When Have You Rehearsed Enough?

How do you know when you’ve rehearsed enough? Let’s say you’re two weeks away from your scheduled performance. Do you rehearse several times a day, once a day, a few times a week or do you cram at the last minute to get a song ready? Do you “eat, sleep and drink” your song or do you wait until the night before and try to figure out what to sing?

I love how God has made musicians similar in so many ways and yet so different. Everyone has his or her own “rehearsal style” – wouldn’t you agree? I mean, there are some singers who rehearse and rehearse and rehearse until they’re comfortable with that song while other singers seem to just wing it. Some need to spend time rehearsing in the auditorium they’ll be singing in and others don’t.

I have a musician friend who loves to rehearse. He won’t even consider agreeing to be put on the schedule until he has a good many rehearsals in. I have another musician friend who comes on the Sunday morning she’s to sing still trying to figure out what she will sing – two extremes but both are used by the Lord to minister through music.

So how about you? How do you know when you’ve rehearsed enough? The answer to that question is not in the number of hours you’ve spent rehearsing but in how comfortable you are with the song and how long it takes you to get there. When you rehearse you need to get to the point where you know the song well enough to let go and just sing. You need to know the words so you’re not stumbling over lyrics and forgetting them. You need to know your track well. You really need to know that introduction to the song so the sound tech doesn’t have to start the song over again because you didn’t come in at the right time. Believe me, I’ve seen that happen more than once!

As you rehearse, I want to encourage you to not make perfection your goal. Perfection paralyzes performance. We will never reach perfection this side of heaven. Strive for excellence, not perfection. Strive to improve and grow and do your best each and every time you sing. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work heartedly, as for the Lord not for men.” (ESV) Apply this verse to your preparation for singing. Rehearse, prepare and minister through music – heartedly for the Lord!

So if you’re preparing for a scheduled special music Sunday and you’re wondering if you’ve rehearsed enough, remember, perfection paralyzes performance. Strive for excellence not perfection. Rehearse until you’re comfortable with your song. Rehearse, prepare and then go sing with all of your heart for the Lord!