into every possible variant and deciding when it ’ s the right time to use the different variants of the chords for the best possible result .
One thing I like to do is play the first two verses in a lower register , and if a song has a third verse I ’ ll play it in a slighter higher register but in a different voicing just to give the song a little bit of a different feel . And the choruses of the song I ’ ll usually play a little more aggressively , but the last chorus of a song I like to go up an octave and add a little more dirt to my sound to add emotion and momentum .
DO NOT IMPROVISE I feel like I ’ m betraying my guitar teacher while I ’ m typing this section . I ’ ve been taught to improvise solos , sections , melodies , anything you can think of and I spent a lot of time practicing it so that any time I improvise it sounds good . But the truth is , in modern worship we rarely or never improvise , it ’ s not necessary . However , we tend to improvise ( or at least I do ) when I ’ m uncertain about a song but improvising can end up ruining or sabotaging a song . When we do get a chance to improvise , whether it ’ s a solo section in a song , or a small moment in a song that could use a little extra umph , keep it to a minimal … to a necessary amount .
My advice would be don ’ t try to exceed your own limits . In other words , don ’ t try to play anything you haven ’ t practiced , because I promise you ( from my own experience ) it never ends well .
Now before I conclude this section , I ’ m not saying improvising is a bad thing . In fact , I ’ m trying to argue the opposite , it ’ s actually an important and necessary skill that we should develop . But when we over extend our limit , we can ruin a song , or even ruin the whole worship experience by just trying to show off .
COMMUNICATE Guitarists , unfortunately , have a bad reputation of not communicating what they ’ re going to do with the rest of the band , or just not asking the band what they ’ re supposed to do .
Sometimes we ( as guitarists ) have the “ you stay in your lane and I ’ ll stay in mine ” attitude , and that ’ s just not how bands work . The more we openly communicate with simple things like song structure , important hits the band will do on a song , set list , and other simple things , the more we can make better and informed decisions on how were going to play a song to help support the band .
While doing sound check I will always make sure that I ask the other musicians about any doubt they may have , or I may have , and fix any potential problems before rehearsing a song . This way , the play throughs of the setlist can go a lot smoother and not have to stop to fix details that could have been fixed beforehand .
The tighter a band sounds , the better the songs feel . And that is just as important for guitar .
PREPARE FOR THE WORST Preparing for the worst is the best thing I can tell anyone to do . I know it ’ s not common anymore , but I still take two guitars to service , even if the setlists are short . If I break a string , I have a backup . If a cable dies , I have a backup . If the amp doesn ’ t turn on , I have digital modelers and other patches I can use that sound just as good . Practice accessing these things while rehearsing a song so that if something does happen , you won ’ t have a meltdown trying to fix problems that could have had a solution .
The luckiest of us won ’ t ever have anything bad happen to us . But for the rest of us mortal humans , we tend to have bad luck at the most unfortunate times , so we have to try our best to plan ahead … so when the time comes we can make good and sound decisions without caving under pressure .
There ’ s so much more that we can talk about over this subject , but these are some of the most important pieces of advice we can give to help anyone get in the headspace of a guitarist !
Chris Rocha Lives in Houston , TX , and is the guitarist and producer for Miel San Marcos
Jonathan Diaz Jonathan is a guitarist who is not only involved with his local church , but is the director of School of Rock Cocowalk , and an instructor for CR online .