Worship pastors, vocal warmups should be a part of your daily schedule – particularly on days that you are leading. I’m not talking about warming up by singing the songs you’ll be doing, I mean actual formal old-school vocal warmups – scales, skips, “mah meh mee moh moo” – that sort of stuff. Here’s why:
They work out your entire range – many worship pastors have underdeveloped lower ranges, and over time daily warmups will build that up;
They work on breath support, as well as all of the various muscles that you need to have solid vocal control – doing only songs is like trying to get in shape by only lifting weights. You’ll have decent muscles, but you’ll be out of breath after running 100 feet;
They help your pitch – a lot. I have seen a clear and noticeable difference in pitch stability between vocalists who do warmups and those who do not;
It protects your voice by making it less likely that you’ll strain it – it’s like stretching before a run.
Long story short, it’s part of your job. And it’s good for you. Do ‘em everyday!
Worship Pastors need vocal warmups as a daily discipline.
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I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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