Worship Band Skills: Musicademy Seminar Notes

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Band Skills

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Quick wins for your band

Two worship band scenarios

• The ‘produced’ model • The ‘community campfire’ model

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Mechanics of playing together

Stage placements • Where is your band? • Why do we do what

we do?

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Think about

• Sight lines• Positioning amps• Microphones

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Mechanics of playing together

Tuning

Doesn’t matter what you play…

If it’s out of tune it’s horrid…

It’s better to be flat than sharp…

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Tuning

Number 1 culprit - Capos– Pulling sharp– Big Frets– Pressing too hard – thicker strings (wound G)

Solution - capo directly on the fret

Number 2 - one string out of tune• Tune from string 1 (top E) • Always tune up not down • Change strings • Check intonation• Tune often and often

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Tuning

Acoustic instruments

• Humidity and temperature • 440 tuning • Drums – rehearsal not the

time to tune!

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Staying in time

Everyone thinks they’re in time - but maybe not as much as they’d like to think!

GameTry to stay in time…

• Subdivide the beat

• Move your body

• Keep eye contact

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Practical ideas

• We are going to look at the practical aspects of playing worship music better

• Ideas, top tips, demos and Q & A • Vast subject, we may not cover everything

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Playing better

4 things that help us play together better

Tuning, Timing, Groove and Dynamics

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Tempo

Discussion

• Should the tempo change?

• Where does the tempo go wrong for you?

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Where the tempo goes wrong

– Equating dynamics to speeding up and slowing down

– Starting off too fast or slow– Drums coming out of hard fills– Band just cant keep in time with each other

Any playing with tempo must be completely deliberate

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Wrong tempo?

Doesn’t need to be far off to sound wrong – Breathe(!) before you play– Sing the fastest part of the song in your head

(e.g. Holy, holy)– Less tempo and more authority– If it’s wrong don’t suffer; change or start again

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Building the Groove

Discussion

What is groove?

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Why bands sound bad

• Too many conflicting rhythms• Wrong rhythms for the song• Ad hoc changes in rhythmic pattern

Demo

Better is one day; Great is thy faithfulness; Lord, reign in me

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Finding the groove

Exercise

Can you clap the groove?

• Listen to the accents in the melody• Drums set the groove• Other instruments find a space in the

groove

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Grooves are made up of 8th or 16th notes

Understanding the Groove

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

x x x x x x I’m com-ing backto theall a-bout you, it’s

x x x x x

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Your space in the groove 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & aKick x x xBass x x x x

Elec 1 x x (x x x x x)Elec 2 x x (x)

Keys 1 x (x x x x)Keys 2 x - - (x) - -Acoust. x x x x x x x x xGroove x x x x x x

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How the band fits together

Bands can sound bad because the members:• Don’t play their part• Play too many parts • Play other members parts

Do you play your part?

Lead Vocals

 Drums

Lead Vocals

 Drums

Bass

Lead Vocals

(Just enough to work)

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Lead Vocals

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Electric

Lead Vocals

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric Keys

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Bass

AcousticKeys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Bass

Lead Vocals

BVs

 Drums

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVsOrchestral

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead VocalsBVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead VocalsBVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Electric

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead VocalsBVs

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

 Drums

Bass

Lead Vocals

(Just enough to work)

Acoustic

 Drums

Lead Vocals

(Sounds too empty - no support)

Acoustic

Lead Vocals

(Sounds better - no gap)

Acoustic

 Drums

Keys

Lead Vocals

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

 Drums

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

Keys

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

AcousticKeys

Lead Vocals

Keys

Lead Vocals

Bass

Acoustic

 Drums

Bass

Keys

Orc

hes

tra

l

Electric

Lead Vocals

BVs

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Listening skills

• 75% listening and 25% playing– Listen to what?

• Mature musicians focus on the sum of the whole group, not your own bag of tricks– What is your instruments role in the team?

Stick to it.– Be consist in your part as it helps others to

‘lock in’

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Dynamics

• Dynamics – louder and softer

• Two types of dynamics – Terraced and linear– What does that mean?

Example - Whom shall I fear?

Exercise - 10 levels of dynamics

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Playing dynamically together

• How do you decide what dynamics to play? • Constant change

– read each other– Listen – to what?

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Communication

Demo - Faithful One

Watch for what we do - • How do we communicate?• What do we communicate?• Looking around• Conduct with eyes• Body movements (big and small)• Watching hands• Listening to cues in the music• Spoken word cues (it’s not a CD!)• Spoken word outro’s• Different people leading

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Exercise 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1. x x x 2. x x

4. x x x x x x 3. x x x x x x

Follow Andy!

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Beyond the mechanics

DiscussionSome bands seem to do all of the technical things well but the music can still seem lifeless and distant. Why?

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Any questions?