Here is a song story video about the song "How He Loves" by John Mark McMillan.
A short documentary on John Mark McMillan and the song How He Loves.
I also found this one that is not as good quality image and sound but fills in so many details for this story.
The story behind How He Loves by zacclay
This song is 100% in line with the painful worship that David offered in the Psalms. We see over and over again worship out of pain, anguish and trials. Let's take a quick look at Psalms 6 for example:
For the director of music (Meant to be sung for the people). With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, LORD, how long?
4 Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
I love how there is no resolve to this psalm. He is still in this. It is obvious that David trusts God in this, but it doesn't mean that the dissonance resolves or the pain is gone. In the song "How He Loves" John Mark's pain is still there but there is hope, there is love. God's love that, as John Mark would say, is sometimes messy and not clean/nice all the time. I hear people say all the time that this song should not be sung in church because of the 'descriptive' lyrics and the 'informality' and honesty that it uses. As a worship leader, I have to find a balance between helping people discover worship anew with expressions of worship that they are not used to and distracting them so much that they lose focus and have a hard time worshiping.
Either way, this song is powerful and is being used by the Holy Spirit around the world to bring people in to an honest, raw, authentic, and sometimes painful worship while demonstrating that God's love is sometimes overwhelming and big.
"Lord, help me to trust You in pain. And keep Your love central to my understanding of how my trials play out. You love us so much that you allow us to learn and grow through trials. Yet, we trust You and Your love for us."
For a post from John Mark on this song visit: http://johnmarkmcmillan.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-he-loves-david-crowder-and-sloppy.html
Friday, August 5, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
A Definition of Worship
My pastor gave me a great definition of worship the other day. I thought I should pass it along. This definition comes from the famed archbishop William Temple:
“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose--all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.”I feel like I could do a whole study based on that 'meaty' definition. I like how it is HIM focused. So, often definitions that I read are 'us' based and it changes the whole dynamic to reorient our thoughts to focus on God.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Anyone Can Make Fun of the Worship Leader - by Tyler Braun
Tyler Braun, from Portland, wrote a great article (http://manofdepravity.com/2011/07/14/anyone-can-make-fun-of-the-worship-leader/ ) about worship leader's reputations. Are the stereotypes valid?
Check it out for a quick read.
Enjoy.
-Luke
Check it out for a quick read.
Enjoy.
-Luke
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Back-up Vocals & Harmonies
It has been a while since my last post on vocals. So this is much overdue. Anyway, these past few months have been busy and our church Bethany Bible Fellowship has been able to go to a few worship conferences in the area. One practical workshop that stood out to one of our vocalists was from the 2011 PURE Worship Conference by one of my worship leader friends, Gia Lucid. She has been singing professionally and leading worship for over 10 years and has been privlidged enough to gain a ton of experience and insight along the way.
The session outlined a few things that vocalists can do to help add dynamic harmonies to the worship service. Some of it is basic but the majority of this is gold if you can learn to implent it correctly. Here are some of the highlights from the sesssion: (this is not the full content or original order, but reorginized for flow)
1. Harmonies
- Don't get freaked out by the word "harmony" think of it as "my melody" or an "alternate melody"
- Be selective with your harmonies and parts. You don't have to sing the whole song and have the freedom to choose to highlight certain parts of the song using selective harmonies. Think about your how to feature sections, phrases, or even words of a song. In other words, you can fill backup vocals in for just a few words to emphasize more effectively.
-Tight vs loose. Tight harmonies (notes closer together) are usualy better and are less distracting from the focal point or melody of the song. Loose harmonies can be good if they are done well but are more difficult.
- Add dynamics with vocals which can help build certain parts of the songs more dramitically.
- You can use harmonies to add choral oohs, ohhs, and aahs which will bring a very corperate/united feel to the song. When done well this can add a lot!
2. Unison/Prime Unison
- Unison is when two people/instruments are singing/playing the same note on the same octave.
- In worship this usually means the guys and girls sing melody together (with the same octave).
- This can be helpful for altos who might be singing with a tenor and can not reach the higher/lower notes professionally. It also might be preferred for some arrangements because of the 'oneness' that it creates in the song if done well.
- You can read more about Unison here.
3. Echoes
- Helps change things up
- Use difference with the verses
- Don't always do this the enire song because it can easily become overwhelming
4. New Songs
- Establish a melody first with a solo or unison
- Listen first, then sing (don't try to sing along before learning a line)
5. Vocal Health
- Hydrate throughout the day. Drink a bottle of water first thing in the morning or try some herbal tea
- Warm-up properly. Ease your voice out (try singing in the shower), massage your face, lip trills (see below), start in your lower register to warm-up before reaching for the high/power notes.
- Try lip trills (humming with lips partly open, blowing air through them) which can help warm up your face muscles and teach you to sing with steady air.
- Exercise voice before rehearsals and sound checks. As soon as you start rehearsal you should be professional and ready to give 100% to the sound crew can set accurate levels.
- Use breath not throat for power
6. Notes/Tips for singing in worship
- Bring a recording device to practice (many phones can do this)
- MP3s can be emailed to others to share parts easily
- Bring a pencil to practice and sound check, take notes, pay attention to the leader
- Keep a folder of music with notes. Over time this will help you to stay consistant and grow vocally
- Natural harmonizers should help others learn the harmonies to the songs (with a humble attitude)
- Worship visibly with your face and body. We comunicate a ton without knowing it. Don't just stand there when you are worshipping, think about the lyrics and what the Holy Spirit is doing and join in the worship! Even when it is 'not your turn to sing'. You can still sing along, but step back from the microphone so that you don't change the intended mix.
- Blend with the worship leader. Follow thier words and melody, or the parts they gave you, follow thier tone, don't compete with some else's vibrato (work to flatten your's)
Also, here is a great video from Worship Team Training for back-up vocalists about Harmonies. Take a look and enjoy.
If you can't see the video click here.
The session outlined a few things that vocalists can do to help add dynamic harmonies to the worship service. Some of it is basic but the majority of this is gold if you can learn to implent it correctly. Here are some of the highlights from the sesssion: (this is not the full content or original order, but reorginized for flow)
1. Harmonies
- Don't get freaked out by the word "harmony" think of it as "my melody" or an "alternate melody"
- Be selective with your harmonies and parts. You don't have to sing the whole song and have the freedom to choose to highlight certain parts of the song using selective harmonies. Think about your how to feature sections, phrases, or even words of a song. In other words, you can fill backup vocals in for just a few words to emphasize more effectively.
-Tight vs loose. Tight harmonies (notes closer together) are usualy better and are less distracting from the focal point or melody of the song. Loose harmonies can be good if they are done well but are more difficult.
- Add dynamics with vocals which can help build certain parts of the songs more dramitically.
- You can use harmonies to add choral oohs, ohhs, and aahs which will bring a very corperate/united feel to the song. When done well this can add a lot!
2. Unison/Prime Unison
- Unison is when two people/instruments are singing/playing the same note on the same octave.
- In worship this usually means the guys and girls sing melody together (with the same octave).
- This can be helpful for altos who might be singing with a tenor and can not reach the higher/lower notes professionally. It also might be preferred for some arrangements because of the 'oneness' that it creates in the song if done well.
- You can read more about Unison here.
3. Echoes
- Helps change things up
- Use difference with the verses
- Don't always do this the enire song because it can easily become overwhelming
4. New Songs
- Establish a melody first with a solo or unison
- Listen first, then sing (don't try to sing along before learning a line)
5. Vocal Health
- Hydrate throughout the day. Drink a bottle of water first thing in the morning or try some herbal tea
- Warm-up properly. Ease your voice out (try singing in the shower), massage your face, lip trills (see below), start in your lower register to warm-up before reaching for the high/power notes.
- Try lip trills (humming with lips partly open, blowing air through them) which can help warm up your face muscles and teach you to sing with steady air.
- Exercise voice before rehearsals and sound checks. As soon as you start rehearsal you should be professional and ready to give 100% to the sound crew can set accurate levels.
- Use breath not throat for power
6. Notes/Tips for singing in worship
- Bring a recording device to practice (many phones can do this)
- MP3s can be emailed to others to share parts easily
- Bring a pencil to practice and sound check, take notes, pay attention to the leader
- Keep a folder of music with notes. Over time this will help you to stay consistant and grow vocally
- Natural harmonizers should help others learn the harmonies to the songs (with a humble attitude)
- Worship visibly with your face and body. We comunicate a ton without knowing it. Don't just stand there when you are worshipping, think about the lyrics and what the Holy Spirit is doing and join in the worship! Even when it is 'not your turn to sing'. You can still sing along, but step back from the microphone so that you don't change the intended mix.
- Blend with the worship leader. Follow thier words and melody, or the parts they gave you, follow thier tone, don't compete with some else's vibrato (work to flatten your's)
Also, here is a great video from Worship Team Training for back-up vocalists about Harmonies. Take a look and enjoy.
If you can't see the video click here.
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