This is post #2 from a short series on practicing which was originally inspired by this post.

For this series I’ve asked 4 members from our worship teams to write about their own personal practice strategies they use to help them prepare for Sundays. This is going to be some helpful stuff for worship leaders and musicians alike.

enjoy!

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Tiffany Anderson - vocalist

Occupation: Student (Teaching)

Years On Worship Team: 7 and a half-ish

Favourite Band: Coldplay (until Christmas music kicked in)

On my most organized of weeks I like to create a playlist on iTunes of the songs from planning center, because that way I can put them on repeat and whether I’m focusing on them directly or they’re in the background I’m becoming familiar with the parts.

At least once during the week I sit down and sing through each song a couple times, trying to listen to the different harmonies (and the melody) to find a comfortable part (and a backup if there’s another vocalist).

It’s when songs are in a different key that the challenge appears!  But, like you said in your blog, by practicing we can adapt easier to last minute changes because we have a more solid foundation than we otherwise would.

I think that’s basically it!  Nothing too fancy, just listening to songs over and over and singing to the parts, trying to pick out different ones or add in a new one I don’t hear being sung.  I don’t do this every week, even though I should, I always feel more prepared when I have gone through this routine.

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How about you? What are some of the things you do in your practice time? Share your ideas.