"You've got to create the space, then fill it." Chick Corea

That quote is from the great jazz pianist Chick Corea. He played with a few people over the years, Miles Davis and Stan Getz to name a couple. Even though I didn't agree with Chick on a lot of his beliefs, I could never disagree with him on how he approached music.

With all of the great musicians I see the same trend. We can name plenty of players we love who can fill every space with a note and make it sound amazing. I've also watched those same musicians play exactly what's needed and nothing more.

In my younger years I'd scoff a little at that. I wanted to hear Pat Metheny go off a little more with Joni Mitchell, and I probably didn't understand that buying a Toto record didn't mean Jeff Porcaro was going to play a drum solo on every song. But as I started playing with bands, church services and singer-songwriters more and more, I learned something: "Oh, it's not about me?"

The greats get that. The musicians we look up to understand the beauty of an arpeggio or a block chord if that's all the song needs. When their 32 bars to shine come around, they make the most of it.

Worship music is different

In worship music, does that 32 bar moment ever happen? Not really. The arpeggios, block chords, four on the floor drum beat and eighth note bass line? Those are far more likely.

Worship music isn't designed for musicians to shine. It's designed for musicians to provide a meaningful vehicle for worship. There are musical moments in worship songs, but never jazz solo moments. So the attitude of a worship musician has to be different. Here are a few ways to approach it:

  • Playing in a worship band takes restraint and taste, not unparalleled skill on your instrument. You'll do a lot of stopping and starting. Your job is to follow the worship leader.
  • Focus on your tone, sitting in the pocket and providing a solid foundation. Those things matter more in worship than almost anywhere else.
  • Read Philippians 2:3-8 and meditate on it. It holds all of the essentials for being on stage at any church. With more lights, more sound and more video every year, that passage should be burned into every worship musician's heart.
  • The worship musician is playing worship to God. That requires your best. It also requires your humility.
  • Worship songs are best understood from the bottom up, not the top down. Solid groove, solid bass line, guitar chords, piano in when it's needed, vocals tight.
  • The best musicians understand space. In fact, it's what makes them the best.

If this is your team right now

I hear it a lot from worship leader friends: they have a musician who simply plays too much. If that's you as a leader, feel free to hand this article to them. It's a gentler way to start the conversation than calling it out in the middle of rehearsal.

There is a standard for being excellent as a worship musician, and I think this is a pretty good start. If you have questions about your own team, get in touch.

All the best, Jon