What About Guest Soloists?

This has been a tricky issue for me wherever I have served. What do you do when a sweet lady who faithfully attends and supports your church comes to you one Sunday and says, “My granddaughter will be in town next weekend, and oh, she has such a beautiful voice. It would mean so much to me if she could sing a solo in the worship service.” [Read more...]

Tracks or Live Accompaniment?

Like the last issue I discussed on soloists, this one will largely be a localized issue. So the point of this post is not to give instruction (none of them is, really) but to give points to consider. [Read more...]

What Should Soloists Wear?

The answer to this question is largely a location-based one. It all depends on the cultural norms already present in one’s church. To say that male soloists should always wear a coat and tie or a female soloist should always wear a dress isn’t going to be helpful. But this question is a dangerous one, too. It’s possible that simply asking it will cause people to raise their defenses. So I’m going to offer a rather simple way to answer this question. Then I’ll provide some things to consider. [Read more...]

Pertinent to our current discussion of soloists in worship is today’s post by Bob Kauflin on his blog Worship Matters. Bob answer’s a question on how to handle a situation with a soloist who has difficulty singing in tune, even after having one-on-one instruction/guidance from the minister of music.

Repertoire

Who chooses the repertoire a soloist is to sing? There are many ways to structure this process, all of which can serve a local church well as long as the process is implemented with intention and care. I know several large churches who are blessed with enough people resources to have a different soloist each week, with very little repetition throughout the year. [Read more...]

Before I address the first question on the use of soloists, in case you didn’t know, Lark News (from which the video I linked to yesterday is take) is a spoof news site. News stories appearing on Lark News are not real news stories, but it’s striking just how close to reality many of them are. By the way, there’s no “pitch button” on sound boards.

In yesterday’s post, we began to discuss the use of soloists within the worship ministry of the church. [Read more...]

In the world of church music, soloists have always carried out a special role in worship leadership. The role of the soloist can take on many different forms. In the Jewish tradition, as well as in many formal (as opposed to free worship) Christian denominations, a cantor is the primary worship leader apart from the rabbi or priest. In faith traditions that use a more free form of worship, soloists frequently augment the congregational and choral singing. If planned properly and carried out with great spiritual sensitivity and humility, the solo can provide a great benefit to the Kingdom by pointing worshipers to the Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have access to the Holy of Holies. [Read more...]