I'm sure there are many ways good worship set ideas. This is one I learned at a worship conference that works very well in helping people to worship our wonderful creator God. It's good to start with 'call to worship' songs. Some good songs are 'Come Let Us Worship' or 'Come, Now Is The Time To Worship'.

In the Lord's prayer, it begins by focusing on the facts that God is our Father and He is Holy. Start with songs that talk of God's attributes and greatness. Songs like 'Indescribable' or 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness' are good songs to use.

My preference, and what they also taught us in the conference, is to start with faster tempo songs, then end the set with slower more intimate songs. A fast song could be something like 'Today Is The Day'. Slower songs to end a set could be songs like 'Above All', 'Calling Out To You' or 'How Great Thou Art'. One of my all time favorite songs to end a set is 'I Love You Lord.'

To break it down... here are good worship set ideas:

• Call To Worship Songs and Songs Of God's Greatness in quicker more energetic tempos.
• Slower more intimate and personal worship songs.

What are some of your favorite worship set ideas or favorite worship songs?

Want to learn to play guitar? Once you know how, it's really quite easy to play. I just had a fun phone conversation with a woman who picked up one of our Worship Guitar Class DVD's. She was surprised how much fun it was to learn to play the guitar.

Her original intent wasto get guitar lessons for her kids, but instead she decided that it was also going to be fun for her to learn to play worship songs.

How to learn to play guitar is easiest with help. I like to begin new students with an understanding of the parts of the guitar, how to hold it, and then move into guitar chords. It's easier to concentrate on changing chords first and then adding different strumming and finger picking patterns after you can change several of the chords.

I also think it's more fun to start playing songs from the beginning. As an example, you can watch the first lesson free of our Christian Guitar Lessons. Learning to play the guitar can be the beginning of a lifetime of musical development and fun. We have lots of free videos for your to learn from and our newsletters should be helpful for you too!

The psalms were originally songs sung by writers like King David. Using music to convey the truths in the Bible is a great place to get ideas for the lyrics. If you look at our most popular worship songs, they are based on God's truths. 'How Great Thou Art' is a beautiful illustration of this. Although the song was written in an earlier century, the song is still sung today and loved in many cultures.

You can put whole sections of the Bible to music or get take some ideas and create a song around specific concepts. A while back I wrote a little song on Jeremiah 9:23-24. That verse talks about not boasting about ourselves, but boasting about our relationship with our God who exhibits lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth.

There are simple chord patterns that work well with most songs called the I, IV and V chords. You can see these in the 'Common Chord Charts' that are free with our newsletters and it's also taught in Volume Two of the Worship Guitar Class lessons. Here's the little song I wrote:

If you would like the music... just request it from the form below.

A common technique used to write songs is with using walking bass notes. It's a style of writing music for literally hundreds of years. I think of the very famous Pachelbel's Canon in D that dates back to the Baroque period in the 1700's. Pachelbel uses a repeating descending bass line throughout the piece.

'As A Deer' is a well known worship song that uses a descending bass line in much of the song. There are several ways to write and make song arrangements. In the video below you can learn the walking bass notes for a number of different keys. I've filmed a 6 minute lesson for you. This is also in one of the Video Newsletters but I thought it might be easier to find on the website to have the lesson stand on it's own, too. The video shows some walking bass notes in major keys, but it also works for minor keys.

If you would like to learn and apply many ways to write songs, you might enjoy our Guitar Music Theory course. I hope you enjoy the lesson.

The Walking Bass Note Video

Guitar Practice Tips

With a new year people often make new goals or New Year's resolutions. Maybe you have made one around becoming a better musician this year. Here are a few guitar practice tips to help.

1. Pray First
In Scripture it says to pray without ceasing. We can, and should pray about all the details of our lives. Why not ask Him for help in playing music and in keeping focused on Him.

2. Have A Goal

It's a good idea to have a goal. Do you want to learn a specific song, learn more chords, or play with quicker chord changes? It's easier to accomplish a goal if you have one. Do you want to become a more skilled worship leader? 

More Guitar Practice Tips

3. Warm up
If you've ever been at a health club a trainer usually tells you to spend the first 5 minutes warming up. This isn't a bad idea for musicians, too. There is a reason that professional musicians play scales and exercises. Any player can benefit by focusing on their technique.

A choir director warms up the voices in their choir and you can warm up by working on some chord changes or by playing guitar scales or exercises. If you are using our Christian Guitar Lessons you can also just follow the practice sessions. This is one of the guitar practice tips you shouldn't skip.

4. Isolate Sections
Instead of just playing through songs and solos... isolate the sections that are difficult for you. It may be just changing back and forth between two chords. Play it smaller sections and then play the whole song.

5. Be Consistent
Try to play your guitar every day. Even playing for 5 minutes is better than not at all. Especially when you are worshipping with great worship songs you will find this time refreshing and well worth the time.

6. Play for others
Every gift God has given us is for the benefit of others. A marvelous thing can happen with worship music. When you are worshipping God with your music, other people can experience His presence too! Plus, playing for others also gives you an aditional incentive for becoming a better musician.

Other specific things that can help includes having no nails on your left hand, for holding down chords, and remembering to relax between each chord or note.

We have a good Christian Guitar Lessons program that can be an excellent Christmas gift. And for easy song this Christmas, we are still adding to the Easy Christmas Songs For Guitar program.

In the video above a couple of the items, like the quilted place-mats, were gifts I received this year. What are some fun gift giving ideas that you have?

Would you like to learn easy to play Christmas songs for the guitar? I've asked on my Facebook page and learned that Terry, Christy, and Chris love 'O Holy Night'. Tammy and Ryan liked 'Do you hear what I hear' and 'Little drummer boy'. Chalmers suggested 'Angels We Have Heard' and I know that Christy also loves 'Mary Did You Know'. Am planning on including all of these songs plus 'It Came Upon A Midnight Clear'.

Here is the first song and excerpts of the songs already posted at the website.

Five of the songs are finished and more are coming. Since it is so close I've already posted them at the streaming video website. If you would like to get the lessons, the page is here Easy Christmas Songs For Guitar.

For the music of 'Silent Night' free, just request it from the form below.

What other songs would you like to see included? Just leave your comments below... or at Facebook.

I remember well how difficult it was to originally change to any guitar chord. In particular the 'C' chord tends to be a little tricky for new guitarists. With a bit of practice, the chords do get easier to play.

Daniel's question included help in how to transition quickly between chords. He took the recent Worship Guitar Class Newsletter Survey. Here are some tips that should help any guitar player in changing chords quickly.

Changing Chords Quickly Tips

1. Put down the bass finger first. For example, for a 'C' chord the root note is 'C'. It's better to work on placing the 3rd finger down first so you can play the bass of the chord and still have a second to get the rest of the chord down. Eventually try to place all of your fingers down at the same time.
2. Think ahead to the next chord. Think about where your fingers are moving before they actually move. This is especially true for shifts in position on the guitar. Look to the frets you are moving too before you actually shift your fingers. If there is a shift from the first position to the 7th position, your eyes should be on the 7th fret before beginning to move your fingers from the first fret.
3. Don't play with excess tension. It's much easier to move quickly when your hands are not tense. Check the fingers that you are not using to make sure they are not holding tension. It's also helpful to relax your shoulders and face which can help to relax your hands.
4. Isolate the harder chords and work on them separately. If there is a chord progression that is not coming quickly, isolate it. Play the progression extremely slowly, then little by little speed it up. You may want to play the chord progression 20, 40 or even 100 times.
5. Break it into smaller units. If it's a chord that is awkward for you to play, break it down and change to just a few of the fingers first. When that is comfortable try changing to the full chord. I show this technique in the Worship Guitar Class volume one DVD with the change from 'D' to 'G'.
6. Practice. Learning to play the guitar does take practice. Playing worship songs on the guitar is a double blessing because you can be worshiping and playing the guitar too.
7. Pray. As a Christian, we have access to the Creator of the universe and have the opportunity to request help in all of our endeavors.

God's richest blessings over your desires to learn how to play the guitar and your desires to use it for Him! With time, and His help, you should be changing chords quickly soon.

Basically, it's how you are holding the guitar. when your wrist is too bend it causes wrist pain. If you change how you are holding the guitar, it can make a significant difference regarding any pain in your hands.

Besides the wrist pain, a few people also asked for help in improving their singing voices. You can find some tips for improving your singing in the video,in addition to help for the guitar wrist pain.

For the record, you should not be experiencing any unusual pain when playing the guitar. It is common for the tips of your fingers to be a bit sore when first starting to play the guitar, but you should not have wrist or hand pain while playing. That means there is something wrong with your technique.

Guitar Wrist Pain And Other Questions - Video Newsletter

Watch the 6 minute video below to get ideas of how to eliminate guitar wrist pain. If you have not taken the survey yet, you can find it here. If one person has a question there are pretty good odds that others may have the same questions, too

These days I've been using an ErgoPlay Guitar Support.

If you would like to see the vocal mask blog post mentioned in the video, the Vocal Mask blog video is here.

This is where you can find the Vocal Warmup CD mentioned in the video. As mentioned in the video above, it's a great idea to warm up your voice before singing. This is especially true for Sunday Morning worship leaders. It takes a while for your voice to 'wake up' in the morning and vocalizing on the way to church is a great way to start the morning.

The exercises in the CD are excellent material for choirs to use too. In fact, the creator of the vocal warmup CD is a choir director and is quite accustomed to helping people get their voices in shape to sing.

And here is where to find the 'How Great Thou Art' arrangements.  

Guitar Wrist Pain

What other topics would you like to see covered in the Newsletters? I hope you don't have guitar wrist pain too, but if you do taking the simple steps outlined in the video should help.

1. The first tip for sore fingers guitar is to get an easy to play guitar. Nylon string guitars and electric guitars are much easier on your hands. It's much easier to hold down the strings.

2. With a classical or acoustic guitar, lower the action. It's the distance from the string to the actual neck.  Aim for around 1.5mm at the 1st fret and 5mm at the 12th fret of your guitar. Your fingers will not hurt as much when the action is lower.

3. If you are using a steel string acoustic, start with strings that have a lighter gauge. Lighter gauge strings can help your fingers from getting too sore.

4. Try soaking your fingers in vinegar for half a minute. Let them dry and then start practicing.

5. After you wash your hands, use rubbing alcohol on the tips of your fingers then play after they are dry.

More Sore Fingers Guitar Solutions

Click the 'Read More' for more tips...

6. Take a day off from playing. Sounds obvious, but that can help too. Just don't take too many days off.

7. One of my subscribers uses an Australian leather conditioner called 'Dubbin' that keeps your fingers both soft and tough.

8. Another subscriber used a quilter's thimble that is made of silicone. They are inexpensive and help with sore fingers guitar solutions.

9. A quick and easy tip is to put ice on your finger tips both before and after practicing. No need to buy anything at the store. Just look in your refrigerator.

10.  Another idea is to get some Alum spice, mix it with water and put it on your fingers. Dissolve some Alum in water and soak your fingertips for a few minutes. Dry and play. Repeat for a few days and the "toughness" increases. It's found in the spice section of most grocery stores.

11. One subscriber shared that he would slide his fingers up and down the strings until they hurt. He repeated this every 10 minutes on and off for three days and after that his fingers all had thick calluses.

12. Don't hold the strings down too tightly. You only need to press the string to the metal fret... you do not need to touch the wood of the fretboard. If you don't over press the strings, it should help you to avoid sore fingers guitar.

A bonus tip for avoiding painful fingertips is to build up to longer practice sessions. Start playing the guitar in short time frames and build up the time as your fingers adjust to the instrument.

There you go... 13 solutions to sore fingers guitar problems.

This video is one of the most popular and most viewed videos I've made. You may not have seen it and I thought is would be good to post it here for more people to enjoy. In the video, you learn how to play 6 different finger picking patterns with an easy song.

If you would also like to see the music, it's available underneath the free video guitar lesson.

Topics for this 8 minute Video Newsletter are:

1. Reading Music on Your Guitar - See the first 3 lessons free
2. Guitar Lesson On Walking Basses
3. Get fit in 10 Minutes a Day?
4. Survey With Free Gift
5. From You

The link to the survey, which is running, is here with details about the free product - The survey

To read the rest of this article click on the 'more' link

1. The JW Reading Music on Your Guitar is now in a wire bound format, which opens nicely on a music stand.  To see the first three video lessons free just visit our Worship Guitar Class Fan Page. Just 'Like' our page and you can watch those videos, as well as others that aren't posted anywhere else.

Watch the video above to see what the site looks like and where to find the videos. They are at the Fan Page under the lefthand tab called 'Free Videos'.

2. In the video above you can watch a little lesson on walking basses.

3. Staying in fit has always been one of my side goals. Have recently found a good site called fit10.com. Dave developed this program after hurting his back and it does not put any strain on your back. It's an intense workout for just 10 minutes a day and it what I've been using for the last several weeks. The code "blessing" gives you an additional $10 off.

4. Am running a survey which includes a free product. Click here for more info

5. Ryan's mom recently send me this picture of Ryan. He's only been playing since this February and has already performed at their church for their homeschool group. Yeah Ryan! She wrote:

"“I wanted to share with you that though Ryan just began playing in early February (using your instructional materials only) he performed at the end of year program our homeschool group has each year in June. He played and sang ‘As the Deer’ and did a fine job.”

It's wonderful to hear about students like Ryan who are learning to worship our Awesome God! One day we will all worship together!

Did you know Your body is an awesome creation? Did you know that you have tiny little flagellum in your body that only an electron microscope can see and that their little tails spin at 10 000 revolutions a minute. Apparently in the 1950's a man called Felix Wankel "invented" the rotary motor that looks exactly like the flagellum's motor, but still to this day, does not work as well as the tiny motor that spins the flagellum's tail!

Worship Him with all your heart because He loves you with all of His!

There are four topics covered...

1. He is Risen Indeed!
2. Mother's Day Coupon
3. Steaming Videos
4. Randy Mayfield
5. Personal Promise Bible Disount
6. In Closing

The song is posted here - Christ the Lord is Risen Today.

The discount code, 'mother', is good through May 9th.

Randy's Website is randymayfield.com.

The personal promise Bible code for a 5% discount is 'WELLES' and the site is here.

'Christ The Lord Is Risen Today' was one of the first songs written by Charles Wesley. He wrote it one year after his conversion to Christianity. What a huge blessing this man is to the body of Christ down through the centuries! This song was written in the 1700's and is loved as much today as when it was first written. I praise God for all His songwriters new and old that help us to celebrate our wonderful Creator God!!

Christ The Lord Is Risen Today

May the fact of Christ's resurrection bring you great joy through every day of our lives here! He Has Risen!

This is our first video format newsletter. There are four topics covered...

1. A Lessons on 'Finger Strumming'
2. Plagal Cadences
3. Piano Software Game
4. News from Friends in Japan

To see the piano program, visit WizPiano.info. It's a software game that teaches people to play the piano. It was produced by a gentleman who lifts up his work to the living God. He debated going into the ministry or into music full time.

I was so delighted to hear from the Galbreath family in Japan. They sent several pictures and described how God was merciful to their family. The pictures show that everything in the house had fallen... but the miracle is that the house is still standing and no one was injured. I found the song the kids submitted for our worship contest in 2007. It is background music for some of the pictures and some wonderful verses in Scripture, in the video. Their site is japanmin.com/

Remember to Worship Him with all of your heart, because He Loves you with all of HIS.

God Bless,

Jean