Finding Moments
Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 09:57PM That's what we did in the church band this morning - found a couple of great moments. Ed The Other led the worship time, along w/Tom on bass, me on keys, Lee Bob and Lois on backup vocals. And Lois played some rhythm toys. We fell into a wonderful feel on a couple of tunes, and Ed just let them roll without interruption. I love that about Ed's leading - he listens for the moments, then lets them have their way.
It isn't that we didn't rehearse, only that we found a couple spots in rehearsal that sounded promising. Ed The Other remembered them, and let them develop. It takes a kind of fearlessness onstage, and Ed has it. So I played a little rock organ on the Casio, Ed found a groove, and it was medicine. And the really great thing is this: Ed did it for the congregation, not just for himself, or for us musicians. He knows the congregation picks up on that stuff, and the worship atmosphere was wonderful.
The key ingredient, I feel, was playing at about 60% of our ability. Nobody was straining, everybody had room in their brains and ears to react to the moment. Complex chords and sophisticated rhythms don't make for great worship music - real interaction between the people onstage, and then between them and audience is what sends it over the top. It's sort of like jazz, only with easy chords.
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Reader Comments (3)
Ed, you need to write a more fully developed article (book?) on how musicians either find (or miss out on) these "moments". Too many players are pursuing technical or stylistic competence while not being taught to seek these moments.
The other aspect that feeds these moments beyond the band is the energy that comes back from the audience when they come in ready to sing. I have sometimes been surprised (and then humbled) by their energy (for lack of a better term) that washes over us players and makes me realize that we are merely one component in worship, not the main show. It is in these moments when I am paradoxically patient enough to wait on the Holy Spirit to lead and I am anxious enough to be willing to get there.
I am sure that there are other players who could give you input for your book; when will it go to print? ;-)
I'll get right on it!
And I agree. Takes a while, I think, for an audience (or those new to the experience) to get used to it. They need to not be worrying we'll make a mistake. If they think we're trying to do it perfectly, any mistake we make will cause them discomfort, and pull their concentration away from the moment. Performing a number flawlessly has it's place, but showing our human side draws people in, and that's what worship calls for.
I had this discussion with a worship director one time. She said we needed to get to a place where those of us onstage disappeared, or 'got out of the way'. I disagreed. There's no getting around it - people are looking to us to lead them, and they're following our cues. Sort of a musical interpretation of Paul's "follow me as I follow Christ".
The setlist: "Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus G (1882)
Power In The Blood G (1899)
Come Thou Fount E ( 1757)
King Of Glory (Tomlin) E (2004)
So where were the moments? Probably in different places depending on who you talk to. For me: repeating the refrain in Power In The Blood with just the congregation singing, the turnaround and the congregation singing the first verse of Come Thou Fount at the end, coming out of the bridge and Ed and I finding the heartbeat in King Of Glory (with the help of some suble shakers) over the E and A chords. Johnny Cash would have loved it. Two chords and the truth. Evan had it right, we were feeding off the energy of the congregation. No better place to be. I used to think I had to disappear too, but now like to enlarge the band from 5 to 105. It just feels better.