I regularly have conversations with other Christians who sing as soloists/groups in their churches and are desperately looking for a plentiful choice of up to date suitable backing tracks. I consider that they are not always looking in the right places and is why I am sharing my experience of searching resources to help others or anyone who is just starting out and looking for a touch of help.

Over the past few years, the majority of backing tracks I have ordered have come from USA, and it has been difficult to match a company to provide an equal selection here in the UK, though have found one!

With regard to my choice of ordering and given that there are quite a few variations of products available, I have made a few boo-boos and will share these to help you from wasting any money, too.

Benefits of a Backing Track

Professional recording gives confidence for a better performance

Choice of 3 keys to suit vocal range

Optional backing vocals

My advice is to search the web for US sites if looking for a large, varied choice. I have found one with a choice of 5000+ Christian backing tracks!

I have used only 2 sites here in the UK, but am down to only one which I would regularly use, due to better quality of product. I have used these backing tracks mostly when I needed one quickly as the one drawback is that they don't offer as huge a choice as some of the American sites however they do tend to keep the most popular backing tracks stocked.

In my experience of ordering backing tracks from the US, I have found that the average cost of a backing track is $8, which is approximately 4.50 - I think this is a really great price and to compare costs, most UK suppliers would charge double this.

With some of the more popular tracks, many US sites offer a download version for around 1 dollar, which is great if you need it quickly for Sunday! The one drawback here is that they only allow downloads to US addresses.

Ordering does incur shipping charges, however by saving around 3.50 for each track it usually works out the same cost-wise as buying in the UK, sometimes even less. Another thing to remember is that if you live out with the US, delivery time can take between 7-21 days, although it is well worth it given such an excellent choice and many you cannot find in the UK anyway.

Recommended list of Backing Track Producers

Daywind Original

Daywind Performance Tracks

Mastertrax 3 keys

Modern Worship Soundtracks

Praise Hymn soundtracks

Premiere Performance Plus

Sound Performance Soundtracks

Spring Hill Soundtracks

Word Studio Series

Word Studio Series 3 key

Artist Sites

Many recording artists allow you to buy backing tracks from their official websites. Some benefits of this is that you might be able to get a track here that you will not source anywhere else, due to copyright and many backing tracks will be the original artist's recording, meaning what you hear on the CD will be the same as what you sing along to. This can be a restricted option because when I have bought ones like this it may only have one key (the original one) but usually have 2 further tracks, giving the option of; with backing vocals or without backing vocals. I have found these top quality, however you can pay a few dollars more, but well worth it. Just make sure that if there is only one key, that it is suitable for your vocal range before you spend your money.

Boo-Boos!

When I first discovered the novelty of buying Christian backing tracks online, I got quite excited and YES! - carried away. On hearing just a short burst of a track, I clicked away happily... when they arrived and listened in full, what I discovered was;

a) Track had too great a vocal range- even with a 3-key track - high key too high, low key too low, original key (out of my range, either way!) Helpful hint- might seem obvious but have a look at the backing track cover, usually shows each key and shows the highest note/lowest note so you know if it's suitable.

b) Track sounded ok to begin with, then in middle of song was a long instrumental break or had repetitive (oh yeah bits! / adlibs) for about 3 minutes at the end! -Some gospel tracks tend to have this. Helpful hint- I have found a site which lets you listen to a complete song, has a list of more popular Christian songs, although does not have an exhaustive list. Check my site for link.

c) Original track was sung by a male. As I am female, none of the 3 keys were suitable. It just didn't fit my vocal range.

d) Track was in 3 keys, however only the original key had backing vocals, the higher key did not and it didn't sound quite the same without them.

I wasted rather a lot of dollars making these boo-boos - "please take note" and hope this helps.