Playing and Preparing for Worship Guitar

[colder]

Hi everyone! It's great to have the guitar family back together!

My guitar dream is to be a part of the worship band at church and I wanted to ask those of you who have done this for all your best advice. Basically what I want to know is - how good do you need to be? What skills do you need to have down pat, what skills are more important, and what should I be practicing?

I've been playing for a couple of years now and I have been taking lessons every week for about a year and a half. I recently bought some books with play along tracks to worship songs and have been working hard on those, but I know they are no substitute for playing live with others. (I don't have any experience playing with others, and I don't know anyone else here who plays.) I have talked with one of the guitarists about meeting to play together but he's very busy and we've not been able to coordinate it yet. 

I want to prepare myself as much as I can to serve in this way, if I were blessed with that opportunity... so I'd like to hear from experienced church players on the board.

What do you wish new players in your group knew? What skills do you need the most? How do you keep from overplaying and keep it all "just right"? 

Steve mentioned the ability to listen to other players and play something that compliments them - I'd definitely like to hear more about that. 

Thanks for any thoughts you could provide - I have nothing to go on but lots of desire and practice time, hopefully I will get there one day. 

[Odie]

Dear Colder,

Have been trolling the LMG site a few weeks until now and excited about this new site.

I think this is a good time for me to make an intro. At the end, I will try to answer your questions.

Well, reckon it’s time to say hello for the first time to everyone. My only other input is below, which is on the LMG Home Page under “Testimonials and Reviews.”

 "Thank you for a wonderful guitar course! I purchased it approximately 2 years ago after returning from a tour in Kuwait/Iraq. I had to retire because of depression. Learning the guitar helped lift me from that depression! I am now playing gospel music in a nursing home weekly."

So it’s been about eight (8) years or so, where’s the time gone, what have I done, and where have I been? A Nursing Home Ministry with the guitar was just the beginning then came: church choir plus singing solos, duets, trios, quartets, and playing hand bells to include writing over one-hundred devotions for the Nursing Home and compiling over one-hundred hymns, southern gospel, and some contemporary in several binders. Oh, and I’ve been “retired” since 2006. Yea, right.

LMG: Completed all but the Jazz, Rock/Roll, Advanced Chords and only skimmed the finger style sessions. I then gave the course to a bass player that was visiting from Australia. Hopefully, the young lady used the course and probably did so. I knew my goal was to strum and sing primarily Gospel but do have some Folk/Country. In addition, I played piano from age six to about age twelve so had some music background and some of the music theory actually came back at age forty-eight (48). Singing in choir reinforced theory. For fingerpicking, I’ll be primarily singing over chord patterns, learn a few certain “select” EASY instrumentals, Travis picking, and finger style blues. I did memorize about a dozen blue grassy Gospel instrumentals, learned a few instrumentals on Open D tuning via DVD Course, and want to learn some of the blues tunes on this course. So, I’m using the Gibson’s Finger style Course as a “platform” to do so and started December 2017. I’m in Session 2 but “fast-forwarded” to Session 8 to try Travis Style.  

Gear:

-Taylor GS Mini Mahogany Top w/Taylor pickup (The size, sound, volume, etc., is absolutely perfect for Rest Home).

 -Zager ZAD-50 (Full size guitar, Added fishman pickup. Used this one exclusively at Rest Home(s) and wore down the first few frets on the high stings. Using now to learn 'some' finger style.)

 -Yamaha LL6SB Acoustic Dreadnought that will try and learn Travis Picking as it’s a good “fit” to mute.

 –Fishman PROLBX500 Loudbox Mini Acoustic Guitar Combo Amp

The LMG Course has really helped change my life’s direction since retiring from the Military in 2006 (thirty (30) years service). There’s so much available, through the Gibson Courses, for anyone to pick up a guitar and start learning in whatever focus/genre.

Okay “Colder,”

You appear to have the desire and direction, so you’re already over half way there.

The LMG course has all that you need to get started with strumming as your main venue. If you want to be a lead guitar player, then you probably already know it’s going take much more learning/effort.

A good Music Minister will hand you the sheet music, but don’t panic as your’s will have guitar chords. If your church has an orchestra or winds (flute, etc.,), their sheet music will be different.  Plus, many times both words and chords are on the screen just like on some you tube videos. Now, speaking of you tube videos: a good worship leader to visit on you tube is Brian Wahl.

What would I and did I look for when playing with others at church? Someone that will tune their guitar, and you would be surprised at beginners. Someone there for the right reasons: to play and worship and not show out.

Skills and overplaying? With the right attitude, you will not overplay. Skills in contemporary gospel is: rhythm, rhythm, and rhythm. And there can be a lot of syncopation in strumming contemporary gospel but never panic. Just get back in the groove on the next chord. As you may already know, a lot of this music has easy changing chords such as G2, C2, & others where all you change are the index/middle finger on fretting hand.

Be careful to not get overextended at a church. It can happen. Never try too hard or take yourself too serious.

Regards,

 

Edited February 5, 2018 by Odie

[Fretless]

Colder, check with your worship group leader as to what is specifically required for your group.

Generally speaking, I would say that your leader needs to see that you are walking daily with God and that you are able to play basic chords along with others. Simple as that. If you can play along to a metronome or the recordings you have bought that will be proof enough.

Once you are in the worship band and are gaining competence and confidence, listen to what others are playing and think about how you can help embellish the songs to help worshippers at your church by having the music say what the lyrics say. Check with the others what is needed or wanted from your playing.

Edited January 10, 2018 by Fretless

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

Worship/praise band is a large paint brush.

Some can be as simple a a person strumming a guitar for people to sing to all out rock bands with drums, bass, etc

In the church i play at the choir director is really good as you play what you know. Miss a chord change and pick up in the next beat or two since there is usually others playing along.

If you'e uncomfortable with the song, you could stop playing for that one song as long as you're a solo musician.

Your tempo may not be the bands tempo, you'l need to "listen" to their tempo and play with him.

Play "second rhythm " for a bit. That will help you play in the pocket of  them, not stand out in yours (or stand out your mistskes)

The stuff I play can have a lot of chord changes. Some guitarists in my choir will skip some changes to make it easier. I try my best to make all the chord changes. 

most of our music is in music note sheet form, luckily the music we play with will have guitar accompaniment chords.. so It might even give a capo suggestion for the chords.. which is nice since Capo songs doesn't all ways mean changing the pitch to match the singer.. it can mean.. make the song easier to play on guitar as most music is piano based.

most of all "You're not Joe Bonamassa or Joe Satriani or.. (name here) " playing a solo concert.. you're part of a band/choir.. it's all about the singing/song/som and musicians help make the singing good.. unless they have room for a solo from you; you're not to overpower the singing.

you have to talk to the choir director in whatever praise band you want to join to see where you can fit in. 

 

Edited January 13, 2018 by Eracer_Team-DougH

[Odie]

GREAT responses. Also, you may practice the song one way (by the music) then the Leader stop and talk, slow the tempo, etc., during the service. One guy would not tune his guitar and didn't last long. Another would NOT watch the Leader and follow if there was a tempo change, etc., and didn't last long either. I played the songs with the keyboard, was correct, but Leader didn't ask me to play. That was certainly ok as I was already soloing usually pm services and a few am services, etc. It wasn't about me. After several years - gave up the Praise Team - totally burned out. 

[colder]

Thanks for your thoughts, Odie, Fretless, and Doug! I’m excited to see if I will be gifted and blessed in this way.

Would love to hear any more thoughts or advice from anyone else who has experience playing in church!

[Mike Hoodenpyle]

As already stated, you need to be able to enhance the music and compliment what others are playing. Since you're playing along with worship songs, that's a good start. Some things I recommend working on:

1. Dynamics. You need to be able to play softly and louder at the appropriate times and stay on rhythm. It's common to tend to speed up when playing louder, and slow down when playing softer, so be aware of that.

2. Chord changes. Make sure you can change chords smoothly. Also, work on embellishing a little between chords, with trills or bass runs for example. (If you have a bass player, bass runs won't be necessary.)

3. Arpeggios. Strumming obviously has its place, but there are times when arpeggiating a chord just sounds better, particularly during a softer part of a song.

4. As already mentioned, try to play something that compliments the other players. If you already have rhythm and lead players, that may be tough. The trills and arpeggios could be helpful there. You also may consider playing with different chord voicings. For instance, if a song is in the key of C, you could put a capo on the 5th fret and play with chord shapes from the key of G. Just be careful to not overdo it. That may work well on some songs, not so well on others.

5. Keep it simple. Less is more.

Hope that helps.

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

On ‎2018‎-‎01‎-‎12 at 12:02 AM, Mike Hoodenpyle said:

 

2. Chord changes. Make sure you can change chords smoothly. Also, work on embellishing a little between chords, with trills or bass runs for example. (If you have a bass player, bass runs won't be necessary.)

 

this is a good thought.. but you probably won't "add" your stuff for a little bit until they feel comfortably in your playing and you "hear" a spot in a song that you can add to as well.

[colder]

Hey Steve! If by chance you see this, I would love to hear your thoughts since I know you're experienced at playing in churches.

Might be a good topic for an article too

[JayKayWright]

Hi colder, I'm obviously not Steve nor have I played on a worship team so naturally I wanted to chime in here  

 

I'm going to be approaching my church to discuss working my way into some rehearsals and potentially into the guitar players rotation for services etc...  All the best to you, it certainly sounds like your heart is in the right place and you've been given great advice here (great advice for me as well) . Take care.  Keep us posted.  Great Thread

[colder]

Hi everybody,

I had an opportunity last week to meet with one of my church's guitar players. It went really well, he was super super helpful and gave me a lot of tips for developing my feel for playing acoustic rhythm and how to pick your strumming patterns for each song, as well as to mesh with the other instruments.

 

We played together a bit too, and he said he didn't think I was far away from being able to play with them, just that it might be good for me to get some experience playing with others first. We are going to see about me attending a rehearsal in the future or maybe even rehearsing with them as if I were going to play that week, and just see how things go from there. 

Very exciting for me! Just wanted to share an update! If anybody has wisdom on how they decide what they're going to play and how to avoid overplaying, I would definitely like to hear it! 

[Fretless]

How to decide what to play? By this I assume you mean rhythm guitar. I tend to listen to the first line of the verse and the chorus and find what rhytm fits the rhythm and accents in the melody in each instance. Sometimes just down strums create the feeling of chugging and can be helpful if the song has a pre-chorus, eg. My Jesus, My Saviour (Darlene Zschech),

How to avoid overplaying? If in doubt about what to play, start by playing less than you would as you can always add to it as the songs builds. If you are playing a ballad, maybe just one strum at the start of each bar is enough for a section. If you are playing an up-tempo song then try backing off on how many strings you strum. Start by trying just the top 3 or 4 strings and only using all 6 when you need the accent of a full chord.

I feel like I am suggesting too much. I don't know you but your questions seem to imply that you are at the start of playing live. If that is so, just relax and play something simple. Much of this stuff will come naturally once you feel comfortable playing with others.

Keep playing, keep reporting back and asking further questions.

[MarkDelaware]

Hello colder!

Over the past couple of decades, I have played guitar on a few worship teams and led at times as well.

My current church is fairly large and has some very talented and professional level musicians so I have only been able to play for evening services.

Because of this, I joined a little group which uses music to minister outside the walls.

For the past three or four years I have been part of a group who visits assisted living facilities every month.  Some of these people get zero family or other visitors so we have an impact by playing, singing, chatting, hugging, etc.  They are blessed and so are we. 

I would like to share a true story which I witnessed in a memory care unit late last year. Nearly every time we played and sang at this place, a lady I will refer to as Jane, would come into the day room with big smiles, sometimes giggle, and occasionally hum but not a word from Jane's lips.  Over a period of months, Jane became more animated and would walk around us as we played and sang.  Again, just smiling, giggling, and humming.  The staff occasionally would gently help her back to her seat as her sense of personal space didn't exist. She would get within inches of my face while I was seated playing guitar.

One particular day, my fretting hand was hurting so I laid down my guitar and sat next to Jane.  As our pianist started into the next song, I grab a song sheet and proceeded to smile back at Jane and point to the place we were at as the group sang.  About mid chorus, suddenly, Jane is singing!!!  She isn't even reading the lyrics.  She knows the tune and the lyrics by heart.  The staff and our group could barely contain ourselves.  This went on for a few songs. Then, she went back to just smiling and giggling and I got back to my guitar. Later, I learned from the staff that Jane had never spoken a single word to anyone since she was brought to the facility.

We had been singing and playing for about two years in this "memory care" unit. I never had a clue how God was going to impact my life when I walked in that day but I walked out about ten feet off the ground - God had blessed my socks off with what is the most miraculous event  I have ever experienced.  I had the most peaceful sense of being right where God wanted me, when He wanted me, and how He wanted me.

If your church has a hundred or more people in attendance, there are likely other instrumentalists sitting in the pew you can connect with.  If you have several hundred attendees, I guarantee you there are other singers and instrumentalists on the sidelines willing to join one who stands up and takes the lead in a new or revived music related ministry. 

Step 1. Pray. 

Step 2. Share your heart for worship with your pastor as well as other musicians. 

Step 3. Ask your pastor for information on other ministries where music is or could be  utilized. 

Step 4. Ask for names of people who also enjoy playing and singing.  Then initiate personal contact.  

Step 5. Keep practicing with ALL types of Christian music.  (I never expected to be playing hymns every month versus contemporary Christian music)

Step 6.  Make yourself available to every opportunity. Post an advertisement on the bulletin board to start up your own group if no other opportunity presents itself.  This will be a powerful learning experience whether the group thrives or dries up on the paper.

Step 7. Practice resting in God and meditating on His word as His timing is perfect.

 

[Odie]

On 1/31/2018 at 3:59 PM, MarkDelaware said:

Hello colder!

Over the past couple of decades, I have played guitar on a few worship teams and led at times as well.

My current church is fairly large and has some very talented and professional level musicians so I have only been able to play for evening services.

Because of this, I joined a little group which uses music to minister outside the walls.

For the past three or four years I have been part of a group who visits assisted living facilities every month.  Some of these people get zero family or other visitors so we have an impact by playing, singing, chatting, hugging, etc.  They are blessed and so are we. 

I would like to share a true story which I witnessed in a memory care unit late last year. Nearly every time we played and sang at this place, a lady I will refer to as Jane, would come into the day room with big smiles, sometimes giggle, and occasionally hum but not a word from Jane's lips.  Over a period of months, Jane became more animated and would walk around us as we played and sang.  Again, just smiling, giggling, and humming.  The staff occasionally would gently help her back to her seat as her sense of personal space didn't exist. She would get within inches of my face while I was seated playing guitar.

One particular day, my fretting hand was hurting so I laid down my guitar and sat next to Jane.  As our pianist started into the next song, I grab a song sheet and proceeded to smile back at Jane and point to the place we were at as the group sang.  About mid chorus, suddenly, Jane is singing!!!  She isn't even reading the lyrics.  She knows the tune and the lyrics by heart.  The staff and our group could barely contain ourselves.  This went on for a few songs. Then, she went back to just smiling and giggling and I got back to my guitar. Later, I learned from the staff that Jane had never spoken a single word to anyone since she was brought to the facility.

We had been singing and playing for about two years in this "memory care" unit. I never had a clue how God was going to impact my life when I walked in that day but I walked out about ten feet off the ground - God had blessed my socks off with what is the most miraculous event  I have ever experienced.  I had the most peaceful sense of being right where God wanted me, when He wanted me, and how He wanted me.

If your church has a hundred or more people in attendance, there are likely other instrumentalists sitting in the pew you can connect with.  If you have several hundred attendees, I guarantee you there are other singers and instrumentalists on the sidelines willing to join one who stands up and takes the lead in a new or revived music related ministry. 

Step 1. Pray. 

Step 2. Share your heart for worship with your pastor as well as other musicians. 

Step 3. Ask your pastor for information on other ministries where music is or could be  utilized. 

Step 4. Ask for names of people who also enjoy playing and singing.  Then initiate personal contact.  

Step 5. Keep practicing with ALL types of Christian music.  (I never expected to be playing hymns every month versus contemporary Christian music)

Step 6.  Make yourself available to every opportunity. Post an advertisement on the bulletin board to start up your own group if no other opportunity presents itself.  This will be a powerful learning experience whether the group thrives or dries up on the paper.

Step 7. Practice resting in God and meditating on His word as His timing is perfect.

 

AWESOME. Our music life's are very similar. 

[DianeB]

Mark, what a wonderful testimony. It reminded me of the 2014 documentary, Alive Inside.

[MarkDelaware]

17 hours ago, DianeB said:

Mark, what a wonderful testimony. It reminded me of the 2014 documentary, Alive Inside.

Diane,

I never heard of that documentary.

So I just looked it up, watched the trailer, and ordered the DVD.

I will be sharing it with our music group to encourage them too.

Thank you for telling me about it.

[TheGiftedOne]

Hello everyone I wouldn't call myself a pro but over the years playing these are the things that come in handy:

Learning to listen - A pro was telling me music is not restricted to just your major scale and being able to hear all the different ways music can flow would give you more ideas in a worship situation. 

Also from the learn and master guitar it helped me read music something i dislike to this day but need to do it because I'm at an old school church. So I had to learn to spell chords and write them in on my sheet music. 

Practice along with recording its like playing with other people to some extent lol that's what i do. Plus don't limit yourself to only play in your home church if other churches have events go and fellowship with them. Especially if your from the old school it limits your skills so plus you get bored.

plus when you get a chance to play live make sure you can hear yourself and not over power the band with your skills just give the music what it needs . That may be a solo or four chords but what ever you do play your part.

Plus you know worship leaders like to be spontaneous so that learning to listen is critical because if you got feel when those chords changes coming and hear the type of chord to play. If you know the number system for chords in a live setting they may call the numbers for you. But as you get more experience you ask them what you play just now and they would watch you play the note and watch you like a you suppose to know that lol. 

Hey never giving up is the best attribute a musician should have and their is always room for growth practice makes permanent. 

Edited February 9, 2018 by TheGiftedOne

[colder]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate every thought and post. I'm just continuing to work toward my guitar dream in this area and waiting for the right door to be opened. 

I have found a few worship-specifc resources online, some from musicademy, worshiponline, and worshipartistry. There's a lot of good material out there. 

I hope anyone who contributes at church with their guitar talents will continue to offer some advice!

[Dan Stankard]

 I have been invited to come to our churches praise Band Rehearsal this week. I told the leader I would love to come sit in with them but I don't believe I am good enough for Sunday mornings yet. Where my skill level is at right now the ideal situation would be for me to sit in the background and play some backup Rhythm if possible.

[Odie]

14 hours ago, Dan Stankard said:

 I have been invited to come to our churches praise Band Rehearsal this week. I told the leader I would love to come sit in with them but I don't believe I am good enough for Sunday mornings yet. Where my skill level is at right now the ideal situation would be for me to sit in the background and play some backup Rhythm if possible.

Then >>> Go For It ! 

[Eracer_Team-DougH]

You have to sit in..  learn to fit in..