The Gospel Coalition had a great discussion about Hymns and Church culture. I recommend this video as well worth 10 minutes of your time.
Here’s what I took from it:
Category: Arrangment
The Electric: Gearing Up
In this series I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music. This week we’ll talk getting ready to play on Sunday, especially if you don’t know the set list.
I’m playing electric guitar in the band this Sunday. I don’t know the set list, or anything other than that I’m supposed to show up. How do you get ready for something like that?
It’s not an idea situation but it is what it is, and a lot of churches do it that way and it works fine for them. So if you’ve new to a worship band that operates on short notice and you don’t get the set until the morning of, or if you’ve been doing it this way for a while but are still struggling with how to do it well, here’s some thoughts:
The Electric: Leading Vs. Backing
In this series I try and address different aspects of the practical side of playing electric guitar in church music. This week we’ll talk about leading vs. backing with the Electric Guitar. How the two are similar, and how the two are completely different.
One Guitar. One Rig. Two Purposes.
My guitar rig is set up for versatility. I’ve talk a lot about this before in this series of articles. But I haven’t really touched on the versatility between leading the band and being in the band. What’s the difference. Is there a difference? And is it a big deal? Let’s talk about it.
The 5 Point Band
Let’s be honest about two things:
1. Church bands tend to “overplay” and step over each other on a regular basis
2. Church bands are often a hodge podge of who’s available instead of who is needed.
What I’m going to suggest will hopefully unmuddy the waters sonically speaking and give structure to arranging and picking your church’s band for a worship service.
When I put a band together for a Sunday or Wednesday I first look at who is available. It’s all well and good to want a thick analog synth sound on a song but if all your keyboard players are on vacation, you’ll need to rethink your plans. Once I know who is available, I start to fill roles based on my “5 point band”. I admit that I don’t always do it consciously, because I’m so used to doing it. But it’s always there in the background of my mind. So here are the 5 points that I look for to put a band together. I’m going to write them in order of importance.
Real World Worship 