That Time We Murdered the Little Drummer Boy

Let me clarify that we murdered the song Little Drummer Boy, and not an actual small child that plays a drum. That would be beyond awkward. That would be a felony.

No, I'm talking about my most botched attempt at playing a song in front of an audience, of which there are many.

It was a dark, cold December night in Wisconsin (shocking), and I was leading worship at Crosspoint Community Church in Oconomowoc. This particular worship set was a challenge. We had planned a 5 songs set, but one of the songs was actually a medley of 3 Christmas carols. Just because it's a medley and you're only playing one verse and chorus of the song, you're still basically learning the song. On top of the medley, we were also doing the Jars of Clay version of the Little Drummer Boy, which has a funky, syncopated rhythm happening. Very cool, but a little tricky and very unlike the standard version we've all heard a million times.

A few minutes before the service, I was chatting with the senior pastor, Terry about how the rehearsal went, the transitions, the amount of material there was that week, typical Christmas work load ramp up, etc. He said something to the effect of I hadn't had any major screw-ups that year, so I had a mulligan coming. Thanks. I think.

We started the service with the medley, which I considered the most challenging part of the set - three embedded songs with transitions. I think it was Holly Jolly Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock and some other hokey, Burl Ives type deal. Anyway, smooth sailing. That was followed by a worship song. Odds are 3:1 it was by Chris Tomlin.

Then the real fun started.

The drummer started the click track for Little Drummer Boy and then began playing his beat. Unfortunately, I didn't recognize it. I tried to focus on what he was playing, but it didn't even seem like his beat was following the click. "This could be a problem," I remarked to myself. Or maybe I said "oh crap." Hard to remember. I tried to fall in line on guitar, but I could not find the rhythm. I stopped playing and stopped the drummer.

I asked the drummer to try again with similar results. It was around this time I started hearing comments from the back of the room. Good times. Turns out it was the senior pastor heckling me about not having a screw up yet. Yes, hilarious. At least the congregation was in a good mood about it.

At this point I was just a bit flustered. I tried attempt number three without drums. I still could not find it. I was hearing the standard version melody and rhythm in my head, which only made things worse. However, despite my anxiety level spiking you could sense the audience pulling for us. Then someone else in the band gave it a shot. Nothing. Still more laughing and smiling and a supportive energy in the room. I can't remember how many restarts there were in what felt like seven and a half hours standing there trying get the train rolling again.

Eventually I remembered a 3 note riff in the verse that brought me back. I started the song on my own and got through verse one, line one. The crowd went wild. Okay, not wild, but they cheered and you could tell they were still rooting for us. The rest of the band fell in and we made it through the song. It was a little clunky. It didn't matter. There was much rejoicing by the band, the crew and the congregation. And the senior pastor.

A few things I took away from that night...

One, be careful about working at or over capacity. Especially in a ministry position at the busiest time of the year.

Two, no matter how bad the train wreck is, church is gonna happen. I've participated in services where the drummer had to cancel at the last second, where a singer lost her voice minutes before service, where we lost power and had to set up in the lobby with no PA system. I can be prepared for lots of things, but not everything. Trust God that it'll work out.

Three, my church family is family. And they love and support me even when it all falls apart. Maybe especially then. And because of that, what felt like a total disaster as it was happening ended up being a unique, funny, touching moment we all shared together. Pretty awesome.

Merry Christmas, all!! And if you'd like to check out Jars of Clay doing their version and not murdering it, here you go!

https://youtu.be/Mb0hAPimGrU

How (to) I Create Charts

Here's how I create charts.

1. Google the name of the song and the word "chords". Example: from the inside out chords

2. Start clicking links until you get a chart that has all the lyrics and seems to have the chords shown above the lyrics fairly close to where they should be. Do not bother looking at whether any of the chords are in the key you need or if any are correct. Some might be and more than likely, some aren't.

3. Copy and paste into any word processor, or into Planning Center as a chart.

4. Load an mp3 and start playing along. Edit all chords, and lyrics if necessary, as you go along.

I know this isn't an earth-shattering secret, but this works really well for me. I assume the chords I copied are wrong and I'll check every single one, but I'll save time because even though the chords might be wrong, most of the time they are put in the right location.

Another tip you might find useful... if as the band leader you like to do a song very close to the recording, but you modify the chord progression in the bridge, it would be helpful to communicate that to the band. Like with a note on your chart that indicates something like "follow the chord chart for this bridge even though it's different than the recording". It'll save time in the long run.

Got any other tips for creating charts? I'd love to hear them.

Let's Give the Lord a Hand!

Let me start by reminding you all that I didn't grow up in church. I grew up playing in rock bands. On stages. In bars. Where people hang out and occasionally applaud something they hear from the stage when they like it.  That's why when I first heard this phrase in church, I was, um, taken aback.

Maybe you've been there. You're onstage finishing leading a rocking, uptempo, high-energy worship song when the announcement guy takes over the transition while everyone is clapping and says "let's give the Lord a hand!" Huh?

I get where this is coming from. Truly I do. We are doing all of this for God, so let's turn all the focus on Him. I'm not saying we shouldn't do that. What I am saying is that in every other facet of life when human beings (sometimes even animals and occasionally robots) do something that looks, sounds, smells and tastes like a performance, people applaud the performance of those people when they think it's worthy. Yes, I get that the talent of those people came from God so  at church an attempt is being made to acknowledge God through those people. I'm just telling you from my own perspective, it feels so out of place. And I'm a Christian! Imagine what the poor guy that went to see Imagine Dragons the night before whose girlfriend dragged him to church Sunday morning and he decided to check out what this Jesus dude is all about thinks?

Band starts playing...

"Man, this is not at all what I thought Christian music was like. These guys are actually really good."

"Have I heard this song on the radio before? I'm not sure, but I like it!"

"Wow, this one rocks!"

Song ends and Mr. Announcements walks up... Let's give it up for the Lord!

"Wait. What? This band is called The Lord? I thought they were the church band. I'm so confused."

And people think Christians are weird.

I can't be the only one who has ever thought this, right?