KEYBOARD Column from Worship Musician Magazine Jan/Feb 2013
By Ed Kerr
Start With Review
Throughout the year I have the privilege of coaching worship teams in local churches around the country. Regardless of the size of the church I’m visiting, I’m struck by how often I stress a few basic things with these teams. As we all begin a new year of ministry as a worship musicians, a review of these basics is valuable. I’ll focus on two of them here.
Though there is no single most important item I could start with, the issue of keeping steady time is seen as a challenge for many teams. In my work as worship pastor in my home church, we’ve faced this challenge and made huge steps forward by consistently playing with a metronome. We use an in-ear monitoring system, so every musician can hear the click without our congregation hearing it. If you don’t yet use a click during your worship sets, I hope you’ll seriously consider it. Perhaps you’ve said within your teams, “Yeah, we should use a click”. Well, there’s no better time than this week to take the leap. There are many great apps for iOS and Android devices that are very inexpensive, even free, so don’t think that using a click has to be expensive to implement.
In a worship service during my most recent visit to a church as a worship team coach, I started “10,000 Reasons” on piano without the benefit of a click. As I sang the first chorus I had the realization many of you have had, that the song had started WAY too fast. Ugh. It’s pretty difficult and distracting to try and slow a song down substantially, so I was reminded once again how important it is for a team to utilize a click.
Incidentally, most metronome apps offer a visual mode, so if you don’t have in-ear monitoring available you could still utilize a metronome. We keyboard players can sit our iPhone, iPad or whatever device we have within reach on our instrument. Store the desired tempo, start it flashing, and start confidently into the intro for “10,000 Reasons”. Or any other song. That’s what I’ll be doing next time I’m visiting a church where in-ears aren’t available.
The next item consistently addressed in my work with worship teams around the country is playing and singing intentionally. Specifically, think about whether all of your instrumentalists and vocalists are playing and singing constantly through every song. It’s so important to be intentional about when you sing and play. Do you have multiple vocalists? Consider having a lead vocalist begin a song. Perhaps add a unison vocal on the first chorus. Have a duet harmony sung on the 2nd verse. Build a thicker vocal texture on the 2nd chorus. Begin a bridge with a single vocalist and build the vocal texture as the bridge is repeated.
Do you have a five or six piece rhythm section? Is everyone playing from the top of the song? Be more intentional about how you orchestrate your arrangement. The instrumental possibilities are endless. The vocal options, too. Essential point here: think about what you’re doing as a team. To present a thick musical texture at all times can result in a worship set that lacks the momentum, dynamic and contrast gained when you really think about how to craft your arrangements.
Many worship teams essentially “cover” the arrangement featured on the most well-known recording of a song. If this is what your team tends to do, listen closely to that recording. How were sections delineated vocally and instrumentally? What made the first verse distinct from the intro? How did the intensity/instrumental texture/dynamic/vocal approach evolve to set the first chorus apart? Was a melodic “hook” from the intro reused after the first chorus?
After listening closely to that recording, study a recording of what your team is doing. That’s right. Listen to yourselves. Do sections stand apart? Are hooks clearly heard? Is the vocal arrangement well thought out? If not, don’t beat yourself up about it. But resolve to be intentional in your approach as a team.
Beyond these basics or any other emphasis you might focus on as a worship musician and a worship team, enjoy being His sons and daughters and remember the great privilege we have to minister in the Name of the Lord. There are 10,000 reasons to exalt Him.
As a songwriter Ed has written over 100 songs with Integrity Music. He has a Masters Degree in piano performance. Ed and his family live in Washington State. Ed plays Yamaha’s Motif XS8.
www.kerrtunes.com
