Worship Musician Magazine September 2020 | Page 133

than it had ever been before.
I was so used to pushing that old workstation
to the limit and I treated MainStage the exact
same way. Because software is so much
more open-ended that mindset ended up
actually decreasing the quality of our sound
and performances for a stretch until I figured
out that I actually needed to impose limits on
myself instead of looking to the software to
provide them.
The second mindset shift: Start thinking about
your new gear in terms of new outcomes
instead of just new possibilities. If you don’t set
concrete, measurable goals for what you want
the worship keys rig to do for your worship
team adding new gear is likely to actually slow
you down.
PLAYING KEYS KARAOKE
This last one is tough because I love the feeling
of doing a great job covering a well written
worship song with great instrumentation, but it
was chasing that feeling that got me into the
situations I described above. It’s really hard as
worship keys players and leaders to pursue
excellence without sacrificing too much of our
creativity and/or a healthy balance.
I’ve talked about this before but I’ll say it
again here: I’m not arguing that attempting to
approximate the original parts, sounds, and
feel of a worship is the wrong way to go. In
fact, I’d say a lot of the time it’s one of the best
ways to go. But I think it’s important to remain
mindful that no two worship bands, volunteers
or leaders are the same.
To bring the story of ‘little David the worship
leader’ home, I kept running into this wall with
my worship team even as we finally started
figuring out how to use the keys gear available
to us to get better performance results. I’d hand
my volunteers the keys rig every week in the
same way regardless of who was scheduled to
play keys, how skilled they were, and what their
musical preferences might have been.
This resulted in a lot of ups and downs from
week to week because I wasn’t playing to
my team’s strengths. Instead, I was stuck in
a ‘replication first’ mindset that didn’t have
enough flexibility for my volunteers.
I slowly started to notice this manifest in my
team, often as a passing ‘oh… this song again’
or ‘you just want me to hold this chord for two
minutes?’ remark.
This shift was the most important for me as
a young worship leader: Stop viewing your
worship team (yourself included) as replicators
and instead view them as contributors who
may also be able to replicate at times. Once
I started leaning into the individuals with an
attitude of collaboration I found that asking my
team to replicate a particular part or sound felt
like much less of an ask than before and my
team became more invested in their unique
roles.
IT’S NOT ALL BAD
Here’s the thing: you’re probably already
doing a great job. If you’re seeking to serve
your church, your worship team and most
importantly God, then you’re 90% of the way
there.
It’s not that hard to write an article like this
one, pointing out things that I look back on
from my own experience and shake my head
at. I want to make sure that I always remind
myself and you, the reader, that a lot of what we
discuss has to do with that final 10%. It’s worth
focusing on to a point, but remember that the
vast majority of what determines our results
comes down to our hearts and our motivation
for doing what we do.
As you keep working on the 10% that could
always be improved, be encouraged that God,
your team and your church will notice the 90%
more than anything else. Keep going and keep
serving.
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
September 2020
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