Musical worship stretches all the way back to Psalms, but for the modern worship musician, there’s quite a bit more to Sunday services than just cracking open the Good Book to belt out some hymns. Worship music today embraces all kinds of song styles and instrumentation, drawing from the modern musical traditions of R&B, gospel, pop, rock, and country.
You probably have your own artistic style to express through that music too, and most likely a whole band to bring together in one coherent jam. Some of your bandmates may be professionals, but a lot of churches also have to bring gifted amateurs into the mix.
That means you could use a little help to make it all come together and get the congregation on their feet and singing along to the Sunday setlist. Today, that musical deliverance is most likely to come from one of two online worship song tutorial services:
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- Worship Artistry (worshipartistry.com)
- Worship Online (worshiponline.com)
Both have the same goal – to give you all the tools you need to make music that gets the spirit moving through your congregation.
When it Comes to Basic Features, These Worship Song Tutorial Sites Are in Perfect Harmony
Both Worship Artistry and Worship Online aim to equip the modern worship musician with the tools they need to master the Sunday setlist. Both offer tutorials for drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and vocals. Both also offer individual and team plan subscriptions, so you can either practice on your own or work on developing your band skills to get that crucial team-building in even when you can’t all meet up in person.
You’ll find that both services offer many of the same basic features:
- Free trial - Both sites offer a try-before-you-buy option, so there is no reason not to check them both out before laying down your credit card.
- Album-correct song tutorials - Each site has a real commitment to replicating the exact sound of the songs on every album they host, so you get accurate arrangements and tutorials.
- Scalable plans - With either service, you can have anywhere from one to 30-plus players on the same plan, keeping you all on the same page every single Sunday.
- Transposable chord charts, sheet music, and tablature - Although Worship Artistry breaks the songs down into a standard five-piece arrangement, and Worship Online uses the full score, you’ll get complete chord charts and music for every single song on both services.
- Fully Licensed music - Rendering unto the record company what is the record company’s is something that both sites take care of for you, so all music has been cleared and your ability to access it with a subscription is completely legal.
- HD videos - Both sites deliver video and audio in gorgeous high-quality streams, so you won’t miss a single chord shape, finger position, or note.
- Lessons and demos – Both services offer song-specific lessons and demonstrations where you can watch professionals going through the parts of your favorite songs.
But there are also some important differences in Worship Artistry vs. Worship Online when it comes to both style and substance. Each site brings different strengths that appeal to different types of worship artists.
What Kind of Musician is Worship Artistry Designed For?
For Churches of Any Size and Musicians of Varying Skill Levels - From Beginner to Pro
Worship Artistry is a great tool for getting started as a worship musician, or for supporting small, amateur-driven bands. Every tutorial is designed to work for musicians at every skill level.
You’ll find a real emphasis on inclusion and team-building with Worship Artistry. All lessons are designed to start off at the beginner level, so it’s easy to bring in that eager kid who has been practicing in front of a mirror for all of two weeks. It’s a system that caters to the vast majority of churches out there that are starting small and growing.
This comes through in the little things about the site, too. For example, Worship Artistry fully recognizes that not everyone has a professional-grade sound system. So each lesson lets you in on the effects used on the album piece so you can match the tone and feel of your favorite songs even without studio-caliber gear. That means that even without your full band or multiple guitars, you’ll still get that full and accurate sound you’re after.
Worship Artistry keeps it simple. It allows for integrated song arrangements that lets band leaders put jam sessions together, as well as individual video tutorials that allows vocalists and each member of a classic five-piece band to practice on their own:
- Keyboard - Chord walk-throughs and tone and patch building instruction
- Electric and Acoustic Guitars - Tone matching instruction, lead arrangements and various picking and playing techniques
- Drums – Practice loops at different tempos for basic walkthroughs as well as fills and transitions
- Bass - Tone-shaping chapters and chord charts to master grooves, along with 5-string adaptations
- Vocals - Three-part harmony arrangements and tips on style and blending for each song
But the fact that it’s simple doesn’t mean Worship Artistry is short on features.
Isolated Rehearsal Mixes Let Each Player Drill Down on Their Own Part
Isolating your own part of the track is key to being able to quickly learn the songs you want to play. Isolated rehearsal mixes let you dial back the other parts and zero in on your part only. This lets you pin-point the subtleties of the track and nail every hammer-on, pull-off, or rebound stroke with perfection.
Offers the Perfect Approach for New Christian Musicians
Worship Artistry has the edge when it comes to teaching beginners.
Every lesson comes at the song with the idea that you might be playing it for the first time. They show a real understanding of what new musicians need to grow in terms of both musicianship and being part of a band.
Full Spectrum Tutorials are Also Tailored to Experienced Players
Although Worship Artistry has a lot of tools aimed at beginners, the lessons and resources also give more advanced artists plenty to work with. It’s the perfect system to grow and learn on, building your confidence at every skill level as you and your band advance. It offers easy-to-digest chapters as well as practice loops at slow speeds so new musicians can master skills and gain confidence while advanced players can watch a quick play through, check out the notation and be on their way.
Make Song Requests If You Can’t Find the One You Want to Learn
If Worship Artistry doesn’t have the song you’re dying to learn how to play, you can drop them a line and they’ll try to add it. In fact, they have a goal of adding at least one new song each week, keeping the catalog fresh so you always have something new to learn.
The Flexibility to Focus on the Tricky Parts of Your Favorite Songs
Every song has that one challenging part that can throw you off, so Worship Artistry lets you drill down on the tough sections after you master the easy stuff. Mastering the individual parts of a song means you can play them in any order and flow in a live setting. With Worship Artistry, you can play lessons in any order, skip around, and even slow down the tempo to learn at your own speed.
A Simple Interface Makes it Easy to Focus on the Music
Although there’s a lot going on in the Worship Artistry toolset, the interface is intuitive and straightforward, giving you everything you need and nothing you don’t. This is system designed for people coming in without a lot of technical know-how who want to learn to play some songs, not become sound technicians.
Put all this together, and it makes Worship Artistry a great resource for churches that have pick-up bands or a lot of part-time players. You can incorporate everyone in the band at their existing skill level without sacrificing the integrity of the songs or the quality of the performance.
After a few lessons, even novice players will be thinking like musicians and your crew will be sounding like a real band.
Who is Worship Online Best For?
For Larger Bands and More Advanced Players Looking to Perfectly Replicate Every Track
Worship Online offers a polished and professional resource for big teams. The service packs a big catalog full of songs you’ll recognize and want to play, and they give you need to play those songs with the band you have. They can accommodate a team of any size, and shared setlists make it easy to stay on the same page when practicing remotely.
Customizable Resources Designed for Advanced Musicians
Jam with a live sound mixer to experiment with your own twists on popular favorites. Advanced player controls let you adjust the pace and tutorial playback, allowing you to custom tailor your lesson plans. It’s perfect for the advanced musician who likes to tinker.
Detailed Play-Through Videos Isolate Each Piece of Your Favorite Songs
Play-through videos and notation help advanced artists master complex tracks and deliver true-to-song performances. The resources here are the perfect thing for mastering a single piece of a bigger performance, letting each individual player zoom in on their part. If you just need to lean your exact part as electric guitar two, Worship Online is for you.
Goes Where You Go and Plays Where You Play
Worship Online has well-developed mobile features, making it as easy to access when practicing on the pulpit stage as it is at home. In fact, every band member can log in separately with a phone or tablet as well as a computer.
Offers a Polished Online Experience for Professionals
Worship Online is built by professional worship musicians, for professional worship musicians. It offers some gritty levels of detail and pro tips that are just the thing for experienced groups. The highly precise play-through videos give you that extra edge when mastering a new song.
Buy the Right Sound in the Integrated Online Patch Store
An online patch store offers you the option of getting all the exact same sounds you find in the Worship Online tutorials. There’s no guessing or endless experimentation to try to get the sounds to line up— a completely seamless sound is always just a few clicks away.
Presents Your Favorite Song as More Than the Sum of Its Parts
Worship Online doesn’t distill down that big album sound that you love—instead, it breaks out all parts separately, so you can bring together multiple guitarists or other artists and make the most of that full sound.
Worship Artistry vs. Worship Online Pricing Options Offer Something for Everyone
Now that you know how the features stack up to one another for these two sites, the last big question is – how does the pricing compare?
Both sites offer pricing plans based on how many band members you plan to subscribe. They don’t line up exactly, but the chart below gives you some points of comparison of the monthly cost per active user:
Users | Worship Artistry | Worship Online |
1 | $9.75 | $11 |
5 | $16.50 | $24 |
10 | $30 | $39 |
15 | $42 | |
20 | $61 | |
25 | $58.40 | |
30 | $64.50 | |
35 | $90 |
As you can see, on a per-person basis, Worship Artistry has a bit of an edge in pricing.
One of the biggest differences in pricing is that Worship Artistry tops out at 30 members – you are going to pay the same flat rate whether you have 35 or 135 people. That plays in perfectly for small churches that may have a lot of rotating players coming through, even if the group for a given Sunday is small.
Worship Online, on the other hand, caps you at 35 members. If you need a bigger plan, they will work with you on custom pricing, but you will definitely be paying for each person you add to the account.
When you get right down to it, Worship Artistry just plain delivers more songs for less money. That’s not always the final consideration, but for a lot of small churches, it’s an important one.
It’s clear that the sites have slightly different goals and perspectives:
- Worship Artistry for smaller churches and pick-up groups
- Worship Online for bigger bands and more professional artists
Whether you are already rocking Sunday service with a big congregation, or just getting started with big ambitions, these services give you the support you need to take your worship music to the next level.
