First, let me apologize in advance for a long post...
I'm the new worship leader for our praise team, and I could use some guidance with dealing with a vocalist. Our praise team is very small, and as such, we have a handful of vocalists who rotate on a regular basis. Unfortunately, one of our vocalists has a tendency to sing notes no one has ever head before. Her voice is quite nice when she sings on key, but sadly, that isn't often. I have tried going over her part during practice, but this is usually fruitless. She simply cannot hear the notes she needs to find her pitch. We generally have one lead vocalist with two back-up vocalists singing each service; the "back-ups" share a monitor (for now). When she sings her vocal mix is turned up so loudly she drowns out everything else. (Yes, she is really that strong.) Anything less and she cannot hear herself, thus making the off-key singing even worse. I've even received a few comments about her singing from a few members of the congregation.
She truly believes she can sing extremely well. She doesn't recognize she has a problem with pitch. She's very proud of her talent, and has repeatedly mentioned her solos during previous events under the direction of our former choral director. The biggest kicker is that she has said more than once that she has never been happier. She adores praising the Lord. Says it's where her heart lies.
Now comes Christmas Eve service. I've had in mind an arrangement for a song that requires a trio of vocalists. This just happens to be her favorite song (unbeknownst to me at the time I had chosen it). When my original choice for vocals fell through, I made the decision to turn the trio into a duet. She was very put-out at the idea, as she had assumed she'd be the third vocalist. So, against my better judgement, I asked her to TRY the third vocal part. It was slightly better than a disaster. This particular arrangement is very strong, and to be frank, having her sing the third vocal could be detrimental to the song. However, she insists that she can (and will) sing this part. Now I have another vocalist who, as far as pitch goes, could nail the part, but they're not a confident soloist, and I don't want to hurt the friendship between the two.
I'd hate to have this cause problems with our friendship too (we, along with our spouses, are close friends). I don't want to prevent her from serving, and I'm not looking for perfection, but I do believe there needs to be a certain level of expectations that ALL members of the praise team should meet. Unfortunately, she doesn't meet those expectations. I'm unsure of what to do regarding our Christmas Eve service - do I let her sing the part? Do I turn the song into a duet? Do I ask the other vocalist to sing instead? And I'm unsure of how to handle her singing overall - should she sing? Should I ask her to leave the team? What is the best way to handle this?
Thank you for letting me rant. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
I'm the new worship leader for our praise team, and I could use some guidance with dealing with a vocalist. Our praise team is very small, and as such, we have a handful of vocalists who rotate on a regular basis. Unfortunately, one of our vocalists has a tendency to sing notes no one has ever head before. Her voice is quite nice when she sings on key, but sadly, that isn't often. I have tried going over her part during practice, but this is usually fruitless. She simply cannot hear the notes she needs to find her pitch. We generally have one lead vocalist with two back-up vocalists singing each service; the "back-ups" share a monitor (for now). When she sings her vocal mix is turned up so loudly she drowns out everything else. (Yes, she is really that strong.) Anything less and she cannot hear herself, thus making the off-key singing even worse. I've even received a few comments about her singing from a few members of the congregation.
She truly believes she can sing extremely well. She doesn't recognize she has a problem with pitch. She's very proud of her talent, and has repeatedly mentioned her solos during previous events under the direction of our former choral director. The biggest kicker is that she has said more than once that she has never been happier. She adores praising the Lord. Says it's where her heart lies.
Now comes Christmas Eve service. I've had in mind an arrangement for a song that requires a trio of vocalists. This just happens to be her favorite song (unbeknownst to me at the time I had chosen it). When my original choice for vocals fell through, I made the decision to turn the trio into a duet. She was very put-out at the idea, as she had assumed she'd be the third vocalist. So, against my better judgement, I asked her to TRY the third vocal part. It was slightly better than a disaster. This particular arrangement is very strong, and to be frank, having her sing the third vocal could be detrimental to the song. However, she insists that she can (and will) sing this part. Now I have another vocalist who, as far as pitch goes, could nail the part, but they're not a confident soloist, and I don't want to hurt the friendship between the two.
I'd hate to have this cause problems with our friendship too (we, along with our spouses, are close friends). I don't want to prevent her from serving, and I'm not looking for perfection, but I do believe there needs to be a certain level of expectations that ALL members of the praise team should meet. Unfortunately, she doesn't meet those expectations. I'm unsure of what to do regarding our Christmas Eve service - do I let her sing the part? Do I turn the song into a duet? Do I ask the other vocalist to sing instead? And I'm unsure of how to handle her singing overall - should she sing? Should I ask her to leave the team? What is the best way to handle this?
Thank you for letting me rant. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
