KEYS
THREE HATS ALL KEYS PLAYERS MUST WEAR | David Pfaltzgraff
What do you remember about your first job ? Maybe as a teenager working in food service or retail . Paid to do the same tasks , the same way , over and over for an entire shift . Clock out , go home , next day come back and do more of the same .
Now contrast that to your current job . Do you ever feel that same monotony ? Or perhaps you feel quite the opposite . Now asked to wear so many hats simultaneously you fear one day your neck will just give out under the weight of them all .
Today we ’ re going to be talking about hat management , as it specifically relates to keys players on the worship team . Most teams that I observe that haven ’ t sorted this out for themselves seem to have their keys player wearing either one , singular hat or wearing so many hats at once as to nearly defy the laws of hat-wearing physics .
Like many things in life I ’ ll propose that the general ideal lies in the middle . So , let ’ s identify three hats that all keys players must learn how to wear and when to wear them .
My first job was flipping burgers , by the way .
HAT ONE : THE GLUE
This first hat is the most commonly worn by the
modern keys player . Think meat and potatoes , piano and pads , or often just pads alone .
This ‘ glue ’ role is where I see many a disgruntled keys player forcefully relegated and it ’ s a shame because the role itself is quite important and does offer the savvy musician a great deal of flexibility to contribute to the band ’ s sound .
In this position , the focus is equal parts on the voicings played and the sounds used to play them . It ’ s essential to find an articulate , forwardfacing instrument like an acoustic or electric piano sound that can handle well-placed chords and melodic motifs alike coupled with a tasteful pad or two that is quick enough to handle chord changes but also ambient and dense enough to fill the room when needed .
When this hat is worn correctly it many times fades into the background which is both the ideal and the bane for a keys player here . When your sound and chord choices serve the song over all else this position is ‘ felt more than heard ’, but sorely missed when not present .
While you may already know this hat front and back it is nonetheless an important part to play in many modern worship bands , across countless songs and genres .
If and when you feel the hat grow tiresome or dull take the opportunity to push your music theory knowledge by discovering new and alternate chord voicings that can inject excitement and challenge into the mix without reducing the ‘ glue effect ’.
HAT TWO : THE OUTLINE
While you could describe ‘ the glue ’ position as happening largely ‘ under ’ what the rest of the band is doing , this second hat by contrast could be described as happening ‘ around ’ what the rest of the band is doing .
In this position , your focus is on intentionally carving out sonic and melodic spaces for the instruments and voices around you while filling a large amount of the rest of the space available .
As ‘ the glue ’ you ’ d often lean towards whole note chords , piano , and pads . When filling the role of ‘ the outline ’ you ’ ll often rely on more spread-out voicings strategically placed to leave space for other players and may choose to use instruments like synth bass , arps , and brighter , more noticeable textures designed to outline and enhance what the rest of your team is doing .
This role can enhance the entire band amid big shifts in dynamics as a filter is opened , increasing the brightness of a cutting arpeggiated synth or with the entrance of powerful sub bass signals