There’s an interesting discussion going on over at The Worship Community about using music stands during “worship” sets.
HT to Fred for blogging about this earlier today. I just couldn’t stand idly by and not say anything about the merits of standing up for what I truly believe will stand the test of time.
Honestly, I’m sure this topic can stand on it’s own without me adding any grandstanding to the melee but I just thought I’d like to throw in my two cents and let you know where I stand on this issue.
The issue on the witness stand today is whether or not a worship team should use music stands during their actual times of congregational worship. Whether we are sitting or standing, it’s obviously a very large part of the visual picture that people see as they begin corporate worship.
Some would say that they are an eye sore and don’t stand a chance in being incorporated into their beautifully designed stages and sets. Others would say that don’t stand up to excellence standards that we as creative types should be pursuing. Still others stand by their obsessive need to have their noses glued to their music so that they don’t get lost during the worship time.
Personally, I could go either way. Normally I don’t use a music stand. At all. I just have one of those “music memory” type of things - you know something similar to photographic, but not quite as cool. Oh, it’s definitely not like genius or savant level either, I just have a really great memory when it comes to arrangements and worship sets. Sure I goof sometimes, but I’ve always been great at remembering how many times we sing the verse, pre-chorus, and chorus, before we hit the bridge and tag, or the unexpected modulation.
So, in that respect, I’ve not needed music stands at all for most of my worship leading journey.
But, there are others, maybe even innocent bystanders, who get stood up in this whole debate. Well, maybe not, but it was fun thinking of a way to use “stand” yet again. I do think that as a team that reaches out to several different levels of skill, we are very non-demanding about the stand issue. I let everyone know each week that I’d rather they not use them, but if they need to to go ahead.
Some weeks we’ll go standless, others there will be 2 or 3 stands on stage.
Our singers NEVER use stands. They pretty much stand on their own without any music in front of them. I always tell our singers that if they can drive down the road and sing every lyric of the latest, greatest tunes on the radio then they darn sure can memorize their lyrics for Sunday. And they do.
So whether we are standing firm or not standing at all, one thing stands: creating the best environment for our worshipers to worship. If that means using a stand every now and then, we do. If it means trying to go without them we do.
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Luke
That’s a great post. I found a website on developing
photographic memory and I’ve tried the tips that they offer. They worked pretty well for me. It’s at http://www.photograpic-memory.org
Mar 14th, 2008
Gareth Matthews
Hey Russ,
This is an interesting idea that I’ve been recently thinking about and I like your stance on it. My thoughts are that I find (especially as a leader) that the times I feel I lead best are when I feel I can concentrate on the leading rather than the next chord or lyric or what the rest of the band are doing. Therefore, anything I can do to help that a long the better. For me - it means learning the songs really well which then means I don’t have to pay it much attention. My focus is on leading the people and glorifying God and I think that is where our focus should be. So if I have learnt the songs, then no need for a music stand (I do occasionally have some cheeky bits of paper on the floor in the frequent event where I just completely forget the next line
)
I’m the same in that I am encouraging my team not to use music unless they really need to as the same goes for them. How can they lead and encourage the congregation if their heads are buried in a music stand? This works for some and not for all - but I think it is really good to chase that line that the songs are the aid, the focus is on God. If we mix that up, then aren’t we missing something?
Just some thoughts…
Mar 14th, 2008
Russ
@thanks gareth for your comments.
Great points there all around.
Mar 15th, 2008