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Category Archives: Newsletters

Newsletter 3rd August 2010

By Marie Page | August 3, 2010

Playing by ear part deux, chord cheats in F & embracing worship 2.0

Here’s a quick re-cap from last week in case you missed the newsletter:

Lyrics and storytelling – guest post from Hillsong’s Mia Fieldes
Playing by ear – part one
Recommended acoustic guitars for worship leading

And new on the blog in the last few days is:
Ask the expert – easy guitar chords in the key of F
Here’s a few hints, cheats and tips for playing in the tricky key of F. There’s also lots of links to other helpful posts on chord substitutions.
Embracing worship 2.0 – an architecture of participation
Another guest post from Jonny Baker with sharing some participative service ideas.
Playing by ear part 2 – explaining Nashville Numbering
Following Andy’s post on learning how to play by ear we had some really intelligent comments. Here’s the second part to the post.
Your feedback on our new webstore design
Thanks so much for your comments on the screenshot we posted on an idea for our new webstore. We’ve taken those on board and come up with something else – see what you think.
Worship band skills workshop – free video clip
As well as all our online and DVD instruction we also do live band skills training for churches. Here’s a clip to watch the progress of one worship team during one workshop.

Thanks for reading

Andy and Marie at Musicademy

P.S. Spread the news. If you enjoy reading this and have a friend who might also benefit from it, please forward it on.
Get a free, privacy-protected subscription by clicking here.

Don’t forget, if you are on Facebook you can get Musicademy updates direct to your Wall. We’ve had loads of new video clips and links there recently. Do take a look – there’s additional stuff there that doesn’t appear on our regular website.

Posted in Newsletters | Tagged Musicademy, news, newsletter, worship music | Leave a comment

Newsletter – 19 July 2010

By Marie Page | July 19, 2010

Learn to play by ear, recommended acoustic guitars for worship leading plus Hillsongs guest post

As usual we’ve had some interesting comments on last weeks’ articles. Click through to read:

Finding musical space for keyboard players

Video clip – tips for acoustic guitar players

Worship team auditions – a set of free resources

Ask the Expert – warring musicians & choices of keys for songs

We’ve also now developed quite a comprehensive list of songs suitable for a funeral. This is a great set of comments and worth bookmarking for future use.

New to the blog in the last few days are:

Our new look webstore – we’d love your comments on a proposed design

We’ve decided its time to re-work our webstore integrating a lot more functionality and making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for. As part of this we are redesigning the home page with a new look. One design that we’re working on at the moment is quite different and we’re not quite sure what our different customer audiences will make of it. So we thought we’d ask you! Please do write any thoughts and feedback in the comment box – we don’t mind if you don’t like it – please just let us know.

Lyrics and storytelling – guest post from Hillsong’s Mia Fieldes

This is a great article on the art of writing worship lyrics. Mia also shares the very moving story behind the hymn “It is well with my soul”.

Playing by ear – the how-to guide

Andy writes on the science behind playing by ear. It includes some helpful music theory and will give you the building blocks for working out which chords to expect in a given key.

Ask the Expert – recommended acoustic guitars for worship leading

Which guitar would you recommend as best for leading worship? Andy puts some ideas together and a few readers have also already commented – do add your thoughts to the discussion. Read More »

Posted in Newsletters | Tagged newsletter | Leave a comment

Newsletter 8 July 2010

By Marie Page | July 8, 2010

Acoustic guitar video tips, warring musicians & resources to run a worship audition

As usual there have been several helpful comments on last weeks’ posts. You can read them in full by clicking through:

17 common worship leading mistakes & how to avoid them
Low wattage valve amps & small speaker combo – recommendations
Renewal of worship – podcast
Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts – Sound Techs
And the “Buy one, get one Free” song learner coupon is still valid

This week there’s a little something for everyone:

Finding musical space for keyboard players
What happens when the band is so busy that there is just not much space for you. Some practical ideas for keys players.

Video clip – tips for acoustic guitar players
Here’s a live clip from a recent seminar where Andy shares some tips for guitarists.

Worship team auditions – a set of free resources
Whilst not all churches are in the fortunate position of having so many musicians that they need to audition, some are and here is a helpful set of resources and reflections from Kim Gentes to help you in that process.

Ask the Expert – Warring musicians & choices of keys for songs
Some practical help for a church struggling with musicians wanting to play in different keys to those the singers are comfortable with. Andy also gives some general advice pitching songs to make them singable.

Thanks for reading

Andy and Marie at Musicademy

P.S. Spread the news. If you enjoy reading this and have a friend who might also benefit from it, please forward it on.
Get a free, privacy-protected subscription by clicking here.

Posted in Newsletters | Tagged news, newsletter | Leave a comment

Newsletter – 30 June 2010

By Marie Page | June 30, 2010

Worship mistakes, expert advice, free coupon plus Do’s & Don’ts for Sound Techs

Quite a mixed bag of posts this week – the introductions below summarise them pretty well so do click through to have a read. Its also worth re-reading the post on chord chart notation systems as there have been a number of helpful comments and suggestions.

17 common worship leading mistakes & how to avoid them
Too many new songs, technical problems, poor dynamics, pitching songs too high? Here’s our list of 17 common mistakes worship leaders make together with some avoidance strategies.

Ask the Expert – low wattage amps & small speaker combo
We’ve been running some popular posts recently about guitar gear. Here’s one worship guitarist’s story and Andy’s advice on purchasing a low wattage and small speaker combo.

Free coupon when you buy one of our song learner lessons
Snuck in at the bottom of this post is a “buy one get one free” coupon for our guitar song learner lessons – you have 21 worship and over 60 rock & pop songs to choose from. The post is actually an explanation of what our Song Learners are trying to achieve. A great product but sometimes misunderstood. Click through to find out more.

Jonny Baker on the renewal of worship – free podcast
Jonny’s previous posts for us have been well received. Here’s a free podcast covering:

worship as related to the local culture/contex
the role of creativity and the imagination
the concept that worship is the work of the people
the need for leaders to take risks in the area of worship

Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts – Sound men/women
More top tips from Tim Bowdler, this time guidance for the tech team.

Guitar practice regime
Sorry – the link to this post on last week’s newsletter didn’t work. Here is our post giving advice on practice regimes.

Thanks for reading

Andy and Marie at Musicademy

P.S. Spread the news. If you enjoy reading this and have a friend who might also benefit from it, please forward it on.
Get a free, privacy-protected subscription by clicking here.

Don’t forget, if you are on Facebook you can get Musicademy updates direct to your Wall. We’ve had loads of new video clips and links there recently. Do take a look.

Posted in Newsletters | Leave a comment

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Category Archives: Newsletters

Newsletter – 25 August 2010

Free stuff for musicians, Musicademy live, interview with Aaron Keyes

Newsletter 3rd August 2010

Playing by ear part deux, chord cheats in F & embracing worship 2.0

Newsletter – 19 July 2010

Learn to play by ear, recommended acoustic guitars for worship leading plus Hillsongs guest post

Newsletter 8 July 2010

Acoustic guitar video tips, warring musicians & resources to run a worship audition

Newsletter – 30 June 2010

Worship mistakes, expert advice, free coupon plus Do’s & Don’ts for Sound Techs

Suggestions for You

Free resources – index

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