KEYS
WHEN TO GO OLD SCHOOL | David Pfaltzgraff
As worship keys players , we often find ourselves eagerly following our favorite bands ’ social media channels just waiting to hear of a new album or single release . If you ’ re anything like me one of the first things you notice when ravenously devouring that slick new single are the keys parts . Makes sense , we ’ re keys players after all !
For the last six or seven years it ’ s become increasingly exciting to be a worship keys player . It seems like every new single or album from the top worship bands around has brought a new sound , patch , texture , idea etc . to the table for us keys folks to play around with . While electric guitarists used to get to have all the fun , these days that ’ s just not the case and oftentimes now us keyboardists get to do all the ‘ fun stuff ’!
For the first several years that keys parts were being more prominently featured across much of worship music , the most common trend seemed to be pulling from popular elements of modern electronic dance music for inspiration which led to lots of dance songs at 128-133
BPM in the key of ‘ Trance .’ Fun stuff , to be sure !
But , there ’ s only so much you can do before you need to take things in a new direction and I think that ’ s what we ’ ve started to see more of over the last couple of years . As King Solomon wisely said , ‘ There is nothing new under the sun ’ and what was once old assuredly finds its way around again , especially where popular music is concerned .
The great irony is that innovation is often actually a good bit of re-packaged nostalgia in disguise . I think we ’ re going to see more and more retro influences in modern worship music over the next decade and as keys players we ’ ll have much to do to help pull off that vibe in a modern yet authentic way .
Today we ’ re going to talk about ‘ when to go old school ’ and I ’ ll give you a few tips to make sure you ’ re prepared for it when it comes .
HISTORY LESSON The cliche ‘ you ’ ll never know where to go unless you know where you came from ’ may fit best when applied to music . Part of what makes music so impactful is the way each generation builds on the ideas of generations past , leading to an intricate web of common ideas , re-imaginings , and instantly recognizable themes .
This makes familiarity with recent music history an incredibly valuable tool for any musician who wants to understand not just the simple mechanics of what they ’ re currently hearing , but also where those ideas , sounds , and rhythms came from . Now depending on your particular upbringing , you may be intimately familiar with the classics of yours ’ and your parents ’ generations or you might find yourself in a more similar boat to my own . Having been largely raised on church music alone it took me a while to catchup with the broader expanse of modern music ’ s many genres in order to be able to appreciate their progression .
Don ’ t mishear me … follow your own conviction in terms of listening choices , but where you ’ re