Rock Worship Forums

Dan · 2006-01-14 05:11:57

Ok so some questions for you guys.
1. How do you hold auditions?
2. How often?
3. What do you do when you find better talent than a current band member?
4. How do you let people know that the band isn't the best place to serve anymore, even if they are really good?

colonel · 2006-01-16 20:33:13

1) nothing set, it's an as needed that I seek people out or if someone feels called to serve then I take it into consideration and from there look into their talents/faith/chemistry withinthe ministry

2) see above

3) i don't make "a better talent" an issue. if they are a good talent and would be a good fit for the ministry I find a place for them.

4) I've always let things progress in a very organic and natural way. It's seemed that as one was exiting (either by their choice or being asked to step down) there has been someone to step up and help. There's always a need to remain creative and willing to do things different as people flow in and out. There is also always a need to be very upfront with people and give and receive feedback on where things our at. I've had my share of ups and downs but being up front has proved to be most effective, treating each situation as its own.

Matt · 2006-01-17 08:40:07

1 & 2 Same as Colonel. I tend to recruit rather than audition. I make the fact that we are constantly on the lookout for new musicians fairly widely known among the leaders every year. And they usually recommend people to me, who I then begina conversation with.

I am often accused of only letting my friends into the band. This is not true in the least. It is simply that I tend to befriend all the musicians.

3. Honestly, I haven't had to deal with that issue... ever. If I find someone with a passion and a talent for music, I integrate them into the current bands, or start to form a new one. We can always use more bands (the issue is usually finding a leader for them... a leader and a drummer....)

4. I try to stay in contact at least to some degree with the people that are building into the band members's lives. I'm usually one of those people as well.

This has recently come up on several occasions. In one case, the person agreed with me and was glad I approached them on it. They are now taking a much needed break.

In another case, we were convinced it was not best for them to be in the band anymore for various reasons. They disagreed, so I took it to their leaders (who agreed...) who then confronted that person with the issue... eventually we had to get the pastors involved. It was kinda messy and we are still dealing with stuff.

Travis · 2006-01-17 09:16:15

1 & 2. We used to hold auditions once a year (a practice put in place back when the Rock first started by the leaders before me), and had about 20 people audition per year. It was problematic for a few reasons: the time involved first of all - it's a huge commitment to audition that many people and really give each one a chance. Second, we usually only had one or two positions open, and lots of people that were quite good had to be rejected, which in a few cases caused a little bit of backlash. One year I was forced to do auditions simply because most of the band left on church plants and such, and I had to quickly find people - so in that case, it was a good thing. Since then though, I've made it more of a practice to find people through word of mouth, small group leaders, stuff like that. I'd say though that I've swung the pendulum the other way from auditions at the present. I'd like to find a balance somehow, but I think it's always going to be a tough issue. It's nice to involve more people and cultivate future band members, but at the same time it's impossible to form a really good worship teams if you've got so many members that they're rotating in and out all the time.

3. I make sure my band members know that they are all worship leaders in the church. As such, our spiritual standards must be very high. When someone with a ton of talent comes and talks to me, they must go through a screening process. People can talk big up front, and things may not come out till months down the line. So, I let them be on the setup crew to work, become aware with our methods of doing things, and hang around the band a lot. I also encourage them to get involved in a small group. If they serve there contentedly, are growing and are reaching people with the Gospel, at that point I might consider adding them in somewhere. Talent can be cultivated in people – if they have really messed up character, I don’t care how much talent they have, there’s no way they will lead people in worship.

4. I usually sit them down with the band's vision statement and a few verses that apply to the situation, and ask them to honestly evaluate themselves and how they fit with the vision. They typically are convicted right there and take themselves out of the band immediately. I've had to get pastors involved before, but only in one occasion, and the band was only a small part of the larger issue at hand.

Dan · 2006-01-17 12:33:14

thanks for all the responses.

I came into my job after a worship leader who had been leading with the same two bands with the same people in them for 15-20 years. Musically and personally some were on board with my vision for worship/music and some were not really getting it. So it's been a hard process figuring all that out. Because of that and the fact that I have upwards of five emails a week from people wondering how to get involved in the music, I created once a year auditions.

The basic requirements for auditions were to write a paper on various subjects, their faith story, what worship is etc... and also to learn a few songs on a disc i passed out. Then we just take a whole day and run auditions. I usually have 75+ people trying out (yes our church is growing like crazy). The thing is, is that when you have people who both have great attitudes toward God and serving, I have to go with the more talented musician, which has been hard sometimes, but neccesary.

We usually end up using only 2-5 new musicians (we now have 6 bands with over 40 people in them) so that's actually a very small number of newbs. I try to explain how small our need is to everyone before they audition. We've had a couple people frustrated, but most understand. The weird thing is running into all the people we've rejected all the time at our services!

If you guys have any more thoughts on this, keep it coming. I'm trying to rethink this stuff.
Thanks

Travis · 2006-01-17 13:17:47

Dan, when you have 75+ people trying out, how do you fit them into one day of auditions? What does that actually look like, practically? I found it hard to fit 20 people into two days . . .

Dan · 2006-01-17 13:57:45

We have all of our regular musicians there and they are ready to go and fill in in hour increments etc... I audition a singer and one or two musicians at the same time and give them two songs and then they are done. I know this doesn't give everyone much time with us, but it's the only way to get through it. So that's about 25-30 different spots. This takes about 8 hours total. It's crazy, but it has worked so far. I then have callbacks with a total of about 15 people and then pick the four or five people that we need from there.

Matt · 2006-01-17 15:44:54

I guess I should clarify, the process I described above is for The Rock. At Stonebrook, our community church, we make people submit an audition tape. This is a practice we put into effect a year ago, and have made ourselves available to help with recording, etc. Since we have put that policy into effect, we have had no new applicants for the Sunday morning band.

Matt · 2006-01-17 15:45:17

Also, I love the essay idea.

Travis · 2006-01-18 07:59:08

I had people write essays when we did our last auditions two years ago. Prior to that, we'd do a 15 minute interview with each person. The essay definitey saved time, although I felt like I still found out a lot more about people from their small group leaders, post-audition.

colonel · 2006-01-18 18:58:31

I, more often than not, put people on a 90 day probation period when they first start. Through out that time I will check in on them and at the end of the 90 days we sit down and talk about what they're feeling and what I've observed. If it's really not working out I let them know and we part ways, If it's going well than we move forward. I try to connect one on one with all my people every couple months.

We did a try out once about 7 years ago, but it wasn't very well planned and it just kind of made a lot of things awkward. Since then I've shyed away from auditions and it's worked well, though it sounds like a good plan in some of your situations.

xseoer · 2010-06-08 00:17:33

Matt wrote:
Also, I love the essay idea.

I have the same idea with you !

Legolas007 · Yesterday 20:06:26

Hi dan

nice question dude.
1@2. well I don't hold audition if I have a band member.

3.Yeah I see better people than my band member but I don't mind that.I focus on my bandmates and contented for what we have. All we can do is give out our best in every time we performed

4.For me my band is the best place to serve others. If we make them happy in our songs that will make us happy too. If we saw the laughter and enjoyment on their faces it makes us happy too. that what band means for me, making people happy.

Rock Worship Forums

#1 2006-01-14 05:11:57

The hard things

#2 2006-01-16 20:33:13

Re: The hard things

#3 2006-01-17 08:40:07

Re: The hard things

#4 2006-01-17 09:16:15

Re: The hard things

#5 2006-01-17 12:33:14

Re: The hard things

#6 2006-01-17 13:17:47

Re: The hard things

#7 2006-01-17 13:57:45

Re: The hard things

#8 2006-01-17 15:44:54

Re: The hard things

#9 2006-01-17 15:45:17

Re: The hard things

#10 2006-01-18 07:59:08

Re: The hard things

#11 2006-01-18 18:58:31

Re: The hard things

#12 2010-06-08 00:17:33

Re: The hard things

Matt wrote:

#13 Yesterday 20:06:26

Re: The hard things

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