the joy of the dynamic staircase that becomes available to us as a result .
Effective dynamics - the rise and fall in the intensity of our arrangements - is essential for good musicality and one of the best tools at our disposal to “ lure ” a congregation to sing ! Being intentional about which instruments play where - and which do not - is perhaps the easiest way to manufacture those wonderful , necessary , up-and-down-the-staircase dynamic variations in our arrangements . end of the second chorus but the transition from verse to chorus should , once again , take us up another step in the dynamic stair case . This time it ’ ll be achieved by subtle changes in the intensity of our playing rather than by adding instruments .
• Drop back down to the bottom of the staircase to just keyboard for the first bridge . Work our way back up the staircase again as we repeat the bridge before the closing choruses .
UP AND DOWN THE DYNAMIC STAIRCASE - AN EXAMPLE :
• Have a gentle-yet-rhythmically-solid keyboard support our voices for verse one . No one else is playing their instrument . Maybe non-playing band members could sing with the congregation , even if they don ’ t have a mic .
• Then we add a clean , high electric guitar and perhaps a gentle pulse from the drummer ’ s floor tom using mallets for verse two .
• Add just long , simple bass notes and raked acoustic guitar chords as the first chorus arrives . We ’ re slowly making our way up the dynamic staircase . With less instrumental “ competition ”, the congregation is gaining confidence and warming into the song .
• As the final choruses arrive , for the firstand-only time , we reach our dynamic high point of the song . We end the song from the top of the staircase - solidly , confidently and all together . With strong melody vocal guidance , hopefully the congregation has taken the journey with us !
It can be so much fun to prepare a song arrangement with those intentional steps up and down the dynamic staircase . Having each player absolutely certain of their entry and exit points throughout the song and then hearing the way the congregation responds - lifting their voices to worship God - is one of the highest joys of music for me . As Mozart tells us : Rests are gold !
• Right on the last syllable of the first chorus , we finally introduce a full sound - with kick , snare , hi-hat drum beat and all other instruments playing too . We ’ ll maintain the same use of all of our instruments until the
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