Worship Musician Magazine September 2020 | Page 129

PERCUSSION
WHAT SHOULD I PLAY? | Mark Shelton
A smorgasbord of percussion surrounds you
on three sides. A plethora of tone colors lie
within easy reach. Each instrument waits for
your decision to weave its timbres into the
musical fabric of a song.
1. Should you try an easy-going pattern on the
congas?
2. Would an eighth-note rhythm on the shaker
be a better fit?
3. How about laying off the groove and simply
adding a single tasty strike on the triangle?
worth a listening to for some ideas.
your brain.
With hundreds of percussion sounds available
and a vast array of rhythmic possibilities to
consider, making choices can be overwhelming.
After decades as a freelance musician, I am still
routinely faced with the question of what to
play. I have a few answers to share.
READ THE CHART
A written percussion part can indicate
specific instruments and rhythms to play. In
the classical music world, the percussion
instruments required on a particular part
are listed in the upper left corner. Gather the
needed instruments, ‘read the ink,’ and play
the notes. It's a nice system that has worked
well for a few hundred years and takes most of
the guesswork out of what to play.
However, charts in the commercial music and
worship music worlds do not always adhere
to the classical music format. Composers
and arrangers will frequently include general
directions in a percussion chart and expect
the performer to create something appropriate
based on those suggestions.
Even if everything is not specifically written out,
having a chart at least gives me some clues
toward determining what to play on a song.
LISTEN AND LEARN
If a recording is receiving widespread airplay
and has been streamed 1,874,632 times on
Spotify, I figure that the percussion parts are
If your worship team's rendition of a song
is based on a particular recording, find that
recording and start mining it for percussion
possibilities. Even if your leader is planning
an original arrangement of the song, studying
recordings will provide you with ideas
for percussion parts. In addition to audio
recordings, I find it helpful to watch performance
videos to observe what the percussionist and
drummer are playing.
DRAW INSPIRATION FROM ENHANCEMENTS
You will often find percussion parts lurking
among the layers of sampled strings, washy
synth pads, and undulating arpeggios in
enhancement tracks. Ask your music director
for access to a song's enhancement tracks and
let the percussive elements be a catalyst for
your creativity. You might want to double a prerecorded
shaker pattern with a live tambourine,
or maybe a distorted triangle loop will inspire
you to compose a complementary line on a
different instrument.
ACCESS YOUR BRAIN AND SKILLS
No chart? No recording? Maybe you're hearing
the song for the first time at a rehearsal or a
recording session. You will likely need to call
on resources in your memory bank along with
a dose of creativity. Before it’s time to pull
something out of your gray matter, make sure
you already have a stockpile of ideas stored in
• Listen to a variety of both live and recorded
music to build a mental repertoire of
percussion ideas.
• Study recordings to develop an understanding
of how percussion parts interact within the
entire instrumentation.
• Compose/improvise groove ideas as part of
your practice sessions.
• Memorize rhythm patterns that are appropriate
for various styles and create variations.
Combining two or more of the above methods
will likely be a frequent answer to the question
of what to play. Perhaps while playing from
a notated chart, you will mix in a woodblock
rhythm transcribed from a recording—and
improvise a conga solo later in the song.
When deciding what to play, there are many
possibilities (including not playing). Don't be
afraid to experiment. Listen carefully to the
entire ensemble and use your musical instincts
to judge how your choices contribute to
creating the total piece of music.
Get a weekly dose of percussion advice from
Mark on Instagram #percussiontiptuesday
©2020 Mark Shelton Productions / Percussion For Worship
Mark Shelton
A freelance musician and educational consultant
based in Dallas/Fort Worth. Performance credits
include North Carolina Symphony, Gateway
Worship, Daystar Singers & Band, TALEA, Wichita
Falls Orchestra, Tin Roof Tango, and Dallas Wind
Symphony.
www.marksheltonmusic.com
percussionforworship.blogspot.com
September 2020
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