Establishing a Music Identity in Worship

From time to time, I run into or see music ministry folks who obsess over comparing the music in their worship services with the church down the road or the latest high-profile artist churning out hit after hit. These comparisons often lead to a failed or only partially successful attempt of replicating others' work, which potentially creates a disconnect in the worship experience for their church goers.

This is problematic—we're not meant to be motivated by comparison. Sure, it's OK to be inspired by another group and take cues from them, but tailoring your music identity in worship solely based on replicating trends misses the point.

Instead, let's focus on cultivating a unique identity that hits the intersection of inspiration, excellence, relatability, and representation for your congregation.

Observe

Observation with the intent to thoroughly understand others' work is crucial when forming a music identity for worship. Listen, watch, and analyze their practice thoroughly to get to the essence of what makes their own music identity so attractive. In essence, it comes down to knowing the tools they have and how they use them.

Sometimes, this knowledge really doesn't go beyond acquiring the tools themselves. In the case of churches that seek to have blended services, I often see teams that think having electronic keyboards, guitars, and the like will suddenly transform and elevate their worship experiences. However, they often don't utilize these tools properly, and the end result is something that feels awkward, intrusive, and out-of-touch. The tools themselves do not and will not create the transformation—it's how you use them that makes the difference. 

For example, let's say you want to include electric guitar on your team. It's not enough to simply have an acoustic guitarist play electric guitar, or invite a player from a local cover band to join the team and expect the desired transformation to occur. Dig into how your favorite worship artists use electric guitar in their arrangements—it's often a nuanced approach that utilizes a combination of rhythm and lead playing, minus the driving strums and fast licks from each style, respectively. Then, think about how they utilize effects. Are they using lots of echo/reverb/delay? How saturated/gritty is their distortion, and how pristine/shimmery is their clean sound? How do the parts they play fit together with their tonal palette?

All these things must be observed and understood, which then leads to adapting them to fit your needs.

Adapt

OK, let's stick with the scenario of guitar in a blended service. If you want to bring contemporary stylings into what has historically been a traditional-style service, then use the knowledge gained from observing your favorite artists and adjust it accordingly to fit your own format. 

At this stage, it's important to remember that aesthetics and identity go hand-in-hand. So when I think of the aesthetics of a traditional service, "reverence," "understated," and "even-keel" come to mind. Most of your attendees that appreciate a traditional service over a contemporary one value these aesthetic preferences. So, you can take what you've observed about a contemporary praise format and adapt the tools to fit traditional aesthetics. In my case as a guitarist, I opt to use a subtler approach to my tone, eschewing complex effects for something simpler. I opt for a cleaner tone, sometimes dialing my overdrive to give a slightly warm sound to the initial tone. Then, I might pair that with a simple delay or subtle tremolo effect, keeping a touch of reverb on the overall sound.

Integrate

After adapting my tonal palette to fit a more subtle, understated aesthetic, I'm ready to integrate it with parts that reflect the same approach. I don't use big, "expensive" chords; instead, I use 2- or 3-note figures that utilize long tones, with room for the occasional fill that is not too busy. I can choose to follow the chord movement with my shapes, or I can compliment the melody in various spots by harmonizing it like a vocalist would do. It all depends on the song, but the activity of my parts is scaled way back from what I would do on any contemporary worship hit that's played on Sunday.

Evaluate

Once you've integrated an adapted approach to your performance, it's time to evaluate it. This can come in the form of feedback from the congregation, leader, or another band member, or you can record rehearsals and services to listen back for yourself. If they want to hear you "go for it" a bit more, then you can dial in some more active elements to your sound. If there are complaints, see what you can do to accommodate requests. (Remember, you'll have some folks that just won't like it at all—and that's OK. You can't please everyone.) 

The Result

You now have a base from which you can continue to build your unique music identity in your congregation's worship services, using the same system mentioned above. Beyond your own practice, see what others can bring to the table, even it means using instruments not typically found in "normal" praise bands. For instance, I know of some churches that use country pedal steel guitar to great effect, and within our own church, flutists make their way onto the platform and seamlessly integrate into our setup. It gives our team a feature that is intrinsic to us, and we foster a greater sense of ownership for the members of our church.

Brainstorm ideas to utilize what you have to achieve what you want, taking cues from artists you admire and seeing how you can adapt their approach to fit your goals, keeping excellence in mind in both rehearsal and on Sunday morning. Remember, it won't be exactly like what they do, but hey—that's the point!

Be blessed 👊✌️