Guitarists perform a fine balancing act in worship groups. They are there to embellish and add the icing on the metaphorical worship cake. If they bring too much icing with their grab-bag of tricks they can destroy something beautiful within seconds.

Lead guitarists should be encouraged, though. Guitarists who choose an electric invariably see it as more than a passing hobby so the ones who really get into it often spend more time honing their skills and expanding their knowledge than is immediately noticed. That desire to hone their craft needs to be appreciated and embraced by worship leaders, congregations and churches as a whole. Yes it can seem a bit all consuming, self involved and even an identity to the outside world but if harnessed well and appreciatated, a good, team playing guitarist with a sensitive ear and a servant heart is pure gold. A guitarist without these traits is like a pew with a nail in it. Painful, and there to stay.

So, for the unloved lead guitarist who desperately needs a claw hammer, help is at hand.

1 Do… keep your volume levels in check
There are two schools of thought here – one that comes from you and the other that comes from everyone else. Your school of thought is: ‘I can’t hear myself’. Everyone else’s is: ‘The guitarist is too loud’.
Guitarists, who are offering their time to play at church want to worship like everyone else but volume, and the amount of it, can be a bone of contention. The trouble is as we all know, to get a great sound from your beloved tube amp, it needs to be cranked up a bit, but most amps are designed to be used at a volume WAY above church levels so, get a small amp and point it towards the instruments that produce volume and need to hear you. I.e. the drums – I.e. not the backing vocalists. Also try to get 6-10 feet away from your amp and angle the speaker towards your face. it’ll sound a lot louder then. And do use your guitar volume control or even a volume pedal to match the intensity of the song and the volume of the singing. Maybe set it on 8 for the rhythm parts and 10 for the out there stuff. Lastly don’t use too much pre amp distortion. You won’t be able to hear yourself and that classic ‘wasp in a jam jar’ tone will get lost in the mix. Cleaner tones, without masses of reverb or out of time delay, cut through more and generally the congregation can cope with them better than the uber metal sound. Don’t worry, you won’t  have to go super clean and join the Gaither band. Even classic rock and metal tracks had less distortion than you think.  Read More »