The Ken Johnson Group / August 15, 2005 Featured Article

To the Minister of Music, Worship Leader, Praise Team Director—

Whatever you are called in your church

by Ken Johnson

After more than forty years being involved in music in the church, the public schools and the colleges and university, and after thousands of performances, (including many hours spent on my knees praying everyone would be well for that next performance), I feel I have some expertise to share.

Preparing ensembles for performance is probably the most exciting thing anyone can do in their lives. It involves fear and trepidation as well as hopeful expectation, especially when ensembles include volunteers or students only looking for a grade, and not professionals. However, I can’t think of anytime in those forty years that anyone let me down.

I would like to share a few ideas I incorporate in my work that seem to make my life and the lives of my ensemble members easier

relax, Relax, RElax, RELax, RELAx, RELAX! This is the key word in conducting. Let your fingers, hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, body and face mirror the sound you want from your ensemble. If you conduct in a square manner then your ensemble will follow suit. I see so many stiffs trying to conduct who get angry at their ensemble when they play or sing in the same way.

Have Fun: This is probably the most important thing you can do as the director. If you are obviously having fun then the ensemble will too and it will be obvious to the congregation.

Focus and Concentration: Two keywords for all conductors and performers. Without constant attention to these two words and their meanings you and your ensemble will always come up short.

Team: It is vitally important that your ensemble perform as a team and not as single individuals or they will never succeed. There are a number of reasons why an ensemble

doesn’t perform as a team. Here are a few:

Too many stars, ie: I should have every solo—I’m better than they are
Too many whimperers: The “oh poor me” syndrome
Too many lazy people
People who think they are better than the director
People who are difficult and can’t work with others
People who want to be in charge

These people need to either get with the program or get out. Don’t be afraid to ask them to leave especially in the church.

As the director you need to care equally about every member of your ensemble. This is vitally important. The rest of your ensemble can see when you favor someone, so beware. Likewise, if you have a family member in your ensemble they cannot be given special treatment at any time you are involved with the ensemble.

I have seen ensembles and sports teams with very average performers win championships because they knew how to be a team, how to focus, and how to concentrate on the matter at hand. A classic example is the New England Patriots.

I have also seen teams filled with stars that lost championships because they couldn’t work as a team, they couldn’t focus and they couldn’t concentrate. A classic example of this is the 2004 Los Angeles Lakers. Probably the most notorious musical example of a fallen team is the Beetles. When they were a team they accomplished overwhelming success, but when Yoko Ono came into the picture they fragmented and soon fell apart. Need I say more?

Relaxing, having fun, focus and concentration, and having a team concept aren’t necessarily in order of importance and they certainly aren’t everything that you need to do to be successful, but they are all equally important to your success as a director. These concepts are vitally important to any church arts program so make them all a part of your daily routine. If you include them in everything that you do, not just your rehearsals, you will be very successful in spreading the good news of Jesus to your ensembles, your congregation and to your community.