tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83509454820407883642011-04-21T13:23:40.102-07:00Thoughts and experiences about transforming a group of musicians into a rocking worship bandCarl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.comBlogger101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-59488935410700429242008-08-04T08:24:00.001-07:002008-08-04T08:35:18.588-07:00

My Beautiful Jesus was not as beautiful as it could have been this Sunday. Huh? Kristian Stanfill's worship song by the same name has a great gruitar lick under-pinning the song for the first 2 verses. It's tricky to practice let along play live and when you fat finger a note the whole congregation knows...I spent some time learning the 'good enough' version myself but there were a couple of

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-82759138010125408782008-06-20T09:58:00.001-07:002008-06-23T07:02:22.429-07:00

Last night at rehearsal was the first time I had to put my patches to the live performance test. Here's a short list of what worked/not worked:Worked:I arrange my patches left to right (A-D) clean progressing to dirty.A = clean sound with a bit o delayB = Bluesy sound that is good for plucky parts and rhythm, some distortion. breaks up a bit when I hit it hard. This is my most versatile patch

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-10501970055334225572008-06-17T07:23:00.001-07:002008-06-17T07:48:10.019-07:00

As I was practicing my parts last night for a worship band rehearsal I wrestled with the dilemma we guitar players face as we need to figure out ways to sound like we are playing 3-4 guitar parts simultaneously. Case in point is a rocking tune called 'Happy Day' by Tim Hughes.Originally uploaded by Mr. TRONThere is a typical riff part that works of a Csus chord on the 5th fret and the second and

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-89650661906708709872008-06-10T06:56:00.001-07:002008-06-12T06:53:52.302-07:00

Christmas Music Stand 2005Originally uploaded by joy-zIn what would Jesus Play Ben commented that: "worship players needs to be like a mirror, reflecting peoples gazes up to God" amen brother. My question is how do we reflect UP to God if our heads are buried in our music charts? The answers is we can't so we need a way to internalize a lot of music into our frazzled brains in about a week's

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-86415110418515770622008-05-30T09:10:00.001-07:002008-05-30T11:53:56.176-07:00

Amp Peavey.Originally uploaded by fakestarSome things frustrate me more than others. One near the top is the sound of guitars in sanctuaries. Especially electric guitars.There are as many sounds that can come out of a guitar as their are broken 1/4" instrument cables. that said there are some basics that from my experience elude most players and FOH sound people. There is nothing like the feel of

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-23319819000614384482008-05-22T12:46:00.000-07:002008-05-22T13:01:33.608-07:00

Here's the way it work in our church. We get a song list, charts and mp3s in advance of the first rehearsal. There are also brief notes about each song (e.g. "we are playing this in C not Bb like the mp3...") . Each musician goes off and 'practices' (sometimes not) their part by themselves. We then get together on Tuesday nights for the first rehearsal and it's usually pretty rough. Thursday

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-43975754880963127392008-05-17T21:05:00.001-07:002008-05-19T08:45:58.374-07:00

Originally uploaded by manyfiresIt struck me the other day that a bit of context would help with this blog. I believe I am somewhat typical of a worship player. There is the marriage, the kids, the 2 pet birds, the 1.5 dogs, the dozen or so half-finished projects around the house, the movies of the kids that have not been edited, the friends I haven't called back, and , and and.... I'm sure your

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-91891677413002668362008-05-17T21:02:00.001-07:002008-05-17T21:04:22.360-07:00

Originally uploaded by Gaetan LeeYears ago I heard about a book called Drawing on the right side of the brain. It basically teaches you how to really see and draw as opposed to drawing what you think you see. One of the most amazing examples asks you to look at and draw a portrait. Nothing too different here except that the portrait was printed upside-down. An amazing thing happened when I just

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-2809494615959364212008-05-09T05:56:00.000-07:002008-05-09T06:02:02.317-07:00

Like most musicians born in the 60s, I've played music with lots of people, played in lots of bands and have made some great and some not-so-great music in the process. It's from this perspective that I would like to explore the how and why of developing and sustaining a great worship band.While a band's job is to perform great live music, worship bands differ in some key ways from their secular

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8350945482040788364.post-50852280520395641852008-05-08T21:07:00.001-07:002008-05-09T06:06:34.456-07:00

I often get high-centered when I'm trying to figure out exactly how a guitarist is playing a lick on a worship song. What effects and amp settings are being used, which of the three or more guitar parts should I actually play, what will the acoustic guitarist be playing, WHO is the acoustic guitarist???When I am trying to force it I've learned to simply take a breath and ask myself What would

Carl Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01587521735554640175noreply@blogger.com2