Thousands of drummers around the world play in church every week. For some, it’s their first ever experience playing in front of a crowd. Some churches choose to hire their musicians, so even if you don’t usually play in church, there’s a chance you might get a call one day asking if you want the gig.
Stephen Taylor has been playing in churches since he first picked up the sticks, so he came up with a set of guidelines you should keep in mind when performing in this environment.
This is the golden rule. This applies to all music but it’s especially true here. It’s not about you coming and imposing what you think should happen in the music. Lay back and let the music breathe!
People come to interact and participate in the music whether it be traditional hymns or a full band. This means you need to approach what you play in a different way. In short: keep things simple. Make it easy for people to latch onto the groove of the song. It might be tempting, but don’t make things too complicated!
This isn’t saying you can’t do fills, but we need to make sure we’re using the proper fills in the proper places. For example, don’t play a big, bar long fill in the middle of a verse. This might work in other styles of music, but this will lead the audience to believe that you’re heading into the next part of the song. So as a general rule of thumb, keep your fills short and sweet unless you want to lead the listener to the next section.
Remember… this is a group event. Every group needs a leader. The “song leader” can lead them with the lyrics, but you control the rhythm and flow of the song. We have to make sure everyone stays together and tight. If you notice someone in the band is lagging behind, try and help them by changing up what you’re playing and providing another firm anchor for them to latch onto.
Many churches enclose the drummer behind some sort of sound dampener. They do this to isolate the sound and in some cases, control the volume of a drummer who has poor dynamics. You have to understand the acoustics of the environment you’re in and be aware of who’s around you. Sometimes you need to make even further adjustments such as playing with special sticks!
Be sure to watch Stephen Taylor’s lesson on “10 Drum Fills Every Drummer Should Know” by clicking here!
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