Format; note for note? personal feeling? original interpretation?

[Gaetano Paul]

Hello all. I was wondering your opinions and experiences on church worship structures and techniques regarding playing other artists songs like say Hillsong or Chris Tomlin etc. I currently play at two different churches, one wants a fairly close note for note set, with a demo cd to practice and prepare before rehearsal etc. The other church does not want note for note and for some songs the worship leader has never even heard the original recording. For instance "hossanna" that we did today. I know that one note for note, but as not able to even touch the coolness of that one due to this loose structure.
I see the ups and downs for both sides. The anti note for note church wants to keep it opened and free for full blown worship to take place, and this is very important, but why could this not happened while playing skillfully the great licks of these great songs. Alot of amazing worship does happened there. At the note for note church not much genuine worship does appear to be taking place, and not because it is note for note but it is of a conservative, mainstream denomination that does not really have freedom in worship yet.
Anyways I know we are called to play skillfully before the Lord. and at the "free" church it is just 3 or 4 simple chord progressions per song, not really much skill and very un gratifying musically as a musician. When i started at the note for note church it was very exciting because I am able to plunge into the potential, musically, that the Lord has blessed me with. So this was very invigorating, to say the least.

What are your experiences and thoughts on these things, spiritually and musically.

Thanks

[TenneyThe2nd]

I tend toward the note for note "cover band" style, but after going to the All About Worship Retreat, I'm trying really hard to be more open and free. I think I'm going to start introducing songs with just an acoustic guitar most of the time. The retreat music sessions were all just an artist and their acoustic guitar or keyboard. It was so much easier and less distracting to learn new songs with a simple instrumentation like that. I also think that once people are familiar with a song, they are more into complicated band instrumentation.

[MandoRon]

We typically start with note for note. Most of our band comes from a "cover band" background... We modify some songs more than others - many we don't modify at all.

We do try to be cognizant of when people are really engaging, and will loop things to stay there for a while...

[travisvwright]

So in a very generalized way your choices are:

Good Music with Bad Worship
Or:
Good Worship with Bad Music

Tough call...

[Mike Chase]

How is that the only set of choices? Some people worship better with structure and don't like the times where the band is playing quietly, usually at the end of a song, and the lead singer is singing or speaking short phrases in time with the music.

Firstly, there's some middle ground here. Instead of playing a song note-for-note with the exact structure as the recording, or going the other extreme and rearranging everything, you can also hit all the key points in the song - guitar riffs and solos, the keys playing a pad for the first chorus while everyone else drops out (Hillsong loves this - see Hosanna, Desert Song, Mighty To Save), etc. You can hit all of the key moments just like the recording AND be able to open up your structure a bit to add some more choruses or allow for more spontaneous worship. The band who can only play covers with the exact structure and who doesn't know how to look for or listen to cues from the leader will struggle with this, but that's just a matter of educating the band as to how you lead, and having them rehearse enough to keep their heads out of their music and pay attention to both you and the congregation.

Secondly, you can also mix it up a bit without getting rid of all the key moments in the song. Taking Hosanna (the Brooke Fraser version) for example, the recording starts with a 4-bar riff on a wurlitzer with some delay and tremolo, then the drums, bass, and guitar come in and the guitar plays another riff for 4 bars, then they do that again, and then the first verse starts. If you don't have a keyboard player, can't get the right sound, or want to start with a bit more energy, you can skip those first 4 bars. Something else they've done to mix it up a bit is start with a really quiet chorus, just pads that are following the vocalist, who's singing slower than the normal pace, and after the chorus, start with the drums/bass/guitar riff. They sometimes start the song this way coming out of Nothing But The Blood played with the same pad sound. For the band who's only really used to playing note for note, this kind of smaller change is a good way to get them started on the path of rearranging a song to fit the particular mood you're going for.

[Gaetano Paul]

So in a very generalized way your choices are:

Good Music with Bad Worship
Or:
Good Worship with Bad Music

Tough call...

This is how it feels Travis. Seriously!
I totally agree with you Mike Chase, there has got to be some middle ground. It seems though churches are very prone to clinging rigidly to certain ways only. I totally tried to explain the middle ground thing and got completely shut down at the "free" church, which happens to be my home church. Also it is hard to stay sharp and skilled as a musician with just the stripped down, play whatever versions of all songs. Worship to the KING is most important, above all. I am on a journey right now in my walk were I am seeking to learn what it means to be a musician unto GOD! I know it says play skillfully unto the Lord.

[danielled]

We generally encourage our team to learn the song as it's played on the recording, but be ready to follow our lead as far as the structure of the song goes. They don't expect to come Sunday morning and play through the song exactly, like a cover, but they will have hopefully learned guitar riffs, drum fills, etc. that we can use to work into our own style and structure. We rarely know exactly where we are going within a song ahead of time. So far it's been a pretty good balance of requiring skillful musicianship but allowing room to flow.

[Gaetano Paul]

We generally encourage our team to learn the song as it's played on the recording, but be ready to follow our lead as far as the structure of the song goes. They don't expect to come Sunday morning and play through the song exactly, like a cover, but they will have hopefully learned guitar riffs, drum fills, etc. that we can use to work into our own style and structure. We rarely know exactly where we are going within a song ahead of time. So far it's been a pretty good balance of requiring skillful musicianship but allowing room to flow.

That sounds splendid

[yod1948]

doesn't to be "either/or" really


If the musicians have the talent to pull it off note for note, then they will. If any one member in that chain is unable, it will sound like a lame attempt and could be a distraction to the congregation

Maybe they could start a (separate) band for doing concerts instead of leading worship as an outlet for musical growth? Both concert and praise music are valid ministries but don't always mix well for a worship service.

When leading worship, it is about the entire congregation being able to flow as one voice. Whichever approach facilitates that goal is the best one for each individual congregation. For some it will be playing the song exactly and for others it will be just getting the idea

[milepost13]

We typically learn a song note for note, and then as we progress, we mess around with the arrangement. The way I see it, most people who have the talent to write and record their own music probably have given us a very good interpretation of the song. Why reinvent the wheel?

Nate