Musian's Training

We at the House of His Presence Pittsburgh have begun gathering musicians for training in Prophetic Worship and Warfare on the Fourth Friday of every month. Actually, I need to clarify, for all who might read this, that we are not using the term "training" in the most classical way. For new musicians, we hope to train and encourage in any way we can, but for seasoned worship leaders, the training comes more in modeling prophetic worship.

It is NOT our interest here to steal musicians from churches, or to purposely cause discontent. We ARE here to train and empower musicians in their personal and corporate worship; to encourage musicians and songwriters who are at every level of playing and skill, and to expose worship people to prophetic worship and the gifts they have not discovered yet, or to build them up in the gifts that they have already recognized. We hope to incorporate and welcome a plethora of musical styles and cultures, and to allow songwriters to bring their songs, in whatever state, into a safe atmosphere of cooperation and creativity.

Basic Direction for the Sessions

(Start with Dinner together)

One of our primary objectives (which will be listed further down the page), is to provide a place of safe fellowship for Church/Kingdom musicians. In that vein, we are planning to begin each meeting with a fellowship meal together at 6:30pm. It will always be a simple meal that the regular attenders will supply. If you're planning to come and would like to bring something, especially if you are on a restricted diet or have special nutritional requirements, you may bring something that you can eat, but it's not necessary if you are willing to "take pot luck." I'm sure the meals will be simple and made for a group, so you're welcome to share. If you are in the habit of eating earlier and/or with your family or are fasting, the please consider coming anyway, have something to drink or desert and share in this time of fellowship.

(Basic format of the session)

Then, at least for a season, the format for the night will be fairly simple. The core group of regulars will act as the "house band" and begin playing a few songs. No matter who is playing, when the songs are progressing, the atmosphere will be one of worship, and we prayerfully expect that the majority of the time, musicians, whether on stage or off will be engaged in worship and intercession. The hard part to envision for most of us will be the fact that there will be "down time" in the worship as people come to/ or leave the stage and musical details are being discussed. It will be easy for us to get distracted at that point, but if we all stay engaged, those time will certainly be ones of mentoring and training. As musicians are welcomed to sit in with the house band, the new musician is encouraged to have a song in mind to "call." (During a normal open stage jam at a bar or club, the musician who is being added is often expected to "call" the song, recognizing that the house band generally knows the majority of the "standard songs" for that style.)

(Choosing/Sharing music)

For our purposes, and to further the objectives (still to be stated) if you are coming to join in with us, please consider bringing a new or favorite song to share. Click HERE for a list of songs (with composer noted for clarification) that we have in our library. If your song doesn't appear there, (or you are bringing a song you have written to try out with a band), please bring 5 copies of the lead sheet to hand out to the house band so that we can play freely with you. *Percussionists/Drummers- we know you don't generally play by music, so if you have a specific lead sheet to bring, that's fine, but if you don't, you can choose one of our songs, leave it up to the current leader to pick one, or call a "free jam in a certain style" where we can cut loose and jam freely, while practicing letting the instruments prophesy and singing prophetically over the music.

(Song by song leadership)

It will be up to the new musician generally, whether they want to take the lead at that point and give some brief directions about the song (remember, it's not a performance, and this has not become your personal professional band, so let God draw the music together as much as possible), but as the song starts, if it is not right, don't be afraid to stop it and give it more specific direction. This time is for training and so stopping and restarting are not necessarily bad actions. If you don't feel comfortable leading, the acting band leader will help get things moving, but feel free to work with the leader to shape the music.

(Thoughts about Prophetic Worship)

Because this is all about training and understanding prophetic worship, please do not expect each song to last it's usual 3.2 minutes and be done. One of the key elements of prophetic worship is letting the song flow so that God can interact with the musicians, the congregation, and the song. So, unlike most generally formatted worship services, it is good, and even excellent to play the song through several times, to take time in the midst of the song to allow people to play or sing prophetically, and to "loop" on one section of the song as a method of meditation over a word or group of words. In the world, the idea behind "soloing" is to show off. Playing prophetically has similar expression, but with reasons that are worlds apart. Each instrument, as well as each musician, has been "branded" (for lack of a better term) with a certain characteristic/calling (if you will). In the hands of a believer, we know that God will prophesy through an instrument. To a religious person, or to a non-believer, this could sound simply like someone soloing, but playing and listening with the eyes and ears of the Spirit of God, we know that from a right heart will come more than just the music. When given the freedom and the time, God will often speak to people in the congregation or minister to people in the congregation as an instrument is given room to speak.

In one African nation, for example, in the palace of the king of that nation was a drum. It was called the talking drum, and as the king would speak, a trained drummer would play out the communication of the king. A second station was placed at the boundary of the sound, and someone would interpret what was being played, and often relay it again for a second distance. In this way, the king would speak through the drum.

In the same kind of way, Our KING, can speak through our drums, or flutes, or guitars, or any other instrument he chooses, and we choose to let him. On the other hand, if you are coming to simply solo and show off your skills, you may not be welcomed to play a second time. This is not about showing off, but about letting God speak through us and to us.

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12 Initial Objectives

1. Fellowship- at least a meal before we begin to play, but much more than that.	2. Musician Training- Singers AND Instrumentalists- Singers ARE instrumentalists, but to be clear, you don't have to play an instrument to come and participate!
3. Encouraging Prophetic Flow- in Prophetic Worship, the song is merely a starting place, and often is the best way of helping the congregation to engage with the musicians. BUT it is vital that the song does not become he end in itself. God is always speaking to His children. As we learn to listen and follow THE Spirit's leading, songs extend and change and people often "interrupt" songs at convenient breaks to pray or share what God is saying. At that point, the worship leader and the band have the opportunity to sing/pray "into" what God is speaking in song- often "the Song of the Lord" (prophetic song that is many times written on the spot).	4. Building Confidence & Skills- players and singers at all levels are welcome to share in this training. It's about growing, not showing off.
5. Sharing Music- Each stream of church life has different musicians, theologians, teachers, and leaders. We hope to learn new music and share in what is going on in any congregation's musical life.	6. Learning Other Musical Styles- No church (or country or nationality) has it all, and God has given music to all parts of the earth for a reason. There is no "EVIL" music on it's own, but while music can be co-opted, God wants it back, and we intend to encourage a great deal of stretching musically.
7. Songwriter’s Workshop- We want to provide a safe and creative place to develop songs and song writers.	8. Developing (Worship) Leadership Skills- Not only worship leaders, but leadership skills in any aspect of Christian life, as well as leadership from the place of following. God does not only speak to leaders (worship or otherwise) and we want to share in the work with everyone who is interested.
9. Music Theory Tutoring/Mentoring- you don't need to know your altered dominant from your appogiatura to come. There are already several music teachers involved who can help you understand what you might want/need to know to grow and improve your skills. And likely, we can learn from you too!	10, Networking Musicians/Cross Pollenization- The House of His Presence Pittsburgh is not ever meant to be a place of being closed off or owned by any particular church/denomination/pastor, but is a place of unity. We don't want to steal musicians, but be a place where musicians can come, learn, fellowship together, and then take what they have experienced back to their own places of worship to share in the Pittsburgh experience of worship and Revival.
11. Sound Board Training - I feel that this is important for musicians to understand. Not only will it allow all of us to work together and share in the work load, but it also helps in understanding that when a musician on stage doesn't get exactly what he/she wants, there is often a good reason. Once you have walked in the sound tech's shoes, it's easier to understand and have grace!	12. Releasing Musicians To Freedom- Churches are not always so good at allowing musicians to express what God is putting inside of them, but we intend to release all into freedom, as long as your personal freedom doesn't destroy what God is doing or get in the way of others. It's about working together in real unity.

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