10 commandments for worship bands / 6. less for more

1. thou shalt play in tune
2. thou shalt learn the song, not just the arrangement
3. thou shalt practice with a metronome or drum machine
4. thou shalt seek out a mentor or coach on your instrument
5. thou shalt know thy gear
6. thou shalt play less for more
7. thou shalt seek out feedback
8. thou shalt be on time
9. thou shalt learn basic practical music theory and ear training
10. thou shalt continue thy education

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this is another downfall for beginning players and bands. playing too many notes. getting too greedy with the pie. this idea is certainly not original with me, but i’ve found it very helpful…

think of it like this - the song, including all of it’s instrumental and vocal parts, is a pie. every instrument and voice, then, is a slice of the pie. the lead vocal gets a pretty healthy slice of the pie. in rock music, the bass and drums take up a good portion of the pie. you’ve got to know your role. part of that is knowing, in any given song, what slice of the pie you’re filling.

the key is listening to each other and deferring to each other.

for the sake of example, i’m going to stick in the popular music genres - rock, pop, R&B. these styles tend to be driven rhythmically by drums and bass, and harmonically driven by either keys or guitar.

okay, say i’m the keyboard player. i notice that the drummer is playing a 1/16th-note groove on the high hat, and the bass player is matching with a dotted 1/8th and 16th pattern. maybe there’s even a rhythmic guitar riff. at this point i’d say the rhythm texture is about as full as it needs to be. i’m likely to play something sustaining, like either a transparent synth pad or a hammond B3 part. my role is now more tonal than rhythmic.

in another example, we’re playing a laid back ballad. the tempo is slower, bass is playing more whole notes. drums are leaving more space. guitar is in more melodic, lead mode. maybe now there’s a bit more room for keys to provide some rhythm. i’ll probably go with a piano or vintage rhodes or wurlitzer and play more arpeggiated chords.

the basic rule of thumb is that my part is always determined by what’s happening around me.

the more that we all play with deference to each other, the more cohesive, professional, and enjoyable our sound will be.

now that i think about it, it occurs to me that you might say there are two pies. one rhythmic and one tonal. drums and bass get at least half of the rhythmic pie, while keys, guitar and voices take the better portion of the tonal pie.

thoughts?