In my opinion, there are three problems in contemporary worship music. First, most of the time the music is poorly arranged. Church worship bands do not know how to leave "space" in the music, too many of the musicians are playing too many of the same notes at the same time. Because of this the sound can be "muddy." Do you know the main problem with most contemporary worship? Well there are three things wrong.
Second, most of today’s worship music is not really "contemporary." It’s more like 70’s music. So let’s call it kind of contemporary music and arrangements.
Third, there is too much focus on the music and not enough focus on the spiritual. I don’t really want to sing, I want to be joining others in an encounter with the living God. I can sing along with Mitch and the bouncing ball anytime I want. The songs are too complex and repetitive. This is a barrier to focusing on the "God" encounter.
Ok, call me cranky. But I’m right.
How about just one keyboard player playing three notes only at one time. Phew! How refreshing that would be. And how about three guitarists with just one playing the chord, one playing no more than three highlighting notes, and a third using what they call Nashville tuning (tuning your guitar up an octave). This would create an airy crisp enjoyable sound. But man, just two guitars playing the same chords in the same position is too much, way too much. It sounds like a train and is not very musical.
As long as I am on a roll, how about a drummer that would make up their mind if they are going to play or not? Let’s talk about the bass player. Why is it so few bass players can actually hit the note on the beat? Why do so many have to slide into the note?
I wish all "contemporary" worship music leaders were required to take a course that would school them in these skills.
Provocative. I’m going to link this to our worship blog and enjoy the discussion with my leaders. Explain more on “the songs are too complex and repetitive…” statement because I agree with most of what you describe.
I agree with all you say. . . I was a professional musician in Seattle for 20 years before moving to Thailand. In the publishing profession they talk about “white space”. This means, “don’t give your eye too much to look at.” The print, pictures etc. should have a balance with the white space. This is true in music as well. Silence is as important as sound. Creativity is as important as killer musicality. A little bit goes a long ways.
Suggestion: Listen to Wilco’s CD, Summer Teeth. Listen to the arrangements. Things come in. . . Things go out. . High creativity. . .
Isn’t some of this a question of humility? On the part of the worship leader and the worship band there is a need for humility. We don’t have to show everyone how great we are. Worship leading’s goal is to disappear as people worship. . .
Enough for now.