Ch 4: Supporting Services
An important part of a Music Director’s role is ensuring the musician team is being the musical amen to whoever is preaching. This means paying very close attention to their dynamics, feel and tone to help provide support and atmosphere. In an optimal setting with seasoned musicians, the MD should not need to call anything and the team will feel out the dynamics together. If the team is sluggish or gets stuck on autopilot at one dynamic level, a great MD will give some encouragement or direction for a few minutes and then see if the team can follow without verbal intervention. Our goal is to build discerning, atmosphere-sensing musicians who don’t need an MD to tell them when to raise or lower dynamics.
In a setting behind a preacher/pastor, don’t shy away from raising dynamics when he/she starts building dynamically. Our pastors love it when we support them musically and would rather have to pull us back than push us forward! There’s a natural tendency for an MD to wait until the congregation responds (applauding, standing up, etc) to know it’s safe to give more dynamics. Fight that urge with everything you have. Our congregation isn’t leading us, but instead, we are the ones partnering with the pastor to invite our congregation to respond to the Word! Let’s be front-footed as MDs, leading the charge for our musicians!