Gordon Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Hey All! Does your worship leader prefer you play as closely to the original track as possible or do they just want you to get the essence of the song? How do you personally learn a song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Hey Gordon! If the drums translate well live (which they usually do, as they are recorded for a "live"feel) then typically I try and learn the record for playing in church! Usually if I am holding it down for the band, not in the way, and keeping the drums creative then we are good to go. However balancing all three of those is kind of a skill in itself that is learned simply through trial and error. When I was younger I would show up to church with a china and double bass pedal....learned real quick that's not what a worship leader wants from me haha. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 34 minutes ago, Joshua said: Hey Gordon! If the drums translate well live (which they usually do, as they are recorded for a "live"feel) then typically I try and learn the record for playing in church! Usually if I am holding it down for the band, not in the way, and keeping the drums creative then we are good to go. However balancing all three of those is kind of a skill in itself that is learned simply through trial and error. When I was younger I would show up to church with a china and double bass pedal....learned real quick that's not what a worship leader wants from me haha. LOL! Maybe they passed on the china and double bass. But I bet they asked for more cowbell. 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 From my experience, it depends on the song.. Unfortunately, not all songs translate to a live version very well... I personally do come to rehearsals playing as close to the recording as possible & see how the worship leaders feels about it. Most often than not, we end up not changing anything. P.S. Tim brought up a great point in one of the live stream sessions about not playing like a robot... & sometimes that is what ends up happening when we try to perfectly emulate the original version - Sacrificing your own style. Not good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 For me I think that it's best to learn the parts note for note FIRST.... THEN start to embellish your own style of playing over it once you've become really comfortable with the song, the tempo, and the structure of the song. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grant Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 I definitely agree with @Aaron! Know the record, then add your texture and flare to it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim B. - SDS Staff Teacher Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Every song is a bit different, but generally I will learn the part exactly like it is on the record. Most modern songs have 2-4 bar loops for each section so this isn't too hard. I don't learn the exact fills people play, unless I think the fill is an integral part of the song (i.e. opening fill to "Brickhouse" or the Phil Collins fill "In the Air Tonight"). I will make the parts my own if I feel the part on the record doesn't feel great live. A lot of songs have a ton of programming or drum loops that won't be there when we play it, so I choose to fill in what I can from that stuff if I feel it is needed. Another common tweak I find I have to do it a lot of modern worship songs either have REALLY BORING kick patterns (4 on the floor, 8 on the floor, or 1+ 3+ are super super super common) or sometimes the kick patterns are TOO complicated and don't feel good at all (as if in the session they thought, "this is boring let's spice this up" and just played some busy kick pattern for the sake of being "different"). In those cases, I'll communicate with whoever is playing bass and maybe suggest we do our own thing. On good days, I don't even need to verbally say anything to the bass player, and I'll play something different from the record and they will look over and give me a nod like "yep, let's do that". But it is key that WHATEVER you are changing, the bass player and band leader are on board and that you have a musical REASON for the change. I find that having a shaker can also help for down parts of songs. Many worship songs don't have drums come in until the first chorus or second verse, and instead of making the audience rely on getting a time feel/reference from the vocalist or something - I'll just play light shaker in the background. Sounds really simple and like it wouldn't do much, but shaker fills up more space (in a good way) than you think and it gives everyone on stage and in the audience/congregation a timing foundation without being too intrusive. This goes for parts of songs where drums aren't playing, and also grooves where it might just be a very broken tom pattern and snare every other beat 4 or whatever, having a shaker there to glue everything together can really help anyone on stage or listening lock into the groove. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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