The author discusses his experience leading a church praise band after most of the original members left. He emphasizes treating all band members with respect and using positive encouragement rather than negative criticism. The author focuses on listening to suggestions from others and constantly improving his own playing. Leading by example through positivity, humility and commitment to excellence inspires other band members to improve as well.

1. Leading by example
The praise band that I play drums for fell apart a few years ago, after an incident caused 5 of
the 7 members of the band to leave the church. Myself and one singer made the decision to
remain, and with our Pastor’s help managed to cobble together a pianist and a bass player and
a few singers to come in and begin to rebuild the group. It was a wobbly first few services
(luckily the band only performs for the contemporary service once every two weeks, so we had
a little bit of time to get our act together). Eventually we added a guitarist and a few more
singers, and we are now once again on a pretty firm footing and are performing a variety of
songs for our contemporary worship service on a regular schedule.
One result of the reforming of the band is that I am now one of the elder statesmen of the
group, by default, and have a little more input into the sound of the band. I don’t take that
responsibility lightly. The previous band’s leader was controlling and often had negative things
to say about how individual members were playing or singing their parts, usually mentioned
behind someone’s back or in jest. This negative attitude caused tensions and splits between
band members, and actually had me considering leaving the group. Let me reiterate here that
negativity is a band killer. One bad negative experience is often more than enough to set a
precedent which leads down the road to an unhappy, resentful, and broken-up group.
One of the lessons I learned as a result of that experience is to treat everyone in the band with
respect, no matter their musical ability. In a church band setting, with many band members
putting in their time without being paid for it, the only attitude you should be giving them is
your gratitude for their efforts. This doesn’t mean that someone who isn’t putting in enough
effort shouldn’t be called on the carpet for it; rather they should be encouraged and talked to
face to face, and not put down and talked about behind their backs.
Another great motivator I’ve found that works for me is to be encouraging while critiquing band
mates. If the guitar lead the guitarist is playing is awful, I’ll often compliment the guitarist’s
rhythmic efforts in the same song, while mentioning that the lead really isn’t working. Often by
showing a positive, encouraging spirit, you can get down to the heart of criticism honestly and
without rancor, and lead to positive musical changes.
As a drummer who doesn’t know music theory, I use my ‘big ears’ as my old drum teacher used
to say to help me make suggestions to improve the sound of our group. For the songs that I’m
not playing on, I go out front and listen to the piano and singers while they’re playing. It doesn’t
take someone with music theory knowledge to point out when someone is flat, or missing a
part, or is too loud, or is off. It’s also easy to compliment and point out great sounding
harmonies, and the bonus here is to use positive words as a springboard to suggest harmonies
in songs without them or to suggest other improvements. During the weeks when our band
isn’t playing I go to our traditional service, which has a great choral director and choir, and I
often point out to our singers to try and mimic some of the ‘vocal gymnastics’ that our choir
performs in our practices and services. An example that the singers have heard for themselves
makes the point better than I’m able to, and even if it’s something they’re unable to perform,
the idea has been thrown out and only good can come from further experimenting.
Another thing that I think is important to mention, when discussing leading by example, is to
constantly listen to and try to hone and polish your own playing within the band. I could easily
play the same parts week in and week out, without effort; however, when I’m listening to the
original versions of the songs we perform I will sometimes hear something new that encourages

2. me to try a different approach to a song, or I’ll get a suggestion from a bandmate or have an
inkling to try a song with a different feel. Anytime that you add a little something new into a
song you have been regularly performing you add a little something special that adds to the
performance. And the other players will see my commitment to improve as a call to improve
their own performances. Our pianist often will work up little instrumental additions to the ends
of songs we play during the communion, and I love the way it adds to the mood of the moment
and I think he does a wonderful job with it. He is an inspiration to me for all the hard work he
does so naturally and without recompense, and I hope that I likewise encourage him in the
same manner.
I try to be positive, funny, and humble with the band. We’re all serving the Lord and using what
talents we have for His glory, and having fun and working hard at being a part of something
joyful is a soul-reviving endeavor that can bring peace to each of us and to all those we touch
with our music. I hope these ideas can help to improve your own interactions with others, as
these points I’ve made can be applied to many situations in life and not just in a praise band
environment. Be good to each other, love what you do and try to be a positive role model and
we can change our little part of the world, one day at a time!
Paul Viole
516-451-1572
peviole@verizon.net