Dear [[{First name}]],

Welcome to the March Musicademy Newsletter.

In this edition:

Keyboard effects in worship

We have had numerous requests for advice on using keyboard effects so have decided to do a mini series of articles. This month, Tim Martin, presented of the Musicademy Worship Keyboard DVDs, introduces us to the effective use of soft pads and string sounds.

It’s quite common to end up using only a few sounds, particularly the traditional piano sound, in a worship setting, and this may not necessarily be a bad thing, however it’s important for all musicians to know the role they are playing in the band and this information should always inform the way that we play. For a keyboard player this knowledge should also affect the sounds that we select and the way that we use them. Another important consideration is the ‘mood’ or movement of worship that we are seeking to support. Here are some short descriptions of different sounds and occasions when they may be appropriate during worship. This is not by any means an exhaustive list and you can find more information together with demonstrations of playing style on the Intermediate Worship Keyboards DVDs.

One of the most commonly used sounds is a soft pad. This is a mellow, sustained sound which is very comfortable sitting behind the texture and adding some depth to the sound. It can be useful when layered (combined) with a piano or electric piano sound in order to allow more sustained chords to be played as the voice will not decay in the way that a piano does. When using this type of sound it is extremely important to take your foot fully off the sustain pedal between chords in order to avoid sustaining chords clashing with one another. This voice is particularly appropriate for quiet, slower songs and for improvised playing in between songs. You may also want to use the sound without a piano over the top if the worship leader is likely to speak or pray over the top of your playing.

An alternative to using a soft pad is something like a glass organ or glass pad sound. I can best describe this as being more ‘shimmery’. This is another sustained sound but is much more focused on higher frequencies and provides a thinner sound than the soft pad. It should be used with care and at a low level as it can interfere with vocal frequencies but, when used well, it can be very effective in giving a slightly transcendent feel to the music.

String sounds are another commonly used effect. People often use these in the same way as pad sounds – i.e. for playing chords or for layering with a piano. This is fine but you may find that a better use of these slightly more cutting sounds is to pick out a countermelody (possibly in octaves). If you listen to commercial recordings that use string voices or a string section you’ll often find that they play a melodic line rather than just chords. Try to save this kind of thing for choruses or louder verses as too many lines from the beginning of a song can be extremely tiring on the ear. It may be surprising to hear, but these lines are often as appropriate in fast songs as they can be in more reflective pieces – you just need to play in a more punchy manner!

With all of the sounds above it can be useful to play with only your right hand (unless combined with a piano). This will accomplish two things. Firstly, you will leave the bass line to the bass player and ensure that this area of the sound doesn’t become too congested and secondly, you can use your left hand to ‘ride’ the volume control. In a recording studio you would record everything at a high level and leave mixing it to the professionals, but in a live environment we will need to control volume so that we can remain sensitive. Often less is more both in terms of notes and overall volume – it’s certainly better to use these sounds slightly too quietly that straying into higher volumes which could overpower. You can also use the volume control to bring out the second half of a long note whilst the melody is sustaining a note which can be quite a neat effect as long as it’s done sensitively.

One thing to be aware of if you are mixing pads and strings with a piano sound is that it can become very addictive. The sound of a piano together with one of these other voices will be much richer and it can sound very thin when you revert back to just piano. This is a good reason to keep the levels of supporting sounds under control and force yourself to play simply with just one sound some of the time – variety is, after all, the spice of life.

Overall, you are likely to be able to use more synthesised sounds when you are not going to be relied upon to provide rhythm and drive for the band. If you have one or more guitars together with bass and drums driving your band then you will be able to steer clear of too much piano which could congest the mix. If you are required to drive the sound you will need to rely much more upon piano and electric piano to achieve this but don’t be afraid to experiment with playing a verse or chorus of slower songs with just pad sounds to create a different effect.

The most important thing is to know what you’re doing and how you’re going to do it before you get into the service. Experiment at home, get to know your keyboard sounds and try them out at a rehearsal when others can give you feedback and help you along the way. Make sure that you’re confident changing sounds (and the balance of different sounds) on the fly so that you don’t suddenly get a huge swell of strings at the wrong moment. A lot of this kind of playing is down to confidence and you can only develop this by having a go – so why not start now?

Next month – Tim will be looking at Hammond organs and movement synths.

Ask the Expert - Mic Technique

Cosima Ybarra from California says

“Most worship leaders aren't professional musicians and don't have a lot of background or training in the music industry. Sometimes we get "picked" for the job and have no idea what to do with cables, monitors and microphones. With all the different opinions on how to sing into a microphone, I was wondering if you would discuss mic technique for the vocalist and what to look for in the mix of your monitor when you are playing with a team of musicians and vocals.”

Many vocalists use a Shure SM58 or something similar. SM58’s are rugged, inexpensive for a pro mic and have been the industry standard for years. This kind of mic needs to be held very close to the mouth and held horizontally rather than vertically to get the best sound. If you hold it further away from you your voice starts to sound thin. Condenser mics (like you see in studios) are designed to pick up sound from further away so can be positioned likewise. But by nature these are very sensitive and pickup ALL the sound going on around you so are not that suitable for lead vocal applications. These are best used for amplifying choirs and preachers who like to wander.

In terms of mix in your monitor as a vocalist you need to be able to hear yourself and get a sense of the rhythm. So I would also ask for the kick drum and band leader instrument - e.g. acoustic guitar. If you are singing backing vocals you will also need the lead vocal line and any other instruments that are likely to add harmony so you can don’t clash. If you have multiple BVs also make sure you can see their mouths so you can all work on enunciating your lyrics at exactly the same time. Good BVs should sound like one harmony unit and not a mess of trills and frills.

Ask the Expert
A versatile guitar for power chords and acoustic playing

Lindy Brown emailed to ask: -

“I'm looking for a versatile guitar that I can play your power chord worship songs on as well as my own more acoustic/folk songs. Please help! Or should I just get two different guitars. I only have about $700 to spend.”

That’s a tricky question with many answers! Obviously you can physically play both power chord/rock songs and more introspective acoustic pieces
on any instrument but if you are talking about creating different sounds in those styles there are a few routes you can take. Firstly if you are just talking about acoustic guitars then consider a jumbo sized instrument for the big power chord songs and then a parlour (very small body) guitar for playing on your own. Parlours are great for finger picking as they have less bass response and are really comfortable to sit and play around the house. Although, if you only have $700 I’d be inclined to buy one better instrument rather than two cheaper ones.

Another alternative is a hybrid guitar. Hybrids tend to be classed as small bodied electric guitars that that also have an acoustic ‘voice’ by using combinations of chambered or hollow bodies, special acoustic sounding pickups and bridges or even have a built-in digitally modelled acoustic sound. The quality and style of sounds vary wildly, as do the prices so check out as many models as you can – even look at those out of your price range to check out if this is what you really want. Hybrids are mostly a bit of a compromise and probably won’t replace a good electric or acoustic, especially at this price range, but are wonderful for a wide variety of instantly accessible sounds if you haven’t got a guitar tech to hand you a new instrument after every new song! So try out a few of the suggested guitars below as see if any of them work for you.

Fender Nashville power telecaster – basically a good Mexican made Tele with a piezo acoustic bridge. This is good for great electric sounds and ‘plugged in’ pseudo acoustic sounds for the odd song. Not that suitable if you want a great acoustic tone at home but a good all-rounder, and – Tele’s never go out of tune!

Line 6 Variax - this is a modelling guitar that digitally reproduces the sound of 27 classic electric and acoustic guitars. You can customise the sounds and even the tunings and recall them at a twist of a knob. In my opinion the electric models are better than the acoustic and you’ll also need a good amp and PA to get the best out of it. They also do an acoustic-only Variax which has fuller acoustic voicings and may give you the sound choices you are looking for.

Musicman Axis Sport – you may just about find a used one in your price range. These are the most beautifully playing electric guitars that come with an acoustic bridge option. Again the sound is pseudo acoustic so only look at this if you want to play more electric and use the acoustic sound for the odd song.

Taylor T5 – although this is out of your price range, Taylor seem to be the first company to produce a hybrid guitar with its feet firmly in both camps. It does cost a lot ($1400 upwards used) but through extensive research and development they have managed to create a great guitar that sounds and plays wonderfully as both an electric and acoustic.

Fishman Power Bridge – This system (which appears on the Nashville Tele) can be bought as a standalone item and added to many electric guitars to create an acoustic voice. You’ll need to get a professional repairer to fit it for you unless you really know what you’re doing.

Ask the Expert
Electric guitar chords – the CAGED system

Terry Foss from New Jersey wanted some advice on electric guitar chord formations that can be used on almost any song.

Andy Chamberlain advises:

“When constructing electric guitar chord parts I tend to use a system called CAGED chords. Many classic electric guitar parts have been built using the CAGED system and by learning CAGED you should be able to play any chord at any position on any part of the neck. Here’s how it works, most players who use bar chords generally play them using E and A shape chords, e.g. an E shaped G chord is a familiar one at fret 3 and a Bm at fret 2 is based on an Am shape. But fewer play chords using C, G and D shapes in conjunction with the first finger barring across the strings. So practice playing a C chord using fingers 2,3 and 4, shifting it up two frets and then barring across with your first finger to make it a D chord. If your first finger bars to the 3rd fret it becomes an Eb, fret 5 is an F and so on. A similar thing works for D and G shapes. So a D chord played up two frets in conjunction with a bar becomes an E, up four frets is an F#, 5 is a G etc.

The great thing about CAGED chords is they are all sequential in the way they spell out the word CAGED. So for instance if one guitarist is playing a regular C chord and the second player wants a different voicing, the next position up the fretboard to play a C chord is the A shape, then the G shape, then the E shape and finally the D. This will visually help you explore all the voicing options you have available within a single chord. Once you’ve got to grips with CAGED you’ll find there are so many options for creating interesting electric guitar chord voicings just by learning how to use those 5 shapes. CAGED is quite a difficult concept to explain in a short article like this but we consider it such an important building block to expanding your guitar knowledge we go into it extensively in the Intermediate worship guitar course.
If that explanation was rather too brief, CAGED chords are covered extensively on the Musicademy Intermediate Worship Guitar DVDs.

The Musicademy Worship Bass DVDs

As mentioned last month, at long last our worship bass DVDs are now available! Its taken a fair few months to get these produced but we’re so pleased with the result we think it could be a really useful resource for the many churches who lack bass players. Take a look at the free trailer, for a preview. Remember that if you are in North America, you can select to pay in US Dollars once you get to the webstore (look for the currency box on the left hand side).

The DVDs also feature backing tracks and drum grooves as an ongoing daily practice tool. The on screen animated graphics and camera close-ups mean that by working through the DVDs the student can learn as easily as with one to one lessons with the added advantage of being able to pause and repeat the lesson whenever they need to.

There is also additional practical advice from worship leaders David Ruis, Stuart Townend, Chris Bowater, Leeland Mooring and others as well as input from professional bass players including Jesse Reeves from the Chris Tomlin Band.

Worship Source.com

We thought you might be interested in a new website - WorshipSource.com, a free networking site designed exclusively for worship leaders, worship songwriters, worship musicians, and worship music fans.

WorshipSoure.com originated from a two-fold need to inform the worship community of current available resources as well as to gather feedback for providing them with future music and ministry tools. The interactive site, whereon each user can create a personal profile, acts as a forum for members to exchange ideas, music, and offer encouragement.

Among the benefits of membership are weekly giveaways, including chord charts, lead sheets, instructional videos, and podcasts from worship music’s best-known providers. This month you’ll find a free Musicademy video lesson from our Guitar Song Learner series as well as the chance to win some Musicademy DVDs.

As WorshipSource.com is connected to Word Music in the States it also offers aspiring songwriters a monthly chance to submit their material for review by A&R and publishing professionals. Additionally, the site’s staff will highlight a new rising song each week for which users will receive a free chord chart or lead sheet. 

Competition result

Tim Hsu from Vancouver last month’s competition. We’ll let you know what he thought of the downloads in due course.

Win Five Free Song Learner Downloads

We really like to know what you think of our newsletter and the Musicademy products so please take a couple of minutes to answer these questions and e-mail them to us. One respondent will win five free song learner downloads and we’ll let you know what they think of them in the next issue.

  1. What did you think of this newsletter?
  2. Which articles did you particularly enjoy?
  3. Any questions for our “Ask the Expert” feature?
  4. Any suggestions for content that you would like to read in the future?
  5. Any suggestions for websites we could recommend people?
  6. Have you bought a Musicademy product or downloaded a lesson and what did you think of it?

Please e-mail your responses to enter the draw!

Having trouble reading this?
If for some reason you can't see the pictures, or the newsletter doesn't appear correctly, you can see a copy of it here.
Privacy Notice
We never loan or sell our customer information to others, however, if you would prefer not to receive information from Musicademy, please e-mail us with the word REMOVE in both the subject and body of the email.