We’ve all been in church and witnessed a major worship leading gaffe – the band all starting in different keys or the drummer sounding like he’s falling down the stairs.

Here are 18 common mistakes that worship leaders make together with some suggestions for how to avoid them:

1. Including too many new songs in the set

Your congregation is there to worship – most will find it difficult to do so if they spend most of the time learning your latest masterpieces Vary your set list to include a variety of older, recently introduced and brand new songs and be ready to make changes on the fly if you sense your congregation is becoming weary.

2. Pitching the songs too high

Remember that a comfortable range for a woman is about five semitones lower than a man. Change the key down to avoid going above top D particularly if you are playing in a small church situation.

3. Clunky moving from song to song.

Playing a song once its underway is fairly straightforward so make sure you concentrate on rehearsing how to start and end a song. Practising a seamless flow from one song to the next is worthwhile and focus on. It will help if both are in the same key with a similar groove and if you are using music, make sure the sheets are side by side on your music stand.

4. Poor band dynamics – conflicting rhythms, one instrument speeding up/slowing down, vocalists overwhelming the sound with too many ad libs or vibrato

Exercise leadership in directing your singers clearly and if necessary get them some vocals training. Get them to listen to each others’ parts and possibly film or record a service to help with some constructive criticism.

5. Lack of leadership

Without clear guidance from the worship leader its difficult for the band to know what they are meant to do, let alone the congregation. Give a good clear brief in practice and use vocal cues and body language to communicate during the set.

6. Overly complex vocals Congregations get easily confused when the lead vocalist slips into harmonies, trills and ad libs. Simple clear melody is always the easiest to follow. Leave the harmonies for the backing vocalists.

7. Poor phrasing and blending by vocalists

Make sure that all your singers are phrasing each "musical sentence" in the same way. It can help to have one backing vocalist leading the others so that everyone finishes their words at the same time. In the studio, singers are often asked not to finish the last consonant in a line so that the ending doesn’t sound jagged.

8. Wrong keys or wrong capo positions

Make sure all the band are playing in the same key. Issue your set list in advance with instructions for keys. And if you change your mind, make sure that everyone knows.

9. Tuning – are all your instruments in tune and are they staying in tune throughout the set?

Even the right notes out of tune sound far worse than the wrong notes in tune so buy yourself a decent tuner like the Boss TU2 – cheap tuners can be so frustrating

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