Worship guitar and keys lessons in Charlottesville

Worship music is played by volunteers who often get the setlist a few days ahead, in whatever key suits the singer that week. The playing itself is rarely difficult. What makes a strong worship musician is reliability: knowing the chords cold, changing key quickly and fitting into a band.

Acoustic guitar: capo shapes

Most worship songs on acoustic guitar are played with a small family of shapes around G: G, Cadd9, Dsus4 and Em7, with the ring and pinky fingers left on the top two strings so the chords ring into each other. A capo moves that family into the key the singer needs, so one set of shapes covers almost every song.

Charts, numbers and transposing

Worship teams usually play from chord charts or the Nashville number system, where chords are written as scale degrees (1, 4, 5, 6m). A number chart works in any key, so when the leader changes the key, nobody rewrites anything. Lessons cover reading both and transposing on the spot.

Electric guitar and keys

• Electric: swells with a volume pedal, a dotted-eighth delay and long reverb create the ambient sound common in modern worship; the pedals guide explains the chain.
• Keys: pads and simple triads in the right hand, roots in the left, leaving room for the guitars; the piano lessons page covers the basics.

Playing with a band

Dynamics carry a worship set: verses stay sparse, choruses build, and a bridge may drop to almost nothing before the last chorus. Many churches play to a click track through in-ear monitors, so steady timing against a metronome is part of the preparation.

How lessons approach worship music

Bring your team's setlist. Bill writes out the songs, starting with the chords and rhythm, then works on transposing and on the transitions between songs. He plays the other part with you, which is the closest thing to a rehearsal with the band.

Questions