The best worship music I’ve ever heard

This last weekend we had the privilege of being asked to take part in Revelation Conference, in Adelaide. The conference is run by Mark Peterson, who works with the Trinity network of churches.

It was wonderful to catch up with our old friends Nathan Tasker and Nicky Chiswell, to hear talks by Peter Adam, and take part in all sorts of workshops. Every part of the conference was inspiring and helpful.

But the highlight, for me at least, was the final night. The wonderful house band walked off stage, the house lights were raised up slightly, and Mark Peterson walked alone in front of the crowd with an acoustic guitar. We were told before the session that everybody had to bring an acoustic instrument. And they did. Behind me was a piano accordion. In front of me a djembe being played by a ten year old. Nicky Chiswell had the triangle. An army of acoustic guitars stood by. There were obscure Arabic drums, soprano saxophones, and a bunch who, like me, had only their voices to contribute.

Mark began the session in his thoughtful and measured style with a single, simple question - ‘are you glad … that you have been saved?’. We thought about it for a bit. And then he put our first song up on the overhead. There were words, chord symbols and four part harmony parts. We sang through a series of hymns and popular choruses. For ‘Holy, Holy Holy’ Mark asked the percussionists to lay out and we all picked a harmony based on the SATB score on screen. For ‘Lord I Lift Your Name on High’ the percussionists led us most of the way.

It was the most extraordinary singing experience -- perhaps the most moving church experience -- I’ve ever had. God was kind to us and it did not descend into chaos, but a beautifully balanced harmony of diverse instruments and skill and styles of playing. Depending on where you were standing you could hear different sounds, but everywhere people were singing loud. The acoustic instruments perfectly complemented the human voices, and it seemed as though the instrumental sounds were coming up from within the voices.

Afterward, Nicky Chiswell said to me (perhaps with a hint of tears) ‘we’ve been trying too hard!’ All these amazing musicians on stage, workshops full of talk of genres and arrangements and careful planning - and yet when we took a step back and let everyone contribute the result was amazing. A taste of heaven’s music, perhaps?

But when the band went back stage, to my surprise they didn’t drown out the voices – rather, everyone sang with just the same focus and joy and passion. The moment of acoustic singing and playing had passed, but the worship continued with just as much integrity. 

You should go to theological college

Musicians and Songwriters: you should go to theological college

A friend of mine just spent a few weeks in Nashville, hanging out with some incredible musicians and songwriters. It's a hub of creativity and musicality - an electric environment to be in, even for only a few weeks. I spoke to him last night and he was totally inspired - full of new ideas, and ready to write a thousand new songs.

I'm in my final year of theological college, hanging out with some incredibly prayerful and Godly theologians, pastors and teachers. I am totally inspired - full of new ideas, and ready to write a thousand new songs (and sermons for church!)

Now, you don't have to go to theological college to write great Christian songs, or for that matter preach great sermons. Nor do you have to travel to Nashville to be inspired and equipped to make great music.

But if someone offered you a trip to Nashville, you'd be mad to turn it down. Right?

Well, here's my pitch, take it or leave it - if you ever have the opportunity to study theology full time, go for it. Find the most Godly, the most intelligent, the most broad thinking group of teachers and students you can find, and enrol yourself in the most academically and spiritually rigorous  course* you can make time for.

For me, my time at theological college (Sydney's Moore College) has been a time of profound spiritual growth, as well as being the most intellectually stimulating environment I've ever experienced.

I would love to see more musicians and music directors and songwriters soaking up a theological education. I stress, you don't need a degree in theology to be a great bible teacher, or a great songwriter, or a great music pastor – but it almost certainly will enrich and inspire your ability to understand God's word and communicate it to others. At least it has for me.


So if you ever get the opportunity - please, go for it!

(*Now, you might wonder why the whole bother of a full on theological education. It seems like a lot of effort (often these go for one, two, three, even four years full time). There are shorter courses which are more practical and less academic - you can learn what Ephesians say, and take a course in songwriting or preaching or planning a good service. All these are good things. But it's like the difference between studying engineering and taking a course in fixing cars... I know from experience that engineers aren't necessarily any good at changing tyres, but if you want to design the next generation of cars you're going to need a deep grasp of engineering. Likewise a short course can teach you how to write songs like Chris Tomlin; a long one will equip you for a lifetime of Godly thinking outside the current paradigm.)

Sassy shows us how to play drums

Our drummer sassy (Andrew Massey) has put up a short video to show you what he's doing in 'Fairest Lord Jesus'.
Enjoy!

Video: Different Keyboard Sounds

I love playing keyboards - and one of the reasons is that it gives you so many options for different sounds. From the classic acoustic grand to the comforting grit of a WurliTzer to the retro strings of a Mellotron, the possibilities are endless.

Each sound, however, does require a different playing style to go with it. This can be a bit intimidating. Here's a video of me quickly going through the sounds on a typical electric piano:

Playing piano: using tension and release

Another video about how to move through chord changes using tension and release.

Small Churches: How to play Fairest Lord Jesus on solo piano (video)

At my church sometimes we only have piano to lead the crowd. Here's how to lead the congregation in singing Fairest Lord without a whole band - including chord voicings, melodic elements, rhythm, cues for when to come in, and pacing yourself over the whole song to create momentum.

I've made a quick piano arrangement for this song as if I were playing without any other instruments:

Solo piano arrangement (pdf)

Solo piano arrangement (transposable)

 

Small churches: when artists go acoustic

We’ve been thinking this month particularly about small churches, and how to adapt songs from worship albums and make them work in smaller spaces with fewer instruments.

The process is something like the reverse of what producing an album is often like – when we make an album, we often start with acoustic demos (perhaps with a guitar or piano and vocals) and then turn them into the fully arranged piece that you hear on the CD. Here’s an example (Unity, from our last album)

See how in the full band version all the parts are shared between the instruments? The bass does the bass, the drums gives the rhythm, the guitars and piano give the chords. Well, arranging something for a single instrument just means going the other way – playing the chords with their bass notes, and with a solid rhythm.

But while simplicity is the key in acoustic arrangements, that doesn’t mean we have to abandon creativity. Acoustic versions don’t have to be the lesser cousins of the full band version. Check out these amazing acoustic versions from the secular music industry, then compare them with the full band versions next to them:

Of course, we couldn't do a feature on acoustic versions of pop songs without mentioning our good friends Shed Muzak!