Worship Band

Highland’s congregation uses a blended style of music in worship. Contemporary and traditional songs are led by the Worship Band which consists of vocals, guitars, piano, drums and percussion. We rehearse on Sunday evenings bi-weekly and before services Sunday morning. Please check the Calendar for current information.

Music’s only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit. – J.S. Bach

As a band, co-ownership of the musical moment is the goal: To create one big, breathing, unified sound that is unique to itself. Hopefully it’s a new creation, something we didn’t anticipate. Our destination isn’t necessarily a polished sound, but it is definitely an authentic sound!

So here is the 4-part plan:

1) Bi-Weekly Invitational Workshops

Part workshop, part rehearsal and part jam. Every other Sunday evening several musicians meet in the sanctuary. The object of these workshops is to experience a musical workout, to experiment, to focus on areas in need of improvement, and to have fun playing together! These sessions are at the same time, same place, every two weeks, rain or shine.

Why? Because the band that plays together… er, gets better!

The list of musicians and invitees may change from week to week, so you don’t have to be there every time, but at least one of the core leaders (Dave Thompson, Rebecca Booker & April Brien) will always be represented and will have an agenda for the evening. It may be a rhythm workshop one week, a vocal workshop the next. It might be about groove and funkiness and then segue into chords and understanding textures. This time together is for exercise in group interplay and team building using some of the current repertoire and fragments of it. We jam, with direction.

It is important to attend as much as possible, because the objective is to foster a dynamic group language and a sound that is particular to this congregation’s musical talents.

With these playing times being more frequent — and shorter — and not mostly about repertoire familiarization, the songs themselves will become a springboard to achieving our goals.

2) Repertoire Practice

So when do we learn the songs? Repertoire familiarization takes place on our own time. Songs are selected by the leaders in advance of Sunday services and the charts are posted as PDFs online. We download and work on this music at home, familiarizing ourselves with the chords, voicings, vocal options, form, roadmap, style etc. Basically, just learning the tune. The music can also be chatted about in our new online interactive forum or in person.

3) Google Forum

http://sites.google.com/site/hbcband/charts

Here’s where all of our busy lives coalesce. Our website is home base for keeping in touch, sharing news & announcements, sheet music for printouts, and MP3s for listening to examples of the songs. We’ll even have discussions and blog.

4) Pre-Service Rehearsal

With more familiarity within the band, the fine points of the songs (roadmap, beginnings, endings etc.) will be rehearsed before each service with whomever is scheduled for that day. Line-ups will change, therefore, details can be ironed out pre-service. Of course, there will be ideas that carry over into the songs from the rehearsals. That’s the point.

Because here’s the vision:

Through rehearsing and jamming together, the available palette of colours grows. There’s so much playing going on that we become familiar with the ideas and with each other, and a musical shorthand develops. This leads to more efficient repertoire building, because rehearsals don’t get bogged down in musicianship issues. The end result is more meaningful interaction with each other, the music, the congregation and with God. Why? Because we’re not distracted by minutiae. We are free to play things that are becoming second nature, and freer to focus on God while playing.

So, invitational rehearsals Sunday evenings, bi-weekly. Same time, same place, rain or shine. A schedule of songs from the leaders. Online charts and audio to learn the music at home. Sunday morning pre-service rehearsals to get the details right.

Thanks, and see you on Sunday!

If you are interested in participating in the Worship Band, have questions or want to comment, please contact the band leaders below:

Contact the Band Leaders