by Don Chapman
When I first started playing keyboards in
church, it was piano and organ all the way:
traditional worship. For added thrills, the
music director might whip out a trombone
or trumpet and play a descant on the last
verse of the hymn. The organist and I would
take turns playing the offertory, either
A.M. or P.M. Pianists aspired to sound like
Dino, and we all, for the most part, played
from printed sheet music.
Next came the "God
With Us" era
in the early 90's - this
was the worship
"cantata" that
introduced praise
and worship to traditional
churches. Hip
churches instead did charts
from Don Moen's
"Rivers of Joy"
- the recording
that launched "Shout
to the Lord."
Worship was still keyboard
driven, although
church pianists were finding
they had to
start improvising from
chord charts. Who
let that acoustic guitar
on stage?! I call
this genre "classic
worship," along
with early songs like "As
the Deer"
and "He Is Exalted."
Then came the Matt Redman
Passion era in
the late 90s and early
2000s which ushered
in the guitar-driven sound
(although still
lots of keyboard driven
songs.) This is where
the bulk of churches are
musically right
now, and the top 10 CCLI
reflects this with
songs like "Open The
Eyes Of My Heart,"
"Come Now Is The Time
To Worship"
and "You Are My King."
Mainstream
is no longer traditional,
it's contemporary.
The cutting edge contemporary churches of
today, churches doing what I call "modern
worship" like Mosaic, Mars Hills and
LifeChurch, will rely heavily on guitar-driven
worship songs. The music sounds much like
what you'd hear on rock/pop radio - Hillsong
United, Desperation Band, Lincoln Brewster.
While still doing some piano driven ballads,
these churches have a full-band sound with
several guitars.
After spending the last
fun-filled year at
Seacoast Church, I've enjoyed
discovering
just what a keyboardist
can do with himself
in this next phase of worship
style.
When I started in the Seacoast
band I mainly
played a piano sound, but
that eventually
became boring. My guitar
buddies Jay and
Adam seemed to be having
all the fun.
The American Idol guy Chris Sligh (and Seacoast worship leader) is the kind
of person who always has the latest CD and
is playing it for you, wanting to know what
you think. So I've been listening to a ton
of modern music that I wouldn't normally
hear.
I'm still hearing lots
of keyboards, but
not necessarily pianos.
I'm hearing pads,
popping and gurgling sounds
and textures.
And I'm hearing these same
sounds in the
modern worship recordings.
If I do hear a
piano sound, it's never
"legit"
- but swamped in cool reverb,
delay or distortion
effects.
Basically my brain neurons
have become completely
re-wired this past year.
I've morphed from
plunking out a keyboard
rhythm to creatively
adding sonic icing to the
mix. It's funny
how you >can< learn
to love new styles.
For instance, I got the
Keane "Hopes
and Fears" CD a year
ago and heard nice
piano ballads. Now, with
my neurons rewired,
when I listen to this CD
I hear all kinds
of cool synthesizer stuff
that I hadn't even
noticed before.
Another funny thing is
how retro sounds are
in again. I dug around
in my closet and found
my old Roland XV 2020 synth
module. I thought
I'd never turn it on again,
but now I use
it all the time - those
synthy sounds are
popular.
There are several different
things you can
do with synths that make
playing in church
a whole lot more fun than
merely playing
piano. Here's a rundown:
Leads: Remember the trumpet/trombone descant I
mentioned in the first paragraph? A synth
lead is sort of a modern version of this.
I might play a synth lead line (a single,
melodic monophonic part) during the intro
and maybe as a descant during the chorus.
Most synths have a category called "leads."
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hear an mp3 sample of a lead |
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Pads: A synth pad might also be called, and sound
like, a string pad. I'm playing chords, sort
of like a synth string reduction. Synth pads
could sound like strings, or have a breathy
or smooth, synthetic quality. You also can
mix the pad in with a keyboard - so whatever
you'd be playing with the piano sound would
also be played with the pad. Most synths
have a category called "pads."
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hear an mp3 sample of a string pad |
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hear an mp3 sample of a synth pad |
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Textures: I noticed that Adam, a Seacoast guitarist,
often is not even playing notes, but is playing
effects and feedback. I'm starting to do
the same, playing gurgling, popping pad sounds
during upbeat songs.
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hear an mp3 sample of a texture |
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hear an mp3 sample of another texture |
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Pulses: Also called "seq" or "arp,"
this is a a sound that can be played rapidly
(8th or 16th notes, for instance) to give
a pulsating feel to a song. Most synths have
a category called "seq" or "arp."
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hear an mp3 sample of an arp or seq |
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Orchestrations: I might replicate an orchestral feel by
playing a string patch
or an orchestral instrument
line like a french horn.
You can download synth string and instrumental
parts for my All Hail the
Power hymn arrangement.
Here's my article about synth orchestration.
Keyboards: Instead of a piano patch, how about a rhodes
or wurlitzer?
Organ: No, not pipe, but B3. Hold down a chord
and turn on the Leslie.
And of course, the piano. On any given song, I might play a lead on
the intro, a pad or texture on the verse
and a rhythmic piano part on the chorus.
I might just play a synth pad on some songs.
On some I might just use a texture. You can
get as complex, or not, as is tasteful. I'm
talking contemporary worship here - I wouldn't
try this in a traditional setting!
By the way, I created the
musical samples
above with the awesome
new virtual synth
from Cakewalk called Dimension Pro. It's a good bread-and-butter software synth
if you'd like to get started with computer
music. I play these sounds live from my laptop
when I play with Chris Sligh's band. Most
synthesizers have similar sounds.
Bottom line: 21st century worship keyboards are more
than just hammer, strings and pipes.
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