Soar on Wings Like Egos, 4
Soar on Wings Like Egos, 4
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5 Questions to Clip Our Ego Wings
I remember my brief stint as a trumpet player in the junior high band. Whenever multi-measure rests occurred we had to just sit there while the saxophones played something cool. (Those sax players were soooo smug…). We pretty much just amused ourselves by emptying our spit valves on each other’s shoes. Did I mention I was last chair?
Years later, playing guitar in a worship band, I still hadn’t learned to “lay out” with grace. I took offense if the worship leader told me not to play on a particular verse, or (omigosh!) a whole song. Being honked off when asked to not play revealed two things: an immature musician and an immature heart.
So the fourth question to “check our egos” is this:
Is it difficult to “lay-out” for a verse or chorus, or even a whole song, if asked?
Tweak #9 in my 52 Tweaks to a Stronger Team* ebook is “Practice the Fine Art of Laying Out.” Here’s an excerpt from that:
Challenge your players to look for opportunities to let someone else shine. Remind them that it honors each other’s gifts and talents. It also makes their playing stand out more when it’s not heard the whole time.
If your instruments and vocalists don’t understand the value of tacet, there’s a good chance they’re creating a “blob of sound.” In a most cases, your players will cease to be offended if they simply understand what’s trying to be accomplished musically. They may not like laying out. Let’s face it – it’s always more fun to play. But they understand it. And eventually they may embrace it and find places to lay-out on their own. (Yeah, the self-imposed tacet has happened, but Yeti-sightings in Florida are actually more common.)
So if I know the value of space and rest and yet still feel a little irked when asked to sit out a verse, it’s a heart issue. It’s important to ask myself, and the Holy Spirit, “why am I put-off by being asked to sit-out?” Is it an ego thing? Is it that someone else is getting the spotlight? Does it bring up memories or feelings from another event?
The issue might just go deeper than being quiet for a few bars of music. And that’s what we’re really after. If all these “ego checks” do is make us nicer team members to be around, we really haven’t accomplished much. A Dale Carnegie course could do that.
What’s really at stake here is our growth and maturity as followers of Jesus.
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How do you deal with players who get honked-off when asked to lay-out?
How do you teach rest and space to your team? Do you find that there are heart issues behind resistance?
*52 Tweaks is available for free on the homepage of WorshipTeamCoach.com
