CAN I BECOME A BETTER MUSICIAN...?

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER MUSICIAN
Hillsong Worship Feature

1. Welcome feedback

Those that listen to you sing or play will be listening from another perspective and may be hearing something different to what you hear. In fact, they might hear something you’re not hearing at all. They may make suggestions in order to aid the context you’re working in. It’s important to welcome feedback, both for the bigger picture and to keep you learning and gaining experience personally. Besides, it might just be an awesome idea!

2. Maintain a teachable heart

It is important to remain teachable. No one ever finishes learning in their lifetime. You can always glean something from another person, even if it’s a lesson in attitude.

3. Surround yourself with people that have more experience

There are many people I look up to – both near and far. It’s a pretty simple thought, but it’s great to have that uncontrollable laughter when you see your favourite player or singer play something awesome – you learn things, especially when you have a close friendship with them. As a toddler, I can remember sitting behind a mentor as he played during a church service and it invested in me a type of experience that cannot be bought.

4. Worship

When you worship with your gift from a genuine heart, it impacts those around you and helps you lead. You may not even realise it at the time, but when you hand over your gift to the One that gave it to you, it opens a door for people to have a greater encounter with God!

5. Practice!

Yes, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Not everyone loves this word with gleeful passion, but there are always ways to make practice fun. How about bringing a friend along or learning a piece of music with someone? When others aren’t accessible, I like to grab ahold of a good quality play-along album of an artist I love, throw it in the iPod and play to it. The benefit of most play-along tracks is that you have three things – the click reference, a chart to read and the feeling of playing with real musicians. In turn, this helps with timing, reading music and feel/ groove. The play-alongs can be found at most music shops.

6. Find new ways of getting excited about your instrument

As mentioned previously, there are always ways to make your discipline exciting and not just something that you do for work or service. Find new ways to keep yourself passionate about your instrument. Be creative!

7. Read & listen

When listening to your favourite music, reading it (or about it) helps you understand how it was created and how it was written.

8. Find your voice

Once you’ve seen or heard how things are written or produced, try the same or similar things, and see if you can get the same or similar results. You may even find something that you love more! This helps develop your own musical voice, because you start to pick the aesthetic characteristics in the music you listen to that suit your personality – characteristics that suit you.

9. Get first-hand experience

Start playing! Organize some jams with the people you love. It develops confidence, along with feel/groove and unity.

10. Be generous

It’s important that we always fill ourselves up, but also that we pour ourselves back out. Be generous with your gift and your service! God works generationally, not just within the small frame of your life span. Those that you give back to inherit what you learnt/experienced, allowing God to work through more and more people.

Written by Harrison Wood

THE FORCE OF MUSIC...

Have you ever wondered at what age music came into existence? Well do not bother trying to find out because music was in existence long before time began. It is one of the forces of this life that you will find has its origin traceable back to a timeless God that was before there was anything as time. For if there was an archangel who was made to be a musical instrument and who was also responsible for music in God’s presence long before man was made to be, then music is indeed timeless! And interestingly it will continue to be timeless even after time becomes once more collapsed into eternity.

The very first musical instrument and personality shown to us in God’s word was Lucifer, the archangel that went on to fall from grace with God. Unfortunately after he fell, though he lost most of his true personality to falsehood, he still had the force of music left to work with. No doubt that as man in time relinquished his God-given authority to this fallen entity now known as Satan, one of his greatest tools of warfare has been music. This is because he understands that music is one of the greatest forces that is relevant both in the realm of time and in the realm of eternity.

But sadly, man that was created by God to be a perfect replica of his personality in this realm of time does not fully grasp that truth that music is one of the greatest forces of all times and a most effective tool for reclaiming the reins of authority in this realm. The anti-God personality of Satan the former great Lucifer knows too well the weight of this force, little wonder how he’s exploiting it maximally especially in this generation when he knows his time is running out fast.

Have you ever wondered how you feel timeless every time you are exposed to music especially one that is made by someone with great understanding of its power? That is the force of music and that is what God gave us to use in directing the souls of men to His influence. It brings us closer to a timeless realm where God dwells and where our spirits originate from. Have you also wondered why it’s so annoying to your spirit every time you come in contact with music that is secular (without God)? It is simply because music is a force that has great power over the soul. The devil is using this very same power that we donate to him every now and then to torment us on every level and every side. Every time another ignorant man yields control to the force of evil, then music becomes more available to be used for evil. And also every time a wise man yields to God and his cause, this same force becomes a great tool in God’s hand to reach out to the souls of men.

What does this tell us? It simply shows that the force of music is one that is at the disposal of every living thing both human and non human to enable us reconnect back to its source, our timeless God. Nature gives musical praise to God incessantly. We as humans ought also to give worship to God through music with a better understanding of its force. No wonder scripture says that God “inhabits the praise of His people”. Wherever you find praise, especially musical praise been directed to God, that’s a sure place to find God.

So the next time you think of music as being solely an exclusive preserve of music ministers or musicians, please think again! There is music inside of every living thing, so don’t let your own stay inside of you. Bring it out to God’s glory. The next time you find yourself in a worship gathering, wondering if you need to take part in making music to God or not since the music ministers are there doing “their job”, my friend listen closely to your heart. There is a sound that resides in your belly. Open up your mouth and let it come out for “out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water”.

And to all devoted music ministers, there is a call to minister music with this understanding and at a level of eternity. Music is not just a “now” thing, it is an eternal force. Please do not go into performing music because of a “now” desire for fame or fortune. That is the trick of the prince of this world, to make you perceive music as a temporal force to benefit you now and now alone. Music is your soul’s escape passport to eternity just as you still dwell in time. Music is your channel of expressing your heartfelt love and devotion to God. God still desires worshippers that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Be one today! Make melody to the Lord in your heart, with your mouth and in your life so that the world around you gets to know....HOW GREAT OUR GOD IS!!

WELCOME...!!

Welcome everyone to this "hotspot" for the sharing of soul food for everyone that desires to deal with music from a place of understanding, or that already does.

There is a great virtue in sharing, one that is intricately woven into our very essence as human beings. We become and gain more as we desire to share more.

So here's to the one that seeks to know more, experience more and give more through music....... Welcome!!