DAY 1 :HOW WE PLAY TOGETHER MORE EFFECTIVELY

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all
baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the
one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

24b. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no
division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part
suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

1 Corinthians 12

BAND PLAYING VS. SOLO PLAYING

· Solo Playing – Playing music that can highlight one artist with a goal/purpose, whether with an accompaniment
or without.

· Band Playing – 2 or more players, playing music that highlights one purpose/goal and operates as one.

All parts of the band are equally important. Each part in isolation can be very simple and not sound like much. But when
the parts are combined, the whole composite sound object is revealed. The parts fit together, complementing and
reinforcing each other.

All of us have different role to play in a band. And the first step is to know who you are and identify your role in a band.
From there do the best that you can to progress in learning and improving your craft.

1. Know your place in the sonic spectrum. Look at any really good band. every instrument is there for a reason and
each occupies its own space in the sound. Part of the problem for many teams is too many instruments basically
playing the same thing. Just because there are 3 guitarists in the team doesn’t mean they all have to play at the
same time. Worse still many musicians use their instrument to play a role that it’s not designed to do. So very often
we have drums playing all the fills, basses playing like a lead guitarist, keyboard players cutting across bass parts or
worse still covering or everything, electric guitar or orchestral instrument lines cutting across the melody and BV’s
upstaging the lead vocal. So what is your instruments role?

ROLES

Like a champion basketball team, team members should know each role and make always where your teammates are.
Before you try anything fancy, make sure your fundamentals are solid.

· DRUMS: Time Keeper. Section Guide. Main Dynamics Enabler

· BASS: Heartbeat, the Pulse, Groove. Low frequency territory.
· GUITARS: Percussive Rhythm as in acoustic guitars, Pads as in Power Chords on rock numbers, ornamental
functions in arrangements as effects or stabs. The guitar is, of course, also a solo melodic instrument.
· KEYBOARDS: Rhythm in accompanying, Pads as strings, horns. Horn arrangements, etc. and is also a solo
instrument.
2. Every instruments job is only to support the melody. In song based music, most of an average audience or
congregation can only pick out the melody or drums, every instrument needs to play there part to support the lead
vocal. So wrap your grooves, chords and harmonies around the rhythm, volume, pitch and emphasis of the lead
vocal line.We need to make sure that we give importance to the dynamics of the song.Since we are here to support
the melody of the song,we need to give space for the vocals to sing the melody at the same time utter lyrics with
clarity.

DYNAMICS
Dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound, note or a whole musical idea. It is the loudness and softness of
music.

3. Lock into the groove. The rhythm instrument’s main role is provide a clear, solid and in time base for all the other
parts to lock to. Randomly changing strumming patterns, drum grooves and fills and bass licks that don’t lock in to
the consistent groove of the song can unease the congregation. Consistency can seem boring our job is to serve the
song, the band, the congregation and the Lord through music that is easy to grasp

A GROOVE is a multi-dimensional musical device that generally serves as a bed for a lead melody (or other types of solo,
such as rap), though grooves can also occur on their own. Grooves include recurring rhythmic and harmonic patterns,
such as a drum beat, chord patterns, and melodic fragments or “background lines,” which are like melodic motifs
(sometimes called “licks” or “hooks”).

Rhythm-section based music makes grooves relatively obvious. A rhythm section is generally a drum set, a bass, and a
“comping” instrument (usually guitar, piano, organ—basically, anything that can play chords). It plays the groove. The
soloist (singer, sax player, rapper, etc.) plays/sings a melody that “hooks up” (intersects rhythmically) with the groove,
but does usually not play the same kind of recurring rhythmic pattern exclusively.

Another way “groove” is used is as a verb. “That really grooves.” This means that it has momentum, and sounds
distinguishable as its own object. It implies “musically good.” If it “doesn’t groove,” it means that the time doesn’t flow
naturally and easily. Maybe it is too cluttered, maybe there is an awkward hesitation, or maybe it is just boring.

4. The rule of One. If you are the only instrument, you cover everything and bar the melody (unless its an instrument
section), so chords, harmony groove etc. As you add more instruments you should play less to give each other a
space for their part. So if there are 5 people in the band then you should play a fifth of the sound.

TEAMWORK

You should not be self or individual oriented. Think on how you can contribute to the excellence of the team rather than
showing or magnifying the level of skills you have. Know your roles. It should not be one dimensional, be aware of the
mix of the total sound and be team player. I’d rather prefer that the credit and compliment goes to the whole team
rather than to a particular individual.

5. Enter and exit the music at the junctions. You don’t have to play all the time but when you do come in and out at
distinct sections or junctions of the song e.g. verse, chorus, link etc rather than randomly drift in and out. This
sounds tidy, planned and adds to the overall dynamic feel of the song.
6. Not playing is an option. Think ahead about which junctions or parts of the song your instrument will best lift it. It
may be the whole song or just a small section. Let music breath and make a statement with your contribution, don’t
just waffle on!
SPACE OR REST

Playing music doesn’t always equate with note playing. When you rest, you can’t say that you are doing nothing. You are
resting.

The space defines the structure of the notes being executed. Without it, a musical idea can’t be identified as such, it
would only be an unending sounding series of notes.

[Example: Letter cut-outs from a paper. “We can’t identify it unless we put space in it”]

7. Mean what you play – Does your sound match up with the lyric and theme of the song? So when you play to the
lyric “I’m desperate for you” do your music sound desperate or just bored? The sound that you’re producing should
match the emotions of the lyrics of the song. We need to add color to the sound we are making so it can reflect the
meaning of the song.

TONE COLOR OR TIMBRE

Timbre is the unique quality of an instrument’s sound; its “voice.” If you play a "C" on the piano and then sing that "C",
you and the piano have obviously produced the same pitch; however, your voice has a different sound quality than the
piano. Itis what you observe when you decipher a piano from a guitar; or an acoustic guitar from an electric. Composers
use timbre much like painters use colors to evoke certain effects on a canvas.

Choices of tones from your instrument are very vital in being part of band playing. Particularly keyboard patches, guitar
effects, instrument frequency equalization, and the physics of producing a sound from your instrument.

8. Make the theme and the music match – Think about Blessed be Your Name. Most bands just rock it up but there’s
some pretty sobering lyrics in there and a big, confident driven vibe may not always be the most helpful
interpretation for the worshiper.

9. Cultivate feel – what is the sound of joy, reverence, intercession, freedom, repentance? Rather than playing licks,
can you play emotions? Pick an emotion, does it sound high or low, long or short, loud, soft, clean, dirty, gentle or
aggressive?

HOW TO ACHIEVE SONIC EXCELLENCE

1. Have a good source sound – your instrument. Go for clarity. No unwanted noise, distortion, boominess, too
much low frequencies; “honkyness” or “ngo-ngo”, too much mids; “ringing tones” or whistles, too much highs.
2. Have a good stage balance, monitoring
3. Listen to your bandmates.
4. Record your performance or ask a qualified listener, not your mother or bestfriend.