I play piano, and have for some time. I would like to play in the worship for our youth group, but the songs that we sing either don't really do well in piano or I can't find music for them. So, the question is: Where do you find music for worship songs? Do you play them by just hearing them (which I can't do cause I'm a visual learner), or do you memorize the music for them? If anyone could shed some light I'd be eternally grateful!!!
Thanks!
~Tarė
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Psalm 46:1-3
"It's not that I'm smarter than anyone else. I just stick with problems longer." ~Albert Einstein
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Our worship leader is a pianist and does a great job leading. If you're looking for sheet music, try your local Christian bookstore. Some worship CD's come with music as well, although that's mainly for guitar. I find that most modern worship songs consist mainly of 3-4 chords in repetition, making them easy to play once you've practiced them a few times.
most piano music for popular music or CCM is not written out, it's in chords.... *most* I say. Some of it is, like I think Rich Mullins has piano+guitar+vocal renditions and stuff like that. But typically I think you play the more recent songs just from chords. Unless you really want to sepdn the money on the sheet music which might get a bit expensive... but then, this is just my experience.
But it's not that hard to play from the chords!
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I'd say Paul is right about CCM Michael W. Smith stuff...it's sortof like most of that ballad/songwriter stuff--a few things are written out but you're free to play with it. As for the churchy praise and worship stuff, I'd say most praise and worship music for the piano is produced by guys who just happen to be good at it...some may be musically literate, but writing stuff down isn't their forte. (<sigh> ok I feel more corny puns coming up) The *good* practice for writing down music that contains heaps of improvisation is almost lead-sheet form, where the basic cord structure is listed, and any interesting lines (hopefully including any melodies that are the piano's responsibility) are written out. In many praise and worship books I've gotten into, the guys actually dictated their improvisations, with TERRIBLE notation (I'm talking a 32nd note followed by an eighth note, then a quarter note, then a sixteenth note, then a quarter note...). It's not that these guys aren't good at what they do, it's just that nobody ever told them that the point of writing music down is to make things easy. Improvisation isn't hard, but trying to read somebody ELSE'S improvisation on paper, ESPECIALLY when it's poorly notated, is quite hard. So some tips for the Praise and Worship pianist who is worried about the notes: First, if you have music for piano, realize that when you see emmensely complicated notations (Not necessarily emmensely complicated rhythms, just cool rhythms that should have been written with different notes), don't worry about it. Those are probably improvs, and you're not expected to play ALL of the notes. It's something to follow, not something to copy. If you don't have a piano part, but you have other parts, that means the choir director probably has a score. (Course, when parts are written out, it's VERY typical for a praise and worship song to involve a piano.) So, if you know your harmonies, you can borrow the score for a while and see what everybody else is doing...analyze the harmonies, and write down the chords. If you see any interesting lines you can play along with, write those down as well. Then you can sit at home and play around with what you have. You're not expected to play everything that is written as it is written, usually. We're talking about worship songs, not symphonies. It's probably a good idea to get lessons from a guy who is good at jazz, but who also has some classical training, so he can show you the ropes and shed some light on the differences between the practices. Come up with your own style. You don't have to copy anybody. As for not having any music, well, try to hear the harmonies and get those down. Once that's done, improvisation will come when it comes. It'll be easier before you know it. Finally, if you're the creative type who has written something for the Lord and you want to communicate it to others, pleeeeeeeeeezzzzzzz keep the reader in mind when you notate it. Don't write a sixteenth note followed by a dotted quarter, then a quarter, then an eighth, then a dotted eigth and a barline. Write it like this: sixteenth note, sixteenth tied to an eigth, tied to a dotted eighth (beggining the next beat), and so on. In 4/4, your black notes shouldn't cross the beat. For God's sake, use ties instead. We all want to be blessed by your gift, so make sure you notate it correctly so others can read it. Before you publish it, get 10 people who've never seen it before to read through it.
__________________ "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in time of trouble To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. . Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ."
Psalm 46:1-3
"It's not that I'm smarter than anyone else. I just stick with problems longer." ~Albert Einstein
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Like paul said - Most of the praise and worship music today is written using only chords. Alot of the worship cd's come with the chords on the cd - usually in pdf format
__________________ Turn the world upside down [Acts 17:6]
I'm kidding...our Worship Pastor plays from chords. What you really should do whether your playing from music or not is work on ear training. It doesn't matter that you're a visual learner. You can still hear! With enough practice you will be able to improvise and stack chords like a pro.
As you well know by now it's all about practice.
IF you or your church has a keyboard perhaps you could start by playing the bass part with the keybaord. Many youth bands are hurting for a bass player. If they do the heavy rock type, an organ sound works with nearly any type of genre. I've yet to see a slower worship song that wouldnt sound good with a paino.
If you arent used to playing chords, or lead sheet, start by playing the bass sound . Play the note you see the chord calls for (IE: for the chord G, play the G note). Put a rhythmic progression behind it. The more progressions you come up with, the more your diversity will build. Once you feel comfortable, play the triad chords with the right hand, root position (Start with the note the chord calls for, then play the 3rd and 5th note in that scale to build a 3 note chord.) Play that chord until the music calls for a different chord. Then play that one. Once you feel comfortable grabbing the chords in root position, try playing the invensions, play other notes in that chord, try arppegios, if you know what any of these are.
The more you play the chords, the more you will feel comfortable. As you do, the improvisation will teach itself. It's just a collection of embellishing the chords with inversions, arpeggios, scale runs, and melody. The bigger your bag of tricks, the more diverse your improvisation will sound. Oh, and "doodling", as in playing in the backroudn while someone is praying or talking, amazes most people, but all it is is a series of chords played over and over again. I take about 5 chords perhaps 3 measures for each chord, and play them about 3 or 4 different ways, or I take a worship song and play those chords in sequence.
Most of all have fun! It;s all about worshiping the Lord, not putting on a concert. Enjoy the opportunities God gives you. I know he will grant you an opportunity if you ask.
Blessings
__________________ "Don't change for the world but let worlds be changed by YOU!!" "I mean what I say, I said what I meant, an elephant's faithful 100%" Dr. Suess From dust you came, to dust you shall return Do your best, let God do the rest
I just started a youth worship band and I have to say, piano didn't exactly fit at first. But that's straight from our inexperience, cause a piano in worship can mean the different between an amateur and professional sound.
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