One Click Can Change Your Life: How To Implement a Click Track


Worship Leader: "Hey, I need a drummer on this weekend. Are you available?"

You: "Yes! Do you have a click track that you normally use? Or do I need to bring it?"

Worship Leader: "Oh, we don't use a click."

What are you supposed to do now? How do you use a click track when the band isn't used to it?

Let's start with logistics.

I have found that most bands that don't play with a click usually don't have an in-ear monitor system. So, if your band plays with wedges (speakers on the floor pointed towards the band) the easiest way to do it is to plug in your headphones/in-ears to your phone and use a metronome app. So you will be the only person that hears the click. Or the more complicated option is to take an output from your monitor, plug that into a baby mixer, and plug your phone into that same mixer. Violà. You can have your mix and click in your headphones/in-ears! If you have questions about that, consult your local sound guy.

Now that we know how to do it, here are some tips I've picked up over the years.

  1. Don't make a big deal about it. Be discreet. When I do this, my goal is to have the worship leader not even notice that we're playing with a click. If he or she is already against playing with a click, there will be very little patience to help you set it up, wait for you to tap in the tempo, or deal with timing that obviously doesn't match the rest of the band. So, know the BPM of every song before you show up. Don't yell at the band that they're off tempo either. That is a sure way to have your click taken away. If the worship leader asks you to play it faster or slower, then change your tempos accordingly; don't put up a fight about sticking to the original tempo.

  2. You can turn it off. The click is a tool. It's supposed to help you. Playing a tempo that is a different tempo than the band's tempo is not helpful. You have permission to turn it off at any point in time, and you are also allowed to turn it back on at any point in time. If you stop playing in the song, or maybe the song starts without drums, you can either discreetly keep time or you can turn off the click. DON'T MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT. When you're not playing and the band drifts off tempo, don't try to come in with the click's tempo. Come back in with the band's wrong tempo, so you'll sound together. Playing with the band is more important than playing with something only you can hear. Then once you're at or near the correct tempo, you can turn the click back on. It helps if your click doesn't have any accents, so that way you don't have to wait for the downbeat to start it.

  3. You can adjust the tempo while you're playing. Maybe you don't start the song and whoever did start the song started it way too fast. Remember to come in at their tempo, but you can bump up your tempo on the click so that it won't be a rough transition whenever you turn on the click. Then once you're playing with the click, you can adjust the click back down to where it's supposed to be if you want. DON'T MAKE A BIG DEAL ABOUT IT. Or maybe it feels like everybody's playing behind you. Instead of sticking to your click guns, you can adjust your click a bit slower so that everyone sticks together better.

When I use a click with worship leaders that aren't used to using a click, they will often give me remarks like, "That felt really good." "You did a good job keeping us in time." "It was nice to play with someone who's got great time." They don't know it, but they want to play with a click, because they want to have steady time.

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