If you’ve played worship music for any length of time, you know how important the keyboard is.
The keyboard is the carrier of the anointing, the sound of heaven. Matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a keyboard, soft pad-playing angel in heaven.
Of course, I kid ever so slightly. What is true is how a keyboard can help create an atmosphere for worship music.
But what if you just don’t know how?
Maybe you’re a classically trained pianist and you’re the only qualified person at your church.
Or maybe you’re the worship leader and your keyboard player doesn’t know how to play like this. What do you do?
5 Tips for Piano Players
You’ve come to the right place. In this post I want to outline some simple concepts for you to help take your keyboard playing (or someone on your team) to the next level.
1. Know Your Place
One of the most helpful things you can think of as a musician is your place in the band. If you’re the only instrument, you can rock more notes and fill the sound more. But if you’re a part of a large team, you’ll want to simplify so as not to dominate the frequency range of the other instruments.
For our purposes here, stay as close to the middle of the keyboard as possible. Don’t worry about hitting those deep bass notes – that’s why you have a bass player. Don’t worry about hitting the extremely high notes. That’s why there are angels 🙂
2. Learn Common Chord Voicings
When you look at the chord charts for Sunday morning, you see lots of chords everywhere. They’re probably not even that difficult. Your natural tendency will be to play your root position chords and fill in the space with lots of jangled notes. Avoid this. It’s just not necessary.
Instead, try a simple technique. Rather than playing in root position for every chord, play the I and 5 of your root chord on every beat with your right hand while your left hand changes the root of the chord.
For example, if I’m in the key of C and the chord progression is C, Am, G, F, I will play the notes C and G in the RH (for every chord) while my LH simply changes bass notes. This creates a simple, yet beautiful chord progression with minimal movement. Very open, very nice.
3. Learn the Art of Pads
As the keyboard player, you should work hard to familiarize yourself with your church’s keyboard. You may not be very “tech-y”. That’s OK. Don’t label yourself and disqualify yourself from what you can accomplish.
Take some time and work through the sound bank. Find the “synth” or “pad” section and listen for the simple, soft, wide sounding pad/string sounds. These are the sounds you’ll want to utilize most as a keyboard player. You create atmosphere. You fill the sound when the other musicians may not.
4. Learn How to Fill Transition Moments
Keyboards are always looked upon as the “transition” instrument. Whether it’s behind a pastor as he wraps up his sermon or a filler in between songs, the keyboard is a necessity. But knowing what to play is a particular skill. It is both science and art.
Nobody wants to hear Bach Arias, scales, or triumphant Dino arrangements. You want to keep it simple, yet not as simple as you would with a band.
Here’s a few tips:
- Layer a piano and pad together. Oftentimes a lot of heavy piano in a full band simply muddies the sound. But if you’re playing alone, transitioning or backing up a pastor, utilize some more direct sounds.
- Pay attention to what is happening outside of yourself. There’s nothing more frustrating than a musician who is so wrapped up in himself that he’s not being sensitive to who is speaking or what is happening in the service. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Observe what He is doing.
- Think melodically with your playing. Don’t think “improv”. Don’t just make up a continual stream of randomness. Find a simple melodic motif and stick with it for a while. Feel free to switch to a new melody eventually, depending on how long you’re playing by yourself.
- Think “minimal”. Don’t worry about playing octaves. I know it’s popular to be as “big” as you can, but just don’t. It is distracting. Play simple melodies with a simple bass note and focus on playing it beautifully.
5. Develop Your Curiosity
What I’ve shared in this post isn’t exhaustive. My goal here was to simply teach you the foundations of worship keyboard playing. But there’s more to explore. One of your greatest assets as a musician is your curiosity.
To keep from getting stale you should be constantly listening to new music, experimenting with new sounds, and checking out new equipment. There’s a massive world of synths, software, effects pedals, and electric pianos to explore.
Keep expanding your skill set. Experiment with new sounds. But never lose the overarching goal of simplicity and serving God’s people in worship.
What About You?
What struggles have you faced with playing keys in worship?
Has this been a helpful post? Tell us what is happening with the keyboard players on your worship team in the comments here.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
Struggles? How about guitar players who can’t play in any key but E and G? Want to throw in a color chord? Oh – can’t do that – would stress out the guitar player!
How about just trying different styles and voicings and not making every single service sound the same? Lincoln Brewster and Chris Tomlin are great but I’d love to hear more variety. Where are the Billy Joels, the Ben Folds of worship music?
Sounds like you’re frustrated with some musicians 🙂 I like what you said about new forms of creativity. We should do that. But Lincoln Brewster and Chris Tomlin serve us well in our local churches. They give us songs and arrangements that are easy for average musicians to pull off. I think that is a great thing, wouldn’t you say?
I really like what you said I always like to play d simplest way it’s not about running chord all over place lessen to d spirit of God and can heal nation
Thank You Very Much For Your Great Article! You Probably Know That With C am G F Playing C – G In The Right Hand With G In The L.H. Bass Makes Gsus. Praise The Lord!
Ha! Such an anointed chord 😉
great article. I just wish that I could be used at my church. They say there are too many piano players and work more towards performance than worship and letting God do the leading through the team….frustrating.
Hey Kerri – sorry you’re having a rough time at your church! Are there any other areas or ministries you can get involved in? Maybe in the youth ministry?
Hey Kerri, I am both a keyboard and vocalist. There is an over abundance of both at my church as well. I get to serve once every six to eight weeks. That’s a long time to wait. I know what you’re feeling too about performance vs. worshiping in spirit and truth. It is frustrating. The really great thing is not many churches have ‘too many’ people to serve. Praise God! What do you do for work, your occupation? Could you teach piano? Could you ask your worship pastor about leading/starting mentoring piano workshops for youth at your church? How about taking a class to learn more about writing music? Just ideas. 🙂
Kerry,
Find a couple other people and start a worship band. Not to conflict with the worship team, but practice together to do special events. There are loads of ministry opportunities out there. And most of all pray for God to open the doors
Angels playing soft pads in heaven, instead of harps? Ha.
The biggest challenge until recent times for keys players was the cost of good gear. A decent synth costs $3-4,000 and you have to have 2 or 3, because that what everyone has!
Nowadays, with midis keyboards that trigger soft synths, you only need to invest a fraction of the cost. Although you still need to spend the time practicing parts
That’s a really great point, Bren. A cheap midi controller and Garageband can go a long way and is a great place to start.
And yes, I think Heaven has probably upgraded from harps to soft pads. But who really knows? 😉
Great article David! I’ve been wondering all these things and will play around with these techniques.
I’m always feeling like I’m “coping out or cheating” when I play too simply. Like my college piano teacher would be rolling his eyes at the simplicity of just chording.
I will embrace the “open” concept and take some pressure off.
Thanks for being so patient and gracious with me!
Leslie, good to see you here! I always tell the musicians I work with: Going pro isn’t about doing all you know how to do…all the time. It’s about serving the song. It’s about creating an atmosphere. I’ve found that is done more effectively with less, not more notes. Let me know what you think of these open voicings. You’re doing great!
Here’s a simple formula for colourful open piano playing, whether it’s pads or or piano. Say you’re in key X and you’re playing chord Y:
* Choose any note of the scale of key X that isn’t the 1 of chord Y
* Choose any other note of the scale of key X that isn’t the 1, 3 or 5 or chord Y.
For example, playing in C, over a C chord, you might choose D and G, E and B, or D and E. Playing in C over the Am chord, you might choose D and G, or B and E.
Play these notes either once at the start of the bar, or if that’s too open, on each beat of the bar. No more. Experiment. Find out what works for what chord in what song. Don’t use your left hand.
Once you’ve got that sounding good, then choose two places per verse or chorus to do something more, maybe an arpeggio or something melodic. No more than two places, less if you’re disciplined – and don’t feel like you have to fill out every gap in the singing – there’s nothing worse than a song where an instrumentalist fills every gap in the singing. *
* I’m the worst at this.
James – thanks for the tips. These are great. I agree – looking outside the 1 3 5 of the chord is huge. As long as it’s within the scale, all notes are game! Opens up a lot of possibilities.
Thank for you sharing! Very solid and practical advice. I just forwarded this article to one of our team member who plays the keys.
Fantastic. Let us know how it works out!
David, I am one of a couple of keyboard players. I play from a chord sheet accompanying my husband on lead (electric usually) guitar. Or he may play bass guitar.
I do OK, but your post is quite helpful.
I do need to find the good bad sounds and the open chord thing – I will try that. Up to now, I play the chords as comfortably as possible, with as little movement as possible. I find the E maj7th and such a bit of a nuisance or the G sus /F a little messy at present. Especially if it is a quick movement between chords, following a melody line.
Thanks
Anne – I like that you’re focusing on as little movement as possible. Keep doing that. It will start to sound more open and confident. Maj 7 chords are also great to implement. They add a lot more color to the sound.
David, I am so thankful for your ministry. As a worship leader and keyboardist, I am always reading and studying new ideas on how to lead my brothers and sisters into the presence of God. Your advice has been truly inspiring and has quickened me to make changes in order to effectively submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit. These tips are wonderful in helping me be the best I can be unto the glory of the Lord. Thank you for what you are doing and thank you, everyone, all for your comments. They are most helpful!!!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Theresa, and for the kind words! Let me know how the tips are helping you!
These tips are great, but seem to me to be geared toward a typical guitar-driven band. What if you are playing lead because you have no guitarist? or because your guitarist’s skills are weak? What if your drummer is weak? What if you have no bass player on a particular Sunday? I find I have to change up my keyboard playing depending on who else is playing. If there’s no guitar, the keyboard has to provide some rhythm – but not take all the rhythm away from drums and bass. If there’s no bass or if the drummer is weak, then you have to be more bass-y. My suggestions:
1. Never play the melody – that’s for the vocalists.
2. Provide a variety in the texture somewhere in the song – drop out, or have other instruments drop out, or change the rhythm pattern, or change the dynamics, etc.
3. Don’t play every song in the service using the same keyboard voice.
4. Listen to the rest of the band even if – especially if – you’re playing lead – so you can respond to what’s going on in the moment.
Anyway, every band has to do what works for them – work to your strengths and don’t worry about sounding like the radio. It would be so boring if every band sounded the same.
I play synth in the band. Easy.
I have classical and syncopation training. I want to progress to the piano in the band. How should I practice by myself? At present I play the melody (at home) and fill it in with chords. Is there a trick or tip to NOT playing the melody and still be at the “correct” place in the song?
The C Am G F scenario: is this for the piano? So all I play, regardless of the melody, is C(LH) held for 4 beats with CG (RH) for 4 beats (if the chords changed on beat one every time) and then A(LH) – CG(RH), G(LH) – CG(RH), F(LH) – CG(RH)? It seems so simple. Then I would be able to play any song sheet any time. Can it be? (I dont sing).
Shouldn’t at least one instrument play the melody?
Hey David! I’ve been playing worship keyboard for 16 years, and I really enjoyed your article. It’s got helpful and practice advice written succinctly and clearly. Thanks for sharing! I’ve subscribed and I look forward to reading more of your blog posts and podcasts. Keep up the great work!!
It could look that i am late to see this , but i request may you make a youtube of this:
example, if I’m in the key of C and the chord progression is C, Am, G, F, I will play the notes C and G in the RH (for every chord) while my LH simply changes bass notes. This creates a simple, yet beautiful chord progression with minimal movement. Very open, very nice.
thanks
God bless you..
This was really awesome, encouraging and helpful.
I am on a worship team at my church and I play keys. I am having a hard time with finding a line between too simple and overpowering the other instruments. I kind of just play the same rhythm to each and every song and it tends to sound boring. Help?
When you are preparing by listening to the recordings, listen very deeply and pick up the subtle background melodies….usually a simple “riff” will carry the song that a lot of guitar players just plain miss. You can easily learn to pick up on those very simple melodies/riffs and really bring a quality overall professional sound to your band. As time goes by and you gain experience, (along with your God given talents!), you will begin to come up with your own unique melodies that really give your band an overall professional but also, your own signature sound. But as the OP says, always keep those melodies consistent through the song (just like the recordings) and simply “catchy”.
Thanks David, as always a good article…worth rereading a few years later…;)
Do you have any advice leafing from keys..I love playing piano, currently lead from acoustic…if I lead from keys I would feel more comfortable sitting, but worry that would be distracting…what do you suggest?
Hello I am a keyboardist and I want to do piano grades. I live in India,Delhi so where should I go to give exam for piano grade.
I didn’t realize there was a problem until it was brought to my attention by my Director of Worship…. I have been a member and playing at my church for the past two years and up until recently there weren’t any issues with how I “backed up” my pastor. This is a new one for me because this is the 3rd church I’ve been a minister of music and member of, and none of my previous ministries had any issues with how I played. I normally play talk back music while the pastor is speaking, however, when he reaches those high points I increase the intensity of my playing. I usually use either the organ sound mixed with electric piano, or piano and strings. I need help because this is really frustrating me because I don’t know exactly what I’m doing wrong.
Yes brother i was touched by your …thats why this..
Hello..praise the lord brother.
My name is Amen.
Im from india.
Im playing keyboard but there is no joy (joy means spiritual joy) through that.
So thats why im feeling im nothing, i cannot play well
Every time same chords same musics.
So i every time discouraged.
I want know new skills in playing keyboard..
I want give best worship to my God through my instrument and my life also.
Im asking God in my lord make me a professional in playing keyboard.
Brother..can you teach me some lessons about playing altercall musics and melodies..
Angelic sounds.
My Goal is become a professional in playing keyboard and serve the living God and giving the best worship thru my instrument and my life also.
Thanq brother i will wait for your reply.
thanks david
No not at all…..it ws jst nt wat i expected
Nt at all
really love this . this is nice and procantudious God bless the writer
Great tips for those just starting out! Any tips for piano if there are already keys playing pads? Thinking of how to add to a song like Before the throne (modern post version) when there are already pads and electric, and bass? Thoughts?
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