Beyond The Chart
I’m working with a worship team that has been trained well. They have learned how to replicate parts. What I mean is that they have mastered the necessary art of copying other seasoned players’ parts. This skill is a prerequisite to creating your own. Being able to reproduce the recording teaches you essential, foundational skills as a musician.
And it’s a small church. Like less than 100 small.
BUT! There are consistently 12 team members up front (two keys, two electrics, acoustic, bass, drums, and singers who take turns leading each song), plus the two techs in the back. Everyone knows their role; they play the parts and even pull off those synth-driven youthy songs that tend to render the average team…relying on the tracks to survive. LOL
If they are this exceptional, you may be asking, what could you possibly be helping them with?
Good question!
They need to learn how to improvise and go beyond the chart.
Ah yes, it’s time to make music, boys and girls!* I say that as giddily as I can! What will we cover?
BREAK THE MONOTONY
Some songs inspire a tiny, albeit fleshly, eye-roll each time they are played, or you see them in the upcoming setlist. It’s a song that, at one point, you said, “This song is amazing! It’s going to be on our top ten list for sure!” And over time, you become that artist on tour that cringes anytime someone yells for their “hit” song to be played at the concert.
Do you have a song in mind? Well, that song is a PERFECT candidate for going “beyond the chart.” This Is Amazing Grace feels that way for me. (Don’t hate me, I still believe the message of the song!) The arrangement is so well known, so predictable, that a break from it (if well done) can breathe new life into a tired song.
Get creative. Start with the bridge. Eliminate the opening riff. Open the song with a slower, acoustic version of the chorus, rich with vocal harmonies. The sky is the limit!
HIGHLIGHT TRUTH
Here’s what I’ve done to Phil’s beloved song. Some lines hit me in that song. The whole “bringing chaos back into order…” Oof! I’m a dad with six beautiful children. I’ll say one word: bedtime. (read: chaos!) I NEED to sing that song and declare that truth when I’m tired, they’re tired, and my five-year-old is “stretching” instead of dressing into his footie pajamas.
So, I wrote a little tag that I use before “officially” starting the song or as a reflection after it. It’s a prayer that says:
Come break the power of sin and darkness
Come leave us breathless in awe and wonder
Come bring our chaos back into order
Come leave us breathless in awe and wonder
You can listen to it here.
The idea is to pull some truth from the song and give us something to chew on for a bit. You can call it meditating on His word contained in the song lyrics. Or you can do something like this.
WRITE A TAG BASED ON THE NEXT SONG
The song following Phil’s song in the set is Jon’s song Here In Your Presence. One line is “Every fear suddenly wiped away.” So I wrote a little tag over the chords of the chorus of Phil’s song that says:
Tu amor es perfecto, Dios
Tu amor es perfecto, Dios
Echa fuera cualquier temor
Recibimos tu amor, Señor
Oh, sorry, let’s translate that to English:
Your love is perfect, God
Your love is perfect, God
Casts out any fear
We receive your love, Lord
Again, you can listen to the Spanish one here.
LOOK FOR PLACES THAT CALL YOU DEEPER
I used to keep a file in my filing cabinet called “Rababa Portals.” When I would find a deep pool in a song, I’d file the chord chart there. The best I can describe it is that it felt like a portal into another world - a place of deep worship.
Here’s the thing. Some songs are great just the way that they came off the shelf. Even the radio edit is good. But some songs are merely a doorway to something special, to something deep and meaningful. Certain songs inspire us to search for more. Call it an Easter Egg. I challenge you to look for them in the songs for this Sunday!
LINGER
Thanks, Ms. O’Riordan, for the soundtrack for my college days. Back on track. Oh, and while on that topic, beware of what using multitracks unintentionally teaches us. “Don’t be creative. Just follow the cue…2, 3, 4.” (And I’m not a track hater.)
Take time to linger. Don’t be in a hurry in worship. I don’t mean “have awkward silences while you gear up for starting the next song.” I mean, let what you’ve just sung sit for a bit. We need created space. The Psalmists would call for such things often - Selah.
In those moments, listen. One of your team members may be picking something up. Follow their lead. Call and response. A singer may be crafting a melody. Support it. An instrumentalist may begin a little riff, chord progression, or rhythmic pattern. Play off of it. Create! It’s great fun. And then bring the congregation into it by displaying scripture on the screens.
If you’d like other practical, musical steps you can take to go beyond the chart, let me know!
*Now, you may be saying, “Dave, are you saying that playing the chart isn’t making music?” Well, you wouldn’t tell a cover band they’re not making music. But they could be missing the point. Don’t just get through the chart. Make music together!
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Beyond The Chart (Nº 383)
