What Is a Music Director?

Meet your guide for this course: Mike Halverson, executive creative pastor at Bloom Church in Missouri, who has raised up a team of world-class music directors — all as volunteers. Whatever your church’s size or budget, you can do the same.

What an MD actually is

A music director (MD) is someone on your band — usually an instrumentalist, sometimes even a vocalist — who makes sure all the music during the service flows together smoothly. They work closely with the worship leader to see your vision come to fruition. Hear that clearly: the vision is yours, not the MD’s. Their job is to carry it into your services, whatever those look like — Sunday morning, youth, anything.

Think of it this way: you’re the captain, the MD drives the ship. They’re your right-hand person who:

• Glues the band together and keeps everything flowing through the inevitable hiccups of rehearsals and services.
• Makes sure every part and arrangement is correct, and that everyone knows the little details of each song.
• Keeps the band hearing together and the dynamics growing or shrinking at the right time.

Does it have to be a specific instrument?

No. Bloom runs services with keys players, electric players, and bass players all serving as MDs. A few observations:

• Bass is often one of the easier positions to MD from.
• Drums can be the hardest — mostly because of the volume (though technology can help).
• Electric guitar is also tougher, because the player is already juggling pedals, delays, and lead lines.

So don’t get hung up on the instrument. Almost anyone good enough can do it.

Application

• Who on your team already functions a little like a “right-hand person” during rehearsals?
• Which instrument seats on your team would make the most natural MD position, given who plays them?