Church Music Talks – Episode 1 – Video Interview with James Koerts

I’m excited to share with you our first interview with effective music pastors!  In this first episode, I was privileged to have James Koerts join me for a great discussion about church music ministry!

James is fun to get to know.  He is music pastor at Mikado Baptist in Macon, Ga.  He has written and arranged for numerous publishers, and runs an online music store.  He is a gracious man who is generous in passing along what God has taught him through the years.

In this episode, we talked about “rebooting” the music ministry with a music ministry kickoff, keys to starting an orchestra, and finding time to write and arrange music.  A little eclectic, but good.

So, set aside the piles of music on your desk, grab your coffee, and join us for a talk with James Koerts.

“Done is Better than Perfect.”

A productivity tip that has revolutionized my work this past year.  Many times this year, it has helped me push “send,” instead of continuously perfecting something.

Well, it’s time to use it again.

Don’t get me wrong!  The discussion with James was great!  But we did have some audio issues.  And the editing software wouldn’t cooperate.

But, I wanted you to get this on time.  So, as you to listen to the interview, please ignore the audio issues.  If you can ignore those, and focus on the content, you’ll be glad you listened!

So, thank you for your patience with our first episode.

Audio

What You will hear

In this episode, you will hear:

• James’ approach to a music ministry kickoff.
• What got him started arranging piano music.
• What are some keys to having a growing committed orchestra ministry.
• Ideas for writing for an orchestra.
• A notation software feature that will help you if you don’t know an instrument’s range.
• Whether you need to be a theory geek to be able to write music.
• How long it takes James to write a piano arrangement.
• James answer to the question, “What action can we take to lead church music with skill and authenticity?”

Let us know your thoughts

In the video, I ask for feedback on the following items (please comment below):

1. Would you be interested in knowing how to begin writing your own music in notation software.
2. Let me know what was the most helpful thought from today’s talk.
3. What you think of this format, meaning, did you enjoy doing this as a video format?

Resources mentioned:

1. James’ online sheet music store – koertsmusic.com.
2. Greg Howlett’s Master’s Series: Arranging with James Koerts – $10. This course helped push me past some misconceptions about arranging and publish my free “Sweet Hour of Prayer” piano arrangement.
3. Worship Planning Road Map. A Guide to Planning a Service that will Lead your Church to Worship God.