Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

How To Improve Your Keyboard Playing in Worship

Ever been a part of a band, worship team, or ensemble where someone doesn’t know what they are doing? Maybe that person is you. They hit wrong notes, transition to wrong keys, overplay, and are not sensitive to the moment? Yep. We’ve all been there and done that.

This Sunday Kate Griffin and I hosted a worship workshop for our keyboard players. Since a good keyboard player is so important to the sound, we wanted to create a context where deeper coaching could occur. When it comes to playing keyboard in a band/worship setting, there are some important things you need to know:

1. What is My Role?

  • Keyboard players are atmosphere creators
  • It’s our job to bring fullness and continuity to a worship set
  • Be sensitive and supportive of the worship leader
  • Awareness is everything. You can’t follow or support if you’re not paying attention. Be sure to look up.
  • Be spiritually engaged with what the Holy Spirit is doing in the moment. Allow that to interpret what you’re playing.

2. What Do I Play?

  • Pick a sound that supports the song type (organ, piano, rhodes, pad)
  • Keep it simple. Less is more. Contribute to the overall sound of the band. Give the bass player the low end. Stay in the mid range.
  • Maintain common tones between chords as much as possible.
  • Rehearse your transitions Subtlety is your friend.
  • Be intentional about dynamics.
  • Never stop practicing.

How God's Knowledge Can Strengthen Your Confidence Today

Be blessed by some thoughts from Tozer (Knowledge of the Holy)

“And to us who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us in the gospel, how unutterably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father know us completely. No talebearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to turn God away from us, since He knew us utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us. ‘For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.'”

Proactive vs. Reactive Prayer

This past Sunday the worship team at APC began a study through the book of Colossians. I love our 15 minute devos on Sunday morning. Without it, I think we can get too song & music driven. It’s a healthy reminder that worship is about the presence of God and loving Jesus faithfully.

We started out with Colossians 1:1-14 and diagrammed Paul’s opening prayer to the Colossian church. Here’s what he prayed:

  • That they would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom & understanding
  • That they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord
  • That they would be fully pleasing to God
  • That they would bear fruit in every good work
  • That they would increase in the knowledge of God
  • That they would be strengthened with God’s power for endurance & patience with joy
  • That they would give thanks to God

When you pray, do you pray like this for others? To be honest, Paul’s prayer here put me to shame. I tend to be REACTIVE in my prayer life: something happens to me so I go to God to bail me out. Or I simply resort to the wimpy “God, bless this food,” “Keep me safe,” “Help us have a good time” (what?), type prayers.

What if we were more PROACTIVE in our prayer lives? What if we prayed for each other as Paul prayed for his churches? I was challenged and this is what I challenged my team in.

What about you? Are you more proactive or reactive?

The War Between Theology & Practicality

A.W. Tozer:

” ‘Of what use to me is the knowledge that God is immutable?’ someone asks. ‘Is not the whole thing mere metaphysical speculation? Something that might bring a certain satisfaction to persons of a particular type of mind but can have no real significance for practical men?’

If by ‘practical men’ we mean unbelieving men engrossed in secular affairs and indifferent to the claims of Christ, the welfare of their own souls, or the interests of the world to come, then for them such a book as this can have no meaning at all; nor, unfortunately, can any other book that takes religion seriously. But while such men may be in the majority, they do not by any means compose the whole of the population. There are still the seven thousand who have not bowed their knees to Baal. These believe they were created to worship God and to enjoy His presence forever, and they are eager to learn all they can about the God with whom they expect to spend eternity.”

Wow.