Worship Musicians and Musicianship
Music and Worship Seminar • Sermon • Submitted
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A. Instrument Arrangements
A. Instrument Arrangements
The rule is really quite simple: the more band members we have on the team, the less each one needs to play.
1-Two Guitars
1-Two Guitars
Suppose we’re using an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar rhythmically strums or fingerpicks while the electric guitar plays fills, licks, and leads. If there are two acoustic guitars on the team, one should strum chords in the first position (first four frets) while the other does alternate chord voicings up the neck, or even uses a capo. The idea is to spread out the sound so that each instrument has its own niche.
2-Two Keyboards
2-Two Keyboards
With two keyboards, we apply the same spatial principle.
One plays piano-style arpeggios, fills, and chords, while the other plays pads (strings, organ, or other legato parts).
Remember, keyboardists: when playing with a bass guitarist, try not to play too low or too heavily with the left hand. The bass guitar and the lower notes on the electronic keyboard share common frequencies. Playing them simultaneously can cause low-frequency rumble.
3-Drums and Percussion
3-Drums and Percussion
When working with a drummer and percussionist, the drums cover the basic rhythm and some fills.
The percussion instruments play the alternate rhythms, fills, and syncopation.
4-Bass Guitar and Kick Drum
4-Bass Guitar and Kick Drum
A wonderful way to tighten up the team is to make sure that the bass guitar and kick drum are in sync. This generally means that they are both playing a strong first and third beat of each measure.
Providing a solid rhythmic foundation for the team will raise its confidence level and help bring musical unity.
This gives us the freedom to express our deep, heartfelt worship!
B. Intuitive Flow
B. Intuitive Flow
Intuitive flow is when the team begins to move seamlessly from one song to the next without any hiccups in between. We flow in unity from one worship tune to another, or from one key to the next, and remove that awkward silence from the worship set. This allows those we’re leading to remain focused as we segue, almost without their noticing, from glorious praise to glorious praise.
Developing that intuitive flow requires spending lots of time together. We can achieve it by linking worship songs with intervals of personal or corporate expression. One way to facilitate this link is to use free worship chord progressions. These progressions are a repeatable sequence of chords that can be tagged onto the end of a praise or worship song and played again and again until the leader signals it’s time to move on. As we become more comfortable with the intuitive flow of seamless worship, our corporate worship times will be seamless.
Practice free worship chord progressions with your team. Spend some time between songs playing repeatable chord progressions until they become intuitive and second nature.
Licks are the result of learned scales, modes, and arpeggios. They take some precious personal practice time, but when applied in a team setting, they give our performance a sense of polish!
Skills to master: Scales/Modes/Chords/Licks/ Techniques/ Music Theory/ Sight Reading
How to play during prayer or speaking moments, while avoid being a distraction. Learn some specific chord progressions.
The use of suspended chords in modern worship.
C. Vocal Arrangements
C. Vocal Arrangements
Sing in unison during the verses and some parts of the choruses and bridges when appropriate.
To add power and emphasis, sing unison.
Sing like a sandwich (harmony) in the choruses and in the bridges to add color.
Model a worship posture for the congregation at all times. Sing at all times even off the mic.
Avoid praying directly in the microphone all at once. Let the lead worshipper, lead the prayer to avoid cacophony.
Identify the vocal ranges of all the singers for a more suitable musical arrangement of the worship set.
Avoid falsetto voices. Everyone must learn to sing full voices to accurately determine the vocal ranges.