by Don Chapman
part 1 | part 2
No, this isn't an endorsement for Obama!
It is time for change or will be time for
change at some point in all our worship leading
lives. Last week we talked about a worship
leader I know who said his music didn't "sound
right" - the problem wasn't that he
was doing dated songs, the problem was his
band of older musicians were playing modern
music like it was 1982. They won't change.
I'm hearing stories like
this from churches
everywhere. I know of one
mid 40's guitarist
who refuses to use a capo
and tried to get
the worship leader fired
because of it. Over
a... capo? He thought it
was beneath him,
yet modern guitarists know
it's not necessarily
a shortcut but a way of
getting different
chord voicings from the
instrument. He won't
change.
Welcome to worship wars
2008. Wars start
whenever a person or group
feels displaced.
Twenty years ago the traditionalists
were
at war with the contemporaries
because they
were starting to be displaced.
Today, the
80's rock musicians are
at war with the 20-somethings
for the same reason.
Let's get right down to
it: it's a pride
issue.
Pride is saying "this
is the way I've
(we've) always done it,
I know what I'm doing,
you don't, and I refuse
to change."
Last week I suggested you
might want to look
for a new guitarist if
yours has this attitude.
Not because he can't play
the music, but
as all the worship leader
devotionals I've
read say, we supposedly
don't want people
on our praise teams with
pride issues. How
much better instead to
have an open heart
and mind and be willing
to try something
new that might be a bit
out of our comfort
zones?
Last week a reader emailed
me to lovingly
point out that, at 42 years
old, I'm no "spring
chicken" myself so
who am I to talk!
Which leads me to my next
point: if I can change, anyone can change.
I've reinvented myself
more times than Madonna.
Here's a brief rundown
of my various incarnations
and styles of keyboard
playing:
1. Old time congregational
Gospel hymn playing
(running octaves in the
right hand.) 1986.
Coat and tie.
2. Steve Green (I can remember
going to a
Steve Green concert years
ago and thinking
"this music is so...
worldly!"
For those who don't know,
Steve Green was
in the era of Sandi Patti
and his music basically
sounded like a typical
orchestrated LifeWay
choir anthem.) 1989. Coat
and tie.
3. Don Moen and "God
With Us."
Remember when that worship
musical was all
the rage? 1994. Worship
leader vest.
4. Matt Redman and Passion.
1999. I started
wearing jeans to church,
but in a business-casual
sort of way.
5. Hillsong United and
everything else that's
guitar driven. 2007. My
shirt's untucked,
I don't comb my hair and
I look younger than
I did at #3.
You have to admit that's
quite an impressive
leap from the keyboard
glissandos of #1 to
the distorted guitar riffs
of #5. And your
guitarist can't find it
within himself to
use a delay pedal? Please.
My point is where do you
think I'd be today
if I was still playing
like it was 1986?
I've found that musical
change is not painful
but quite fun and challenging.
I remember
hearing Matt Redman for
the first time in
the late 90's, towards
the end of the Don
Moen/Integrity heyday.
I thought "yuck
- it's all guitars and
those chord progressions
are so weird." I went
to one of WorshipTogether's
first worship conferences
in Nashville, heard
Matt speak, bought a CD
and fell in love
with it on the ride home.
The same thing
happened years before when
I heard Steve
Green - I bought his CD
after the concert
and started to like it.
Learning about the
artist and seeing him/her
in concert can
give you a window into
a musical style and
help change your taste.
If your guitarists
don't want to play like
Starfield then maybe you should take them to a Starfield
concert and buy them some CDs.
The music at my last church
was predominately
an 80's rock sound with
some Paul Baloche
thrown in. When I left
the music director
job to focus on my websites
a few years ago
I morphed again: I spent
a wonderful year
at Seacoast Greenville
and basically got
a crash course in rock
playing from Chris
Sligh, Adam Fisher and
Chris Surratt. I play
keyboards completely different
now than I
did 3 years ago and can
fit into a modern
rock band as well as playing
more churchy
stuff like I previously
have.
I guess that's one fear
musicians have: they
don't want to lose their
musical identity.
This isn't the case at
all - you stay the
same and can do whatever
you did before,
it's just that you can
now do so much more.
You're versatile.
A few weeks ago I had the
pleasure of playing
at a very contemporary,
cutting edge church.
After rehearsal, the mid
20's rock-starish
worship leader came up
to me and gushed over
my keyboard playing. I
took this as one of
the greatest compliments
of my life - a contemporary
rocker complimenting a...
dork like me! If I can change, anyone can change.
This goes for all musical
walks of life.
I was talking to a songwriter
recently who
hopes to have her songs
recorded and published.
The problem is they all
sound like old time
Gospel songs. I told her
if she seriously
wants a publisher to look
at her material
she needs to write like
it's 2008. "Do
you ever listen to Christian
radio?"
I asked. She wrinkled her
nose. I gave her
an assignment: start listening
to the radio
and buy Christian CDs.
Don't just listen
but analyze the songs -
what makes a modern
tune sound differently
from a Gospel song
from the 60's?
At a recent worship conference
I noticed
that a workshop on contemporary
singing was
jammed with hundreds of
people. Evidently
another new worship war
centers around displaced,
operatic housewives who
no longer are asked
to sing solos or be on
the praise team because
their warbling won't fit
the modern worship
songs.
The choice is yours. If
you don't want to
change the world won't
stop turning, but
do you really want to be...
...a bitter guitarist who
doesn't get to
play with the band as much
because he can't
part with those dated effects?
...a vibrato vocalist who
doesn't get to
sing as many solos because
her voice doesn't
fit contemporary styles?
...a grouchy keyboardist
who wonders why
he's only asked to play
hymns at the nursing
home and not play with
the praise band?
Did I mention if I can change, anyone can
change? It's really fun, you ought to try it.
part 1 | part 2
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