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Playing in Church.


Sardonicus

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I'm playing in an ecumenical service next Wednesday.  Yesterday afternoon, ie a week in advance, I had a message listing the songs, the keys, and the CCLI numbers.   Woohoo! 

 

No excuse for messing up now.

 

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4 hours ago, Richard R said:

Not with this band - I am very definitely the least experienced and capable. All the others could wing it by ear.

So, technically, they could indeed not look at the music. 

 

But in this case, they don't need to!

 

Well done for finding a church band of such high quality.  Enjoy yourself, and be sure to let us know how it goes. 

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On 14/01/2024 at 14:41, Risk101 said:

So this was today’s set up, as I still have the pins in my left hand where I severely damaged my thumb. 

 

 

@Risk101  How is your hand healing?  Back in 2010, I managed to put my left hand through a window and I completely severed both tendons, I went right through the Median Nerve and I had to learn how to use my hand again.  14 years on I still only have 20% feeling in my thumb and the first two fingers on a good day and, I have limited mobility of my thumb but, I can still play and nobody can tell when watching me.  Praying for healing for you.

 

Some of you might remember that I threw my toys out the pram recently and stood back as a Worship Leader in my church, I'm now back as a Worship Leader as I missed doing it and I think both sides learnt from the situation.  God is great !

scar.jpg

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11 hours ago, Nice Guy Rich said:

.Some of you might remember that I threw my toys out the pram recently and stood back as a Worship Leader in my church, I'm now back as a Worship Leader as I missed doing it and I think both sides learnt from the situation.  God is great !

 

Here’s hoping that the reinstatement comes with better understanding (from both sides, I guess) and more backing for you when you need to address difficulties in the team.

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Thanks @Nice Guy Rich I had the pins/wires removed this week and thankfully they decided it didn’t need opening up and a plate fixing.

 

so the long road of physio lies ahead which it sounds like you’re all too familiar with! That was a nasty injury you had there!

 

meanwhile I’m playing the Moog Little Phatty although the pitch wheel is playing up (note to self - resist touching it).

 

as all my fingers work I’m hoping to get back to bass guitar in a couple of weeks.

 

thanks for thinking of me and I hope the leading goes well 👍🏻👍🏻

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I posted this earlier but it went onto the general list instead of the "Playing in Church" thread.

 

I am quite open to hearing new versions of traditional hymns.  Stuart Townend's interpretation of "The Lord Is My Shepherd" works very well and we sing it in our services.  EMU music do some nice arrangements of older hymns too.  I know some people may throw their hands up in horror at any changes to well known hymns but they can become so familiar that we can often sing them without really thinking about them.  Re-working a song can sometimes bring out hidden depths to the words.

 

I came across this version of Fanny Crosby's great song "To God Be The Glory" by an all female band called Faithful.  Check out their latest album, from which this is taken, on YouTube - they are very good.  Not sure a "traditional" congregation could adapt to it but I find it very refreshing.

 

Edited by LeftyP
posted on wrong thread
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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been asked to play guitar in church.  Or rather, I asked if I could play as the second acoustic guitar one morning, just to see whether I could still do it.

 

I have not played acoustic guitar in church for over 20 years. At the time, I was a big fan of dual capo settings (me capo 2 in G, the other guitarist in A. Or indeed, me on Capo 5 or 7, to give the harmonic spread).

 

Any hints or tips?  Any YouTube lessons?

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13 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

I was a big fan of dual capo settings (me capo 2 in G, the other guitarist in A. Or indeed, me on Capo 5 or 7, to give the harmonic spread).

practice a bit and then do this- it sounds like it would be great! Don't over think it! 

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1 hour ago, bass_dinger said:

dual capo settings (me capo 2 in G, the other guitarist in A. Or indeed, me on Capo 5 or 7, to give the harmonic spread).

 

Any hints or tips?  Any YouTube lessons?


Yes to this! 😊

 

Good enough for Quo 🥳🤣

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22 minutes ago, Richard R said:

I have no idea what you're on about, but if it makes you sound iike Quo in a worship setting then I'm all for it!  👊

Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt often had one playing chords in the “normal” position and the other capo’d higher up the neck, providing a wider/fuller sound. 

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On 17/01/2024 at 15:32, Richard R said:

 

No excuse for messing up now.

 

 

Perhaps! The first time I played in our church band, we played as people arrived, I forget what the tune was, but it was in 3/4. After a couple of times through the BL grinned at me and said "now let's play it in 4", and when we'd done that, "now in 2!". I felt like I'd been set some sort of initiation test and passed. :) 

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9 hours ago, xgsjx said:

Just learn the chords G, C, D & Em.

That lack of variety was why I took up bass!

 

I also struggled with strumming patterns - I got bored easily, and found it a bit dull.

 

Bass has now become my mother tongue, my first language of expression. If I want to say something musical, I prefer to say it on the bass. 

 

So, I want to revisit the guitar  and see if I can still do it.

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We kicked the morning service off with this one today:

 

An absolute hoot to play, the band and the congregation had a blast and we did the vamp as well (but not the slap break!)

 

I had hoped to put the link to our YT stream, but sadly that recording doesn't capture the energy in the sanctuary, so this is the next best thing.

 

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25 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

That lack of variety was why I took up bass!

 

I also struggled with strumming patterns - I got bored easily, and found it a bit dull.

 

Bass has now become my mother tongue, my first language of expression. If I want to say something musical, I prefer to say it on the bass. 

 

So, I want to revisit the guitar  and see if I can still do it.

Worship songs is one of the things I sure don’t miss since deconstruction. 😇

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5 hours ago, Nice Guy Rich said:

I’ve just found out that my church elders have decided that we don’t need a bass player every week, it makes no sense to me…..I’m dealing with non-musicians making musical decisions 🤦🏻‍♂️


What reason did they give? It’s none of my business of course, but I would find it interesting. 
 

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