As I go on as a church musician, I’m more convinced that, on a practical level, the key to leading a congregation clearly is to do the simple things well.
By nature, we musicians have a (mostly) healthy tendency to be creative and to put our own personal stamp on a song. We’re quickly bored by the mundane and conservative, and like to look for fresh ideas in order to breathe new life into old chord sequences and rhythms. We get our ideas from other musicians, conference bands and, of course, our old friend, the Internet, which is a bottomless resource for learning new styles and techniques.
I’m often jealous, not only of church musicians who have a keen nose for new ideas, but even more of the extraordinarily talented who are able to execute those ideas with seemingly little effort. We who are left behind wondering what a rim shot and wah wah pedal are can feel a little outdated and dull.
