Working With Struggling Musicians

Let’s face it: if you are leading worship for any amount of time, you are going to encounter a struggling musician. There are a couple different reasons why musicians struggle in a worship setting: it can be a lack of ability, lack of effort, fear or apprehension, issues of the heart, pride, or maybe something different. In any case, it is possible to work with the musician who is struggling in order to get them to a better place. Today, we will walk through some ways that can help you work with struggling musicians.

PREPARATION

One of the best things you can do, before letting any musician on stage is develop an audition/tryout/vetting process.  Having this type of system in place can benefit your ministry in a few different ways.  Firstly, it allows you to lay out your expectations up front. Being able to talk to the musician about the style you need them to be able to play, the tones you are looking for, the amount of practice you will need them to put in on their own and whatever other expectations you have for a musician on your team up front is beneficial for both your ministry (it finds you committed players who are on board with your vision) and for the player (it lets them know of the expectations you have for them as a leader). Secondly, it gives you the opportunity to hear the musician play before allowing them on stage. You will know up front whether they have the ability to play what you need them to play or what areas they need to work on and improve, and you can talk about those before they ever set foot on the stage. Thirdly, if a musician does begin to struggle, the audition process gives you something to go back to for reminding the musician of the expectations and what is needed for your team.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Now that we’ve talked about the audition process, let’s talk about how we can work with a struggling musician to get them to the level we need them to be. The first thing that we as leaders need to be willing to do is address a struggling musician early and head on. Letting the issue go on for too long will just make the conversation more difficult for the person to receive. This is definitely not the fun part of leading worship, but if we want to be good leaders we have to be willing to be up front and honest in a loving way.

As leaders, we have to be able to determine why the musician is struggling so that we can take the appropriate responsive action.  There may be many factors that contribute to why someone struggles, and we need to be able to recognize the differences and causes.  Is it a lack of effort, lack of ability, or other circumstance?  Depending on the attitude of the musician, lack of effort can be the most difficult to address- especially if their lack of effort stems from a negative attitude or from pride. It’s a hard conversation to have, but it is a conversation that needs to take place.  I’ve found that one of the best ways to do that is by scheduling a meeting with the person at a neutral site, such as your local coffee shop, and talk through the issue.  Understanding the person and letting them talk about how they are feeling gives you an insight in to why the aren’t performing at the level you expect them to, or at the level they have performed at in the past.  Let the person know that you appreciate them, care for them, their heart for worship and serving God with their gifts, and then ask them how they are feeling about the ministry.  They may come out and admit that they are really struggling and not sure how to get past it. Giving them advice and insight can help turn things around quickly.  However, if they think everything is going well, you will have to be willing to let them know what you are seeing and hearing, so that they can be understanding of your perspective as well. The key is to have a loving conversation in which both parties can express their feelings and reach a mutual decision as to whether or not their presence on the team will continue, scale back or be terminated. If you have an audition process, now would be the time to re-communicate expectations. If the agreed upon decision was to continue or scale back on the team, you can monitor the situation as time goes on, and follow up if necessary.  If it’s decided that they are going to leave the team, offer to help them find somewhere else to serve in the church (if they want to), thank them for their time and service on the team, let them know that you harbor no ill feelings towards them, and remind them that you love them.

Next, let’s talk about a musician who is struggling because of a lack of ability. Again, the first thing to do is to sit down and have an open conversation with the person who is struggling. The thing about someone struggling because of lack of ability is if they have a positive attitude and want to get better, you can help them get to the level you need them to be. The first thing that has to be decided is if they have the potential to fill the role you are asking them to fill. Hopefully, you have an audition process in place that will help you know this up front. That’s an easier conversation to have before someone spends time on your team. But, if you decide that the person does have the potential and you are willing to help them and they are willing to improve, there are some steps you can take to help them get better.

I’m going to list some suggestions, some that I have done myself and some that I’ve heard that have worked for others. The key is to know what will work best for your team and the resources that are available to you.

 

• Make sure they are hearing the parts in the songs that you need them to play. Make sure your expectations have been made absolutely clear and they know what you are listening for. It’s possible that it’s a matter of miscommunication. They may not naturally hear the parts you want them to play so you may have to sit them down and make sure they are hearing the leads, rhythms, etc. that you are wanting them to play.
• Offer to help them get better. Maybe you have another musician in your church that plays the same instrument at the level you are looking for. Connect the two and see if the struggling musician is able to improve.
• Offer to pay for lessons. This is one that depends on the resources available to you at your church. Find an instructor who can teach in the style you are looking for and offer to pay for the lessons. Or, at least get them started and help out for a set period of time. If they see the benefit they may be willing to continue on their own.
• Use resources that are available to you for free. Take advantage of sites like thechurchcollective.com and even YouTube that are full of song tutorials and break down each instrumental part. If there isn’t a video for the song you need them to work on, teach the part yourself or have one of your other musicians learn the part and teach it to them.
• Allow the person to play at rehearsals but not at weekend services. Allowing them to play with your team will help them gain confidence and feel more comfortable playing with the rest of your team. But having them play at rehearsal and not your weekend services removes the distraction from your worship until they are ready.
• Set a time frame for you to follow up to see how things are going. If the musician is willing to put in the effort to improve the last thing you want to do is leave them hanging. If they know it’s going to be a three-month process they won’t be expecting any follow up from you before that point. But, make sure you follow up at the set time. If they put in several months of hard work to improve and get better you want to make sure you recognize their efforts. At that time they may be ready to rejoin the team or they still may need more work if they are willing to continue.

 

I have had people serve on my team who have been willing to work and improve and end up being a positive and productive part of my team. I’ve also had people who were not willing to put in the work and unfortunately were not able to continue on the team. Remember, as leaders our job is to equip people to serve in the way they have been gifted. Seeing them reach their full potential in Christ should always be our goal. I hope these suggestions will help you as you work with musicians on your team who are struggling.