Your Unique Context - Part 1
“No two situations will be the same. The whole purpose of understanding this, is so that you can do the best you can with what you have...”
As church piano players, we will each find ourselves in very different situations, with lots of variables unique to our setting. This affects how we think, and function in our role, and so it's good for us to seek to do what works best, and is most appropriate for our context.
So when we consider our unique context then, there are 4 main things we can consider.
YOUR PLAYING ABILITY
YOUR INSTRUMENT
YOUR CHURCH DYNAMICS
YOUR SPECIFIC ROLE
In this post, I will address the first 2 points, and in another post, we will look at the remaining ones.
So firstly then, let’s consider...
1. YOUR PLAYING ABILITY
Are you just starting in the role? If so, you need to pace yourself. Just because you might be “all your church has got” which is often the case, you still need to be wise about taking on too much too quickly.
Start with what you can manage, including the songs that are easiest for you to play.
Or, it may be for you that the most important thing is consolidation - improving your style and technique, but not necessarily focusing on improving your ability.
I say this because our greatest priority is supporting the congregation, not playing in a more advanced style. For example, things like timing, and playing smoothly, are more important than playing lots of extra fancy notes.
Lastly on the subject of your ability - try to avoid comparing yourself to other players. That will only get you frustrated. Accept where you are at, embrace the role you have, and do the best you can, with what you have to offer.
Ok next, let’s look at…
YOUR INSTRUMENT
Depending on your situation, you may play acoustic piano or an electric keyboard. If you're playing an acoustic piano, and if at all possible, you want to play on an instrument that’s at least mostly in tune!
The point of thinking about your instrument is to make sure that you are set up the best way you can be, to get the most out of that instrument. For example, you may need to look at a different stool if it’s too low or too high. Or you might want to position it in a better way to improve the sound.
If you play a piano that goes through a sound system, or an electric keyboard - you want to know how to get the best sound. Hopefully, there’s a sound person at your church to help you with that.
The point here is simply to make sure you know your instrument, that you can get the most from it, and that you work as best you can within what limitations you may have.
No two situations will be the same. The whole purpose of understanding this is so that you can do the best you can with what you have (trusting that the Lord can work with your 5 loaves and 2 fish), not compare yourself to others, or other situations.
It's also important that you work within the limitations of your context, to be the most helpful you can be in serving your church, as you facilitate the worship of God through song.
In the next post, we will look at church dynamics, and the specifics of our role.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
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