Marks of A Professional Musician (Part 4)

Mark #3 – Does your attitude contribute?

Not only do professional musicians listen, watch, and feel the music, they have good attitudes. They have focused attitudes. Part of being professional is that you want opportunities to play and you know you’ll get them if your attitude contributes, rather than detracts from a band environment. Attitude is everything when you are playing with other musicians.

A bad attitude on stage is like gangrene in the body. It spreads. It does not just affect you but the entire team. I’ve had the privilege of playing with some incredible musicians over the years. Here are some ‘attitude’ items I’ve noticed, while playing in rehearsal settings:

• Take notes on your sheet music! This lets the leader know you care and he won’t have to repeat himself a thousand times. It also aids in not making careless mistakes.
• Don’t practice your scales/rudiments/licks at rehearsals in-between songs. Very frustrating to a leader. Focus your attention on what is trying to be accomplished.
• Don’t cry when your ideas get shot down. Someone probably knows more than you do.
• Laugh. Smile. Joke around. This contributes to a fun atmosphere.
• Don’t ever speak out of frustration. If you are frustrated about something, zip your lips until you can say it with kindness and cool.
• Invest all your passion, energy, and heart into the simplest licks & grooves. Don’t act like you are above simplicity. There’s no faster way out the door.
• Compliment other musicians on stage! Believe it or not, this is hard to do if you are a musician. Why? Because we love ourselves too much. Our identities can be wrapped up in what we do. Break that by encouraging others around you.
• Don’t act bored. Professional, enduring musicians play the same songs in the same way for more years than you’ve been alive. Get over your boredom.

Marks of a Great Musician (Part 3)

Mark #3 – Do you feel it?

Not only do great musicians learn from listening and observing great music, but they also feel the music they play. There is a night and day difference between playing notes on a page and translating music from deep within who you are. Many people find my body language and facial expression quite humorous when I’m playing music. And rightly so. It is funny. This is not something I think about. It is a natural occurrence for me when I’m feeling the music. I’m not just playing notes. I’m speaking something about what I believe and who I am. I know that sounds incredibly deep.

Allow me to put it like this: when a speaker speaks he/she is trying to communicate a central idea. Breakthrough wisdom right there. When an artist paints he/she is trying to communicate a certain feeling. When a good musician plays, he knows he is communicating something as well.

When I play the piano, for example, I’m trying to communicate my passion for Jesus through what I play. My heart and mind and body are engaged together in worship.

Great musicians know where there music comes from, whether it’s good or bad. Making sound is not enough, my friends. There is plenty of that around. Communicate something. Contemplate a picture and create it with your music. Engage all you are in your music.

No matter how stupid it may look.

Marks of a Great Musician (Part 2)

Mark #2 – Are you an observer?

Great musicians observe other musicians. As I look back over the years, a lot of my growth as a musician came from watching other people. I remember watching a particular drummer at my church when I was really young. I never took drum lessons but I studied his playing – how he held the sticks, his facial expression, his body language, how he hit the snare, hi-hat patterns, etc. Watching him play and trying it myself made all the difference. I would have never figured that stuff out on my own.

Watching professionals play is like a free lesson. Observe what they do and then try it out yourself. Observing and listening go hand in hand. When you don’t have the opportunity to observe great musicians at a particular venue, you should be listening.

Press in to the difficulty of what you saw and practice it till you get it. It can be done with hard work!

Marks of a Great Musician (Part 1)

Over the next couple weeks I am going to be doing some posts on what makes a great musician. I’m not talking about prodigious talent. I’m talking about YOU. Right now. What are you doing right now to become great? Any musician, whether you have loads of talent or not, can become better. Just showing up and playing is not enough. You should be advancing, learning, becoming better every day of your life…and that doesn’t always involve holding an instrument and practicing.

Mark #1 – Are you a listener?

Great musicians listen. They NEVER claim to know it all. If you were to talk to Phil Keaggy himself, I’m sure he would tell you there are areas he needs to improve. My piano professor in college, Herb Johnson, has a doctorate in piano (you didn’t even know there was such a thing). Even at the summit of skill and education, he would practice daily.

If you want to be great, listen to lots of music and dissect it. Listen strategically. Listen to old music. Listen to new music. Whatever instrument you play, listen intently to that part. Test it out yourself. Work on it until you get it. Listen to styles you don’t naturally gravitate towards. Great musicians are versatile and can jump into numerous musical genres.

Also, listen when people try and show you something. Your way is not always the best way. Don’t be a self-worshiping egomaniac. Learn from whomever, wherever, whenever you can.

If you stop listening, you stop growing.

Practical Pointers for Vocalists

FYI, just because I’m posting some tips for different instruments doesn’t make me a pro at everything. I’ve immersed myself in enough music and learned from some great people over my short life to know a thing or two.

As for vocalists in a worship setting, take these to heart:

• If you are a background singer, please sing like a background singer. Accent key phrases with harmony or simply serve to strengthen the choruses. You shouldn’t be singing all the time.
• If you are leading a song, engage the audience not only with your vocals but with your stage presence. Find the best way for you to relax and lead with confidence. This is key. If you are nervous you WILL make everyone else nervous. Not good.
• Work on your vocals like a pianist practices his scales. Your voice is a muscle and it needs to be worked to sound the best.
• Be sure to warm up before you sing every time! The shower is the greatest place. Your family may hate you for it, though!
• Don’t hype it up. Allow your passion for Jesus and the lyrics of the song to dictate your expression. Don’t just be hyped up because you are on a stage. This can be annoying to a congregation. People are inspired by genuine passion.
• Don’t be visually depressed. I always say worship teams are called to “go before the people” and prepare the way for encounter with God. We don’t manufacture God’s presence, but we discipline ourselves to worship first, drawing in those who are weighed down by the pressures of life.

Any others?

Practical Pointers for Bass

I have a bass joke I like to throw around (please don’t get offended).

Bass players are guitar players who never applied themselves.

Such a statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Well, it may be true for some, but a true bass player is of such importance to a band. Bass is what gives music its punch, power, and deep feeling. A bass player may not get noticed as much as a drummer or a lead guitarist, but without the bass, those other guys don’t sound very good.

• Work on a deep, thick tone. Many amateur bass players simply plug in and go. Take some time and refine the sound you’re looking for. A deep, penetrating bass tone is wonderful.
• Lock in with the drummer. This is of paramount importance. It baffles me when I see a bass player and a drummer ignoring what the other is doing. My brothers and sisters, this cannot be. While the bass guitar and kick drum don’t have to play the exact thing all the time, be sure and establish the groove of the song.
• Less is more, but play melodically. I love it when bass players have a knack for melody. They don’t just play notes, they play lines that speak. Be simple most of the time but add creative melodic lines to your grooves.
• Feel it. The best bass players I’ve seen look like they are writhing in pain when they play. That is to say, they are feeling the groove. Engage your whole body in what you are playing. You don’t have to look stupid, but great stage presence is central to great playing.

Any added thoughts?

Practical Pointers for Lead Guitarists

Lead guitar is such an integral part of a band. It adds energy, melody, and dynamics. Without a lead guitar, the feel can be boring. A drummer and bass player can create the tightest pocket the world has ever seen, but without a great lead, it lacks life. If you play guitar, take to heart these pointers:

• Become a student of effects. Much of popular music today is not about who can shred the fastest but who knows how to use their effects the most skillfully. Know how to set different delay patterns. Experiment with reverb. Use a wah pedal. Ebow, tremolo, overdrive, chorus, the possibilities are endless. These add so much more color and variation to your playing.
• Play melodically. Never, ever simply doodle when you are playing somewhere. As I said with drummers, play the simplest melodic line like you are inventing a new genre. Play simple, catchy melodies that are hard to forget.
• Get a nice tube amp. I know this point is a money issue, but it comes with the territory of being a musician. Great gear sounds great. You may need to read that again to understand the complexity.
• Listen to the pros. I listen to a lot of worship music and learn from each instrument. When I hear something I’ll grab my guitar and try it till I get it. Let music teach you.
• Accept criticism. Every part you come up with wasn’t directly inspired by angels. If your leader doesn’t like what you are doing, try something else. Don’t get offended. Laugh at yourself and get over it.
• Serve the lyric. Musicians in general tend to disregard lyrics in favor of obsessing over their part. Don’t do that. During rehearsal or before you play a service, rehearse the lyrics in your head and heart. Make sure your playing is serving the goal of true worship.
• Worship. Don’t get too lost in what you are playing and forget why you are there.

Any others?

Practical Pointers for Drummers

I cannot think of a more important instrument in a band than the drums. Drumming with a band poses a whole new set of challenges besides playing rudiments and reading grooves. Outlined here are a few pointers to keep in mind, that if followed, could save your band from destruction  – and your leader will love you for it!

LESS IS MORE – I think a general fact about musicians is that we are overly impressed with ourselves. As drummers, our minds are preoccupied with how to impress the audience with as many fills as is humanly possible. Though cool fills are awesome in their place, they can destroy good music. Play in such a way that you don’t draw too much attention to yourself. Realize you are a part of the whole – there is more going on that just your beat. Play in such a way that the bass player can follow your patterns. This will cause your drumming to speak. I always tell drummers – play the simplest groove as if it’s the coolest sound the world has ever heard. Delight in the simplicity of a straight hi-hat pattern. Revel in playing the kick drum just on beat one. Listen to the pros – they do some crazy stuff, but it’s timely. They play basics extremely well. Drums are the foundation. If you are difficult to follow the music will sound terrible; but play the simple stuff really well and you may be in Nashville before you know it.

TEMPO IS KEY – This is probably the most important quality of a good drummer – they keep a solid tempo. They practice. They practice with a metronome. No matter how good you think you are, don’t assume you have solid tempo. It comes through hard work and practice with a click track. Drummers have many tendencies I’ve noticed: rushing or dragging the beat with outrageous, inconsistent kick patterns, too many fills, and a lack of listening to the other musicians. Your job is to create a pocket that the other musicians can lock into. Don’t you love that responsibility?

FROM THE HEART – A personal goal and pursuit of my life is to bring everything I do into the focus of worship. I challenge you, make it a focus of yours to worship in what you play. Mentally engage yourself with God in every groove, fill, and play with passion. Some guys have all the techniques mastered, but lack passion and it is lifeless. This may sound hyper-spiritual to you, but how else do we “acknowledge God in all our ways”? Let your love for God be what drives your drumming. Let God “speak” through your playing to a broken heart that needs to know Jesus. This stuff is possible with God. It is not with you, but within the Holy Spirit, who has anointed you. Rock on.