Challenge Overview

What it is

On the first of each month, a new song challenge goes live. A specific rhythm guitar focus is highlighted for the new song. Submit a short video of yourself playing the song and you could receive personalized feedback and be featured on the site.

Purpose

The purpose is to get worship rhythm guitarists playing new songs with the skills you currently have and maybe even develop some new techniques. You don't have to wait to be told how to play or watch a step by step tutorial, you can play worship songs now.

Most worship rhythm guitarists have been told they need permission or to achieve a specific skill level to be considered worship guitarists. At WGA, we don't believe that at all. This is your chance to prove to yourself that you can play songs right now along with the rest of the worship guitar community!

Who can participate

Anyone who wants to play more worship rhythm guitar is welcome to participate. All you need is a guitar, a way to record a video of yourself playing, and a WGA account with the Monthly Song Challenge toggled turned on. Simply sign in here, scroll to the bottom of the page and opt in to the Monthly Song Challenge. You can stay opted in to receive the email updates and not submit a video for consideration, that is totally fine.

How to participate

Here's the rough order of how each monthly challenge works. For details on what your video needs to include and what additional information is required, see the Rules page.

1. Check the current month's challenge page for the song and focus skill on the 1st of the month
2. Learn the song using resources on the WGA site (mentioned in the section below) or any other resource
3. Record yourself playing the song or song section mentioned in the challenge of the month
4. Submit your video with supporting information by email before the 20th of the month

At the end of each month, up to two submissions are selected. Those players receive personalized, one-on-one written feedback from me, the founder of Worship Guitar Academy, who has over 20 years of experience playing rhythm and lead guitar, teaching countless students, and leading worship teams.

What WGA provides

Feel free to use whatever resources you can find to assist you when learning the monthly song to complete the challenge. Here are a few WGA resources you can use to help you learn and play the challenge song of the month:

• The song used in the challenge is added to Songs and includes a built-in key, capo, chords, and chord transition tool and a few other sections to help you figure out how best to approach learning and playing the song
• Use the Learn section for referencing any topics you want to learn about or clarify. This includes the following sections:
  • Reference: articles on various topics about playing worship guitar
  • Chords per Key: descriptions and diagrams of each chord in keys
  • Chord Transitions: shows common ways to transition between 2 chords
  • Chords: displays chord voicing options for various chords
• Depending on your familiarity with WGA and your rhythm guitar level, you may benefit from our courses.
  • Learn Any Song: a free course that helps you learn how to listen to a new song, identify instruments and parts, internalize the song, and prepares you to start to play the new song
  • Foundational Strumming Patterns: a paid course that walks you through playing basic strum patterns you can use on most songs. This course is ideal if you are brand new to strumming or struggling to figure out the timing of strumming.

How the archive works

Every challenge page stays after the month ends. The winners are announced and updated. You can find any past challenges in the monthly challenges section.