A while back I posted about the idea of shifting from acoustic guitar to electric as the fundamental timbre in corporate worship for the sake of the music that we lead with being an honest and relevant expression of and to the culture in which we live and do ministry. That post has been my most viewed and commented post ever since I started blogging back in May of '07. The responses that I've gotten here, here, here, and via email has been really informative. Well, I finally made the leap in our more contemporary service a few weeks ago and it went great. I gave it another shot last week and it went even better. Here are 7 things I've learned about making this jump:
- Pray for direction: The desire to make a switch like this can come from at least two different sources. One is a heartfelt Spirit-led desire to engage the hearts and minds of your people with the greatness of our God such that they might treasure Him more, and to use music that they more authentically connect with toward that end. The other source of this desire can be pride that wants to look and sound like a rock star. Pray that God would first show you if this move is right for your church, and then pray that He would show you if this move your heart. If it is not right for them, don't do it. If something is not right with you, you had better wait.
- Poll your people: One of my big hesitations I originally had about swapping out my acoustic guitar for an electric was that I recognize that on average, our congregation is pretty conservative - leading me to think it may not be the best move for our body. In talking with some of our leadership and members (musicians and non-musicians), I came to realize that most people did not see it as a big deal and most really welcomed the idea. There was even one guy who was really honest in admitting that while the idea weirded him out, it really only amounted to personal stigmas and he encouraged me to give it a try.
- Form the foundation first: Another reason that the transition went so well was because I've been blessed to have a really faithful young electric guitarist who has put in an amazing amount of time over the last year or so and is growing to be a really good player. On top of that, our band as a whole has tightened up such that they could routinely be mistaken for pros. That being said, if I had tried this out prior to the band's growth or prior to that young guy helping to establish a taste for electric guitar from the lead guitar position I might have gone down in a blaze of glory. Is it was, I had the benefit of standing on a really solid musical and aesthetic foundation.
- Practice your part: If guitars were dogs, then acoustics and electrics would be two very different breeds. When you approach leading make sure to take plenty of time by yourself to think through and play through how you plan to sit in the mix, if and/or how you'll use effects, if you'll use riffs versus standard chords, and even what chord voicings you plan to use. You'll go a long way towards making your musicians feel comfortable, and an even longer way towards ensuring that quality happens on Sunday.
- Easy on the effects: First time out of the chute I didn't use any effects at all. Well, I tried to use them during rehearsal and we almost fell apart. So for the first Sunday I just set my gain such that if I lightened up my pick attack my tone would clean up, but if I dug in I would get some overdrive. It worked great. The second time I brought out the electric I started using some tempo based delay. Guess what - the band adjusted, we stayed really tight, and Sunday morning was awesome. No problems.
- Love your sound guy: Remember that you and the band are not the only ones making adjustments. Your sound guy has probably spent a lot of time getting your acoustic EQ'd and sitting perfectly in the house. Make sure you plan in some additional time for him to make adjustments. At the end of the day, he determines a huge part of how good you sound.
- Make sure that it still is not about you: I'm hoping that if you checked your pride at the door in your decision to transition over to electric that this won't be an issue, but knowing how deceitful pride can be it probably bears repeating. Just as on any other Sunday, everything in the course of a worship service should bring all praise, glory, and honor to our Savior. Make sure that your playing continues to not get in the way of that regardless of which guitar is in your hands.
2 comments:
I guess I'm the first to comment. It's tough to stand in front of 600 people with an attention-getting noise-maker and not draw attention to yourself. I had a local banjo player explain it to me this way: "if you're there to play LEAD guitar and you don't let them have what they expect, then you're just as big a distraction as a guitar player that plays too loudly or too often". That's paraphrased/shorter, but that's what he meant. There are weeks that I get compliments for 'turning up the heat' and weeks I get emails asking 'where were you?'. I focus on playing the songs/riffs/solos EXACTLY like they would hear in on a CD or radio, so that there arent' surprises that might take them 'out of the moment' they're in.
Great input Jim. One thing I hear in your comment is the importance of knowing what expectations people are bringing in the door with them. I think this also brings up the importance of not only knowing those expectations and adapting to them, but to even go so far as helping to set reasonable expectations for what they are about to participate in and experience. Whether people are expecting a more modern sound or Southern Gospel or something highly traditional and liturgical, if they get something else then there's a good chance that they're going to have a harder time focusing their minds and hearts on the manifold glory of God because their focus may (unfortunately) be on their unmet expectations and preferences.
Post a Comment