What the Music Director Does

This is the nitty-gritty: what the MD actually does across four phases.

Before rehearsal

• Check Planning Center for the worship leader’s notes and arrangement changes.
• Personal practice — the MD is not exempt; if anything they practice more.
• Watch the transition videos — Mike records himself walking the band through transitions (song 2 → song 3, where interludes sit, where a spontaneous moment could open up).
• Check the MD notes (Mike has a template) — a backup map of transitions and arrangements.
• Communicate with the worship leader about any last changes.

Worship leader: give your team the tools they need with the time they need to succeed. Mike schedules sets months ahead with notes and resources already loaded. Get ahead once, then stay ahead one week at a time.

During rehearsal

• Run the MD checklist — tracks on, mic set, everything ready. Start on time (Bloom starts 7:00, cuts the goofing-off at 7:30 unless the Holy Spirit is moving).
• Start the sound check — yes, the MD, not the audio engineer. The MD asks the engineer if they’re ready, then builds the mix one piece at a time:
  • Drums first — kick, snare, toms, then have the drummer play a simple groove so everyone mixes drums as a whole, not one mic at a time.
  • Add bass, then electric (a lead line on top), then keys — until the whole band is playing and both the engineer and everyone’s in-ears have a full mix.
  • Often the band jams a simple progression (a 5–6–4–1) for ~5 minutes, then drops into a song. It’s creative, fun, and gets everyone’s ears right.
• Focus and listen — are parts correct? Is a guitar line clashing with the piano? Is the piano sitting too low and fighting the bass? Correct as needed, and be vocal — you can’t fix what you don’t say out loud.
• Be ready for anything — some of the best worship happens when rehearsal turns spontaneous.
• Let the MD make mistakes. Give real authority; let them make calls you might disagree with, then coach later. Publicly handing over that authority is often the single biggest unlock for an MD.
• Encourage team members — specific, in-the-moment encouragement.

After rehearsal

• Connect with the team — first to encourage, first to correct (“you seemed off tonight, everything okay?”).
• Give feedback to musicians and vocalists.
• Check in with the worship leader (“I’d like to bring that big bridge down on Sunday”).
• MD checklist — shut everything down.

A rule of thumb: two encouragements and two pieces of feedback every time the band plays, and you’ll have musical excellence in a few years — slow, drip-by-drip growth. Bonus tip: record rehearsal and send the MP3 (with personal notes) so people can hear themselves and fix things before Sunday.

On service day

• Be prayed up and ready in heart.
• Be early, run the MD checklist (tracks, routing, any changes).
• Sound check, then correct anything flagged from rehearsal.
• Run the transitions — videos, speakers, the flow from salvation call into the benediction.
• Adapt to senior-leadership changes — if the pastor swaps a song, the MD communicates it to the whole band.
• Evaluate between services and keep encouraging.
• Final MD checklist at the end.

The MD sits in the director’s chair with the mic — the frontline when something changes mid-service or someone walks on unplanned, keeping everyone on the same page.

Application

• Build your own MD checklist for before / during / after / service day.
• Try the build-the-mix-one-instrument-at-a-time sound check at your next rehearsal.