KEYS
PLAYING KEYS ALONGSIDE TRACKS | David Pfaltzgraff
Have you ever inspected all the stems from a popular worship song? All you need to do is go to Loop Community and look at any top tune to get a detailed look at all of the ingredients that make it what it is.
If you’ ve done this you’ ve probably noticed something. It’ s not uncommon to see a whole slew of tracks often labeled with generic titles like Piano 1, Piano 2, Keys 1, Keys 2, Keys 11, Synth 1, 2, 3, etc.
Modern worship production relies heavily on layered keys parts and if your team uses backing tracks live you’ ve probably wondered‘ What’ s left for me to play if the tracks are doing all of that?’
Today’ s article aims to set out a recipe for success I’ ve developed through my own experience playing at churches that regularly use tracks that allows me to meaningfully contribute to the band while still reaping the real benefits tracks can provide.
If you’ ve ever felt‘ replaced’ by the tracks, this one’ s for you.
THE PARADIGM Here’ s the thing: tracks sound great. Of course they do, they were painstakingly crafted, produced, edited, and will always be at studio quality.
If your aim is to‘ sound as good’ as the tracks, you’ re fighting a losing battle. Instead, the aim I’ ve found most helpful is to ensure that the substance of the keys parts comes from the keys position regardless of what the tracks are capable of. This ends up being a win for the whole band. It allows you to keep common elements consistent throughout a setlist. The same combination of pads can carry you from one song to the next. The same grand piano and player can contribute meaningfully and much more consistently throughout the setlist than four different piano tracks, recorded, mixed, and mastered by four different recording artists ever could.
But in order to make this case, you have to have some conversations with your worship leader, music director, and audio engineer to get everyone on the same page. Explain your desire to provide the‘ thru-line’ for the set live, rather than from the tracks. Be prepared with examples of where you can meaningfully serve in this role in a way that’ s preferable to letting tracks handle it. And, just as importantly, you should pitch a vision for the kinds of tracks you’ ll often stay out of the way of and allow to contribute to the overall mix.
Consistency in sound often matters more than perfect replication. In my experience this is a different perspective on using tracks that often just hasn’ t occurred to leadership. If you can explain the purpose behind it and demonstrate a decent level of proficiency and preparedness in rising to the occasion, your leadership can often get behind it.
THE PREPARATION If you can get your team on board with the basic premise‘ sometimes we’ ll mute some of the tracks’ I find it works best for you to take a proactive approach to this as you prepare for a given service. If you’ re not willing to be the one who takes some time to consider and optimize for this, you’ ll find it significantly harder to make progress in this area.
For me that looks like listening through the tracks once or twice as I practice from home, deciding what I want to play live, and then communicating this information to whoever is prepping tracks for the service. When you communicate this info, use the exact track names whenever possible. This makes it significantly easier for them to run with your input and get accurate results.
THE BALANCE The last bit of my experience I’ ll leave you with is that my list of‘ stuff I’ ll cover’ is far from static, varying from song to song and set to set. A good example of this is anything‘ organ’. For some songs where the organ is doing something significantly nuanced and different from the piano part, I’ ll often let the track take it. A great example of this is“ Jesus Be the Name” by Elevation Worship.
Both the piano and organ parts feature prominently in the song at various times so the temptation might be to try to cover both live. But in order to cover both, I’ d have to make significant compromises to my approach to one or both instruments. Sometimes you can’ t play an organ like a piano, and vice versa. So, in this example the song is served much better by me realizing that I should focus on one and let the tracks carry the other.
In my time as a worship leader and musician, I’ ve seen many band members discouraged by their role being diminished by the use of tracks. I’ ve been on the receiving end of this, and if I’ m honest have also attempted to‘ help’ bands I’ ve led more than I should by leaning on tracks too heavily.
At the end of the day, it’ s most helpful to view tracks as an additional member( or two) of your band. If a member of your band was overplaying, you’ d find a way to have a conversation with them about it and help them dial-in their placement. The same can and should be true of your tracks. This lets tracks do what they do best while preserving meaningful space for live musicians to contribute.
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.
SundaySounds. com
88 May 2026 Subscribe for Free...