Live Rehearsal Example 1

This is a demonstration video, not a lecture. You’re watching Alex lead a real rehearsal with his band at his church — the principles from “Running a Rehearsal” playing out in real time. If you don’t need to watch a full rehearsal, feel free to skip ahead; but if your own rehearsals feel rough, there’s a lot to learn from seeing it done live.

What to watch for

As the rehearsal unfolds, notice how the four components and the core habits show up in practice:

• Spiritual time first. It opens with prayer — thanking God for the team, for forgiveness and freedom — before a single note of work.
• Pre-song instruction. Before each song, Alex talks through the plan: who starts (kick and guitar), the pushed chords on the choruses, the drum breakdown after the bridge, where the bass swells back in, and who calls each run-through.
• Clear, specific direction in the moment. Listen for the constant stream of small calls — “uplifter right here,” “three punches on that empty tomb,” “keep it light,” “sub on four, big room rumble,” “start without the hats so it feels like it’s changing.”
• Working out a real kink. Watch them stop to chase down a questionable chord (“something’s off on that fourth chord… will it mess everyone up if the chart says F?”) and decide together to stay on the one through the bridge accents — a live example of addressing a problem, then moving on.
• Soundcheck and vocal check. Notice the quick mix tweaks (“I couldn’t hear the bass at all”) and the vocal check where the band loops the chorus while voices get EQ’d one at a time.
• The full run-through. Toward the end they hand off song calls to Oscar and run the whole set top to bottom — scripture cues on screen, transitions, and all — exactly as it’ll happen Sunday.
• Relentless encouragement. “That was great.” “Solid first pass.” “Good job.” Catch how often affirmation is mixed in with the requests — even ending on Oscar’s homemade cheesecake in the back.

Application

• Pick one habit you saw Alex use repeatedly — the 30-second pre-song spiel, or quick mic-on corrections without stopping — and commit to using it at your next rehearsal.
• Notice how he handled the uncertain chord: he tested it, made a call, and kept moving rather than stalling. Where do you tend to get stuck instead of deciding and pressing on?
• Count, honestly, your ratio of encouragement to correction last rehearsal. How does it compare to what you just watched?