Hey wait, isn’t the piano a melodic instrument? Rhythm is drums and guitar and bass and percussion, right?
Well, you’re not wrong exactly .
But you’re not exactly right either.
The piano is actually both.
Worship keys function in both arenas, with feet in both camps. Now, we’re talking here about the main keys player, not aux keys. Aux keys are the pads and strings and all that jazz that create the magical fill. That’s a whole different conversation so set that aside in your mind for now.
Today we’re just talking about the need for keys players to play piano as a rhythm instrument.
When most classically trained piano players transition over to playing on a worship team, they tend to bring all their gorgeous right hand melodic magic to the very crowded melody table, and the end result winds up being muddy and busy.
Their playing is competing with the primary melodic instrument(s) on the team… the vocals.
Melodic playing can also wreak havoc when competing against the electric guitars and if you have a violinist or flutist on the team, it can get out of control.
So it’s important to keep these tips in mind as you’re bringing your mad skills to the worship team.
5 Tips to Help You Play Piano as a Rhythm Instrument
- Unless you’re playing a specific intro or lead line, stick to chords. Do not play the melody all the way through the song. You can allude to little sections or pay homage to a killer line here and there, but if you’re doubling the vocals on more than 3-4 notes at a time, it’s too much.
- Listen to the kick drum and bass guitar. Your left hand needs to be doing something extremely similar (or less than) what the bass guitar is holding down. Rhythmically, your patterns need to be in lock step with what the drums are doing.
- Listen to the electric guitars. What you play needs to fit in with what they’re doing. Sometimes they’re on a lead line and it’s appropriate for you to double it on an octave to add punch. Sometimes you need to just lay off and play simple block chords to let them shine. If they’re playing in a high register, keep that right hand in the middle of your keyboard. If they’re playing low, try your right hand out on a 1-5-1 in a higher octave.
- Simplify, simplify, simplify. You are not there to play runs and arpeggios up and down the board. You are an anchor, filling in the middle. Most of what you play will be simple, block chords on downbeats.
It might be boring. It might feel like you don’t have much to contribute. But you are VITAL. Your presence might not feel obvious, but your absence will be. Your role is INCREDIBLY important, but when done right, won’t stand out in the mix. Unless you’re on a lead, solo or intro, play simply and block those chords. Add layers by adding color notes and mild dissonance, but listen for muddy busy-ness.
If you’re playing with a busy electric player (riffing on EVERYTHING), don’t turn up and compete with them (even if you can). That is your cue to simplify even further. Even if that means one block chord per downbeat for an entire song. A good Music Director will address it with the EG, but you can reeeeeally help by compensating in the right direction.
- Practice at home with the official recording. Learn the part the way it was originally produced. When you begin to fully understand how keys are used in a team, you can start to draw from that to create your own style of playing (if your Worship Leader/Music Director is ok with it). But you need to start by learning from the professionals FIRST. Get really good at playing with the pros on the recording first and then bring that excellence with you to your team. They’ll love you for it. (especially those bass players) 😉
The best thing you can do for yourself as you improve how to play piano as a rhythm instrument is to take lessons. Have you joined our Limitless Piano Membership yet? We still have a couple spots open on the Founding Member team so jump on the waitlist if that interests you. Doors open in Nov!!
Weekly Challenge 💪🏻
Listen to “Raise A Halleluia” by Jonathan and Melissa Helser and practice it this week as a rhythmic instrument. Pay attention to the drums/bass guitar. Learn the right hand part exactly as recorded.
Practice that this week and then post your top aha moment on Takeaway Tuesday. Was it easy? Did you have trouble keeping things that simple? What about the bridge? I’d love to hear your feedback.
Drill of the Week! 🎶
This week’s drill is… The 3rd finger crossover! This exercise will help train the muscles and create muscle memory that will benefit you when playing your scales.
Using the same principle we learned doing the Thumb Tuck, you don’t want your entire arm and elbow to move when you’re playing your scales. Practicing this drill will help stretch and train your muscles to play scales quickly and smoothly.
Check out this demonstration to learn the exercise then practice it 5x every day this week.
Practice this move daily about 20x for each hand!
