Without This, I Make Many Mistakes. Why Worship Music is Super Hard
1. Worship Stage “Trap”
Worship songs have simple chord progressions. Technique is not difficult at all. But on real stage, I get very nervous. After playing 3 sets, I am completely dead tired…
Why? Because many songs sound very similar. Chord progressions and guitar lead lines mix together in my head.
In the beginning, I did it… I put a wrong lead line into a totally different song. It was so awkward haha.
2. Solution: Cheat Sheet (Kanpe)
Now, to stop this nightmare, I hide a simple cheat sheet (we call it “Kanpe” in Japan) at my feet.
- Setlist order
- Song keys
- Important guitar lines
If I write these down to see at a glance, I am safe. Live music is a living creature, right? Rehearsal was no problem, but on real stage, memory suddenly flies away. It happens!
3. Basic Knowledge to Make Cheat Sheet
To use a cheat sheet, you need basic knowledge of notes, rhythm, pitch, and intervals.
- Understand the length of notes
- Understand melody pitch and intervals
4. What I Did to Learn Rhythm Dictation
First, to understand notes visually, I thought I must put it deep inside my body.
For me, I started walking and counting “1, 2, 3, 4”.
- Walking in 8 beat, 16 beat, and triplet polyrhythm style.
- Walking while muttering out loud.
We live in a very good era now. Everyone puts earphones in and talks on the phone. From outside, it looks like they are just talking to themselves. So, a guy like me muttering weird rhythms out loud doesn’t get weird looks anymore.
This theme is very deep. So I will make it a series and talk more. Next time, I will introduce how to drop this into guitar playing, and specific practice methods.
Please read again!
Nino