So...I am one of the worst procrastinators ever. Over a year ago, my church's music director e-mailed all of the church pianists and recommended that we watch these videos on "The Piano in Contemporary Worship" by Bob Kauflin, director of Sovereign Grace Music. When I read the e-mail, I was about to go on "maternity leave" from the pianist rotation, and all that my brain could handle thinking about was childbirth, baby names, and developing the perfect robot-themed baby nursery. Haha. When did I finally watch the videos? Not until this past weekend!!! Anyway, I am glad that I finally watched them. The videos were great, and I wanted to share what I learned.
Bob Kauflin's talks helped me understand some of the differences of being a church pianist in a more traditional musical context versus a more contemporary one. Musically speaking, I grew up in very traditional churches--an independent fundamental Baptist church and then a few Presbyterian Church in America churches. The congregations sang mostly traditional hymns, accompanied usually only by piano. When I studied hymn-playing for a couple of semesters at Bob Jones University with Faye Lopez and Ruth Coleman, I learned the traditional style of hymn-playing (you know: play the soprano, alto, and tenor parts with your right hand in a three-note chord and then play the bass part with your left hand in octaves, etc., etc.). More recently, I have been in a non-denominational evangelical church and (currently) a Southern Baptist church, both with more contemporary music. For example, we have sung many songs by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Sovereign Grace (think "In Christ Alone" and "Jesus Thank You"). Instead of only a piano to accompany the singing, we have had guitars, and sometimes several other instruments, on our worship teams. I thought that to succeed as a contemporary church pianist, all that I needed to know was how to play from a lead sheet. But after watching these videos, I realize that I have more to learn!
Bob Kauflin shares some helpful hints for playing piano in a more contemporary style, especially with a worship team. Here are a few suggestions that I found interesting:
- Play like a donut--with a hole in the middle. Because the guitar plays in what you would call the middle register of the piano, play in the low and high registers of the piano to balance the overall sound.
- Give the music some space. Try playing just harmony (no melody) once in a while. One idea is to try playing whole notes that establish the important chords without necessarily playing all of the chords.
- Create "distinct and memorable" fills--short, repeated melodic/rhythmic phrases that you can use to fill some of the space and add cohesiveness to the song.
- Listen to the other players on your worship team. Back off when they are doing something "distinct and memorable."
- Add color to your chords, using open 5ths and added 2nds.
- Instead of always playing the last line of the chorus for the introduction, try using a chord pattern that is repeated throughout the song for an introduction.
Here are the links to the videos if anybody wants to watch them. Oh, and may I say that Bob Kauflin has quite the personality!
http://www.worshipmatters.com/2011/11/30/the-piano-in-contemporary-worship-part-1/
http://www.worshipmatters.com/2011/12/01/the-piano-in-contemporary-worship-part-2/
http://www.worshipmatters.com/2012/01/07/the-piano-in-contemporary-worship-part-3/
