Free Worship Resources Index – Posts on Worship

You’ll find plenty of free resources by instrument in the indexes listed to the right here, however, this is a list of useful free stuff for worship teams, worship leaders as well as other miscellaneous articles on the topic of worship.

Advice for worship training and musicianship

Developing a sense of timing in your worship team

What are the biggest issues facing worship teams right now?

Being one of the chosen few (or how to get to play at Christian conferences)

Dynamics; It’s a lot more than just loud or soft

Preparing spontaneity in worship

Five ways to work on your timing as a worship musician

Two things you can work on to improve your worship team’s sound

From 0 to worship band in 5 minutes

Ideas to improve band communication – video clip

Playing with emotion – video clip

How to maintain a flow of worship

What to do if there is no musical space for you

Tips for working with a band – video clip

Creating space in a worship arrangement

Empowering young people into worship – part 1part 2 and part 3

Video clip from Q&A at live worship seminar

Practical ideas on chord charts and notation

Nick Langley on Nashville Numbering – part 1 and part 2

The loudness war

Rehearsals

7 questions to help you get more out of your worship team rehearsals

How to run a worship jam session

8 tips for training younger worship musicians

Rehearsing tips for worship musicians – video clip

Nick Langley: Me, Worship and Jesus
Gabba Gabba Hey- Nick Langley on worship band rehearsals

Practical help for band rehearsals – part 1 part 2part 3part 4, part 5 and part 6

10 musicians’ practice tips

Why and how to play to a click – a practical guide for worship teams

Worship Leading

How to transition from traditional to contemporary worship

18 common worship leading mistakes and how to avoid them

I don’t need a microphone do I?

9 tips for organists: Leading worship in a traditional setting

Dealing with stage fright as a worship musician

Segueing worship songs: a list of songs that work well together in a melody

How to move seamlessly between songs

How to be excellent (without the performance mindset)

The worship leader’s prayer

Transitioning and flowing between worship songs

Worship for small groups

Advice on leading small group worship

Homegroup worship – a lifeless fire waiting to go out?

What happens when the songs are too high

A salute to the average worship leader

10 things I wish I’d known when I started leading worship – Vicky Beeching

The worship leader’s prayer – Dave Bilbrough

Ask the expert – what to say when leading worship

Sunday’s Coming – funny video clip on worship leading cliches

So you’re going to be a worship leader

How to introduce a new song

How to maintain the flow of worship 1

How to maintain the flow of worship 2

What to say when leading worship – What type are you?

Graham Kendrick on worship leading

The Ideal Worship Leader (and other myths you should stop believing)

Graham Kendrick on the leadership role of musicians other than the worship leader

Tongue tied worship leaders

Performance vs Worship: Why it matters for your church

Does worship leader = musician or can others lead worship?

Worship leaders – what do people think I do? (funny)

17 common worship leading mistakes and how to avoid them

Graham Kendrick on worship leaders and creative freedom

Leading worship or prostituting worship

Choosing Songs and Picking Keys

Preparing your worship set – a practical guide

How inclusive are the worship songs we choose and the music we make?

Is it OK for a female worship leader to ask for a lower key if that messes with the lead guitarist’s sound?

Worship songs are a bit rubbish at serving the local church

Recommended songs and hymns for a wedding

Is there science behind what makes a great worship song?

Free Lead Sheet and Piano Score: Graham Kendrick- Give me this Mountain

Congregationally friendly keys for worship songs

Master song list for small churches

Why your song list might be getting in the way of your worship

Worship song cull

The lifecycle of a worship song and why it matters for your church

Top 10 signs it’s time to cut a song

Stuart Townend, Vicky Beeching, Noel Richards and Starfield on the use of hymns in worship – video clip

Is it just me or are a lot of worship songs mediocre?

Matt Redman says he’s never heard a bad worship song. this writer would disagree

Harmonizing with the sermon – set list choices

Choosing keys for women worship leaders and small congregations

Top Ten Do’s and Don’ts: Worship Leaders

Vocal range – practical guidance for churches (part 1) and (part 2)

Graham Kendrick on lyrics, the impact of the pop song in worship and choosing songs by theme

Getting out of song selection ruts

Suitable worship songs for a funeral

Our pastor wants more hymns supported by scripture, less choruses, masculine music, no impromptu songs – what should we do?

Ask the Expert: Warring musicians and choice of keys for worship songs

Ask the Expert: Is there a master list of worship songs?

The feminisation of worship songs

The Mandy Test – romantic lyrics in worship songs

Secrets of the Pop Song: The Ballad

Secrets of the Pop Song: The Breakthrough Single

How to discern a good worship song – 3 things to consider

What makes a good worship song?

Vocal range – engaging your community

Where to go to find new worship songs

The best of 2012′s new worship songs from the summer festivals

Has worship music lost its soul?

“Christians don’t tell lies – they just go to church and sing them”

The story behind the new Graham Kendrick song – Sailor’s Song

When playing just the hits is the right thing to do

Song Selection: Facedown vs Dancing Generation

Graham Kendrick on co-writing worship songs

Worship song selection

Psalms – the missing jewel of the worshipping church? Guest post by Graham Kendrick

Administration and service planning

28 Do’s and Dont’s of Christmas service planning

Why Advent?

Can we change or make a new arrangement to someone else’s song? Guest post from CCLI

Ask the Expert: How does CCLI work when musicians use tablets for chord charts rather than paper versions?

Ask the Expert-Is it OK to record sung vocals for practice purposes under the CCLI Copyright License?

Ask the Expert: What are the copyright implications of adapting secular songs for worship?

The worship rota – how to organise musicians

Ask the Expert: Should musicians get paid for playing at weddings?

Ask the expert – is it OK to make a worship song our own or should we follow the original recording?

Differences between playing in a performance band and a worship band

I am the vicar I am

Pastoral and worship team issues

Too much too young? The issue of age in modern worship

Ask the expert: Is it possible to receive too much direction from your church leadership?

Tips to improve your worship team

How do you give kind but honest feedback to musicians who just aren’t up to the job?

Ask the Expert: Our song leader has trouble with counting and rhythm

Worship team auditions – loads of helpful material

Don’t believe your own hype

Six ideas for developing character in your worship team and encouraging their work

Six ideas for working with your team outside of Sunday mornings

Building and pastoring our worship teams – Aaron Keyes

Pastoring a worship team

Are you expected to deliver 52 home runs a year?

How to transform your worship team’s musicianship

Forget excellence in worship

5 practical ideas for working with your youth band

From train wreck to nervous wreck

How do you evaluate a worship service?

5 lessons younger worship musicians can learn from older members

Why are we posting “negative” questions about worship musicians?

Andy’s thoughts on the critical feedback of musicians debate

How to offer artists criticism without being a jerk

What would a “professional worship consultant” make of your services?

In defense of the role of the professional worship consultant – the curse of the calling

Building for God’s glory – constructing worship ministry that lasts

Transitioning your church’s corporate worship

Should people going through a divorce should be allowed on a worship team?

Reflections on worship

Re-defining worship so it equals more than music

Separating song from genre

Does your worship prepare people to die?

A letter to the worship music patriarchs

Why we worship – guest post by Dave Bilbrough (writer of Abba Father)

Musicianship – is it right to try to hone our craft as worship musicians?

The idolatry of youth culture in worship – video clip

Is the heart all that matters? Reconnecting our worship

True worship (and it’s nothing to do with music!)

What is worship? A Catholic perspective part 1 and part 2

Is modern worship sort of like a cocaine rush?

Turn up the turmeric – Is worship the latest thing to be globalized?

Imported vs Indigenous worship

Andy Flanagan on worship music culture

How do you evaluate a worship service?

The difference between hymns and choruses – funny

Bono on gospel music, the blues and the Lord’s Prayer

Food for thought – Andy Flanagan on contemporary worship culture

Will the future be more about musical style and less about lyrical content?

Interview on worship with Graham Kendrick

BBC Radio 1 DJ talks up church

Brian McLaren on worship songs

What is worship?

Bored with contemporary worship?

A seasonal review of our spiritual lives

Inward looking or inside out?

A theology of worship – stumbling toward mystery

Graham Kendrick on modern worship

Worship resources

Free chapter from new book on Luke – perfect for home groups and personal devotionals

Free Easter themed fractal images

Parkour worship – video clip

The Ultimate Worship Resource Guide

Free MP3 and Powerpoint for intercession

Free resource: a meditation to help us “enter in” and release our worries to God

Worship resource: Names of God

Free MP3 – Angel Wave ambient instrumental track

Free worship backgrounds

Free discussion resource for housegroups from Seth Godin

Walking Bible video clip – explore the Bible with the help of music

Walking Bible video clip

Baby steps: Making changes to worship (guest post by Dan Macaulay)

Broken table and wounded eucharistic prayer – Worship Ideas

Communion by numbers – worship idea

Parkour worship – great Audio/Video clip with testimony

EasyProjector – free musicians chord chart software

Christmas and Easter resources

Free Advent Meditation Resource

Free Christmas worship resources

Worship Backing Band Easter Songs List

New Christmas Song and Video: Greg Jong- Who Needs a Saviour for Christmas

TV and film themed Christmas service ideas

Free worship resource – Advent Meditation

Beautiful Christmas images – free

Creative idea for an Easter service

The prodigal confectioner – children’s talk using chocolate brands

Chocolate Christmas – nativity talk

Looking for Christmas Songs?

New Christmas song and video

Advent liturgy

Merry Xmas – Are we really taking the Christ out of Christmas?

A magi-cal approach to worship- a reflection for epiphany

Contemporary nativity

Devotionals

The Must-Haves Devotional Series:

Advent Worship Team Devotional 1: The reality of the Nativity

Advent Worship Team Devotional 2: Messy People/Messy Faith

Advent Worship Team Devotional 3: An Unsafe God

Advent Worship Team Devotional 4: God entered our mess

Small Churches

No Musicians? No Problem! New Split track video backing tracks

Three truths about small church worship

Top 10 signs you lead a smaller church worship ministry

Dealing with the challenges of leading worship in a small church

Under resourced, under staffed and playing songs that looked dated 15 years ago

The good (and bad) news about small church worship ministry

Homegroup worship -a lifeless fire about to go out?

All Age / Spontaneous / Alternative Worship

How to do ‘All Age’ worship really well

Free Book download: Dan Wilt-Worship White Noise

15 ideas for Worship without a Band

How to move a church from traditional to contemporary worship styles

Graham Kendrick’s guide to Psalm surfing

Graham Kendrick on spontaneous worship: Part 2-Praises from the belly of a whale

Advice from Graham Kendrick on spontaneous improvisation in worship

Alternatives to guitar led contemporary worship

Developing creative worship – just how interactive are we?

Embracing worship 2.0 – a culture of participation

Jonny Baker on the renewal of worship – free podcast

Reflections on liturgy, the emerging church and charismatic worship

Graham Kendrick on Psalm Surfing – Audio/Video and his how-to guide

Read the lyrics first

The gathering of believers vs Open mic night

What on earth is contemporary worship anyway?

Has modern worship become corrupt? Guest post by Kim Gentes

Let the church lead worship, not worship leaders

How would Jesus lead worship?

Hey man slow down! A creative journey with worship

Instead of leading worship from the front, start from along side your congregation

Arrangements, charts and other admin

A practical, how-to guide to arranging a song

Adding notation to song charts

Developing a worship arrangement

Practical ideas on chord charts and notation

The ultimate worship song arrangement – funny

Five ways in which a schedule helps develop your worship team

How the digital age is changing our minds – what does this mean for worship?

Backgrounds behind song words – yes or no?

Opinions and reflections on worship

The Worship Wars Series – our most popular series of the year

  • Part 1 Introduction
  • Part 2 The Inner Struggle
  • Part 3 Ending the Worship War without a truce
  • Part 4 It might be time to move away from tradition
  • Part 5 Having a Missionary Mindset
  • Part 6 Do We Love Our Traditions More Than We Love People?
  • Part 7 Unified Worship – Breaking Down the Barriers of Age and Ethnicity
  • Part 8 Swindoll Weighs In
  • Part 9 Wrapping Up
  • Part 10 Should churches offer differing styles of worship music?
The transitioning worship series

Miscellaneous Articles

Ask the Expert: Starting a worship band from scratch

Why honesty is a vital part of creativity in Worship

Anatomy of songs: a contemporary worship version- Funny

Oceans:Lyrics for the persecuted Church

40 years of church music resources – great infographic and free download

A history of worship music from old Testament to rock n roll

Wedding function bands – can you really pull it off?

How to get a publisher to listen to your demo

Harnessing creativity with a little help from Bob Dylan

Keeping it simple

Mosques, churches and sacred spaces

How are music lessons approached in your church? Is the building used to teach?

Nick Langley’s discovery of Jesus, worship and more – part 1, part 2, part 3 – helpful tips here for worship teams

How can the older generation attract the younger generation to church?

X-Factor worship? Honour thy mentor.

Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts: Congregations

Lyrics and story telling – guest post by Hillsong’s Mia Fieldes

Worship and NLP – why we are drawn back to the familiar

Why men hate going to church

Musicademy Worship Instructional & Backing Track DVDs

What do all the song section abbreviations mean in Worship Backing Band?

Worship Backing band 4- New DVD now Available

Worship Backing Band – Musicians Practice Tracks – new DVD launched

Worship Backing Band for Churches & Small Groups – new DVD launched

Worship Backing Band DVD Volume 3 Now Available

Bundle Pack Discounts for Worship Backing Band DVDs

Free Backing Track to Everlasting God – from the Musicians Practice Tracks DVD

What’s the difference between the two backing track DVDs?

Worship Backing Band: Video Worship Split Track Backing Tracks- New Downloads

Worship Backing Band: New Video Worship Split Track Backing Tracks

Musicademy Worship Backing Band MultiTrack

13 new Worship Backing Band MultiTracks and Super Chord Charts

The story behind the new MultiTrack backing tracks

Under the Hood: Our recent arrangements on Worship Backing Band

The Worship Backing Band MultiTrack Player

Why Worship Backing Band Multitrack is mono rather than stereo

Using foot pedals with the Worship Backing Band MultiTrack Player

Are you missing musicians in worship? Here’s the solution