KEYS
IS THAT BACH OR BALOCHE ? | Ed Kerr
Are there any keyboard players reading this who studied classical piano ? For years I spent lots of time learning amazing masterworks by Bach , Beethoven , Brahms , Chopin and others whose names and whose music many of you would recognize . Lots of hours were spent in practice rooms as I studied for and earned a Masters Degree in Piano Performance . Portions of the pieces I studied were incredibly challenging technically . There were pieces where you ’ d pray that you start at the right tempo because a few pages in you ’ d have to tackle some very difficult passages . Even though it ’ s been a few decades since I performed any of these pieces in a recital setting , sometimes I ’ ll play through my favorite portions . Though I can ’ t play them with the accuracy I could when I was in graduate school , it ’ s intriguing to me how my fingers just seem to remember where to land in many of those difficult spots .
This principle definitely relates to what you and I do as keyboard players on worship teams . We play songs again and again , and our fingers begin to remember where they should be as certain chord progressions come along . When we ’ re about to reach a point in the song where we play a melodic hook on our keyboard our hands seem to position themselves over the right keys . And , we often play those songs with the same arrangement and verse / chorus / bridge . This can be a great aid to us in memorizing our songs , helping us become less dependant on printed chord charts .
There ’ s a very important distinction between what you and I play in our worship services and what a classical pianist plays when they ’ re performing something by one of the great masters like Bach or Beethoven . A classical musician will devote hours of disciplined practice to be sure that their performance contains only what the composer notated on the page . The classical musical discipline doesn ’ t allow for improvisation or any departure from bringing the music to life note for note as originally written .
I ’ m willing to stir up a debate here and say that there is no rule in the worship music world that says when you and I take the platform with our teams we have to play and sing the songs note for note like their original recordings . These recordings simply represent one of an infinite number of ways a song could be presented . The original recording may have started with a guitar hook . It may have started with a warm pad . The band may have entered fully from the top , or the band may have waited to enter fully until after the first chorus is sung .
My point is there is room for us to bring our unique musicianship to these songs . We can present arrangements that are “ ours ”. Maybe you don ’ t have a lead guitarist who can recreate the electric guitar lines from the recording . Maybe you want to start a song with acoustic guitar that had been keyboard driven at its beginning . Maybe you want to take a medium tempo or up tempo song and let it be a lot slower , singing what would have been an energetic prayer and making it more subdued . You might even turn that slower version of the song into an intro to another song at the same slower tempo .
Beyond what you might do in terms of instrumentation within the band , do you ever allow yourself to think of ways you could contribute as a keyboard player to a song in ways other than what was heard on the original recording ? Obviously trying some of these alternative keyboard parts without letting the rest of your worship team know you ’ re trying them isn ’ t a good idea . Be sure the rest of the team is up for these sorts of departures from the familiar arrangement . You may discover some very satisfying new ways to approach your song .
The bottom line is that if you ’ re a keyboard player and you take a new approach to a song you may find yourself inspired in ways that you haven ’ t been for a long time . I ’ m convinced that this kind of creative energy can spread to the other players and singers on your team . You may find that a completely reimagined arrangement emerges for a song . Best of all , you may discover that when you present the song to your congregation you can feel a new energy from your team , a new urgency to the lyrics that you and the congregation are singing , and a fresh reminder that we serve a creative God who is always among us .
He viewed His work at the dawn of creation and said , “ It is good .” My prayer for you and for myself and for every church around the world worshipping this Creator God is that we can discover a renewed sense of creativity , a new delight in His call for us to partner with Him in being creators ourselves and a new joy at the opportunities He gives us to minister in His Name .
Ed Kerr Ed Kerr lives in Seattle with his family . He serves as worship arts director at First Free Methodist Church , teaches keyboards in Paul Baloche ’ s leadworship workshops and is a clinician with Yamaha ’ s House of Worship . He also manages the Yamaha Worship Facebook group and invites you to join the group . www . KerrTunes . com