guitar

The Guitar in Worship

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The use of stringed instruments in worship goes back into the Old Testament and has a history of its own in the Christian church. In recent years, the guitar has been frequently used to lead music for worship. This article explains where and how to use the guitar.

The use of the guitar in praise of God is founded solidly on biblical precedent. The Psalms come immediately to mind with their frequent mention of instrumental praise (e.g., Ps. 33:2; 71:22–23; 92:3; 144:9), and even a cursory reading of the history of Israel reveals the regular use of stringed instruments in worship.

Today, the re-emergence of stringed instruments (specifically the acoustic guitar) can be traced back to the 1960s, an era now famous for its proliferation of folk music, the vox populi. Popular singers like Peter, Paul, and Mary, and Joan Baez (to name a few) captured the public imagination with their simple, immediate, troubadour style, reflecting the concerns of the day in song. The drug culture, the sexual revolution, and protest against the war in Vietnam were all critical elements in the formation of a new counterculture.

The nearly simultaneous appearance of the Jesus Movement, so prevalent among youth of the day (a counter-counterculture) and the beginning of the charismatic renewal converted much of this dynamic energy and brought it, often through the popular Christian coffeehouse venue, into the more formal church environment.

The Guitar in Corporate Worship

The reintroduction of the guitar into corporate worship has not been without difficulty, but this has not negated its usefulness to the people of God in the offering of praise. As the church finds its life expressed in settings other than the traditional church building (e.g., house churches, prayer groups, cell groups), many will find the guitar, portable in a way that the organ and piano are not, to be the instrument of choice.

Two different approaches are possible when using the guitar in worship: as an accompanying instrument in an ensemble to support corporate song, or as a principal leading instrument in the hands of a worship leader. As an accompanying instrument, rhythm and harmony are the primary contributions the strummed (or folk) guitar gives to instrumental texture.

Classical Style. The classical style of guitar playing is suitable for a wide range of music; repertoire is limited only by the player’s ability. Its inclusion in an ensemble can provide a pleasing textural element. As a lead instrument, the classical guitar is less effective, except in the most intimate settings, because of its lack of natural aural presence.

Leading Corporate Song. Using the guitar to lead corporate song requires an understanding of the ethos of folk-worship leadership. The roots of this type of leadership are found in the tradition of the troubadour (the storyteller) and the accompanying characteristics of interaction and spontaneity. The guitar is eminently well-suited to be a vehicle for allowing the worship leader to relate back and forth with the people who are gathered, to manifest that ingredient unique to folk-worship leadership: interaction. In Judeo-Christian worship, the use of responsorial psalmody reflects this tradition: a cantor/soloist/storyteller sings the verses of a psalm, and the people respond with a simple memorable refrain or antiphon. This verse/refrain structure remains an effective song form in sacred and popular music alike.

Visible presence makes interaction easier. However, in circumstances where this is not possible, folk leadership can be affected through audibility alone. This technique, common in African music and discernible in American spirituals, employs the call-and-response form, a variation of verse/refrain. Either visible or audible presence alone can be effective, but clearly both are desirable.

The guitar’s usefulness can be increased by the development of a variety of strums to interpret different musical moods. The use of a pick (or plectrum) will not only make playing more audible but will add rhythmic clarity as well. (See Leading Worship with the Guitar, a teaching video produced by Celebration, P.O. Box 309, Aliquippa, PA 15001.)

It should be noted that the folk guitar is not suited to all idioms found in today’s corporate worship. This is especially true with traditional four-part hymnody. However, since many enduring and endearing hymn tunes find their origins in folk melody, a unison rendition of the tune, accompanied by harmonies idiomatic to the guitar, can add a new dimension to one’s experience of familiar hymns.

Choosing a Guitar for Worship. The choice of an instrument will depend on the player, the circumstance in which it will be used, and the musical material to be played. The most commonly used steel string guitars are the six-string and twelve-string. Either is suitable for leading corporate song.

The six-string guitar provides a well-defined sound for crisp, articulate playing. The twelve-string guitar provides a cushion of sound, rich in harmonic texture, with octave strings creating its characteristic “ring.” Those same octave strings, however, increase the challenge of maintaining a well-tuned instrument.

A nylon string guitar is meant to be plucked or strummed with the fingertips. The use of a pick produces a muffled tone, and as was noted above in the discussion of the classical style, its usefulness is limited to very intimate settings of worship.

The electric bass guitar, while itself, not an acoustic instrument, can be extremely useful in an acoustic ensemble, providing both rhythmic stability and harmonic foundation.

Amplification. Finally, mention should be made of sound reinforcement, an ingredient that is often critical to the success of the acoustic guitar in corporate worship. There are various ways to amplify the guitar other than a factory-installed design. The most successful method is with either a flexible strip microphone, which is attached directly to the body of the instrument or with an internal pick-up placed in the soundhole. The player thus has freedom of movement which is not possible when playing before a stationary microphone, and the actual resonance of the wood body is transmitted with less “air noise.”

The acoustic guitar can be quite versatile in the hands of a sensitive worship leader and continues, as it has for centuries, to be a fitting instrument to make music in praise of the Most High God.

The Piano in Worship

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Many congregations are discovering the piano as an excellent instrument to lead congregational singing. This article informs the reader about the intelligent use of the piano in worship.

Rate in the order of appropriateness for public worship:

  1. Accordion
  2. Guitar
  3. Organ
  4. Piano
  5. Zither

Asked this question, my hunch is that the majority who are reading this would put the organ in first place, the piano in second. (Actually, all the instruments have been used.) We’d answer that way because of what we’ve experienced; in our churches, the organ has long been the instrument most used in worship.

But for a number of reasons, that prominence may be waning. Many congregations are discovering that the piano provides an excellent alternative to the organ. Some use it only to provide variety and to give the organist a break. Others, especially smaller congregations, have consciously decided to use the piano instead of the organ on a regular basis. They have discovered that piano accompaniment is not only suitable but preferable to organ music for their style of worship.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Whether a pianist can successfully accompany hymns and provide service music for worship depends on a few key factors: the acoustics of the church, the quality of the instrument, and the performance ability of the musician. Although a good instrument under the hands of a competent pianist can produce marvelous orchestrations of tone and articulate, crisp rhythms, the piano has neither the sustaining power nor the instrumentation possibilities of an organ.

However, often the problems people face when using a piano in worship have less to do with the instrument itself than with the apparent lack of appropriate literature: unlike the organ, the piano has no rich heritage of repertory explicitly composed for use in worship. This gap can partially be filled from other sources. For example, pianists have discovered that many classical piano compositions may be appropriately adopted for worship. Musicians need only make judicious choices on the basis of length and style, avoiding pieces that are very familiar and thus easily associated with experiences outside of the worship service.

Other pianists have discovered a wealth of material usable in worship services in the repertory of organ music written for manuals only. This music maintains the dignity of a tradition, creates no tension by association with other styles, and generally supports the aim of worship. Only the sound itself is different: the pianist must decide whether a particular work is too idiomatic for the organ to be used effectively on the piano.

Apart from these two sources for piano worship—judicious selections from classical literature and from organ music for manuals only—pianists face an inadequate supply of commendable material suitable for worship. During the past century, composers in the American populist tradition have attempted to create a body of sacred piano literature, most of it based on hymn tunes. But without the advantage of historical precedent available to the organ, pianists have adapted various models of piano style that may not be appropriate for the worship service: nocturnes, etudes, concertos, and cocktail music have all had an influence.

Most of these efforts at adaptation are unsatisfactory because they are obvious imitations, conjuring up associations outside of worship traditions, calling attention to themselves, forcing hymn tunes to be something they are not, and in effect intruding on worship. If a model for piano style in worship is required at all, a more effective one is organ literature associated with worship. However, due to the inherent differences between the two instruments, this model also has problems.

A most helpful source of suggestions for piano music suitable for church (unfortunately never published and therefore not conveniently at hand) is Richard Cole Shadinger’s dissertation “The Sacred Element in Piano Literature: A Historical Background and Annotated Listing” (Southern Baptist Seminary, 1974).

Another helpful source now available is a ten-volume anthology, compiled and edited by Dr. William Phemister, Chairman of the Piano Department of the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, released by the Fred Bock Music Co. in May l987. The multivolume collection is comprised primarily of music originally composed for the piano. (Exceptions include three organ chorale preludes by Brahms.) Six volumes are devoted to individual composers: Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schumann, Liszt, J. S. Bach, and Beethoven. Of the four remaining volumes, two include seasonal music (Christmas and Lent/Easter), another is a collection of duets (four hands, one piano), and the final volume contains selections by twentieth-century composers. These last two volumes also include some organ transcriptions. While this ten-volume work is designed for church pianists, it also of value to student pianists.

Selecting Music

As with any genre of music, church music’s quality or lack of it is associated with the names of publishers. Their boards establish the standards, which, if consistent, are of great assistance to the individual musician who faces a market of very uneven quality. The Lutheran publishing houses, Concordia and Augsburg, offer an outstanding selection of music for the piano, much of it published as organ music for manuals only. Other very reputable companies include Oxford University Press, Harold Flammer, Inc., and Peters.

In selecting music the musician should take into consideration principles of quality, moderation, and appropriateness. Some more specific, but not exhaustive, suggestions include the following:

  1. Do not choose music that is too difficult. Unless you can play the music well, you should not play it at all.
  2. Avoid obvious virtuosity. The music should assist worship and never be confused with a recital performance.
  3. If the music is based on a hymn, be sure its arrangement does not injure the original character of the tune and associated texts, either by excessive chromaticism or technical demands.
  4. Avoid any style that has strong associations with music outside of the context of a worship service.
  5. Avoid banality. Regard the music as an offering to the Lord, and make it the best in style, content, and rendition. Avoid obvious “formulas” for accompaniments, figurations, and modulations.
  6. Giving careful thought to the place of the music in the liturgy will help you decide whether to choose something quiet and meditative or festive and celebrative. The mood and associated text, if there is one, should be compatible with the church season and/or worship theme.