band leadership, worship dynamics, tempo, collaboration
Daniel Kan
The TOP 5 Common Issues Faced by Church Drummers

By Reuel Kong (Drum Coach for Kingdom Music)

Being a drummer can be a tough task at times. At Kingdom Music, we’ve seen and heard many drummers, and understand the common struggles that many church drummers face. Our goal is to help drummers overcome these difficulties and equip them to serve the Lord and His people. Here are the Top 5 common issues that leave church drummers scratching their heads.

The TOP 5 Common Issues Faced by Church Drummers
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Worship training for our youths goes a long way

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Worship training for our youths goes a long way

God has carved out a special plan for all our youths, in the area of kingdom worship. Jesus affirms that.

Psalm 8:2 

Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

Mark 10:13-16

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 

14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 

15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Matthew 21:15-16

15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 

16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “ ‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

The Role and Struggles of the Rhythm Section of the Worship Team

The Role and Struggles of the Rhythm Section of the Worship Team

The Drummer, Percussionist and Bassist is commonly regarded as the rhythm section of the band. The role of drummer and bassist are so close and synergistic that they play the same core rhythm for fast songs and tightly synchronised for slow songs. 

The drummer sets the rhythmic DNA of the entire song. A band thinks 8 or 16 beat as a results of the drummer. The bassist’s single notes for every chord influences the entire harmonic structure and resonance of the band. Deep and great, are their combined influence over the worship team and congregation. 

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The Role & Struggles of Worship Vocalists

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The Role & Struggles of Worship Vocalists

Each and everyone of us are God’s unique masterpiece. The vocal challenges we all face individually are unique too.

Worship vocalists are either Lead or Background vocalists. Lead vocalists are the prime leader of the singers and band. The backup vocalists support and harmonize the Lead vocalists and the band. Their role is not easy to master and they often feel detached from the band because their role is largely adaptive, fitting in and filling up space.


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The Role & Common Struggles of The Music Director

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The Role & Common Struggles of The Music Director

The Music Director (or Band Leader) is the unifier, the connector, the orchestrator, the multi-achiever, multi-tasker, the teacher, the customiser, the pacifier, the entertainer, the counsellor, the arbitrator, the Trustee of great attention, the elder or, at times, the “father” of the Worship Team. He is chief musician, and also the interface between the worship leader and the rest of the singers. His job is to align his music arrangements with the worship leader’s worship songset-journey-map so that musically, spiritually, it’s one synchronised worship flow. His job accounts for 70% of the successful outcome of a worship session.

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The TOP 5 Common Issues Faced by Church Drummers

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The TOP 5 Common Issues Faced by Church Drummers

By Reuel Kong (Drum Coach for Kingdom Music)

Being a drummer can be a tough task at times. At Kingdom Music, we’ve seen and heard many drummers, and understand the common struggles that many church drummers face. Our goal is to help drummers overcome these difficulties and equip them to serve the Lord and His people. Here are the Top 5 common issues that leave church drummers scratching their heads.

Oneness before Creativity

Many worship teams get this sequence wrong. We tend to put creativity first before the Unity of purpose. That's why worship musicians can serve together yet not appreciate one another and know one another. That's also why we can experiment all we want in a worship practice for as long as we want, but if the leadership for unity is not present, the same creative mess plays out on our sunday worship as it did in rehearsal. 

Some tips to establish unity of purpose right from the start of the one and only worship prac before sunday. Another way to see it is sort of a single mindedness throughout the practice. 

Keyboardists, take on a new mindset

The piano or keyboard is known as the King of all instruments, given the sure frequency range, ability to dominate the music, roots of many musicians who study music theory, ability to easily switch to unlimited number of sounds or effects.

However, latest worship music is increasingly inclusive of other band instruments. In praise and worship, there seems to be a clear shift of focus from keyboard music to keyboard sounds. 

Here are some tips to REINVENT yourself as a keyboardist to stay fresh and relevant in your sound of worship.