Church Musicians
random thoughts :
Now or days , i don’t know why …but i blog when i am pissed off . You should try it . Its fun .
Then , when the person you blog about , asked you ..”Hey you talking about me is it?”
Just say …no…and see how he reacts..
Priceless .
Early Stage :
Generally , most church musicians will have the “upper hand” over non-church musicians . Because ,
1) They are exposed to playing with a band at a younger age , like a 14 years old guitarist can play side by side with a 40 years old veteran pianist .
2) They experienced the band politics , band practice routine and screw ups on the stage when they were younger. Making mistakes in a church isn’t too bad , because you know , the Church crowd will always love you . No matter how much you screw up , they are suppose to encourage you .
3) Normally , if your parents see you playing for church (guitar , drum or piano) , they will be more than happy to invest a RM5000 musical instrument for you on your birthday . Try talking to a broke ass non-church musician , their parents probably banned them from playing music .
4) Adding on , not only your parents will PAY for extra music lessons . You have ALOT of teachers and sifus to guide you in your journey .
a) Your current guitar teacher in your music school
b) Church’s Best Guitarist
c) Church’s Best Pianist (learn theory)
d) Church’s Best Drummer (Timing , Attack and Dynamics)
e) Church’s Best Bassist …..err ..nvm . You are not gonna learn from him
So you can say , a young church musician is a spoil brat . Okay , the better word would be BLESSED. With loads of Ass kissing in their lives too .
.
.
Their strength over non-church musicians would be :
1 ) Hearing
2 ) Music arrangement
3 ) Experience
4 ) Chords
5 ) Tone
6 ) Song composition
7 ) Timing
8 ) Contacts
9 ) Probably more confidence .
However , I notice that many church musicians are only good in ONE STYLE . Which is the Churchy way of playing (Worship Style) , Of course there are some that can play funk , blues and jazz as well.
Ask them to go a little bit more heavier , such as metal or grunge …they will have no idea . Yeah , if its a performance , there is still stage presence , showmanship , attitude and energy …lots of things to compare . So a church musician might have the upper hand , but they do not completely pawn a non church musician . oh yeah , not to mention TECHNIQUE AND SHRED TOO 
What I am really annoyed by CERTAIN Church Musicians .
Is not their playing , but their attitude .
They know they have the upper hand . They have the experience . They are the master of hearing . *chords*
They can go on a stage , act super confident , not knowing what the chords are . Just find out the Key and go wack with the band .
I think it is really really stupid .
When you’re on stage . It is either .
1) You have a freaking book in front of you .
or
2) You memorize the WHOLE thing . I mean , seriously , MEMORIZE it all . The Chords , The Timing and The Attack . And Do it properly , like a how a ROCKSTAR DOES IT .
Those church musicians who goes to a practice , or play for church , and think he is all that great and he do not need the chords cause HE CAN FIGURE IT OUT ON THE SPOT OR HE CAN HANDLE IT . Are dumb piece of crap .
What will happen is ,
1 ) You try to follow the bassist or the pianist . Great you follow them . Do you realized your timing is off by 1 second ? think about it .
2) The whole band plays G Bm C D , you play G Em C D . And it will sound like shit when everybody in the band is playing different chords .
So really lah , take that ROCKSTAR CHURCH MUSICIAN Attitude off . I know in church , no matter how much you suck , people will always tell you “its good its good”.
Take it as a compliment and move on . Don’t dwell on your past glory . People kiss your ass and say you are good doesn’t mean you do not need to improve anymore .Now i know why my guitar heroes are all non-church musician .
Ok , you see ah . Hearing the chords is great talent . If you are playing ALONE or a DUET ONLY . That I think is fine . But being in a band ? Dude , things are not so simple . You have coordination , attacks and time signatures that requires the whole band to execute them TOGETHER . YOU NEED TO SOUND TOGETHER LIKE ONE . You need a PLAN that everybody in your band understands . If you don’t know the chords and the plan , you play COCK ah ?
I am sick of playing together with such church musicians .
You wanna laugh at people who plays with a music sheet in front of them ?
Dude , go watch RTM , see the professional world class musicians ..all also got music sheets in front of them..
Go Orchestra , pro violin players also see music sheets .
Playing without a music sheet in front of you , doesn’t make you superior or a better musician . You’re just showing off , and you try too hard. By the way . You play like shit and you fail . You made shitloads of mistakes and you keep repeating them . Waste my time sial practicing with you .
Even Guthrie Govan plays with a music sheet in front of him. Go and laugh at him lah.
November 9th, 2009 at 7:05 am
partly why i left the worship team, haha,politics
November 9th, 2009 at 8:34 am
i would love to be in the same band with you gapnap <3. we can have a great time together hehe.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:22 am
When you get the chance, you should check the American gospel music scene. The black church with their Whitney Houston-types with a 20-person soul choir, the redneck church with their country music bands, the college church with their rock / goth musicians, the suburban cathedrals with their pipe organs, and the gay church with their… gay music. A style for every church, lol. I’ve sat in each one of ‘em and I’m still amazed at how anything can be used as an item of worship. But… in a couple of churches I’ve been, the kind of showmanship I saw made me wonder - is this about worshipping God or about getting people to worship their talents.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
@Melvin . ahahahha…abandon the sinking ship is it ? What if one day , your church band becomes like super big ? like hillsongs etc ..will you regret it ?
@caryn . same band ? you mean same bed is it ? :p
@Damien . Yeah , that is America . You can even find death metal christian music . what i am referring in this post is churches in this country . We are always trying to copy Australia …the typical write some lyrics and throw in some chords so everybody can play them kinda worship songs .
So Damien ,you attend gay church ?
now i see the bigger picture ..
November 9th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I disagree with church musicians having the upper hand . Everyone have equal opportunities , it is just how you grab them .
November 10th, 2009 at 2:03 am
haha yea church musicians cannot shred !
November 10th, 2009 at 3:58 am
i’m sorry =(
November 10th, 2009 at 7:53 am
I agree with you Melvin. I don’t like bands that are too big especially when you have too many guitarist.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:14 am
Ah gappie, I attend a redneck church becoz I’m a redneck. I attend a black church because I’m black. I attend a Korean church becoz I’m a Korean, and I attend a gay church becoz I’m gay. So that makes me a black Korean redneck who’s also gay… hahahaha… ooo I feel weird already
November 10th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
oh heck. i thought church musicians had a good reputation until now.
maybe you’re talking about one individual who has that celebrity attitude.. its not fair to generalize all of us as spoiled brats la T.T Up to now all churches i’ve been to use music sheets in every worship session.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I think gapnap did mention only certain church musicians
The only problem I have is not able to keep up with them lol…
November 10th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
muahahaha..i think gapnap made alot of church musicians ‘terasa’
November 10th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
yes, he did… “CERTAIN” in bold. lol.
it’s an eye-opener to hear honest feedback from the secular musical quarter anyhow.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
@ross . oh really ? dude , take a 15 years old kid who plays regularly on a sunday service , with a 15 years old kid who started playing since 5 …hmmm..actually true , depends on your definition of a good musician.
@yong. hahaha..got la wei ..
@joshua. Sorry for ?
@Tim . Once i watch a hillsongs concert . they have 8 guitarist …i was like , WTF ..what will they play wei ?
@Damien . Well , you know the concept and the game . Ignore everything and link that ONE thing to you
its marketing ..haha.
@Kevin. Not able to keep up with them ? hmmm..they so super keng ? which church bro ..
@Andrew . I am sorry to hurt you ..haahaha..
@vertigo . Of course not all . I’ve met awesome musicians through the church . Heck , Jose Thomas and John Thomas attends RLC .
I think my point is , we should take our playing seriously . Especially playing in the holy sanctuary , haha i cannot even call it performing at church ..cuz all the other christians will crucify me and start saying that i am not playing for the right reason .
What i am against , is musicians who just go cincai cincai , know half the plan , put half heart in their performance . Yes , i can completely ignore them . But we are playing in the same band , and he/she is affecting me and the whole band . We only needed 3 practices , because of this certain musician , we need 6 practices . And the worse part is , no matter how much i tell him , he reply the same thing ..”aiyah i can remember one lahhhhh…this kinda thing easy only”
November 10th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
as for the 8 guitarists in a band thing. i think each of them play only one note. then when they play in sync, one chord comes out! makes things easier!
November 11th, 2009 at 2:22 am
sorry cos i’m that sucky musician with that attitude? hahahha
November 11th, 2009 at 10:31 am
lol well they might not be “super keng” relatively to you lah just that I’m “super cha” ftw…
slowhands +1 and not easy also.
November 11th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
@slowhands . Look at the first picture . Can you spot 8 guitarist ? haha..now i know why church musician don’t need to know their chords , they have 7 backups for them mofo ! each guitar learn 1 line can already …
@joshua . yameh? no ah.
@Kevin .nolah where got. some of them super keng one leh..what church are you from btw ?
November 12th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Catholic church.
November 13th, 2009 at 1:21 am
i never liked the idea of making praise and worship songs to sound like current rock songs.
cmon la, need to do that to lure the “youth”?
November 13th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
@Kevin . Catholic ah . That one don’t even have guitarist lah …hahahaha..traditional music instruments kot …
@Shannon . yeah , that is what most churches are doing , young people come because of the music , chicks and social club . Not because of the religion . Some even offer lucky draws , can win a car one.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I was a church musician at 15 years old. Guitars mainly. Now i’m hitting 40s. It is a good place to START. More than that is not possible. Its like getting ’stuck in the rut’….Experimentation is really limited but you get points in Heaven. Amen!
November 19th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Howzit?
Where does excellence come in? In worshipping our God, should we not strive for excellence in our gifts? The Bible says we should play ’skillfully’. But I find that in my ex-church band, only three of 15 people are practicing their instrument at home. The leader wants the band to become ’something big’, but he’s not practicing. The Bible says ‘a man who is skilled in his gift will stand in front of kings.’
As for the style of music… ‘The message itself is sacred, but the method is not.’ It’s the content of our hearts that determine if it’s acceptable to God, not the style.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
to certain extend gap you are right, I am a church musician(sunday onlylah) for 20+ year, with my current band members they are average 16 year olds. Some can play very well individually, but when come to play as a band, the drummer is just like playing solo, the pianist play like solo pianist.
One more thing, they are good in copy others, like Hillsong United(Youth), can play like carbon copy(with tabs I believe) When come to creativity such as improvisation, basics such as 12 bar blues, clueless.
I can understand because the australian Hillsongs suppose to be easy to sing/play by others. But for my age, I am more fond of american musics like blues, R&B, Soul and funk as well as country. Can check out Israel Hougston(Grammy winner), Lincoln Brewster(Lead guitarist for Steve Perry of Journey). There are also numerous Christian but non-church musicians such as Larry Carlton, Abraham Lamboriel etc.
I think the bottom line is, may be I/we are just landed in the wrong band. Hey, may be we can meet up (have a jam session)? I am bassist.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
@vendetta. Amen to you brother . Because of the “kiss ass” culture in church . You tend to think you are GOOD ENOUGH and you stop improving , then stuck in the root ..
@Gtr . That situation is kinda the opposite of what i have …my situation is church musicians who are good and they have an attitude . About the content of our hearts thingy , Yes i agree . But if someone takes it the wrong way , that person will be “stuck in the root”
@BNG . Meet at and jam christian songs ah ? hahaha..i play all the old old songs you know , 70s 80s and 90s worship . I prefer those cause it is more “open” where you can jazz them up a little bit . The modern christian songs are just too closed , only one way to play them .Anyway , i agree with you about the copying and playing individually . The point of a band , is to sound good as a band . Not a solo show .
December 5th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
From where I come from, whether it is my church or CF, i come from where simplicity is the best. As a guitarist, forget the pick slides, the shreds, the riffs or even the distortion on, you will come up with a great sound for Him.
I disagree with the fact that church guitarists can’t shred. I know many who can. Im fine saying that many are humble enough to keep that from showing off in public.
Always keep in mind that church musicians are always playing for one purpose. Which i believe you know what that is. The worship coordinator also have the power to “kick” a band member provided he’s not cooperating (like following a music score for example.)
It’s true that some churches the youth come for the music. But as they come, God will water them in mighty ways to grow them in that church.
God gave you one amazing talent Clement, and it is my prayer that you use it for the glorification of His name.
A teen.
December 25th, 2009 at 12:45 am
I once played a wrong note during church service and the younger guitarists never looked at me the same again
I also play drums for church. I usually play with a metronome. So yeah… was following it, and the singers were singing out of timing, really badly. And guess what? They look at me, “Wei your timing out la!!!”
I agree with Gapnap on that whole rock star attitude. Really gets on my nerves.
December 30th, 2009 at 2:45 am
I can’t help but agree with Jason. Gosh, they think only they know best and plays the best. Especially my church drummer who has nth but only 1 kinda style of his own… Which TOTALLY SUCKS MAN!!!
Shouldn’t we be improving our skills to serve Him better? What’s better, if you tell him straight off, instead of feeling that he needs to improve, he thinks you’re insulting him. GOSH!!! such kinda person.
Not only that, he loves to correct others while he doesn’t know his own mistakes, and always plays the loudest among all.
And now, there comes a bassist who thinks she’s god. Gosh .. when can all this ppl learn and start to play for the right reason?? haiz .. pray that they will realise that and change … though i’ve already have thoughts of leaving that church and move to other (not for that particular reason though).
January 4th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Well truth 2 be told , of course there r ppl hu wud reli show off n ego during playin n stuffs, but being a musician is to learn 2 be humble. N i’ve been serving in my church too so far de only times when we do not use music sheets is when we play something very familiar when there’s a last minute request for it. Otherwise we still needed de chords n all 2 play.
As worship ministry people, we represent the Levites. their task is to bring people’s sacrifices and offerings to God, n worship Him. they also served as temple musicians during festivals to help people worship God, but they did not glorify themselves. So, worship God is not really defined by how well u play, but bringing people into the heart of worship with the music being played togather, even though its just simple. It is a way of learning to be humble be4 Him.
Oh yea when i make mistakes during worship practices people ususally just said, its ok, u still can improve. keep up de good work. It sort of motivate me 2 push further on.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
BNG: Dun 4get Chris tomlin too, wow tat guy is sure an awesome songwriter n composer
January 5th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Hi Clement..
First of all I want all people reading this post know that being a church musician means being a servant to God.. We give everything we’ve got-skill, talent, everything and the most important one is our HEART and yeah you’re right KZ, bringing people into the heart of worship with the music being played together.. That’s our task..
That’s why church member will always encourage us whenever we make mistakes.. It’s because the skill and talent comes later.. HEART comes first.. That’s why it doesn’t matter how many guitarists play at the same time.. And it doesn’t matter what you want to play actually, as long as you don’t spoil the Praise & Worship session.. As long as you got HEART, you’re good to go..
As for the VARIETY of church (eg gay), just please don’t call em church.. They are not even Christians if they do what God forbid..
One information, the only musician who use the music sheet in my church is our keyboardist.. Guitarist, bassist and drummer not use that.. I guess it’s because the tradition of our old musicians, so we just go on with it..
Having said all that, I totally agree with you Clement about the bad attitude that church musicians have.. Also agree with Damien on how church musicians getting people to worship their talents.. I have to admit sometimes I have that attitude too.. We’re human after all.. God will open our eyes and heart, and transform us into a new creation hopefully starting from this blessed 2010 new year.. Amen..
January 5th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
ken ouraida: Amen too
January 6th, 2010 at 1:16 am
I agree , that
1.Heart comes first
2.Talent & Skill
But many church members focus on the “heart” too much that they ignore Talent & Skill .
Its like , 100% Heart , 0% Talent and Skill . That i do not agree with
January 7th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
@gapnap:
take thomas edison’s formula: 99% of heart n sincerity, 1% of talent n skills
January 27th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
We , The Sanctuary Church needs a guitarist player as we dun have one… Anyone interested pls get bazk to me .. thx lot ..God Bless !!