Listen, Listen and Listen again.
First of a series of quick advice on improving band skills.It's no good to be ripping through the best solo of your life if the atmosphere of worship means that the notes you play stand out like a sore thumb.
Our role as lead guitarists should be complimentary, to enhance the atmosphere of worship adding depth, melody and dynamics to the song played.
There are some specifics to listen for:
Electric Guitar, like Acoustic Guitars are mid-range instruments not treble instruments and your tone will sound smaller and thinner as you go up the neck of the guitar. So we as Electric Guitarists need to decide whether there are lots of instruments playing bass notes and we can add some texture to the composition by higher up.
Another aspect to look out for is which instruments are playing melody and who is playing chords. There should be variety so if everyone is playing chords then you can add by melody lines and emphasising the core notes of the song.
Don't forget that silence is also an important note that many musicians don't use (including myself) and just play all the time!
I would always suggest playing to the gear that the band is playing in, however you can always hope to increase the intensity of the whole band to start playing at a higher intensity by increasing your own playing intensity. I would suggest that starting a belting overdriven legato solo with a full-step bend is really inappropriate unless the band is playing in 5th or 6th gear of intensity.
Listen to your other musicians in your group.
If there are lots of musicians in your group you will need to play less notes, a good idea is to play sustained chords (I would go for volume swells), conversely if there aren't that many musicians then you may want to fill the space with delays and reverb.Listen to where the sound space is.
I am talking about here about where the notes you can play would fit in with what is already being played by other instruments.Electric Guitar, like Acoustic Guitars are mid-range instruments not treble instruments and your tone will sound smaller and thinner as you go up the neck of the guitar. So we as Electric Guitarists need to decide whether there are lots of instruments playing bass notes and we can add some texture to the composition by higher up.
Another aspect to look out for is which instruments are playing melody and who is playing chords. There should be variety so if everyone is playing chords then you can add by melody lines and emphasising the core notes of the song.
Don't forget that silence is also an important note that many musicians don't use (including myself) and just play all the time!
Listen to the intensity and dynamics of the band.
A while ago, a professional musician taught me about the gears of dynamics, where as the intensity that band members play with increases, so does the band increase in gear number.I would always suggest playing to the gear that the band is playing in, however you can always hope to increase the intensity of the whole band to start playing at a higher intensity by increasing your own playing intensity. I would suggest that starting a belting overdriven legato solo with a full-step bend is really inappropriate unless the band is playing in 5th or 6th gear of intensity.
Finally and most importantly: Listen to what God is doing
The most important part of being a worship guitarist, listen to what God is doing through His Holy Spirit in your time of worship and play accordingly.
Is God inspiring prophetic words in the congregation? Has He given another member of your band a prophetic song to bring?
Supporting what God is doing in your times of worship is what we should be careful to look out for as worship musicians (not just guitarists) and can help transform the worship atmosphere in your church setting.
We should be on the lookout for the "out of the ordinary" not just playing through a list of songs because they are nice songs to sing about Jesus. Worship should be about encountering more and more of God every time we are in His Presence!
