person to fit the vision, or an expansion of the vision. Note that each result is void of our own pride and glory, and allows the ministry to thrive.
Demanding much of people goes hand-in-hand with communication, which we’ll look at tomorrow.
- Matt Stevens
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Last Thursday we held auditions for Andrew Darragh’s new band. The audition process is constantly evolving as we learn from each round. I’ve also gained from the experience of other churches who are gracious in sharing their information, specifically Terra Nova (Troy, NY), Mars Hill (Seattle) and Sojourn Church (Louisville).
This week on worship.vintage21.com, we’re going to share several things learned over the years that have helped improve the process. Today’s lesson: Auditions are awkward.
I’ve always been in awe of the people who can play an instrument in front of or along with others, without the slightest appearance of being self-conscious. The few I’ve known who can do this are those who have played for years, usually from childhood, and many times they are proficient on several instruments. The remaining majority of us find much more comfort in playing along with people we know well, and so the process of an audition is the closest we come in real life to the proverbial “naked at school” dream.
In the early years of Vintage21 Church I did everything possible to make people comfortable: tried to point out the awkwardness by talking about it, avoided critiquing and thus adding to the pain of an audition, and rushed through it without processing and discussing potential areas of strength or weakness. I was like Paula Abdul on American Idol – always positive, but really just taking up space.
By trying to make an unavoidably awkward situation comfortable I performed a disservice to the church, the musicians and God. If the idea of an audition is to find those best suited to serve in this capacity, to water down the audition process means you’re not effectively accomplishing the goal. You do the musicians no favors by neglecting to give honest, detailed critique by which they can then learn from. Like most acts of people-pleasing, I would say it was out of kindness to those auditioning, but it was more a self-serving act of avoiding conflict. It was poor leadership, and certainly not building the kingdom of God in the manner we’re called to.
The awkwardness cannot be avoided- it’s the nature of auditions. I no longer try to avoid it, but instead take a similar approach to entering the ocean in October – the quicker you get in, the sooner you’ll get used to it and have fun. Now, I make sure we’re prepared, communicate well in regards to what is expected, and then just dive into it. This past round of auditions was the least awkward and most successful we’ve had yet.
- Matt Stevens
Tomorrow: Demand Much
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