Worship Musician February 2020 | Page 170

KEYS WHEN TO PLAY MORE OR LESS | Ed Kerr Like most of you, I wear a lot of hats. I have I’ll admit that shifting my brain and my fingers what your left hand does, whether you’re using a full- time job leading worship in my home back to playing with a full band has shown me a piano sound or a synth sound. The bass is church, I’m a husband and a father, I try and that I’d let a few things become “autopilot” generally going to define the lowest note of the find some time regularly to practice piano and as a pianist that now need to change as I chords you’re playing. Avoid those frequencies vocalize, and I do a few odd jobs here and regularly play with a full worship team. Since on your instrument so the sound isn’t muddied there. You get it. Lots of busy days. How about some of you play in lots of different instrumental or thickened by too much activity in the low you? Lots of hats in your closet? Is your daily settings too, I’m going to focus here on some frequencies. schedule crammed pretty full? of the essential characteristics of playing well whichever musical hat you’re wearing. As a musician I also wear a lot of hats. If there are two guitars, perhaps an acoustic and an electric, your options as a keyboard Sometimes I’ll play in a worship setting where First thought: Pizza. Yep. Think of the music change even more. One of the guitars could, for I’m the only instrumentalist. Sometimes a that you make as a pizza. If you’re the only example, strum the chords and sustain them. violinist or guitarist might be making music with player, you get the whole pizza. Rhythmic The other might provide arpeggiated activity. me. And sometimes I play with a full rhythm activity, melodic statements, harmonies. The This is when you might choose to play less section on my worship team. Yesterday was more musicians you add, though, the smaller often, perhaps heading to the higher pitches of one of those days. Our band had two electric your piece of the pizza becomes. For instance, your piano sound to create a simple rhythmic or guitars, acoustic guitar, bass and drums with add a drummer, you could play less rhythmic melodic pattern. me on keyboard. activity in your piano part leaving that to your drummer. If you have a guitarist along with the Speaking of melodic activity, something any I hadn’t pulled out my “play with a full band” drummer, both you and the drummer need to instrumentalist needs to remember is that the hat in a while. That’s because until the end of be sure that you’re sharing the pizza with them. singers always get a piece of the pizza. What’s this January my church in Seattle had just one For example, you might have been playing their main contribution to the presentation? The blended service where I arranged hymns and some arpeggiated activity based on the chords melody. So, guitarists and keyboard players modern worship songs to go together musically. of the song. This sort of activity sounds great and even bass players need to be cautious Only a few instrumentalists occasionally joined when finger-picked by a guitarist, so leave that about when they play melody activity. If you me. Now we present a traditional service as piece of the pie for them. Or have them find or one of your guitarists decides to play a well as a contemporary service. An organist a guitar part that complements your piano significant melodic idea during a vocal phrase, is the primary instrumentalist for the traditional activity. the result can be very distracting and frustrating service and I’m playing with a full rhythm section again week in, week out. 170 for everyone. Kind of like listening to two people If you add a bass player to the team, be careful February 2020 talk at the same time. The solution? Stick to Subscribe for Free...