Lesson 16: When Musicians Exit The Stage

There’s sometimes speculation around when musicians get off stage after a preacher gets introduced. This is not a throw-away moment! Whenever music starts or stops, the atmosphere shifts and although people may only be subconsciously aware, it’s felt. This shift has the potential to take people out of a moment if ill-timed, so it’s important to time this correctly.

In all reality, it does depend on the moment and the preacher, but nine times out of ten, a good rule of thumb is: when the preacher moves from “exhort mode” to “teaching mode,” that’s the perfect time to fade the keys out and make an exit. Sometimes this transition may sound like a familiar “give your neighbor a high five on the way to your seat and tell them they are ridiculously good-looking!” or “Turn in your Bibles to…” The reason for this is the preacher/pastor is already transitioning the atmosphere so we can use that to our advantage and fade out as it’s happening.

Sometimes, a pastor will thank the worship team as their way of dismissing the team.