I have taken some time off from leading worship to learn more. Having been an old rocker that learned by ear & trial & effort, I want to learn more so I can better communicate to the others in the worship team, in musical terms.
My question in, what sites are you or have you subscribed to? I am currently looking at Workshop Live and Truefire. Any suggestions?
i've never found music
Sat, 2008/04/26 - 7:47pm — nomad100i've never found music theory terms to be much use in communicating to fellow praise team members. Finding most of them are self taught and don't know the terms. Most can't read sheet music, and playing from sheet music to me is to stiff for worship. Common phrases to know would be chromatic scale, bar, measure, and beat in reference to the last of first beat of something. Recently we've had a sax player and a violin player come try out, but neither could play by ear so they didn't keep coming.
I don't think that we should
Sat, 2008/04/26 - 10:14pm — Will CI don't think that we should limit our horizons by not seeking to fine tune our craft and increase our knowledge of music. I would love to know more theory and be able to sight read, regardless of others' abilities. I would love to learn classical guitar (fingernails and all). Chord charts have their limitations as well as their freedoms. Maybe the sax and violin players would have kept coming if somebody could communicate in their language (music-wise). Having a trained, or even better, several trained members can be a huge draw to some talented individuals seeking to use their gifts to further HIS kingdom. Snowball effect...
However, I do agree that most music team members lack in the musical knowledge as well at the technical ability categories. I believe that passion can breed inspiration within some individuals. If others see you on fire for Christ and your musical expression, they may feel compelled to step up themselves.
Mp2old-I don't know what to tell you as I don't know. See if any of the sites you're interested in have contact info for your questions. You may even ask them if they would give you a trial membership before you commit. Also, classes at a local community college that offers music theory may be an option as well. I learned a lot in an intro to music theory course at a community college (and I still use it). Good luck 'mon.'
Will
Will, I think you understand
Sun, 2008/04/27 - 8:30am — mp2oldWill,
I think you understand where I am coming from. If we believe that our musical abilities are gifts (talents)from God, what are we going to do with them? As leaders, we have the responsibility to lead. By example, we should strive to show the passion and desire to grow for Christ. Would you expect your pastor to just "play it be ear"?
I also agree that the more we learn, the better we can serve. In David's time, he had many skilled musicians. Even before David, every reference to those serving God were skilled craftsmen. I am not saying that those of us who learned to play by ear are not skilled nomad100, only that I feel I can better serve if I can better communicate to those I lead in the worship team.
I am just tired of spending so much time on the net looking for random information. The local community colleges are geared toward beginners and local instructors are geared toward the young kid that wants to be the next gitar hero. I have a couple of college theory books that I have been using and I am starting to put things together.
I was fishing to see if anyone had experience with online sites.
If you are looking for a
Sun, 2008/04/27 - 9:01am — gretsch_manIf you are looking for a great study book to teach Theory and more in depth music check out:
Music Theory Workbook for Guitar: Chord and Interval Construction
by Bruce E. Arnold (Author)
you can look it up on Amazon.com and take a sneak peak inside some of the chapters.
Paul Baloche actually offers
Sun, 2008/04/27 - 1:13pm — jofroPaul Baloche actually offers some good resources (fee and free). Some theory and some practical -- a good mix in my opinion. You might find it to be fairly basic, but probably a "nugget" in there somewhere for you.
Check it out at www.leadworship.com
free samples: http://www.leadworship.com/electricguitar.pdf/electricguitar.pdf
http://www.leadworship.com/acousticguitar.pdf
http://www.leadworship.com/electricguitar.pdf/bonus_electricguitar.pdf
or buy the kit like this one: http://www.leadworship.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=54&osCsi...
Enjoy!
Jofro
i took intro to music theory
Mon, 2008/04/28 - 1:57pm — nomad100i took intro to music theory at IWU and can't say it really did all that much for my guitar playing. It was all about how many sharps and flats are in a key, really good teacher though. I also took classical guitar at IWU one semester because the instructor didn't speak english enough said! He was a really good guy though.
The sax player is a college music major, I explained briefly to him how to construct parts from our chord sheets. Having a person on a team that can't think creatively and play by ear would add unnecessary complication to practice. "Unless" a church has a dedicated music pastor who has the time to work all that out prior to practice. I do often have people over to help them with there instrument and playing along with the songs.
My definition of a musician is someone who can play both creatively and by ear. I don't and wouldn't go around hurting peoples feelings who can only play by sheet music.
These are great ideas. I
Tue, 2008/04/29 - 1:36pm — hotramanThese are great ideas.
I would recommend Youtube as well.
I've found great clips for playing B bender guitar, among
other things.