of these various piano sounds and even across genres you ’ ll notice they share a lot of the same building blocks over time .
HAMMOND ORGAN
If you ’ ve listened to the radio for more than a few minutes , you ’ ve heard a Hammond B3 organ . It ’ s a sound commonly used in so many genres of music that I can guarantee it . The B3 can go from dark and subdued to harsh and screeching with just a few expertly pulled drawbars and in the right hands this classic instrument sings .
It truly is a sound and playing style all its own . So what ’ s a worship keys player to do now that these sounds are showing up in more and more worship songs and with increasingly authentic , unique , and diverse playing styles ? Step one , I suppose , is to go look up some videos of solo B3 players . Watch and learn from the way they express themselves through the instrument . Develop your ear for what its capable of and then … acknowledge that it can take years of practice to achieve that level of virtuosity .
Give yourself permission to start with the building blocks . Learn what a ‘ drawbar ’ is .
Google ‘ Leslie speaker cabinet ’ then dive into your software or hardware and start playing . Finally hitting your stride with a well-timed B3 rotor speed change is a feeling that ’ s hard to describe , but you won ’ t start there . Focus on the fundamentals , build an understanding of the instrument , and it will come over time .
SYNTHS , CLASSIC AND MODERN
I saved this category for last because it ’ s basically pointless to try to neatly define it . While synthesizer sounds are indeed everywhere , you ’ ll find an incredible diversity to the kinds of synths used across not just worship music but every other music genre as well .
So the only way to start to dig into synth sounds and how they should influence your playing style is to over-simplify things a bit . Come up with basic mental containers for leads , pads , arps , synth bass , synth horns , etc and then lump things into wherever they best fit , even when it ’ s not perfect . From there you ’ ll find it easier to focus on and develop your understanding of particular synth sounds and the playing styles and techniques that most often accompany them .
Prepare to be a perpetual student here , as synth trends come and go with the wind , but even then a perceptive ear will often be able to pick up a reference to a sound , technique or idea from the past and quickly apply that knowledge to whatever ’ s new and cutting edge .
ROUND AND ROUND
Like I said before , we ’ re truly just scratching the surface . But the only way to see what ’ s underneath is to begin plucking away at it . When you might feel discouraged focus on the God-breathed creativity that inspired the musicians that built-up the ideas , concepts , and genres that we now work within , push forward , and purposefully blur the lines of . Twenty years from now we can hope for ‘ upand-comers ’ to sense that same God-breathed creativity behind our work as it gets turned on its ear yet again . Praise be to God for ‘ nothing new under the sun ’.
David Pfaltzgraff Founder and Lead Sound Designer at SundaySounds . com , a site that resources worship keys players and guitarists around the world . David currently resides in Des Moines , IA with his wife and two boys . He enjoys volunteering in his church ’ s worship ministry , old synthesizers , and a good super-hero movie .
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