So the lesson we’ve learned is that the bass player should always overplay, the keys player should sometimes overplay, the guitar player should occasionally overplay, and the drummer should never overplay.
It takes serious discipline to hold back when you have this much talent but its like a fine tuned recipe when all the parts work together to glorify God !!!! 😃
A good musician doesn't need to hold back in fact you just mentioned the problem. No one should have to be holding back that's not worship it's bondage. I guess its hard when you haven't played in a band. Everyone's goal is to sound good together. People have different ideas about the Holy Spirit but I have felt myself directed by the Spirit what I should play and it was the perfect amount. Who is going to count the notes and when is it one note over. It's like picking a color to paint a wall it is subjective. Thank you for you reply and God Bless You.
@@MrVbobbyIt’s a really interesting point. I think it largely depends on the situation and the type of music. This setting reminds me of a Nashville studio session where everyone is seriously underplaying and listening and there is a mixer to bring through certain parts of different instruments and tone down or even cut out other parts that aren’t necessary. If you have that, than yes I would agree you don’t need to worry as much about overplaying. But if you’re in a Baptist church for instance playing a praise break, then in that case it might be a different story. But even then it’s still very possible to play too much. And yes, “too much” is subjective, absolutely. It’s all about using your best judgement and trying to blend as much as possible; picking your holes and spaces, and learning every time you make music. These guys seem to have lots of experience and sensitivity which to me makes them more reliable than amateur musicians who just started playing. Although you never know. Cheers.
We do this in our church and it sounds sick with songs like Waymaker, any Hillsong, and with almost every slow song that we think that can get stronger slowly. I totally agree with you‼️
These guys are so disciplined they couldn't even play "too busy" without, first of all making it sound good, and second of all, sinking back into solid rhythm playing. All of them had the chops when put on the spot too. They are great musicians.
When everyone "overplayed", the energy in the room quadrupled. That's the kind of energy we NEED in church. Yeah, maybe the drummer went off the deep end on the kick, and maybe the keys and guitar stepped on each other's toes a couple times, but that was still a big improvement. Just my opinion.. but it's an opinion I hold pretty strongly. Stop being timid! We have great instrumentalists in church; play out and praise Him!
I'm not a Christian but surely the idea is moderation and harmony in this life? Such pleasures must be reserved for I suppose an afterlife, isn't the idea to attone for the sins of Adam and Eve and be grateful?
@@iixwh3l4nxii No, at least for evangelicals and other non-Catholics, that is not the idea. Christ atoned for the sins of Adam and Eve, Christians are free from all that. Which makes this philosophy make even less sense.
The trick to do that, but not over play is for everyone to take turns. That is what happens in jazz. The "overplay" part is good when there is a space for it. You get in, and you get out. Keep them wanting more.
Yeah when he gets into that groove at about 5:45 I'd say he was doing perfect. Even hit the fill at a point meant to bring energy to the song. As long as he wasn't doing that every other measure, he'd be pretty perfect.
Like don moen said it's not about you it's about God brother if you play like that in a crowd a lot of people will be focusing more kn you not in the presence of the Lord
@@jeremianderson4861 the irony is that exact type of overplaying is what makes gospel so powerful for people. It’s people playing their heart out, all of their skill, for god. I played in a band that was similar to this for the better part of a decade, and while it wasn’t a problem for a long while because I wasn’t good enough, it was very tiresome in time due to how restrictive it felt. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy my music that was for god, which in my opinion kind of defeats the purpose. It felt disingenuous to me. Not all bands can overplay, and for the average church the principle of avoiding overplaying is great because the skill level simply isn’t there, but for these guys it makes no sense at all as to why they would limit themselves to playing less fun music, because both gospel and contemporary Christian music are worship.
@@solkvist8668 I totally get you in that. I've personally been in several types of bands (concert, orchestra, jazz, woodwind choir and marching band) including a marching in which our Clarinet section alone is bigger than the church choir/band combined. With that being said, there is a difference between overplaying and improvising. Improvisation is unwritten music that is played that fits within the style that is being played while keeping balance of being an accompaniment. Overplaying is also unwritten but it is played without being mindful of keeping balance as an accompaniment.
@@jeremianderson4861 what’s funny is that we’re SUPPOSED to bring our best to God during worship. They have that talent because God gave it to them. The Bible says to Praise Him on the Stringed instruments. It doesn’t say “keep it simple” soooo I think if you’ve got God-given ability then use it
agreed, the vocals wont be "in the background" if you actually try to sing them WITH the improvised parts. You can't sing soft with the great cluster of sounds that "overplaying" creates. Don't be the singer that barely sings, be the singer that sings WITH the musicians not over them.
Except for the fact that when they "overplayed", it felt like the music had a soul, and was truly worshipful. When played "proper", it sounds stifled and corporate, like it was taken straight off the production line of a soulless machine. There's absolutely something to be said for knowing your limits, and fitting together as a coherent group, and yeah, not playing complicated parts for the sake of showing off, but stopping your musicians from "playing skillfully, with a shout of joy" (Psalm 33:3), and forcing them to confine to simple, brutally accessible, and overused parts is why modern Christian pop is so lifeless and soulless. As people have pointed out, that was the time that the musicians looked alive, looked like they loved playing. The energy in room quadrupled.
Maybe the danger of overplaying is more relevant when you're dealing with the average worship band, not one stacked with professionals like this. The problems he discusses would be more apparent if these were 19 year olds playing to show off.
This is a testament to the caliber of musicians he has playing with him. They have enough experience to make it musical, even when playing it "wrong." The average church band wouldn't be able to pull that off as well.
He never said its not a good thing. But thats not the point in gospel music as the music will overshadow the main purpose that is worship and the congregation will get caught up in the music and this is distract them and they wont connect to god as they naturally would. I hope you understood what im trying to say cuz its a bit complicated for me to explain
"Jason, you're a first time bass player" Jason steps in to create a grooving bass line that outlines the chords while interacting with the melody. Yes, we all sound like Jason as soon as we pick up a bass.
Oh I wish it was that simple for a budding bass player. Most who don't have experience with some other instrument have to work harder to play the root notes in time.
All I got to say is y’all looked like y’all were having a lot more fun when y’all we’re grooving. Jamming like that is a blessing, that’s a hard thing to do well, I don’t see anything wrong with it?!?
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a jam session. One of the blessings of playing any musical instrument is that you will eventually get to a level where you can go off script and express your own musical style. As worship leaders, though, it's all about leading people deeper into the presence of God. It's the job of the band to take the focus off of themselves and direct all the focus to God. Sometimes, less is more.
@@DonMoenTV Don, have you seen Adam Neely's video regarding Christian contemporary music, and his approximation of such "overplaying" as akin to Bibically making a joyful noise? I saw joy in the performance of "what not to do", and as a former praise band director of 3 years AND someone who runs an analog "secular" studio, I find that this stifling of energy is precisely what makes many fear a relationship with our God. Any insecurity a member of the congregation feels in the presence of skillful performance should be addressed with encouragement of the crowd, not discouragement of the joyous musician. It's long past time to pray about this, friend. God bless.
@DonMoenTV While I completely agree with serving the song as well as making sure the mindset that it is not all about the musician, I offer a different perspective: the notes that I play are my most pure form of praise and glorification to God. The other Cody up there put it perfectly referring to the "joyful noise," which as the leader of a worship team are the exact words I tell the rest of the band every Sunday between praying and starting the service. You write beautiful melodies (Arise is one of my favorites), and as long as that is still present and defined, I believe that embellishing with other musical elements is beneficial, as the excitement of the worship team is infectious and engaging to the congregation.
@@codyknapp3003 Hey there :) It is always good to give our best praise to God, and I feel that being in a worship team would mean that we would have present our best praise to God more as a team than as an individual. I think we would have to decide on what is our best praise and our best music as a team. More than that, I also feel that more than just music, offering our best praise also means being able to lead the congregation better as a team. Meaning, if we as a team can be more accommodating for the congregation to sing their praises to God, then we are offering our worship in that way as well. Our discipline to hold back our skills whenever necessary is can also be an act of praise. Just my 2 cents, God bless and have a good day :)
As a worship team drummer, YES! We are always waiting for that moment. Haha, I live for the jam sessions in rehearsal... usually I'm the one to start them Lol
I played in a P&W band once where the guitar, wasn't really a part of it. I experimented once by turning myself down at the instrument... zero signal to the board... and I was told how great I sounded. Talk about a kick to the head. Of course the keys dominated, and the vocals of the worship leader playing them was louder than the other singers.
He never said its not a good thing. But thats not the point in gospel music as the music will overshadow the main purpose that is worship and the congregation will get caught up in the music and this is distract them and they wont connect to god as they naturally would. I hope you understood what im trying to say cuz its a bit complicated for me to explain
@@nigeldsouza6088 Believers are to pray without ceasing. All day, every day, we're to acknowledge God. But, when we all congregate in the Sanctuary... we're to get turnt up for Jesus! Give it all you've got, in spirit and in truth! No matter who's looking. We'll tone it down when The Word comes forth. Praise and Worship is supposed to be overly. It makes it easier for the preacher to give the sermon.
The song played the "proper" way makes me feel about as much as a metronome. Every time a band member started "overplaying" I smiled involuntarily (until they got four or five bars in and started going crazy), because there's real feeling in it. Yes, everyone doing it at the same time is too much, but no-one doing it feels like... nothing. I feel like there's got to be some middle ground between the band full of soloists and the "Don Moen way"
Oh, definitely there is a middle ground. Fills don't have to extend the length of a verse. Each verse of a song can feature one player given room to stretch out a little. Drummers ramping up the intensity near the end of a song has been a thing forever. But I'm having a real hard time with "no bass guitar in the verse." Really? None? Not even doing something as boring as root notes? It's like the Don Moen Way is to remove all the good things about African-American influence on Western music. No improvising. No syncopation. No groove.
@@baronvonsatan "But I'm having a real hard time with "no bass guitar in the verse." Really? None? Not even doing something as boring as root notes?" Maybe once in a while that can work. Gives you more dynamic range to work with, somewhere to go as the song builds.
The problem is that in his examples, one person overplays and it seems like a "solo spot". When *everyone* in the band overplays at the same time, it becomes chaos and a distraction to the music (and worshipping God). That's the point Don's trying to make. Building up and coordinating musicality would be encouraged! It's just a lesson in restraint and intent, as others have said.
The problem (or should I say good thing?) is that these musicians are so talented, skillful, good and disciplined that the "overplay" they demonstrated is not the real "overplay" we so often see or hear. They were still showing restraint during the overplay. That's the reason some of you say you like it.
Yep, that's the hard thing about using tasteful musicians as the example. Their overplaying was actually pretty great. I know what Don is talking about, the people who solo over every phrase and don't play to the song. If anything, in general, most musicians I've played with tend to just play ALL THE TIME with no dynamics in worship. It takes a while to develop taste and technique. I'm not going to go as far as saying to sit someone out of a band like he recommends, but it does take time to develop a band that worships and plays well together. It's definitely not easy.
You have been blessed with gifted musicians. I use gifted to mean two ways; First, they are all extremely talented musicians who have mastered their instruments. Second, they have been given a great gift of discernment and sensitivity of God's Holy Spirit, playing not to glorify themselves, or even the team, rather, to glorify God
This video should really be entitled "Don Moen accidentally teaches his band how to play like Israel and New Breed, and it actually sounds good!" These guys are having such a great time! And around 07:20 they are not really overplaying, they're actually listening out for each other!
The big problem here is "If everybody did that it would be really messy." Learn from jazz and realize it can be done perfectly if you take turns. There's tons of jazz music with simple base melodies but they blossom into such great works, and each player makes it in their own way. Feeling God, worshipping God should be an individualized experience, and when each musician shares their own they'll connect to people in the audience and take turns giving people an amazing feeling. That to me is a much better idea than playing it safe and restricting everyone to the same constant level of enjoyment. Music shouldn't be a hum - it should be a zoop and a blam pizazz. The very tasteful and restrained improv some of these guys did is enough... just give us *something* other than what plays on the radio on repeat. The staleness of it all really pushes people away!
I mean heck, New Orleans jazz has the musicians improvising all at the same time, and the rapture of it is glorious. Both words chosen deliberately. It's about playing around each other rather than over each other.
While I 100% agree with you here, the feeling given to the congregation isn't the aim of worship music, it's to glorify God. Yes, growing closer to the Lord through music and through praising Him is a wonderful thing that should be encouraged, but it just becomes a sllippery slope of drawing the attention to the music rather than to the Lord.
It glorifies God to truly love the music you play. Playing with all your heart and all your soul isn't overplaying, it's playing the exact right amount.
I forgot that verse where David played fearfully and hesitantly before the lord? Mind giving some verses to support this? I kinda feel like there's a middleground that's being unexplored here, and while sure you don't wanna be shredding the whole time, I feel like some level of expression is worshipful. Perhaps less isn't more. More is more. Less is less. Taste is key.
Yeah heres the think I'd sing thank you like this if I was saying thank you to my wife for getting me a birthday present...but if I was singing thank you to the lord of all, the king of kings, father, the highest above...then I'd be SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS I'd be thanking him with so much passion that my singing and playing would welcome a spirit of thankfulness that hits you and changes your heart because of the anointing but too bad nowadays Christian music limits the annointing...its the same spirit back in the day where people said guitars are evil and of the devil...now it's just if its distorted and play over 60 bpm it's of the devil. It's the same religious spirit limiting the annointing just in a slightly more relaxed fashion. Its gotta stop, christian music aka worship aka WARFARE MUSIC needs to step up finally.
Dang... that bassist definitely added a whole new feel to the song when it was his time to overplay. My head was moving to it but yeah, you have compliment each other in the band.
but if you guys play and complinent to each other and how they play It can realy benefit worship. It says play out and sing for the Lord. If you know what Im trying to say
I've been playing the bass for years in jazz rock metal bands until God called me back to church. Even these days I really struggle to find good christian music that doesn't sound so corporate. I'm lucky that the drummer in my church is a teacher so sometimes even if we have to play Bethel Hillsongs etc we simply change them into funky blues even bossa nova..and everybody is happy to sing along. If the instrumental part is not important then we might as well sing a cappella. I thought about if sometimes i'm too techincal but then somebody gave me psalm 33.3 :)
I think everyone in this comment section is missing the point of this video, he’s not saying don’t over play and add in extra niceties, he’s just explaining that if you have an entire band doing the extras all at the same time it makes the song messy, he’s not writing it off, he’s just stating that you need to find the right moments for these extras!
its fully illustrated when they all overplay together. they're playing on top of each other and it sounds like a mess. theres room for more than what the song calls for, but only if everyone works together and gives each other space.
My favorite worship experience was a Rich Mullens concert in 1994 where EVERYONE overplayed and we all were honest and sang loud and played loud and worshiped God. We didn't care if anyone was too loud.
“It’s not about you, it’s about God.” Now there’s two ways that this can go. First Route, some people definitely want to hijack the worship if they aren’t disciplined enough in the band such as smacking down a whole bunch of guitar riffs where it just doesn’t need to be. Overplaying sometimes really ruins the intention of certain songs and in this case ‘Thank You Lord’ is a solemn quite chill song and I’m pretty sure in the ending of the studio song they do a key change 1 semitone up and make it sound quite nice and joyful. Route 2, now sometimes this ‘overplaying’ can be for the Lord. As a young musician you’d wanna give your heart out to the Lord through the way you have honed your practice and the amount of hours of practice you had to endure. It certainly doesn’t feel right for someone to just tell you to start playing really simple chords just for a song. Now what I believe is that as a amateurish musician myself, it shouldn’t be ‘overplaying’ but it should be practiced with the band on what certain parts of the song a guitar solo might be needed or a bass fill. Now imagine every solemn worship song or just solemn song had every band member overplaying throughout the ENTIRE song. You wouldn’t get a solemn song no more but a messy thick texture of instrumentation that just doesn’t need to be there and would sound disgusting. So in conclusion, I believe that some songs may need JUST a little overplaying. Not too much of it but just enough to get a whole church congregation to enjoy themselves being there worshiping the Lord. Especially when it comes to the youth and young adults. They almost every time want their church to be a concert when they first join which is not the purpose of the church. So yeah a little funky bass or a little show off from the pianist or guitarist would be fine in certain parts of a song
I've never understood the sentiment of not overplaying for the sake of keeping the focus on worshipping God. We've never compromised on harmony and complexion in music until the past 30 years, and suddenly we can't play worship music with a little flavour? I understand that not all musicians who want to serve the Lord are very skilled, so it makes sense to release worship songs that can be easily replicated by amateurs. Still, worship music should not be an excuse to neglect pushing artistic boundaries. Afterall, Bach gave all of his works to God while pushing musical boundaries. I don't know why we can't do the same.
@@Gunblastz We can and will. Thank you. The idea that if decent musicians play what God puts on their heart you have chaos is just wrong. The whole concept of overplaying Is subjective. Who decides when it crosses that incredibly arbitrary spot.
What's absolutely no disrespect to Mr Moen I absolutely think that Christian should not be afraid to play music like this just because they've always played it another way.
They seemed happier “overplaying” than the “ proper” way , you have such talented musicians , you can do something more spicy , with more complexity and add some weight to it , more heart. Just my opinion. We have great christian musicians and the can add to music something new , fresh and full of the presence of God.
One very important thing to take note here is that this worship team has been playing together for ages! Even when they overplay, they overplay in a way that still fits one another; this comes down to familiarity, habit and trust built in an experienced team. But take this to a new worship team or a new comer who overplays without any context, that is when things get messy and too much.
no experienced musicians with strong music theory and orchestration can play with any one of equal caliber and it would sound like they been playing for years together.
@@nguquaxanguyen5224 if you're intending to refer "no experienced musician" then yes I agree with you. If you're referring "no, experienced musicians can actually play like this", I'll agree as well, but not completely. While it's true that experienced musicians can complement one another in spontaneous scenarios, it wouldn't happen all the time, especially when the main focus is God, not man. Don Moen himself states in the video that the musicians are all "dialing in for what works for Don Moen (that being Don Moen's style of worship music)". But of course, if it's a performance or concert, definitely musicians can come together with no context and still blow the crowd away. Key thing about this is "it's all about God, not you". I value your opinion nonetheless and thank you for sharing!
@@nguquaxanguyen5224 Familiarity is important because the main point of the worship band is to direct the congregation in reverence to God through music. If the band is not familiar with the setting of worship in that particular church, it'll become a contest of technicality. Sometimes, a single chord held by the synth for a minute does much more than anything else. All the other musicians could add many notes into that single chord to make it sound more extravagant, but they would understand (as a band) the fine line between a "concert" and "worship". And, because God is the main focus, a musicians' skills is not the priority. Anyone with a willing heart is more important than anyone wielding the skills. This might sound contradictory but I have experienced first hand a worship leader who can't even hold a note nor sing in the right key, but the congregation was in the spirit of worship nonetheless.
@@justinng4970 Listening and having the reflex and discipline to respond appropriately is a fundamental musicianship skill. In a professional setting, not being alert to what other musicians and most importantly vocalists are doing is a good way to get fired. I give you example, I was hired for a church service as a sub. One of the musician (synth player) plays a minor 9 chord, which by itself is very beautiful chord, the problem is the singer was singing the minor 3 in the chord, which is only half step away from that, causing her to start to sing flat without knowing why. The pianist and I immediately identified the problem and helped that player correct course. The mutual and almost immediate understanding between me and that pianist player didn't come from familiarity. We met that morning. It came from our musicianship. Alot of people have the wrong impression that musicianship skill is ability to play lots of notes, exotic chords, etc. Not true. These guys in the video are professional musicians so they listen to each other down to the individual note, which subdivision of the beat each player and vocalist are emphasizing in order to either avoid or complement rather than clash. I bet they were doing that the first time they played with each other
Disciplined, yes - like in "Bad boy!!" and getting your hand slapped for playing. Suppressed, demoralized - people pleasers rather than God pleasers.... sad when God himself will ask them why it was ok to rock out in their other bands at the bar, but not for him in Church. "But Lord, Don said..."
being disciplined enough to not piss off the MD. the keys player was just soul in a bottle, the bass player was feel materialized, and the guitar player has a great ear for filling space. and you know what pisses me off? they're all musicians but not a band. Yes its important to know how to be disciplined, but they all lack communication and just go directly on the script. this is NOT art, its an execution of a brief
I get that if everyone goes crazy all at once it gets jumbled up and you lose it a little, but a little funky bass and a nice keyboard fill every once in a while really livens up the music. It’s really a shame to stifle all that amazing talent.
I think some of this is subjective and is a product of Mr. Moen’s personal and cultural experiences, so we should be careful that we don’t turn our preferences into laws. There may be ppl in a congregation who may feel like the music is “too plain” and for that reason can’t get into it. How one defines “overplaying” varies from person to person, from culture to culture. At the end of the day it’s like comparing CCM and Gospel: it’s more or less cultural commentary. I personally believe in balance-order is necessary, AND musicians should be given room to express themselves. Both can coexist peacefully. The best musicians are discreet; they know how to balance pocket and chops, playing what the song calls for while putting some of their own sauce on it. And in my opinion, they sound great
I like how the first half of the song he's just like "dang it actually sounds good and tasteful" bc those guys are good enough musicians to naturally resist going too hard into overplaying they know how to make it sophisticated still
@@kailalynch1223 yeah, I was making a bit of a joke but you're right, there is a more serious note. Worship is an act of celebration and although ego music is best avoided, worship music should be a way to show our delight at God's grace and if that means playing more than is written on the sheet music, follow the spirit!!
Commenting to mark the start of the bass player over playing at 5:02 so I can easily jump to it later 😅. My favourite part comes in 5:45. That bass guitar player is so disciplined that his overplaying is just right 😅
My wife and I started going to a church and the worship there was really good excellent vocals and very competent musicians. Being a piano player myself with many years experience I was soon playing with them. The team talked a lot about being careful not to be a show off and to be humble in your playing. The team being very talented was actually very young. My playing was a little more free that they're I play and allow the Holy Spirit to lead me as often as I can., So, I played my way and before long I was getting a lot of compliments from the congregation and then it was as if when they saw that I didn't cause a problem they began to venture out remember I said they were very talented. A couple of months latter the pastor came to me and the worship leader and he actually said. "Thank God He Sent Robby here because you have all come out of your shell and are sounding a lot more full and worshipful. Every situation is different but there is a lot of false humility our there and legalistic attitudes out there. Often in the New Testament especially they are warning about falling back into that legalsitic atmosphere. Personally l say let the Spirit of God lead the way and deal with specific problems as they arise. Overly strict rules for the team stifle creativity and talent. Read the comments below most people liked that overplaying and I would love to hear what Don has to say about that. Don cut those guys lose you might actually start enjoying yourself.l God Bless You and Be not weary in doing good
I appreciate the wisdom and fairness in this comment. I've been a minister of music for a long time and this type of wisdom comes from the LORD alone brother. Thank you.
I have a similar experience as you, where the congregation made direct compliments. I also rearranged one of their songs which received a lot of compliments from the congregation. Months later, I was rudely and abruptly “fired” from this church and I still can’t bring myself to touching any CCM anymore. Enough with the bad advice. It really isn’t about making it about someone. It was never about me. I just wanted to create something better for God.
@@StevoE7 Steven I wish I had seen your comment sooner. I started a second band at a church I was attending and after playing once the people started to say things like, "we would rather hear them and stuff like that. The worship leader for the main church team called a meeting and said my team "The Old Man Band" wouldn't play ever again and that if he could he would let us play in the main group sometimes and he came right out and said he didn't want people comparing us. This was a very young leader and he dealt with what he saw as a problem the best he could. I don't think it was the best choice for the church. I hope you weren't discouraged and especially hope your didn't stop leading worship. If you are like me leading worship is the joy of your heart. You may have to go to a different church but let The Lord be your guide and the joy of your heart. I will be praying for you and may God grant you the desires of your heart. Be not weary in doing the good and proper thing.
@@MrVbobby thanks for sharing. I’m out completely. Been turned off near completely. This was the last of many horrible experiences involving jealousy in the creative arts. I don’t consider myself to be a great musician by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I don’t perform in public both in the secular and spiritual spheres anymore...and I have a bachelors degree in music. I have left the church entirely for a myriad of reasons both within and outside the creative arts and that’s just fine as it is.
@@StevoE7 I wish you well in all that you do. I am not a great musician either but I’ve always felt led of the spirit in my playing in turn I’ve always been told by people that my playing helps them to worship. I have been involved in worship for 35 years pastored a Calvary Chapel in Santa Ynez California for 6 years I’ve ran into that jealousy thing a lot and no how much it can hurt. I am sorry to hear that you are not in the church but I still feel a bind with you. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you my brother. God Bless You
I get Don's point, both ways work. With full vocals, overplaying distracts but as a semi or full instrumental version, it is AWESOME!!! And that's what we heard in this vid and really enjoyed. Finally, some vocalists also 'overplay' during worship
I don't understand why some Christians think God deserves as little effort as possible. Just make the music a tad more exciting, please. This is the reason I prefer Gospel music, and especially someone like Bach, because they find it important for the music to be a representation of spirituality itself.
I don't think that's it, though. These guys have obviously put a lot of effort into building their chops. But a lot of evangelicals and pentecostals seem to think that if they're not suffering (or at least not-having-fun), they're not serving God. So they're putting a lot of effort into underplaying.
@@migrantfamily Oh, of course, I do think that the musicians here are clearly skilled. My comment about "effort" was not exactly what I meant, at least in terms of skill.
In my opinion and basing from my experience, the role of the worship team/music team is not only to play for Him and only Him but also to lead the congregation to worship God and to let them be closer to Him and feel his presence through playing and singing worship songs. In our praise and worship, even though everyone in the music team are already good, we try to "limit" our "professionality" or skills by not getting busy (just like what Don Moen said in the video) so that the congregation will not get distracted to the point that they are already focusing at us (worship team) playing and they are not focusing to God. That is why we aim for the congregation to say "I love the worship" but not "I love/like how you played during worship"
@@standardzero597 Yeah, but we also don't want the congregation to say "I was bored during worship," or "there was absolutely no personality in the music this morning." The level of overplaying demonstrated in this video was utterly ridiculous, that isn't what would happen if he took the cuffs off.
I've been playing drums in my worship music team going on around 6 are 7 year's now. And Both My Preacher's Love it whenever i over play!! I used to apologize, about it every single time!! (But not only does my Preacher's Enjoy it! So does Everyone else in are Church's Congregation!!) And that's basically how everyone plays in are Worship Music Team... ((Because we are all filled up,by The Holly Spirit!! Christian ✝️ ✝️ ✝️ !!!))
Loved the session so much. This is a fact in every church worship. It's all about God but most young musicians over play during worship allowing the spirit of pride to be exhausted. It's a good lesson for young worship leaders and musicians. Greatly blessed by this session. Reminding us to glorify the living God in the place of worship. Bessed
Their overplaying was perfect; gave a dull song a lot of character! Never stop! In a great irony, I think this video proves the exact opposite of what they're trying to say.
❤ the "yay for overplay" comments on here. But Don has definitely got a solid point. As a worship guitarist myself, I'm always trying to crisp my playing to the "less is more" state.. every note apt, beautiful and worshipping Jesus without distracting from Him, which is really the point of it all. God bless you for the decades of music you've given us Don!
Sigh. Another sheep just parroting whatever Adam Neely says. Do you realize that those musicians were literally trying to sound bad and you've just justified it in your head cuz you heard someone say it's actually good.
jbulletc I’m gonna listen to his video after this but I felt something too. I’m pretty sure if they played the music bland-like for any non-believer it would be harder for them to get closer to God
@@adnwzhre You're confusing, "Bland" for "serving the song". This video offers much better advice whether it's for a band, gig, getting a job, or a church. Keep in mind that the drummer in the video link I'm giving you is literally trying to do the same over playing that these musicians are doing in Don's band. They were trying to be distracting and bad. That's why they're smiling and laughing. Not cuz they were finally having fun, like Adam was suggesting. Don't let Adam fool you into thinking overplaying doesnt exist. th-cam.com/video/9oQsKRyihEA/w-d-xo.html
Right, my thing is they're accenting themselves to make it seem worse. You can "overplay" in your own space and it sounds perfectly fine, in fact it sounds more soulful and true.
The bass player’s overplaying made me believe in God
Kean Ong 😂🤘🏾
🤣🤣
Lolololol
Could you over play more Mr. Bass please?
Best comment ever! Made my day.
So the lesson we’ve learned is that the bass player should always overplay, the keys player should sometimes overplay, the guitar player should occasionally overplay, and the drummer should never overplay.
One million likes from me!!!
😂
Exactly!! 😂😂
Are you crazy? 😂😂😂
❤😂
I need full version of that overplayed keyboard and bass
Rda Chhakchhuak me too!
Lol sounds really good
Yeah with the drums too! Man! These musicians understood when to get out of the way and when to fill it up! I see a false dichotomy in this video.
stay funky brooo 😆
Lol yeah they were actually awesome
The fact that he asked the bass player “where u gonna go from here” and Jason actually took it somewhere higher was impressive.
It takes serious discipline to hold back when you have this much talent but its like a fine tuned recipe when all the parts work together to glorify God !!!! 😃
A good musician doesn't need to hold back in fact you just mentioned the problem. No one should have to be holding back that's not worship it's bondage. I guess its hard when you haven't played in a band. Everyone's goal is to sound good together. People have different ideas about the Holy Spirit but I have felt myself directed by the Spirit what I should play and it was the perfect amount. Who is going to count the notes and when is it one note over. It's like picking a color to paint a wall it is subjective. Thank you for you reply and God Bless You.
@@MrVbobbyIt’s a really interesting point. I think it largely depends on the situation and the type of music. This setting reminds me of a Nashville studio session where everyone is seriously underplaying and listening and there is a mixer to bring through certain parts of different instruments and tone down or even cut out other parts that aren’t necessary. If you have that, than yes I would agree you don’t need to worry as much about overplaying. But if you’re in a Baptist church for instance playing a praise break, then in that case it might be a different story. But even then it’s still very possible to play too much. And yes, “too much” is subjective, absolutely. It’s all about using your best judgement and trying to blend as much as possible; picking your holes and spaces, and learning every time you make music. These guys seem to have lots of experience and sensitivity which to me makes them more reliable than amateur musicians who just started playing. Although you never know. Cheers.
Why not start simple, and build. On the last chorus, the overplaying would be just awesome
I agree
this
We do this in our church and it sounds sick with songs like Waymaker, any Hillsong, and with almost every slow song that we think that can get stronger slowly. I totally agree with you‼️
It's a wonder what the proper application of dynamics can do.
"Start simple, and build" is good advice for any musical style!
The fact that everyone smiles when they are "overplaying"
Coz they are able to express
Maybe they should start another band, where they are not constrained "by God."
yep
Those guys are there for a job lol
lmaooooo😂😂
Don Moen explains why gospel music is so popular.
Right!?
😂😂😂
Ha! exactly.
😂
He explained why planet shakers is popular.😂
These guys are so disciplined they couldn't even play "too busy" without, first of all making it sound good, and second of all, sinking back into solid rhythm playing. All of them had the chops when put on the spot too. They are great musicians.
Yea and in solos some of this would work but everyone else would dial back to make room
Goal: To teach about musical maturity and the pitfalls of overplaying
Result: Hottest worship recording in three decades
Lmbo
Any musician who listened to this loved the way the "overplaying" sounded lol
😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
lmaooo
When everyone "overplayed", the energy in the room quadrupled. That's the kind of energy we NEED in church. Yeah, maybe the drummer went off the deep end on the kick, and maybe the keys and guitar stepped on each other's toes a couple times, but that was still a big improvement. Just my opinion.. but it's an opinion I hold pretty strongly. Stop being timid! We have great instrumentalists in church; play out and praise Him!
I'm not a Christian but surely the idea is moderation and harmony in this life? Such pleasures must be reserved for I suppose an afterlife, isn't the idea to attone for the sins of Adam and Eve and be grateful?
@@iixwh3l4nxii And here we see the origin of the idea that jazz (jazz!) is "the Devil's music."
@@baronvonsatan could be? I'm not to say. But I do appreciate the idea of living a moderate life, with music too.
@@iixwh3l4nxii "Everything in moderation, including moderation" --Oscar Wilde
@@iixwh3l4nxii No, at least for evangelicals and other non-Catholics, that is not the idea. Christ atoned for the sins of Adam and Eve, Christians are free from all that. Which makes this philosophy make even less sense.
They need to make a worship album called "Overplayed Worship"
🤣👍🏽
Swears bro😹
I'd be first in line lol
❤
Exactly 😂
I looooove the Bass overplay . The overplay actually sounds sooooo GOOOD..! TOTALLY.!! I have replayed it over and over.
When overplay comes from someone who plays stunning, the sound is good, but in general that's not what we see inside churches
The trick to do that, but not over play is for everyone to take turns. That is what happens in jazz. The "overplay" part is good when there is a space for it. You get in, and you get out. Keep them wanting more.
The bass player’s overplay was actually really good for the structure of the song
Caleb Morvan yah
The purpose of the song it subtlety. So no, it ruins the song.
Yeah when he gets into that groove at about 5:45 I'd say he was doing perfect. Even hit the fill at a point meant to bring energy to the song. As long as he wasn't doing that every other measure, he'd be pretty perfect.
BrianT175 the verse had keyboard 2 guitars and drums it definitely should have bass
Yeah it works for us and you
But its don moen, so no
😊 I came here over and over again just to listen to the overplayed version .... anyone else too ?
colours 🙋🏾♂️
Me too
Me too🤣
The overplayed made a whole lot of sense, bassist and every other one God bless you all
Yup
That bass player should be exempted man. The groove was just neat
you bass as well? hahaha
Agree
The groove was good. The boost to solo volume... let it overtake the song... had there been no solo boost.
😂 😂 Felt like taking my bass and overplay with the bassist am in love with this
Like don moen said it's not about you it's about God brother if you play like that in a crowd a lot of people will be focusing more kn you not in the presence of the Lord
Psalm 98:4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
😂
Amen
that electric guitar *overplay* was gold
Priceless
And very not “overplayed”
THAT WAS DOPE
Is that all you got he said lead keys.guitarist nope
Lmao I’m the guitarist in my worship team and I’m always kinda showing off, I gotta stop doing that 😂
everyone: overplaying sounds dope
acoustic guitarist: plays the exact same thing but louder
😂😂😂😂
I agree ik when I play the guitar every third week at my church’s worship team I try not to over play but I add my own style into it
😂😂😂😂😂
I agreee!!!
Keep strumming from intro to last beat of the song.. up and down, acoustic guitar can be messy.. hehe
These guys were literally too good of musicians for this demonstration.
Swears😂😂
They are perfect for it because of what "could do". The emphasis is what on brings more attention to worship rather than the individual.
@@jeremianderson4861 the irony is that exact type of overplaying is what makes gospel so powerful for people. It’s people playing their heart out, all of their skill, for god.
I played in a band that was similar to this for the better part of a decade, and while it wasn’t a problem for a long while because I wasn’t good enough, it was very tiresome in time due to how restrictive it felt. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy my music that was for god, which in my opinion kind of defeats the purpose. It felt disingenuous to me.
Not all bands can overplay, and for the average church the principle of avoiding overplaying is great because the skill level simply isn’t there, but for these guys it makes no sense at all as to why they would limit themselves to playing less fun music, because both gospel and contemporary Christian music are worship.
@@solkvist8668 I totally get you in that. I've personally been in several types of bands (concert, orchestra, jazz, woodwind choir and marching band) including a marching in which our Clarinet section alone is bigger than the church choir/band combined.
With that being said, there is a difference between overplaying and improvising. Improvisation is unwritten music that is played that fits within the style that is being played while keeping balance of being an accompaniment.
Overplaying is also unwritten but it is played without being mindful of keeping balance as an accompaniment.
@@jeremianderson4861 what’s funny is that we’re SUPPOSED to bring our best to God during worship. They have that talent because God gave it to them. The Bible says to Praise Him on the Stringed instruments. It doesn’t say “keep it simple” soooo I think if you’ve got God-given ability then use it
This video could be called
"Put some passion and boldness into your worship vocals"
That's exactly what he speaks against
yup
@@Wistbacka he was complaining about being in the background when he wasn't even singing correctly
Daiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
agreed, the vocals wont be "in the background" if you actually try to sing them WITH the improvised parts. You can't sing soft with the great cluster of sounds that "overplaying" creates. Don't be the singer that barely sings, be the singer that sings WITH the musicians not over them.
That bass player "overplaying" is so tasteful, I could listen to it all day long. In his case more is more.
Yeah
individually the over playing is dope,but eveyone overplaying is noisy and that's the point of the lesson
No actually you guys just proved his point. The attention would be on the person overplaying and not God.
@@dannellim11 that wasn't Don's point in this video.
@@Jason56B yes it is. He mentioned that during the bass player's solo, it became his time not the Lord's time and that is not as intended.
Except for the fact that when they "overplayed", it felt like the music had a soul, and was truly worshipful. When played "proper", it sounds stifled and corporate, like it was taken straight off the production line of a soulless machine. There's absolutely something to be said for knowing your limits, and fitting together as a coherent group, and yeah, not playing complicated parts for the sake of showing off, but stopping your musicians from "playing skillfully, with a shout of joy" (Psalm 33:3), and forcing them to confine to simple, brutally accessible, and overused parts is why modern Christian pop is so lifeless and soulless. As people have pointed out, that was the time that the musicians looked alive, looked like they loved playing. The energy in room quadrupled.
Thank you so much, couldn’t have said it better myself.
THANK you, yes
I agree. He was presenting a false dichotomy. Why not both good balance and good improv?
Maybe the danger of overplaying is more relevant when you're dealing with the average worship band, not one stacked with professionals like this. The problems he discusses would be more apparent if these were 19 year olds playing to show off.
This is a testament to the caliber of musicians he has playing with him. They have enough experience to make it musical, even when playing it "wrong." The average church band wouldn't be able to pull that off as well.
It actually sounded better when everyone overplayed. I think the issue should be at what point should one overplay
agree
Yeah I agree too
I know I’m kinda late here but yeah it’s all about timing
Disagree; it was a mess when they overplayed. You support the singer and the song in this kind of music.
Listeners should listen to God's word (lyrics)...this is not the place to perform, that's what Doen Moen meant
Worship Leader : Bass player overplay
Bass player : Thank you Lord 🙏
Hahahaha... I feel you...😅😅😅
IT'S SO TRUE.
😂🤣😂🤣
Me every Sunday 😅
😂😂🎉
I feel like about half way through playing he began to disagree with his own point
Da Pumaface RIGHT
Yup
Definitely sensed some confliction, it was in his smile....lmao he liked it
Da Pumaface Hahaha
He never said its not a good thing. But thats not the point in gospel music as the music will overshadow the main purpose that is worship and the congregation will get caught up in the music and this is distract them and they wont connect to god as they naturally would. I hope you understood what im trying to say cuz its a bit complicated for me to explain
The bass player Jason should overplay for this song because it was so good even a non believer would stop in their tracks to listen.
"Jason, you're a first time bass player"
Jason steps in to create a grooving bass line that outlines the chords while interacting with the melody.
Yes, we all sound like Jason as soon as we pick up a bass.
Oh I wish it was that simple for a budding bass player. Most who don't have experience with some other instrument have to work harder to play the root notes in time.
Well said!
As a fellow bassist and another 'Jason' I agree with this comment. Lol
He's black, so thats believable
This is so true 😂😂
5:50 - If more worship bassists had turnarounds like this, the world would be a better place
IM trying here
Im a beginner/intermediate bassplayer, whats a turnaround?
@@7-beamieson-983 he meant the overplaying
@@7-beamieson-983 He meant a bass "fill" which is a riff you play outside of the standard notes
Oh that was a mind-blowing run !! He rocked 👏👏👏
Intention: to caution against over playing.
Reality: made one of the best worship patches..
Amen😂
Facts 💯
😂😂😂
Amen 🙏 💯
😅
Bass player overplayed was great 😁
I come back for just that kick😂
That ain't no lie
I found me a free lesson in that!
All I got to say is y’all looked like y’all were having a lot more fun when y’all we’re grooving. Jamming like that is a blessing, that’s a hard thing to do well, I don’t see anything wrong with it?!?
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a jam session. One of the blessings of playing any musical instrument is that you will eventually get to a level where you can go off script and express your own musical style. As worship leaders, though, it's all about leading people deeper into the presence of God. It's the job of the band to take the focus off of themselves and direct all the focus to God. Sometimes, less is more.
@@DonMoenTV Don, have you seen Adam Neely's video regarding Christian contemporary music, and his approximation of such "overplaying" as akin to Bibically making a joyful noise? I saw joy in the performance of "what not to do", and as a former praise band director of 3 years AND someone who runs an analog "secular" studio, I find that this stifling of energy is precisely what makes many fear a relationship with our God. Any insecurity a member of the congregation feels in the presence of skillful performance should be addressed with encouragement of the crowd, not discouragement of the joyous musician. It's long past time to pray about this, friend. God bless.
@DonMoenTV While I completely agree with serving the song as well as making sure the mindset that it is not all about the musician, I offer a different perspective: the notes that I play are my most pure form of praise and glorification to God. The other Cody up there put it perfectly referring to the "joyful noise," which as the leader of a worship team are the exact words I tell the rest of the band every Sunday between praying and starting the service. You write beautiful melodies (Arise is one of my favorites), and as long as that is still present and defined, I believe that embellishing with other musical elements is beneficial, as the excitement of the worship team is infectious and engaging to the congregation.
@@codyknapp3003 and I concur with this other Cody!
@@codyknapp3003 Hey there :) It is always good to give our best praise to God, and I feel that being in a worship team would mean that we would have present our best praise to God more as a team than as an individual. I think we would have to decide on what is our best praise and our best music as a team. More than that, I also feel that more than just music, offering our best praise also means being able to lead the congregation better as a team. Meaning, if we as a team can be more accommodating for the congregation to sing their praises to God, then we are offering our worship in that way as well. Our discipline to hold back our skills whenever necessary is can also be an act of praise. Just my 2 cents, God bless and have a good day :)
If my team could "overplay" like that, they can do it any time
Looks like the drummer was waiting for the overplay moment all his life....Lol
haahaha I felt that too xD
@@jheffreymartineau3388 Lol
😅😇
As a worship team drummer, YES! We are always waiting for that moment. Haha, I live for the jam sessions in rehearsal... usually I'm the one to start them Lol
0:51 the bass player is so bored hes tuning during the intro
Why is nobody talking about how smooth those keys were when "overplayed"?!
I played in a P&W band once where the guitar, wasn't really a part of it. I experimented once by turning myself down at the instrument... zero signal to the board... and I was told how great I sounded. Talk about a kick to the head. Of course the keys dominated, and the vocals of the worship leader playing them was louder than the other singers.
It's not like he was overplaying, his distinctive feel for the keys just made the music so much livelier. He jazzed it really well in my opinion
“Don’t overplay” *Everyone plays* “.... that was actually really good.”
Jason Harris That’s how math works
Common core👌🏻
He never said its not a good thing. But thats not the point in gospel music as the music will overshadow the main purpose that is worship and the congregation will get caught up in the music and this is distract them and they wont connect to god as they naturally would. I hope you understood what im trying to say cuz its a bit complicated for me to explain
@@nigeldsouza6088 Spectacular musicianship absolutely is part of Gospel music.... but this isn't Gospel.
@@nigeldsouza6088 Believers are to pray without ceasing. All day, every day, we're to acknowledge God. But, when we all congregate in the Sanctuary... we're to get turnt up for Jesus! Give it all you've got, in spirit and in truth! No matter who's looking. We'll tone it down when The Word comes forth. Praise and Worship is supposed to be overly. It makes it easier for the preacher to give the sermon.
The joy they had in “overplaying” actually made it better in my opinion
Exactly
The song played the "proper" way makes me feel about as much as a metronome. Every time a band member started "overplaying" I smiled involuntarily (until they got four or five bars in and started going crazy), because there's real feeling in it. Yes, everyone doing it at the same time is too much, but no-one doing it feels like... nothing. I feel like there's got to be some middle ground between the band full of soloists and the "Don Moen way"
Not only you.. THEY started smiling...
Oh, definitely there is a middle ground. Fills don't have to extend the length of a verse. Each verse of a song can feature one player given room to stretch out a little. Drummers ramping up the intensity near the end of a song has been a thing forever.
But I'm having a real hard time with "no bass guitar in the verse." Really? None? Not even doing something as boring as root notes?
It's like the Don Moen Way is to remove all the good things about African-American influence on Western music. No improvising. No syncopation. No groove.
@@baronvonsatan "But I'm having a real hard time with "no bass guitar in the verse." Really? None? Not even doing something as boring as root notes?" Maybe once in a while that can work. Gives you more dynamic range to work with, somewhere to go as the song builds.
you could always start slow and build up
The problem is that in his examples, one person overplays and it seems like a "solo spot". When *everyone* in the band overplays at the same time, it becomes chaos and a distraction to the music (and worshipping God). That's the point Don's trying to make. Building up and coordinating musicality would be encouraged! It's just a lesson in restraint and intent, as others have said.
When they all overplayed they sounded actually lit like a jam session
Yup. Was amazing 🔥
The problem (or should I say good thing?) is that these musicians are so talented, skillful, good and disciplined that the "overplay" they demonstrated is not the real "overplay" we so often see or hear. They were still showing restraint during the overplay. That's the reason some of you say you like it.
Yep, that's the hard thing about using tasteful musicians as the example. Their overplaying was actually pretty great. I know what Don is talking about, the people who solo over every phrase and don't play to the song. If anything, in general, most musicians I've played with tend to just play ALL THE TIME with no dynamics in worship. It takes a while to develop taste and technique. I'm not going to go as far as saying to sit someone out of a band like he recommends, but it does take time to develop a band that worships and plays well together. It's definitely not easy.
You're right
The talent and the discipline they showcase in the video is just so good. So far away from the overplaying by I myself. Haha. Great video tho.
Sure, but then they're UNDERPLAYING in the "correct version".
Jedediyah Aaron Yisrael Omg. the type of overplay happening in some churches is way more than this example but point taken.
You have been blessed with gifted musicians. I use gifted to mean two ways; First, they are all extremely talented musicians who have mastered their instruments. Second, they have been given a great gift of discernment and sensitivity of God's Holy Spirit, playing not to glorify themselves, or even the team, rather, to glorify God
Excellent reply. Bless you
This video should really be entitled "Don Moen accidentally teaches his band how to play like Israel and New Breed, and it actually sounds good!" These guys are having such a great time! And around 07:20 they are not really overplaying, they're actually listening out for each other!
Exactly ! And Don Moen Stops singing, realising he's maybe not needed in his band anymore
The big problem here is "If everybody did that it would be really messy."
Learn from jazz and realize it can be done perfectly if you take turns. There's tons of jazz music with simple base melodies but they blossom into such great works, and each player makes it in their own way. Feeling God, worshipping God should be an individualized experience, and when each musician shares their own they'll connect to people in the audience and take turns giving people an amazing feeling. That to me is a much better idea than playing it safe and restricting everyone to the same constant level of enjoyment. Music shouldn't be a hum - it should be a zoop and a blam pizazz. The very tasteful and restrained improv some of these guys did is enough... just give us *something* other than what plays on the radio on repeat. The staleness of it all really pushes people away!
I mean heck, New Orleans jazz has the musicians improvising all at the same time, and the rapture of it is glorious. Both words chosen deliberately. It's about playing around each other rather than over each other.
This!
While I 100% agree with you here, the feeling given to the congregation isn't the aim of worship music, it's to glorify God. Yes, growing closer to the Lord through music and through praising Him is a wonderful thing that should be encouraged, but it just becomes a sllippery slope of drawing the attention to the music rather than to the Lord.
It glorifies God to truly love the music you play. Playing with all your heart and all your soul isn't overplaying, it's playing the exact right amount.
Piano: 1:05
Guitar: 1:44
Drums: 3:18
Bass: 5:03
Guitar 2: 6:35
Altogether: 7:00
Thank you, good sir
Beautiful
👊😌
I forgot that verse where David played fearfully and hesitantly before the lord?
Mind giving some verses to support this?
I kinda feel like there's a middleground that's being unexplored here, and while sure you don't wanna be shredding the whole time, I feel like some level of expression is worshipful.
Perhaps less isn't more. More is more. Less is less.
Taste is key.
Those are refined musicians, no wonder their "overplaying" is definitely tasty
Come on! Preach it!!
SOMETIMES less is more. Sometimes less is, well, just less, just as sometimes more is too much.
@@willbarnz6960
I think we're in agreement here.
Yeah heres the think I'd sing thank you like this if I was saying thank you to my wife for getting me a birthday present...but if I was singing thank you to the lord of all, the king of kings, father, the highest above...then I'd be SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS I'd be thanking him with so much passion that my singing and playing would welcome a spirit of thankfulness that hits you and changes your heart because of the anointing but too bad nowadays Christian music limits the annointing...its the same spirit back in the day where people said guitars are evil and of the devil...now it's just if its distorted and play over 60 bpm it's of the devil. It's the same religious spirit limiting the annointing just in a slightly more relaxed fashion. Its gotta stop, christian music aka worship aka WARFARE MUSIC needs to step up finally.
Dang... that bassist definitely added a whole new feel to the song when it was his time to overplay. My head was moving to it but yeah, you have compliment each other in the band.
but if you guys play and complinent to each other and how they play It can realy benefit worship. It says play out and sing for the Lord. If you know what Im trying to say
I think it's "complement" each other lol. Don compliments them for their playing but they all complement each other musically. 😉
I've been playing the bass for years in jazz rock metal bands until God called me back to church. Even these days I really struggle to find good christian music that doesn't sound so corporate. I'm lucky that the drummer in my church is a teacher so sometimes even if we have to play Bethel Hillsongs etc we simply change them into funky blues even bossa nova..and everybody is happy to sing along. If the instrumental part is not important then we might as well sing a cappella. I thought about if sometimes i'm too techincal but then somebody gave me psalm 33.3 :)
yeah,
Sometimes I just want to hear a lady at a piano singing gospel songs.
I would love to hear those songs in a blues format!
Yeah
the god called you. yes. definetely. mmmhm.
That bass has one of the best paint jobs I’ve ever seen, and the artist playing it is plenty worthy of it.
7 years later and I’m here smiling 😌🤲🏼 .. Thank you for yielding to the Lord sir, you’re a blessing✨
Yeah, it seems this video is making a comeback, but I'm drawing different conclusions than the first time I watched.
That guitar player has incredible tone
Yeah its awesome.
when the bass player is so spicy that you dont care that theyre overplaying 🤣🤣
Fr tho
yes!!!
Dang, Jason’s ‘overplayed’ bass part sounded amazing!! Funky worship…I love it!!
He's an amazing bassist and that's the point here. His playing changes the feel of the song, putting the focus on himself.
I think everyone in this comment section is missing the point of this video, he’s not saying don’t over play and add in extra niceties, he’s just explaining that if you have an entire band doing the extras all at the same time it makes the song messy, he’s not writing it off, he’s just stating that you need to find the right moments for these extras!
its fully illustrated when they all overplay together. they're playing on top of each other and it sounds like a mess. theres room for more than what the song calls for, but only if everyone works together and gives each other space.
I agree..
I agree with you
I marked him say "overplay all the time" hence you can overplay but not over do it.
your got it right
My favorite worship experience was a Rich Mullens concert in 1994 where EVERYONE overplayed and we all were honest and sang loud and played loud and worshiped God. We didn't care if anyone was too loud.
I prefer this overplay bass and piano versions.
Because they fill the song well, and that organ wasn't too busy to be quite honest.
I think Everyone jus has different taste of music . But i prefer yeah overplay.
If you wanna hear real gospel go to pretty simple music or hear and play and music breakthrough . That’s where you learn to “overplay”
Absolutely
@@wesleydavis9160 Amen lol that's where you see real nasty chords!!!
I'm that guy who loves seeing drummers smile when playing they make the song much more nice.
Overplaying is one thing. These cats were just playing what they felt and doing so tastefully.
thats right
But discipline is equally important
“It’s not about you, it’s about God.” Now there’s two ways that this can go.
First Route, some people definitely want to hijack the worship if they aren’t disciplined enough in the band such as smacking down a whole bunch of guitar riffs where it just doesn’t need to be. Overplaying sometimes really ruins the intention of certain songs and in this case ‘Thank You Lord’ is a solemn quite chill song and I’m pretty sure in the ending of the studio song they do a key change 1 semitone up and make it sound quite nice and joyful.
Route 2, now sometimes this ‘overplaying’ can be for the Lord. As a young musician you’d wanna give your heart out to the Lord through the way you have honed your practice and the amount of hours of practice you had to endure. It certainly doesn’t feel right for someone to just tell you to start playing really simple chords just for a song.
Now what I believe is that as a amateurish musician myself, it shouldn’t be ‘overplaying’ but it should be practiced with the band on what certain parts of the song a guitar solo might be needed or a bass fill. Now imagine every solemn worship song or just solemn song had every band member overplaying throughout the ENTIRE song. You wouldn’t get a solemn song no more but a messy thick texture of instrumentation that just doesn’t need to be there and would sound disgusting.
So in conclusion, I believe that some songs may need JUST a little overplaying. Not too much of it but just enough to get a whole church congregation to enjoy themselves being there worshiping the Lord. Especially when it comes to the youth and young adults. They almost every time want their church to be a concert when they first join which is not the purpose of the church. So yeah a little funky bass or a little show off from the pianist or guitarist would be fine in certain parts of a song
I've never understood the sentiment of not overplaying for the sake of keeping the focus on worshipping God. We've never compromised on harmony and complexion in music until the past 30 years, and suddenly we can't play worship music with a little flavour? I understand that not all musicians who want to serve the Lord are very skilled, so it makes sense to release worship songs that can be easily replicated by amateurs. Still, worship music should not be an excuse to neglect pushing artistic boundaries. Afterall, Bach gave all of his works to God while pushing musical boundaries. I don't know why we can't do the same.
@@Gunblastz We can and will. Thank you. The idea that if decent musicians play what God puts on their heart you have chaos is just wrong. The whole concept of overplaying Is subjective. Who decides when it crosses that incredibly arbitrary spot.
Yes Don. 7:01 is evidence you should to an album like this. Or at least a few songs. Make a joyful noise, man.
What's absolutely no disrespect to Mr Moen I absolutely think that Christian should not be afraid to play music like this just because they've always played it another way.
The bass player 'overplay' made me believe in Jesus😍
everytime... everytime... for real
I keep coming back here just to hear them overplay.. So nice to hear.. Such talented musicians! Praise God for their talents!!
True! I also come back a few times every year since 2016 to hear them overplay!😂
@@ArthurMuteesasira hahaha
They seemed happier “overplaying” than the “ proper” way , you have such talented musicians , you can do something more spicy , with more complexity and add some weight to it , more heart.
Just my opinion. We have great christian musicians and the can add to music something new , fresh and full of the presence of God.
That guitar player was like a 455 ci V8 engine being driven at 20 mph until given permission to punch the gas just for a few seconds.
One very important thing to take note here is that this worship team has been playing together for ages! Even when they overplay, they overplay in a way that still fits one another; this comes down to familiarity, habit and trust built in an experienced team. But take this to a new worship team or a new comer who overplays without any context, that is when things get messy and too much.
no experienced musicians with strong music theory and orchestration can play with any one of equal caliber and it would sound like they been playing for years together.
@@nguquaxanguyen5224 if you're intending to refer "no experienced musician" then yes I agree with you. If you're referring "no, experienced musicians can actually play like this", I'll agree as well, but not completely. While it's true that experienced musicians can complement one another in spontaneous scenarios, it wouldn't happen all the time, especially when the main focus is God, not man. Don Moen himself states in the video that the musicians are all "dialing in for what works for Don Moen (that being Don Moen's style of worship music)". But of course, if it's a performance or concert, definitely musicians can come together with no context and still blow the crowd away. Key thing about this is "it's all about God, not you".
I value your opinion nonetheless and thank you for sharing!
@@justinng4970 if the main focus is God what does familiarity have anything to do with it? Btw I meant "no, experience..."
@@nguquaxanguyen5224 Familiarity is important because the main point of the worship band is to direct the congregation in reverence to God through music. If the band is not familiar with the setting of worship in that particular church, it'll become a contest of technicality. Sometimes, a single chord held by the synth for a minute does much more than anything else. All the other musicians could add many notes into that single chord to make it sound more extravagant, but they would understand (as a band) the fine line between a "concert" and "worship".
And, because God is the main focus, a musicians' skills is not the priority. Anyone with a willing heart is more important than anyone wielding the skills. This might sound contradictory but I have experienced first hand a worship leader who can't even hold a note nor sing in the right key, but the congregation was in the spirit of worship nonetheless.
@@justinng4970 Listening and having the reflex and discipline to respond appropriately is a fundamental musicianship skill. In a professional setting, not being alert to what other musicians and most importantly vocalists are doing is a good way to get fired. I give you example, I was hired for a church service as a sub. One of the musician (synth player) plays a minor 9 chord, which by itself is very beautiful chord, the problem is the singer was singing the minor 3 in the chord, which is only half step away from that, causing her to start to sing flat without knowing why. The pianist and I immediately identified the problem and helped that player correct course. The mutual and almost immediate understanding between me and that pianist player didn't come from familiarity. We met that morning. It came from our musicianship. Alot of people have the wrong impression that musicianship skill is ability to play lots of notes, exotic chords, etc. Not true. These guys in the video are professional musicians so they listen to each other down to the individual note, which subdivision of the beat each player and vocalist are emphasizing in order to either avoid or complement rather than clash. I bet they were doing that the first time they played with each other
The bass player is so good that he sucks at failing... even as he tried to overplay, he still sounded cool and solid as hell!
When everyone overplays you get that good ole Pentecostal praise🤣🤣
Amen
Amen indeed
Hi sir... I really think you should record the overplayed version of this song. 😁
They are all a set of skillful musicians who have mastered the act of being disciplined!
Disciplined, yes - like in "Bad boy!!" and getting your hand slapped for playing. Suppressed, demoralized - people pleasers rather than God pleasers.... sad when God himself will ask them why it was ok to rock out in their other bands at the bar, but not for him in Church. "But Lord, Don said..."
being disciplined enough to not piss off the MD. the keys player was just soul in a bottle, the bass player was feel materialized, and the guitar player has a great ear for filling space. and you know what pisses me off? they're all musicians but not a band. Yes its important to know how to be disciplined, but they all lack communication and just go directly on the script. this is NOT art, its an execution of a brief
Controlled not discipline
When the full band ‘overplayed’ I smiled and said “Thank You Lord!”
Still waiting on that overplaying album! Straight fire!!
I get that if everyone goes crazy all at once it gets jumbled up and you lose it a little, but a little funky bass and a nice keyboard fill every once in a while really livens up the music. It’s really a shame to stifle all that amazing talent.
I think some of this is subjective and is a product of Mr. Moen’s personal and cultural experiences, so we should be careful that we don’t turn our preferences into laws. There may be ppl in a congregation who may feel like the music is “too plain” and for that reason can’t get into it. How one defines “overplaying” varies from person to person, from culture to culture. At the end of the day it’s like comparing CCM and Gospel: it’s more or less cultural commentary. I personally believe in balance-order is necessary, AND musicians should be given room to express themselves. Both can coexist peacefully. The best musicians are discreet; they know how to balance pocket and chops, playing what the song calls for while putting some of their own sauce on it. And in my opinion, they sound great
I like how the first half of the song he's just like "dang it actually sounds good and tasteful" bc those guys are good enough musicians to naturally resist going too hard into overplaying they know how to make it sophisticated still
Lol right!
Oh! That guitar tone is great!!!
Aksel Belibagli man that guitar player is insane!!! Loved his phrasing!!
Aksel Belibagli indeed
Yeah love his tone!!
It's beautiful
A
Does it not say in Davie 50:4 "Each man of Israel must slap bass, Epic!"
*CHECKMATE*
Psalms 33:3 totally says that though (more or less)
@@kailalynch1223 yeah, I was making a bit of a joke but you're right, there is a more serious note.
Worship is an act of celebration and although ego music is best avoided, worship music should be a way to show our delight at God's grace and if that means playing more than is written on the sheet music, follow the spirit!!
LOL
Epic lines here
The bass guitar is killing it! God Bless
Commenting to mark the start of the bass player over playing at 5:02 so I can easily jump to it later 😅. My favourite part comes in 5:45.
That bass guitar player is so disciplined that his overplaying is just right 😅
Overplayed still sounding disciplined...oh lord I really want to be this disciplined
My wife and I started going to a church and the worship there was really good excellent vocals and very competent musicians. Being a piano player myself with many years experience I was soon playing with them. The team talked a lot about being careful not to be a show off and to be humble in your playing. The team being very talented was actually very young. My playing was a little more free that they're I play and allow the Holy Spirit to lead me as often as I can., So, I played my way and before long I was getting a lot of compliments from the congregation and then it was as if when they saw that I didn't cause a problem they began to venture out remember I said they were very talented. A couple of months latter the pastor came to me and the worship leader and he actually said. "Thank God He Sent Robby here because you have all come out of your shell and are sounding a lot more full and worshipful. Every situation is different but there is a lot of false humility our there and legalistic attitudes out there. Often in the New Testament especially they are warning about falling back into that legalsitic atmosphere. Personally l say let the Spirit of God lead the way and deal with specific problems as they arise. Overly strict rules for the team stifle creativity and talent. Read the comments below most people liked that overplaying and I would love to hear what Don has to say about that. Don cut those guys lose you might actually start enjoying yourself.l God Bless You and Be not weary in doing good
I appreciate the wisdom and fairness in this comment. I've been a minister of music for a long time and this type of wisdom comes from the LORD alone brother. Thank you.
I have a similar experience as you, where the congregation made direct compliments. I also rearranged one of their songs which received a lot of compliments from the congregation. Months later, I was rudely and abruptly “fired” from this church and I still can’t bring myself to touching any CCM anymore. Enough with the bad advice. It really isn’t about making it about someone. It was never about me. I just wanted to create something better for God.
@@StevoE7 Steven I wish I had seen your comment sooner. I started a second band at a church I was attending and after playing once the people started to say things like, "we would rather hear them and stuff like that. The worship leader for the main church team called a meeting and said my team "The Old Man Band" wouldn't play ever again and that if he could he would let us play in the main group sometimes and he came right out and said he didn't want people comparing us. This was a very young leader and he dealt with what he saw as a problem the best he could. I don't think it was the best choice for the church. I hope you weren't discouraged and especially hope your didn't stop leading worship. If you are like me leading worship is the joy of your heart. You may have to go to a different church but let The Lord be your guide and the joy of your heart. I will be praying for you and may God grant you the desires of your heart. Be not weary in doing the good and proper thing.
@@MrVbobby thanks for sharing. I’m out completely. Been turned off near completely. This was the last of many horrible experiences involving jealousy in the creative arts. I don’t consider myself to be a great musician by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I don’t perform in public both in the secular and spiritual spheres anymore...and I have a bachelors degree in music. I have left the church entirely for a myriad of reasons both within and outside the creative arts and that’s just fine as it is.
@@StevoE7 I wish you well in all that you do. I am not a great musician either but I’ve always felt led of the spirit in my playing in turn I’ve always been told by people that my playing helps them to worship. I have been involved in worship for 35 years pastored a Calvary Chapel in Santa Ynez California for 6 years I’ve ran into that jealousy thing a lot and no how much it can hurt. I am sorry to hear that you are not in the church but I still feel a bind with you. Jesus will never leave you or forsake you my brother. God Bless You
Man, that bass lick is just so DOPEE
Timmy the drummer played his heart out. See the love in his heart for The Lord 💚
I bought all the frets, I'm gonna use all the frets
Omg😂😂😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
Thats the midset i like!
The bass is straight FIRE!!
Neftali aw thanks! God bless 🙏🏾
I get Don's point, both ways work. With full vocals, overplaying distracts but as a semi or full instrumental version, it is AWESOME!!! And that's what we heard in this vid and really enjoyed. Finally, some vocalists also 'overplay' during worship
This was a great way of showing how talented his team is and how absolutely disciplined they are too! Professionals!
The bass solo at 5:52 at the end of the prechorus is one of the most melodic, fitting parts of any solo i"ve ever heard
Jesse Pollom right!!!
Aw thanks a lot bro!! God bless 🙏🏾
Killed it! Lol at that point I was like.. nah let em out the pocket lol
5:30 mmba badu ba dada du du du 🙌🏾
Go to black church
I don't understand why some Christians think God deserves as little effort as possible. Just make the music a tad more exciting, please. This is the reason I prefer Gospel music, and especially someone like Bach, because they find it important for the music to be a representation of spirituality itself.
Todd Tolson exactly
I don't think that's it, though. These guys have obviously put a lot of effort into building their chops. But a lot of evangelicals and pentecostals seem to think that if they're not suffering (or at least not-having-fun), they're not serving God. So they're putting a lot of effort into underplaying.
@@migrantfamily Oh, of course, I do think that the musicians here are clearly skilled. My comment about "effort" was not exactly what I meant, at least in terms of skill.
In my opinion and basing from my experience, the role of the worship team/music team is not only to play for Him and only Him but also to lead the congregation to worship God and to let them be closer to Him and feel his presence through playing and singing worship songs. In our praise and worship, even though everyone in the music team are already good, we try to "limit" our "professionality" or skills by not getting busy (just like what Don Moen said in the video) so that the congregation will not get distracted to the point that they are already focusing at us (worship team) playing and they are not focusing to God.
That is why we aim for the congregation to say "I love the worship" but not "I love/like how you played during worship"
@@standardzero597 Yeah, but we also don't want the congregation to say "I was bored during worship," or "there was absolutely no personality in the music this morning." The level of overplaying demonstrated in this video was utterly ridiculous, that isn't what would happen if he took the cuffs off.
I've been playing drums in my worship music team going on around 6 are 7 year's now. And Both My Preacher's Love it whenever i over play!! I used to apologize, about it every single time!! (But not only does my Preacher's Enjoy it! So does Everyone else in are Church's Congregation!!) And that's basically how everyone plays in are Worship Music Team... ((Because we are all filled up,by The Holly Spirit!! Christian ✝️ ✝️ ✝️ !!!))
Loved the session so much. This is a fact in every church worship. It's all about God but most young musicians over play during worship allowing the spirit of pride to be exhausted. It's a good lesson for young worship leaders and musicians. Greatly blessed by this session. Reminding us to glorify the living God in the place of worship. Bessed
I personally kinda liked the overplayed version :) I loved how the bass slapped and popped it. The guitar licks are awesome too! 😊
So much skill and talent. I love that you teach not to overplay one another. This make a huge difference.
Glenn A. Littles, II You the bass player?
That drum run was divine.
love this,thank you Brother Moen.Let us be Humble, its not about us its about our Lord,lets sing unto him with the instruments. All for HIS GLORY..
can I also have a full version of the "not supposed to play" version?... just so I know what not to do?
Eric Schwegler I too would like that. For reference purposes, of course
I want it because it’s amazing. 💯💯💯💯
Don Moen: Is that all you’ve got?
Guitarist: *Boii you know nothing
*Serious mode activate
😂😂😂😂😅😅
😆😆😆 so funny huh
😂😂😂😂
It's not about you!
😅😅😅
Their overplaying was perfect; gave a dull song a lot of character! Never stop!
In a great irony, I think this video proves the exact opposite of what they're trying to say.
Agreed 100%
❤ the "yay for overplay" comments on here. But Don has definitely got a solid point. As a worship guitarist myself, I'm always trying to crisp my playing to the "less is more" state.. every note apt, beautiful and worshipping Jesus without distracting from Him, which is really the point of it all. God bless you for the decades of music you've given us Don!
there needs to be a full overplaying version because this is amazing
That bass player though!!! 😮 God given talent!! 😍👏🏽🙌🏽
When they were all actually “overplaying” I actually felt something
I agree
Sigh. Another sheep just parroting whatever Adam Neely says. Do you realize that those musicians were literally trying to sound bad and you've just justified it in your head cuz you heard someone say it's actually good.
jbulletc I’m gonna listen to his video after this but I felt something too. I’m pretty sure if they played the music bland-like for any non-believer it would be harder for them to get closer to God
@@adnwzhre You're confusing, "Bland" for "serving the song". This video offers much better advice whether it's for a band, gig, getting a job, or a church. Keep in mind that the drummer in the video link I'm giving you is literally trying to do the same over playing that these musicians are doing in Don's band. They were trying to be distracting and bad. That's why they're smiling and laughing. Not cuz they were finally having fun, like Adam was suggesting. Don't let Adam fool you into thinking overplaying doesnt exist.
th-cam.com/video/9oQsKRyihEA/w-d-xo.html
Right, my thing is they're accenting themselves to make it seem worse. You can "overplay" in your own space and it sounds perfectly fine, in fact it sounds more soulful and true.
Don't die without faith in Jesus!Father God loves you! that's why he gave Jesus which is his Son for us/you!