✅ ➥ 🎸 Love this worship backing track? Transform from surviving Sunday mornings to serving with confidence with instant access to 756 professional practice tracks + our proven 15-minute system. Perfect for busy worship guitarists ready to serve with confidence. Stop surviving Sundays. Start flowing in worship. Limited Time: Complete System $47 (Save 91%) 👉 worshipguitarbackingtracks.com/
Thanks for the lesson . I would like to say that it’s important to make the distinction of what kind of player a person is . What you are doing here is playing lead guitar with all its effects which makes it sound ethereal and really adds to the band . If you are not a lead player and the dry acoustic guitar is your instrument , none of this applies. Without effects and the rest of the band keeping a steady rhythm / background for you , what you are playing would sound empty . In my opinion , they are accents to the music , not the music itself . With that being said , I love the emphasis on triads and the use of themes / motifs/ embellishments . Churches need more of this especially during intros / interludes . Great job
I’ve been playing guitar for my entire life. That is 30+ years I know all my jazz cords. I know all my classical guitar chords. I know the world of chords. But when I joined a worship team, it was kind of fun and interesting learning triads and not using bar chords.these are great tips that I will be using. Thank you.
Amazing lesson - this sort of playing clearly demonstrates the difference between a proper lead player and an acoustic dude who has just picked up the electric and plays the same thing.
This isn't playing "lead" guitar. It's merely arpeggiating chords to isolate the chord tones with occasional diatonic notes to connect them. It seems there's this ethos in praise music to dumb it down to beginner level and eschew advanced playing techniques. Does this simplistic playing give players a (false) sense of humility and being more "spiritual"? The quality and ability of a "Paul Reed Smith" for executing precise rapid fire lead lines with accuracy is wasted on praise music. Saving $2000.00 and going for an entry level Squier is all anyone needs at this playing level (including the style of "The Edge" of U2 that so many praise guitar players copy).
I'm not a church guitarist, I just really like listening to Hillsong songs and many more Christian bands, for quite some time I've been looking for what makes the nuance of their music so special, And today I understand something new, that there is a technique called Voicing... thank you, God Bless
I play for a worship team, there's 2 guitars, a bass, and a singer. I play the rhythm parts (Barry chords and open chords) other guitar plays the triads and fancy bits. Seems to work pretty good. I do wish we could get a decent drummer tho.
Most of this modern worship music bores me as a musician. Over the many years of playing on worship teams, I have felt it necessary to adapt to a variety of settings and styles. Understanding chord triads is essential to bringing variety into one's playing.
Barre chords have a solid place if used well. I dreaded trying to sound like a clone. As a classic metalhead, I can usually find a way to integrate my own style into the music without being abrasive. Some folks even said they like the raw, grungy sound I bring into the mix.
Ive actually transitioned to using a drop D tuning regularly. Never been a big fan till now and coming from the metal community the tuning had a certain connotation to me. It helped me sight upper inversions in the proper keys and positions. Making my guitar playing a little lighter and giving me access to contrasting bass notes i.e. D/F# G/B etc. Being able to hit low Eb and D notes appealed to my heavier sensibilities as well. Ive never been a "swirly, atmospheric" kind of player. Nothing wrong with it but my leaning is more towards straight ahead rock and metal. My experience as a worship guitarist over the last 20+ years.
Super helpful lesson. My WT is shifting to 2 EG’s, so this is great to add some parts and texture that supports but doesn’t conflict with another player, especially if they are doing the more melodic parts. Thanks for posting this lesson!
I was already thinking about this and wanting to head in this direction, ( as I have in the past, but not in depth) so this video is really timely. I just printed up a few major and minor triad shapes and wanted to work with triad inversions. sounds great 👍.
Thank you for the illustrations. Miles and miles of changes have taken place since David truly worshipped in the spirit with his hand made harp. Take out the big effects, expensive instruments mixing boards and all electronic gadgets and the trick becomes different. In all honesty, we need barre chords when playing in different keys and without guitars effects but this video in C major is the easiest key to avoid playing barres. When capo comes to the rescue barres can be avoided but not always. Avoid open G tuning and different guitar TUNINGS open a world of dimensions without barres, expensive effects and gadgets and guitars🪕. Give it a try
It's the youtube game, honestly. The title and content has to be sensationalized and it does a disservice to the person watching. There are plenty who will walk away from this video thinking that this is *THE* way to play the worship guitar not realizing that it's not applicable to every situation (including combination of instruments, tuning, song style, available tech, etc). Makes me a bit sad since the content is actually worth taking note of but the knowledge definitely should be tempered.
@@WorshipGuitarSkills the problem with Barre chords, that most guitar players don’t do them correctly If you’re making a barre chord at the third fret to make a G major, the index finger only needs to put pressure on the low string, and the top two strings. But most inexperienced players squeeze the entire finger to the point where they are getting cramps. When you make a typical major barre chord, the index finger only needs to cover three notes, not six
Great lesson applied to guitar. This is really learning about findin a musical space in a band and the music. Any musician can take this lesson and please use it
This doesn’t go out to people who are here to learn new ways to play and improve their skills by ADDING something new to their repertoire (not replacing). For the people who are struggling with barre chords: PLEASE do not stop playing barre chords. There are no “easy alternatives” in guitar. I know so many guys who stop doing something (like barre chords) because it’s “too hard” or they “just can’t get the hang of it.” Well I’ve got news for you: we all went through that. But just as anything in life goes, you’re not gonna get any better if you stop trying something just because “it’s hard.” So, for the people out there that are watching this video because you’re struggling to play barre chords: don’t give up. It won’t take that long to figure it out. Just keep trying and you’ll get it.
These are great voicings. It is really important for guitarists to know how to make room for the other musicians, especially the keyboards. I would add that it is critical that you listen to the melody. The guitar part should support the lead vocal, not just mindlessly play patterns. You might consider easing up on the effects.
As a guitar player that's played for years fronting a hard rock band then going into worship later on for years it's not about one or the other its about what the song requires or what the group requires. So to say "stop doing anything" isnt really right just as he said "if you're playing as a lone instrument then bar chords are fine". Each song has a better way of making it great as does each artist and group. I will ad however I NEVER saturate my sound with that much delay, reverb and whatever else he's got in there. What a mess. IMHO.
That over-reliance on delay and reverb is what many worship guitarists think makes it sound... I don't know... "worship-y?" It's been over-popularized by the major worship bands out there (think Hillsong, Elevation, etc, etc). I tend to agree that it's a bit much.
This is good lesson for lead players or E1 guitar. When playing rhythm or E2, I still find myself playing barre chords a lot, or using a capo and playing chords with alot of space and reverb and delay. I see a lot of rhythm players will play octaves which is essentially a bar chord anyway.
Yes, this is great for E2. Can also work if you're the only electric player and have a strong keys player and an acoustic. In that case you're adding colour and melodic interest.
Well demonstrated. What surprised me most is that, even though I already play this way (mostly, depends on the song, and sometimes I don't arpeggiate so much), I don't necessarily *recognize* it when watching someone else play. So having the introduction to each chord with fretboard graphic allowed me to see everything all at once (and really, didn't need to finish watching, but I did anyway). However, you kind of failed to explain why you were sliding up to an F when playing Am (given that Am does not have an F in it).
I wouldn't know why he did but an Am could be used over an F to make it sound like an F7, maybe he picked an F because of how the chord itself was voiced
Great observation. So that same shape for F and Am works as follows. XX10X10X and the two notes in that shape are C and A. The three notes that make up F are F-A-C and the three notes that make up Am are A-C-E. So since A and C are in both of those chords, I can use the same shape for both chords.
I also am the only guitarist (elec or acoustic). Only bass and keyboard (primarily piano sounds) with drums. That means there is TONS of open space for me to play. We do a Blended style of equal portion of traditional hymns and modern worship tunes. So…Sometimes, though rarely, a simple lead line as being demonstrated in this video is sufficient, but most other times either a clean/chorused/delayed/reverb sound with full multi string chords or otherwiseI need to create a powerful thick sound so I use a “Boosted Marshall” ‘80’s type of sound…again multi string chords… Many variables…each music group and song will dictate the appropriate response. Oh…and occasionally the best thing to do is to sometimes sit out the majority or most of the song and don’t play a single thing…food for thought…
Do you have any recommendations for small worship bands? I lead a very small band. Only instruments are myself on guitar(electric) and a beginner drummer. Used to have many more but I gotta work with what I have. I've played for decades but now trying to up my playing and the passion for guitar has come back. Great video too!
Thanks for watching! If the guitar is the only instrument, then it's probably best to play bigger voicings and chords. This approach I demonstrated works best when there are other instruments handling the foundational harmony and then the guitar is used to add more colour and melodic interest.
Thanks for this! Learning a lot..do you happen to have a tab for the exact notes you are playing in terms of the arpeggios of the chords...trying to figure it out! Thanks (specifically I can't work out what you are playing on that first Am..there are 4 notes..but what is the order? Thanks for any clarity!)
So you play triads using arpegios not the full chord ringing out at once? I don't play worship just a few rock songs but this could help playing rhythm.
For me it's knowing the three triad shapes and knowing where the root notes are and then knowing the notes on the fretboard. Once you have that down it's easy to move it around for different keys and chords.
Your "diad" examples can also be explained as Major 6th's, which are particularly useful when paired together on the high E and G string, as well as the D and B string. Cool stuff
This is essentially lead guitar techniques and not only for use in Church. If you have two guitars on stage attempting the same stuff, clashes can and will occur. Better for rhythm guitarist to stick to power chords or, using rhythm guitar techniques as done by Steve Lukather, playing rhythm on one or a few strings and leave the melodic stuff for the lead guitarist. If your usual style of rhythm guitar is not sitting in the mix, change your amp/ effect settings to occupy a less cluttered space in the mix and or have a sound engineer that understands how to do this at FOH level.
Yes, you can apply these ideas to an acoustic as well. As long as it's not a solo acoustic on its own, when the standard chords will be better in that case.
Not really a replacement: barre chords (and open-string chords) are often great for a strummed pattern, but often inefficient for an arpeggiation. The triads you are demonstrating are efficient for an arpeggiation, but really don't work (at least not consistently) for strumming until the musician has developed enough control to only strum a subset of the strings. The two serve different purposes: strumming (both with barre chords and with open-string forms) accents the rhythm, and is useful in smaller groups or solo, or as a dedicated rhythm guitarist. Arpeggiations fill tonal space more than rhythmic - and are best used in a full group (quartet or greater), or as "fills" to a primarily rhythm guitarist's role in smaller groups. As a *solo* worship leader, if I replaced barre and open-string chords with arpeggiations, the congregation would be lost rhythmically, and the spirit of worship would be lost. So use some thought as to *how* to incorporate this method - it is a very good method in the right context, but in some cases is less effective than a simple strummed rhythm.
Yes that's right. It'll totally depend on the context like you said. This approach works well in a fuller band where there's another instrument like keys or guitar handling the main harmonic foundation.
Christian musicians are notorious for playing too many notes on their instruments, even keyboard musicians. In music groups that I directed I used to tell my guys to “ play the minimum you need to play and stay out of the way.” The music of Steely Dan was excellent at this….
It's not really about a blanket dismissal of barre chords. They have their place for sure. I just find that the approach I showed here just works better in most of the modern worship scenarios.
After playing in church bands and playing contemporary Christian music for 20 years, I still refuse to be the cookie cutter player playing The Edge crap type stuff and the cliche stuff. I learn important parts of the songs but like to improvise
Yep, the way I see it is finding the balance between these two statements: 1. Everyone's born an original but most die copies. Meaning you should develop your own voice and style as you grow in maturity as a musician. 2. Then on the other hand, there's the service component and that has to do with what is required from me in the moment to serve the song and the congregation. Combining those two views has served me well. We certainly shouldn't be cookie cutter in how we approach our playing, but rather the musical choices we make can strike a balance between personal expression and fulfilling our roles as guitar players based on what the situation requires. So I use that approach as a guiding principle while being in the improvising mindset.
I mean, sure, it's a great lesson for those flowy, "worship-y," sounding songs but barre chords have their place and it's important to know when to use them. I get that you're playing the youtube game but the very notion that you should get rid of your barre chords and do typical bass guitar fills (but now with lots of echo and some distortion) feels a little too wrong.
Nothing wrong with bar chords. The entire chord, or all 6 strings don't have to be played. With that said there is an advantage to playing triads and arpeggios. Usually one finger is free to play other chords.
I always know it’s South African when it doesn’t sound Like the UK, Ireland, Australia, or NZ. Love the accent, and thanks for the lesson. Really helpful for someone who started on electric in the ‘90s but has played primarily acoustic since 2003.
Why not just create the whole barre chord with the left hand but only pluck the triad? In doing so, you can lessen the chance of playing ugly notes that don’t fit if you hit a wrong string accidentally.
The reason is by not fretting a full barre chord you have spare available fingers that can be used to add some embellishments. The spare fingers can also be used to mute unwanted ringing strings so you can strum without worrying about hitting wrong notes.
To be clear, this channel is called Worship Guitar Skills and it's all about developing the Skills on the Guitar so you can Worship God based on Psalm 33:3. It doesn't mean we worship the guitar.
Arpeggio means broken chord and I'm while I'm not strumming in a traditional way, I'm still using a rhythm to pick the notes. Both can work well and depends on the situation.
✅ ➥ 🎸 Love this worship backing track? Transform from surviving Sunday mornings to serving with confidence with instant access to 756 professional practice tracks + our proven 15-minute system. Perfect for busy worship guitarists ready to serve with confidence.
Stop surviving Sundays. Start flowing in worship. Limited Time: Complete System $47 (Save 91%)
👉 worshipguitarbackingtracks.com/
35 year church janitor here, this technique also works for air guitar.
Thanks for the lesson . I would like to say that it’s important to make the distinction of what kind of player a person is .
What you are doing here is playing lead guitar with all its effects which makes it sound ethereal and really adds to the band .
If you are not a lead player and the dry acoustic guitar is your instrument , none of this applies. Without effects and the rest of the band keeping a steady rhythm / background for you , what you are playing would sound empty . In my opinion , they are accents to the music , not the music itself .
With that being said , I love the emphasis on triads and the use of themes / motifs/ embellishments . Churches need more of this especially during intros / interludes .
Great job
Yes good point and thanks for watching!
love the onscreen fretboard with dots locating and naming the played notes! It accelerates learning, which is why I keep coming back. Thank you!!!!
Great to hear that. We'll keep them coming!
Me too.
I’ve been playing guitar for my entire life. That is 30+ years I know all my jazz cords. I know all my classical guitar chords. I know the world of chords. But when I joined a worship team, it was kind of fun and interesting learning triads and not using bar chords.these are great tips that I will be using. Thank you.
Just dumb it down to beginner level and all will be good for praise music.
@DIGITAL7Media that's great to hear thanks!
Chords. The spelling should be second nature to you.
Amazing lesson - this sort of playing clearly demonstrates the difference between a proper lead player and an acoustic dude who has just picked up the electric and plays the same thing.
Glad to hear it! This is a big part of it for sure.
@matmore10 don’t be throwing acoustic dude under the bus 🙅🏼♂️
@@thejasonbarrows haha sorry! 😅😉
hahha, ssry but u just describe me, I'm a that acoustic dude.. Thanks God for this youtube channel
This isn't playing "lead" guitar. It's merely arpeggiating chords to isolate the chord tones with occasional diatonic notes to connect them. It seems there's this ethos in praise music to dumb it down to beginner level and eschew advanced playing techniques. Does this simplistic playing give players a (false) sense of humility and being more "spiritual"?
The quality and ability of a "Paul Reed Smith" for executing precise rapid fire lead lines with accuracy is wasted on praise music. Saving $2000.00 and going for an entry level Squier is all anyone needs at this playing level (including the style of "The Edge" of U2 that so many praise guitar players copy).
I'm not a church guitarist, I just really like listening to Hillsong songs and many more Christian bands, for quite some time I've been looking for what makes the nuance of their music so special, And today I understand something new, that there is a technique called Voicing... thank you, God Bless
Thanks for the support!
This is so cool. Love the breakdown and multi-use of triads. The coloring is fantastic - thank you
Glad you liked it!
I play for a worship team, there's 2 guitars, a bass, and a singer. I play the rhythm parts (Barry chords and open chords) other guitar plays the triads and fancy bits. Seems to work pretty good. I do wish we could get a decent drummer tho.
Yep that works well with 2 guitars. Hope you guys find a great drummer!
Thank you for explaining clearly what you are doing. So many videos miss this.
Glad you like them!
Most of this modern worship music bores me as a musician. Over the many years of playing on worship teams, I have felt it necessary to adapt to a variety of settings and styles. Understanding chord triads is essential to bringing variety into one's playing.
Barre chords have a solid place if used well. I dreaded trying to sound like a clone. As a classic metalhead, I can usually find a way to integrate my own style into the music without being abrasive. Some folks even said they like the raw, grungy sound I bring into the mix.
This was so helpful. Especially showing what you are playing on the screen. Most helpful video I have seen so far. Going to look for more by you!
Thanks so much, more to come!
Ive actually transitioned to using a drop D tuning regularly. Never been a big fan till now and coming from the metal community the tuning had a certain connotation to me. It helped me sight upper inversions in the proper keys and positions. Making my guitar playing a little lighter and giving me access to contrasting bass notes i.e. D/F# G/B etc. Being able to hit low Eb and D notes appealed to my heavier sensibilities as well. Ive never been a "swirly, atmospheric" kind of player. Nothing wrong with it but my leaning is more towards straight ahead rock and metal. My experience as a worship guitarist over the last 20+ years.
Drop D is a lot of fun to play for sure!
Super helpful lesson. My WT is shifting to 2 EG’s, so this is great to add some parts and texture that supports but doesn’t conflict with another player, especially if they are doing the more melodic parts. Thanks for posting this lesson!
I was already thinking about this and wanting to head in this direction, ( as I have in the past, but not in depth) so this video is really timely. I just printed up a few major and minor triad shapes and wanted to work with triad inversions. sounds great 👍.
Glad it was helpful!
I’m that barre chord guy…this lesson was AMAZING!!
Thanks for watching!
BTW, a capo isn't there to "replace barrés", it's there to move your instrument to another soundscape...
Thank you for the illustrations. Miles and miles of changes have taken place since David truly worshipped in the spirit with his hand made harp. Take out the big effects, expensive instruments mixing boards and all electronic gadgets and the trick becomes different. In all honesty, we need barre chords when playing in different keys and without guitars effects but this video in C major is the easiest key to avoid playing barres. When capo comes to the rescue barres can be avoided but not always. Avoid open G tuning and different guitar TUNINGS open a world of dimensions without barres, expensive effects and gadgets and guitars🪕. Give it a try
It's the youtube game, honestly. The title and content has to be sensationalized and it does a disservice to the person watching. There are plenty who will walk away from this video thinking that this is *THE* way to play the worship guitar not realizing that it's not applicable to every situation (including combination of instruments, tuning, song style, available tech, etc). Makes me a bit sad since the content is actually worth taking note of but the knowledge definitely should be tempered.
There’s nothing wrong with barre chords, the only problem with them is people who think you have to play all the notes every time. You don’t.
Correct.
Barre chords, not bar cords
@ thanks for catching that. Siri doesn’t always understand what context the words are.
@@WorshipGuitarSkills the problem with Barre chords, that most guitar players don’t do them correctly
If you’re making a barre chord at the third fret to make a G major, the index finger only needs to put pressure on the low string, and the top two strings. But most inexperienced players squeeze the entire finger to the point where they are getting cramps.
When you make a typical major barre chord, the index finger only needs to cover three notes, not six
This is great stuff. I’ve played guitar for 35 years. This is so simple, it’s why it fits so nicely in the mix.
Great to hear. Yep these voicings fit great in the mix.
I think it applicable to some genre like soft rock/white music kinda thing but worship in a black church sounds different
Yes for sure. This is more for the modern worship genre as proper gospel will be very different. Both are great when done well!
This is very helpful for a blues/country/dad rock guitar player who is absolutely clueless about playing modern worship music, too.
😂
"White music"
Great lesson applied to guitar. This is really learning about findin a musical space in a band and the music. Any musician can take this lesson and please use it
Thank you!
It's my first time here. I'm sure that you're a Kiwi ❤. I really love that accent.
It's South African. 😀
Thats a very classy looking guitar.
Thanks so much!
This doesn’t go out to people who are here to learn new ways to play and improve their skills by ADDING something new to their repertoire (not replacing). For the people who are struggling with barre chords: PLEASE do not stop playing barre chords. There are no “easy alternatives” in guitar. I know so many guys who stop doing something (like barre chords) because it’s “too hard” or they “just can’t get the hang of it.” Well I’ve got news for you: we all went through that. But just as anything in life goes, you’re not gonna get any better if you stop trying something just because “it’s hard.” So, for the people out there that are watching this video because you’re struggling to play barre chords: don’t give up. It won’t take that long to figure it out. Just keep trying and you’ll get it.
Some Cliffs of Dover action here, Cool!
I'm now 44 and never fulfilled my dream to join a worship team. I've now quit guitar.
That's awesome.!!! Also how are you getting that great tone!
Thank you! I do a breakdown on my tone in this video: th-cam.com/video/lzt-z6DlIgw/w-d-xo.html
These are great voicings. It is really important for guitarists to know how to make room for the other musicians, especially the keyboards. I would add that it is critical that you listen to the melody. The guitar part should support the lead vocal, not just mindlessly play patterns.
You might consider easing up on the effects.
Yep, very important to not get in the way of the vocals.
Thank you so much. Very helpful.
Anytime, glad it helps.
As a guitar player that's played for years fronting a hard rock band then going into worship later on for years it's not about one or the other its about what the song requires or what the group requires. So to say "stop doing anything" isnt really right just as he said "if you're playing as a lone instrument then bar chords are fine". Each song has a better way of making it great as does each artist and group. I will ad however I NEVER saturate my sound with that much delay, reverb and whatever else he's got in there. What a mess. IMHO.
Keep it simple ..... A bit of delay for thickening works for me.
That over-reliance on delay and reverb is what many worship guitarists think makes it sound... I don't know... "worship-y?" It's been over-popularized by the major worship bands out there (think Hillsong, Elevation, etc, etc). I tend to agree that it's a bit much.
Great lesson, thanks!
You're welcome!
This is a great lesson. Is there a chart of commonly used worship chords?
love it ! thanks from Aus
Thanks for watching!
Wow. For my current skill level, this is exactly what I need. 😁 Thanks!
(What effects are you using?)
Thank you! I do a breakdown on my tone in this video: th-cam.com/video/lzt-z6DlIgw/w-d-xo.html
Do that stuff instead of practicing what you actually can't do yet, and your 'current skill level' is where you're gonna stay.
This is good lesson for lead players or E1 guitar. When playing rhythm or E2, I still find myself playing barre chords a lot, or using a capo and playing chords with alot of space and reverb and delay.
I see a lot of rhythm players will play octaves which is essentially a bar chord anyway.
Yes, this is great for E2. Can also work if you're the only electric player and have a strong keys player and an acoustic. In that case you're adding colour and melodic interest.
May I know what effects you used? God bless 🙏
Nice lesson
Thanks for watching
Well demonstrated. What surprised me most is that, even though I already play this way (mostly, depends on the song, and sometimes I don't arpeggiate so much), I don't necessarily *recognize* it when watching someone else play. So having the introduction to each chord with fretboard graphic allowed me to see everything all at once (and really, didn't need to finish watching, but I did anyway). However, you kind of failed to explain why you were sliding up to an F when playing Am (given that Am does not have an F in it).
I wouldn't know why he did but an Am could be used over an F to make it sound like an F7, maybe he picked an F because of how the chord itself was voiced
Great observation.
So that same shape for F and Am works as follows.
XX10X10X and the two notes in that shape are C and A.
The three notes that make up F are F-A-C and the three notes that make up Am are A-C-E.
So since A and C are in both of those chords, I can use the same shape for both chords.
I use a combination of both techniques because I'm the only guitar player on my worship team.
Yes, being able to adapt is important!
I also am the only guitarist (elec or acoustic). Only bass and keyboard (primarily piano sounds) with drums.
That means there is TONS of open space for me to play. We do a Blended style of equal portion of traditional hymns and modern worship tunes.
So…Sometimes, though rarely, a simple lead line as being demonstrated in this video is sufficient, but most other times either a clean/chorused/delayed/reverb sound with full multi string chords or otherwiseI need to create a powerful thick sound so I use a “Boosted Marshall” ‘80’s type of sound…again multi string chords…
Many variables…each music group and song will dictate the appropriate response.
Oh…and occasionally the best thing to do is to sometimes sit out the majority or most of the song and don’t play a single thing…food for thought…
Yeah, if you are one guitarist. But, what if you are the EG2? What chords do you play then?
Wouldnt this work on an acoustic put through an effects pedal?
Yeah, that's legit. I do it differently though. I use the lead sheets and echo the melody. The congregation seems to dig it. No one has fired me yet
Do you have any recommendations for small worship bands? I lead a very small band. Only instruments are myself on guitar(electric) and a beginner drummer. Used to have many more but I gotta work with what I have. I've played for decades but now trying to up my playing and the passion for guitar has come back. Great video too!
Thanks for watching! If the guitar is the only instrument, then it's probably best to play bigger voicings and chords. This approach I demonstrated works best when there are other instruments handling the foundational harmony and then the guitar is used to add more colour and melodic interest.
@WorshipGuitarSkills Thanks!
It’s not up to you to decide what others should be doing. Let em’ be.
Thanks for this! Learning a lot..do you happen to have a tab for the exact notes you are playing in terms of the arpeggios of the chords...trying to figure it out! Thanks (specifically I can't work out what you are playing on that first Am..there are 4 notes..but what is the order? Thanks for any clarity!)
Thanks Matthew, we haven't tabbed this yet no. Will try and do more tabs in future.
So you play triads using arpegios not the full chord ringing out at once? I don't play worship just a few rock songs but this could help playing rhythm.
What is the best method of locating triads? Thanks.
CAGED system
For me it's knowing the three triad shapes and knowing where the root notes are and then knowing the notes on the fretboard. Once you have that down it's easy to move it around for different keys and chords.
Love your playing it's so edifying, is there a chart that I can purchase of all triads from a company or Amazon that you know of?
Thank so much! We have a sheet that's included with our Triad Workshop that can be seen here: academy.worshipguitarskills.com/course-store
Your "diad" examples can also be explained as Major 6th's, which are particularly useful when paired together on the high E and G string, as well as the D and B string. Cool stuff
Yep, two of them are 6ths, one major and one minor and the 3rd shape is a 5th. These simple shapes are super handy!
what an awesome and helpful lesson, Charl! Thank you so much.
Thanks Mike, I'm glad you found it helpful!
Awesome video!! Will use it next Sunday
Great to hear! Let me know how it goes!
It was one of the best lessons I've ever watched! Thanks!
I love your lessons. You’re the best I have seen that d demonstrates like he really wants people to learn
This is essentially lead guitar techniques and not only for use in Church. If you have two guitars on stage attempting the same stuff, clashes can and will occur. Better for rhythm guitarist to stick to power chords or, using rhythm guitar techniques as done by Steve Lukather, playing rhythm on one or a few strings and leave the melodic stuff for the lead guitarist. If your usual style of rhythm guitar is not sitting in the mix, change your amp/ effect settings to occupy a less cluttered space in the mix and or have a sound engineer that understands how to do this at FOH level.
Great points yes.
Can it apply to acoustic guitar playing rhythm
Yes, you can apply these ideas to an acoustic as well. As long as it's not a solo acoustic on its own, when the standard chords will be better in that case.
Good lesson. Im going to incorporate this.
Awesome. Go for it!
Greetings, I could do the tutorials with examples using worship songs. I could make tutorials to play with the pianist. Thank you god bless
Great lesson. This helps me so much. Thanks for this video.
Awesome to hear, glad it helps!
I think ill just use the triad then use the bars for the heavy parts
Yep, you can totally combine these voicings as needed.
These are cool ideas that can be used in other genres, thanks!
Yes definitely!
Thanks for this lesson, very clear and helpful!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great lesson and amazing
Thanks for watching!
Great tone you got!
Thanks so much! I do a breakdown on my tone in this video: th-cam.com/video/lzt-z6DlIgw/w-d-xo.html
Very explicit and implicit.
Thank you so much brother
Thanks so much!
Thank you very much. This is what I have been looking for for so long
That's great to hear!
Fantastic, thank you.
You're welcome!
Absolutely awesome ❤❤
Thank you!
Thanks a lot! This was very useful
Glad to hear that!
Lovely lesson. Thanks
Thank you!
Not really a replacement: barre chords (and open-string chords) are often great for a strummed pattern, but often inefficient for an arpeggiation. The triads you are demonstrating are efficient for an arpeggiation, but really don't work (at least not consistently) for strumming until the musician has developed enough control to only strum a subset of the strings. The two serve different purposes: strumming (both with barre chords and with open-string forms) accents the rhythm, and is useful in smaller groups or solo, or as a dedicated rhythm guitarist. Arpeggiations fill tonal space more than rhythmic - and are best used in a full group (quartet or greater), or as "fills" to a primarily rhythm guitarist's role in smaller groups.
As a *solo* worship leader, if I replaced barre and open-string chords with arpeggiations, the congregation would be lost rhythmically, and the spirit of worship would be lost. So use some thought as to *how* to incorporate this method - it is a very good method in the right context, but in some cases is less effective than a simple strummed rhythm.
Yes that's right. It'll totally depend on the context like you said. This approach works well in a fuller band where there's another instrument like keys or guitar handling the main harmonic foundation.
What is 'worship guitar'? I've been a guitarist for 66 years and I've never heard of it.
Soooo good ❤
Thank you!
Great......thanks for sharing
Playing triads, or triad arpeggios has it's place,. SOO do Barr chords!!!! Don't throw away the baby with the bath water.
Yes, that's true. It's important to adapt to whatever the situation calls for.
Thank you! Awesome!
Awesome, thanks for watching!
Is it a sin or unbiblical to play barre chord with electric guitar?
Very helpful!
Glad you think so!
Wow Master!! Excellent explanation! Thank you!🙏🙇♂️
You are very welcome
Christian musicians are notorious for playing too many notes on their instruments, even keyboard musicians. In music groups that I directed I used to tell my guys to “ play the minimum you need to play and stay out of the way.” The music of Steely Dan was excellent at this….
This needs a tone video too😅
I do a breakdown on my tone in this video: th-cam.com/video/lzt-z6DlIgw/w-d-xo.html
Honestly I see less using barre chords and just going straight to the capo 😂
Yep that happens too. :-)
Nice, unlock the application of triades, diades…
Thanks for watching!
Tried em both, barre chords are orchestral chords and triads are fillers..both sweet, dismiss nothing.
It's not really about a blanket dismissal of barre chords. They have their place for sure. I just find that the approach I showed here just works better in most of the modern worship scenarios.
After playing in church bands and playing contemporary Christian music for 20 years, I still refuse to be the cookie cutter player playing The Edge crap type stuff and the cliche stuff. I learn important parts of the songs but like to improvise
Yep, the way I see it is finding the balance between these two statements:
1. Everyone's born an original but most die copies. Meaning you should develop your own voice and style as you grow in maturity as a musician.
2. Then on the other hand, there's the service component and that has to do with what is required from me in the moment to serve the song and the congregation.
Combining those two views has served me well.
We certainly shouldn't be cookie cutter in how we approach our playing, but rather the musical choices we make can strike a balance between personal expression and fulfilling our roles as guitar players based on what the situation requires.
So I use that approach as a guiding principle while being in the improvising mindset.
I mean, sure, it's a great lesson for those flowy, "worship-y," sounding songs but barre chords have their place and it's important to know when to use them. I get that you're playing the youtube game but the very notion that you should get rid of your barre chords and do typical bass guitar fills (but now with lots of echo and some distortion) feels a little too wrong.
Nothing wrong with bar chords. The entire chord, or all 6 strings don't have to be played. With that said there is an advantage to playing triads and arpeggios. Usually one finger is free to play other chords.
You sound South African?
Yep! Born and bred.
I always know it’s South African when it doesn’t sound Like the UK, Ireland, Australia, or NZ. Love the accent, and thanks for the lesson. Really helpful for someone who started on electric in the ‘90s but has played primarily acoustic since 2003.
Nothing wrong with bar chords
Yep, it's more about having options to choose from so you can make the right choice based on what the moment and situation requires.
Forever trying to cut through the mix.
This should help!
Why not just create the whole barre chord with the left hand but only pluck the triad? In doing so, you can lessen the chance of playing ugly notes that don’t fit if you hit a wrong string accidentally.
The reason is by not fretting a full barre chord you have spare available fingers that can be used to add some embellishments. The spare fingers can also be used to mute unwanted ringing strings so you can strum without worrying about hitting wrong notes.
Sir, may I know the set up of your guitar effects that you are using here, Thanks and God Bless you.
Thank you! I do a breakdown on my tone in this video: th-cam.com/video/lzt-z6DlIgw/w-d-xo.html
This goes for everything guitar. It's about triads and inversions.
And stop playing the G chord with holding the D on the B string, and stop playing the Cadd9 chord every time you play a C.
Those voicings have their space and place. :-)
Out law All key boards
:-) We need them!
Use Power Chords!!
🇿🇦 🎉
I worship Jesus Christ no anything else
To be clear, this channel is called Worship Guitar Skills and it's all about developing the Skills on the Guitar so you can Worship God based on Psalm 33:3. It doesn't mean we worship the guitar.
God hates barr chords, we all do…
Hate is a strong word… :-) But all joking aside, barre chords definitely have their space and place.
But you're playing arpegios. What about rhythm?
Arpeggio means broken chord and I'm while I'm not strumming in a traditional way, I'm still using a rhythm to pick the notes. Both can work well and depends on the situation.