When I started this amazing journey of serving the Lord by helping lead congregational worship, I knew some things. I had been playing guitar for the better part of 10 years at that point. I could pull off some very convincing Stevie Ray Vaughan stuff, John Mayer stuff, Hendrix stuff, a bit of country and R&B. I was proficient, no doubt. I heard all the time how good I was, how my blues/R&B tone was spot on and how my feel was many years ahead of my age/playing tenure. In other words, I had it figured out. How hard could playing in church be? Some things I knew:

• Time signatures don’t matter. I knew that time signatures weren’t important. I could just feel the music.
• Fill the space. I knew that playing Clapton and Mayer licks between vocal lines would spice things up for people. Otherwise, it might be boring for them to just sing, right? Plus, they likely have never seen a guitar player like me in church before. I have tattoos after all, and I can actually play… (totally being snarky…but I’d be lying if that sinful line of thought didn’t occasionally enter my mind back then.)
• Improvise. I knew that improvising was better than copying what I heard on the recording. This shows everyone how talented I am. It also allows me to express my creativity. 
• Tone. I knew that a dry strat tone—maybe with a touch of delay trails, ala John Mayer from the Continuum days—was THE tone. The players on the recording clearly didn’t know what they were missing. 
• Amateurs use digital emulators. I knew that digital emulators, Line 6 especially, were terrible and were a symbol of an immature musician. 
• Midrange is bad. I knew that honky midrange ruined my scooped strat tone, and my strat tone was THE tone…
• Running stereo is useless. I knew that stereo was useless. What’s the point of running stereo? (Nevermind that I didn’t even understand what it really meant.)
  
  

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to serve and was certainly honored and ecstatic to use whatever talent I had to hopefully bless the Lord and his people (this language is used all throughout the Psalms). I was a new believer who was thrilled to be reconciled to God (Romans 5:10) and to serve in his church! But I was also a seasoned guitar player. I knew what was right. 

In hindsight, I was immature, both as a believer and a person. Some of it was pure innocence combined with inexperience, sure; but most of it was bravado. I had a lot to learn.

Fast forward to today. 

Man, what a journey it’s been. I’m so thankful for the Lord’s patience, grace (Psalm 86:15) and transformational power (2 Corinthians 3:18)! I’m also thankful that people gave me the space and time to grow. 

I have learned more about being a musician (read: not guitar player. Musicians serve the song and purpose of the music) in the last 10+ years than I did the first 10 years of playing guitar. The first 10 years of my musical journey were spent practicing, wood-shedding and gigging, all in an effort to improve individually and bring glory to none other than ME. The focus was inward, through and through.

The last 10+ years have been exponentially more outwardly focused. On account of my renewed mind (Romans 12), I understand that the One I worship came not to be served, but to serve, even to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Therefore, in an effort to imitate my Savior, my musical efforts are focused first toward God and then to his people. It’s not about me at all. It’s about praising and glorifying God, helping his people do the same, all while proclaiming the gospel faithfully. 

I also learned that I don’t know everything and never will, and that there is no absolute way to approach tone and technique.

My way is not the only way, and may not be the best way. Every time I think in absolutes about tone and technique, I hear some random player on the internet who does things very differently than me, but has incredible tone and serves the song amazingly well. Humbling, really. 

All that said, there are a few general truths I’ve picked up over the years that I think could be helpful to you, especially if you are newer to this.

• Time signatures don’t matter. When every song is 4/4, sure, time signatures don’t matter much, if at all. But in church, time signatures matter. 3/4 timing totally humbled me at first! I eventually learned what time signatures were and how to count, which then helped me get back to feeling the music, albeit in the right way. I have a very natural sense of timing to begin with, but a more formal approach to becoming familiar with time signatures has been a major growth area for me.
• (Don’t) fill the space. No. Don’t do that. Don’t be noticed so as not to distract from the words. The words to these songs are more important than any notes I could ever play. Create a foundation for God-honoring lyrics to lay on. That’s my job. 
• Improvise (very little). Improvising made it impossible for me to focus on worship, as I was always thinking of what to do next. This also caused me to make mistakes, as I was searching for notes, instead of playing a part. I also surmise that it made it tough for the rest of the musicians, as there was no familiarity in what I was playing; the parts weren’t what they heard on the recordings. Even if they liked something I improvised one week, I never played it the same way twice. Conclusion: In general, learn and play the parts as they were written. If you write new parts, run them by your worship leader/team for approval. Once you settle on parts, do your best not to stray too far from them. Expressing individual creativity is never more important than serving the team. Again, outward, not inward. 

Expressing individual creativity is never more important than serving the team.

• Tone. LOL…that’s all I can say. There’s no absolutely right here. I do think there’s absolutely wrong. An approach to tone that’s absolutely wrong is one that holds no regard for the purpose of the music or serving the song/team. Continuing that line of thought: The tone that best accomplishes the purpose of the music and serves the song and team is the best tone for the job. That’s a bit of a moving target, yes. Pin it down by conversing with the leaders of your team and by gaining clarity as to how you can best serve the team. 

The tone that best accomplishes the purpose of the music and serves the song and team is the best tone for the job.

• Amateurs Pros and amateurs use digital emulators. Goodness gracious! I know these things have come a long way in a decade, but my snobbery in this area was undeniable and so selfish! I haven’t used a real amp in a church gathering in just about a decade. Insane. I’d argue my tone is better now than it ever was then. Maintenance is non-existent, consistency in tone is vastly improved and my load-in/load-out process is shorter and easier. Many professionals use these devices as well. 
• Midrange is bad good. I still remember a friend commenting as I was helping him dial in some tones, “Wait…I thought you said mids were bad?” LOL. He remembered my previous position on midrange. Friends, mids are good. They may not “feel” as nice as a scooped tone, but they sit in a mix infinitely better. It takes some getting used to, as they make getting a bluesy neck pickup tone pretty tough, but that’s not the tone I’m after anyway. 
• Running stereo is useless helpful. Useless, not a chance. Required? No. I love stereo because I can run higher mix on wet effects and more gain on drive pedals: my two favorite components of tone. Running stereo makes for a MASSIVE tone as well. But, to my mono friends, I ran mono for a few years, even after I was familiar with the worship genre and the proper way to approach it. I loved the tones I was able to get. I simply like stereo more. If you’ve never tried it, I recommend doing so, simply so you can judge for yourself. And it’s much easier with digital devices anyway, so there’s a low barrier-to-entry. 
  
  

Last, learn some piano. Piano GREATLY helps comprehension of chord structure, the WHY behind harmony and much more. I can’t read music, but the little I learned about piano transferred tremendously well to guitar, no doubt.

I hope these “then and now” comparisons were helpful. Many of the lessons in this post were pivotal moments for me. I hope they are for you as well. 

Coram Deo,

Troy, GuitarforHISGLORY